Weakness & strength

Sun Tzu said: Usually those who arrive at the battlefield first and wait for the enemy will be calm and active; Those who arrive at the battlefield later and rush to respond will be fatigued and passive.

Therefore, one who is good at commanding a war can always mobilize the enemy without being mobilized by the enemy.

What can make the enemy voluntarily enter one's predetermined area, is because of benefits;

What prevents the enemy from reaching his predetermined area, is because of harms.

Therefore, if the enemy rest well, one should be able to make the enemy tired;

if the enemy has plenty of food and forage, one should be able to starve the enemy;

if the enemy is stationed in a stable position, one should be able to manage to make them move.

Send troops to targets that the enemy does not want to pursue;

Go after targets that the enemy doesn't care about.

The reason why the army does not feel tired and passive when marching thousands of miles is because it is marching in an undefended area.

The one who attack must be captured because one have attacked the enemy's neglected defenses;

The one who defends must be solid because one defends the place where the enemy is unable to attack.

Therefore, those who are good at attacking, the enemy does not know where to defend;

Those who are good at defending, the enemy does not know where to attack.

It's so subtle! It's so subtle that you can't see a trace of it;

What a mystery! So mysterious that you can't hear a single sound.

Because of this, one can become the master of the enemy's fate.

When attacking, the enemy cannot resist because it hits the enemy's weak place;

When retreating, the enemy cannot pursue because the retreat is very fast and the enemy cannot catch up.

Therefore, if one seek to fight, even if the enemy has a high wall and a deep trench to defend, it will have to come out to fight, because we are attacking the place that the enemy must save;

If we don't want to fight, even if we draw a circle on the ground to defend it, the enemy will not be able to engage us because we have managed to change the direction of the enemy's attack.

Therefore, by exposing the enemy's offensive and defensive forms and hiding one's offensive and defensive forms, one can concentrate one's forces and disperse the enemy's forces;

If we concentrate our forces in one place and try to spread the enemy's forces in ten places, we will be able to strike at the enemy with ten times the enemy's strength, and we will be able to form a favorable situation in which we have more enemies and fewer enemies.

If we can create a favorable situation of fighting more and fighting less, then our goal of fighting with the enemy can be achieved as agreed.

The location of our attack must not be known to the enemy in advance, and the enemy does not know the location of the attack, so the enemy must disperse forces and guard everywhere;

The more places the enemy defends, the fewer enemies will be where we have to attack.

Therefore, if one guard the front, there are fewer troops in the rear;

if one guard behind, there are fewer troops in the front;

if one guard left flank, there are fewer troops on the right flank;

if one guard the right flank, there are fewer troops on the left flank;

if one guard everywhere, there are fewer troops everywhere.

The reason for the formation of a situation of small forces is to be prepared for an attack;

The reason for the formation of a situation with a large number of troops is to force the enemy to divide his forces to defend us.

Therefore, if you understand the offensive and defensive points where the two sides will definitely fight, and understand the time when the two sides will definitely fight, you can travel thousands of miles to engage the enemy.

If you can't understand the points of attack and defense of the battle, and you can't understand the time of the battle,

it will make it difficult for the left wing to save the right wing, and it will be difficult for the right wing to save the left wing;

It is difficult for the front army to save the rear army, and it is difficult for the rear army to save the front army,

What's more, between the armies of all stripes, the distance between the long ones is tens of miles, and the distance between the close ones is also several miles.

According to my analysis, although the Yue country has a large number of troops, what is the benefit of deciding the victory or defeat of the war?

So one said, victory can be created. Although the enemy has a large number, it can make them ineffective.

Therefore, by recording the situation of both sides, one can know the measurement and accounting of gains and losses;

by preparing for war, one can know the basis for attack and defense;

by deploying offense and defense, one can know the advantageous and unfavorable battlefields;

by tentatively attacking the enemy, one can know the strength of the enemy's forces.

Therefore, the ultimate form of deploying offense and defense is to the form where offense and defense cannot be seen.

If the forms can't be seen, even the deepest spies can't spy on our intelligence, and even the wisest enemy staff can't seek victory.

According to the enemy's offensive and defensive patterns, take a winning move, even if it is placed in front of everyone, everyone will not understand.

People understand the offensive and defensive forms that I used to win, but they didn't know what I used to make the offensive and defensive forms that I used to win.

Therefore, the victory of this kind of war cannot be completely repeated, but according to the endless changes in the situation, the corresponding offensive and defensive forms are deployed.

Therefore, the form of deployment of forces is like the flow of water, the form of water avoids the high place and rushes to the low place, and the form of the deployment of the force avoids the enemy's solid place and attacks its weak point.

The flow of water is formed because of the different topography, and the use of troops is victorious because of the different enemy conditions.

Therefore, the deployment of military power is not to maintain a constant potential energy, just as water is not to maintain a fixed form; Those who can win according to the changes in the enemy's situation can be called the god who knows the art of war.

Therefore, the law of using soldiers is like a natural phenomenon: the "five elements - gold, wood, water, fire and earth" are mutually reinforcing, no element can always win; the four seasons alternate in turn, no season can not be replaced all year round; the day is short and long, the moon is short and round, and they are always in change.