Adapting to change

Sun Tzu said: The principle and method of commanding a war are that the general accepts the orders of the monarch and gathers the people to form an army.

After sending troops out:

In the situation of mountainous and swampy and impassable places, do not station;

In the situation of several countries border extending in all directions, gather troops;

In the situation of no supply and difficult to survive, do not stay;

In the situation of being surrounded, try to break through;

In the situation of being annihilated by the enemy, it is necessary to fight resolutely.

There are roads that can not be walked,

There are enemies can not be blocked,

There are cities that can not be conquered,

There are regions can not be contested,

These are not acceptable situations even if the monarch orders them to do it.

Therefore, if the generals can understand these 9 benefits of changing the situation of the war, they can really know how to command the war;

If the Generals cannot fully understand these nine advantages of changing the situation of battle, and even if they are familiar with the form and deployment of the battlefield, they will not be able to give full play to the favorable conditions of the battlefield.

Generals who manage troops cannot understand these nine methods of changing the situation of war, and even if they understand the Five favorable Aspects (the Tao, Climate, Terrain, Generals, Law), they cannot give full play to them and apply them to war. "

When a wise general considers a problem, it is bound to be mixed between interests and harms.

In the many favorable conditions, it is necessary to pragmatically operate the credible content, and in the many harmful conditions, it is necessary to think about ways to solve the harms.

Therefore, it is necessary to use harmful things to dispel the enemy's intentions, to use government affairs to make the enemy work endlessly, and to use favorable things to make the enemy chase after them.

Therefore, the principle of using troops is:

Do not expect the enemy not to invade, but rely on oneself to be fully prepared to deal with the enemy's aggression;

Don't expect the enemy not to attack, but rely on oneself to have a place where the enemy can't attack.

So, there are five dangerous situations for generals:

If generals want fight to the death, they may be killed by the enemy;

If generals are greedy for life and afraid of death, they may be captured by the enemy;

If generals are impatient and irritable, they may be insulted by the enemy and lose their minds;

If generals are honest and cherish reputation, they may be stigmatized and impulsive;

If generals love the people too much, they may not be able to stand the enemy's disturbing actions to the people.

These five situations are taboos in the character of generals, and they are also disasters in the commanding of armies.

The annihilation of the army and the sacrifice of the generals must be because of these five hazards, which cannot but be carefully examined.