Before victory, count the cost.
Why the second chapter asks us to notice the resources consumed while an objective is pursued.
Editorial interpretation for review. Separate from the creator's translation.
A plan can describe a desirable outcome and still leave out what it takes to get there. Read Chapter 2 with a different question in mind: what keeps being consumed while the outcome remains out of reach?
Read the inventory
The chapter opens with an inventory of people, equipment, transport, and daily expense. Before the discussion moves to success, it establishes material requirements. These details are part of the argument, not background decoration.
As you read, make a list of each resource mentioned. Then distinguish resources needed to begin from those needed to continue. A plan that covers the first category may still fail to account for the second.
Duration changes the problem
The discussion of prolonged campaigning connects time with exhausted resources, diminished energy, and exposure to other powers. Its concern is broader than the next encounter.
A modern analogy can help us formulate questions, but it cannot supply evidence by itself. In a business project, for example, cash, attention, and delayed alternatives have different dynamics. Those dynamics require their own facts.
Turn a quotation into a question
Rather than treating speed as an unconditional rule, ask: which costs accumulate, which capabilities deteriorate, and what must be true for a shorter course to achieve the objective?
Read Chapter 3 next. Its discussion of preserving what is sought adds another question to the cost calculation: what would remain after the objective had been achieved?
Choose a project you know. Which expense starts on day one, and which cost becomes visible only if the project lasts longer than expected?
Chinese original and the creator's independent translation, Chapter 02. The teaching interpretation above is not part of the source text.
Open the source chapter