On the march

Sun Tzu said: Normally, when arranging the march of the army and observing and judging the enemy's situation, attention should be paid to:

When passing through the mountains, near the canyon, look for a place with a wide field of vision, and the commander should be at a high place; occupy the high ground and then fight, do not attack from the lower position. This is the principle of disposing of marches in mountains.

When passing through the water river zone, the march should be kept at a certain distance from the water;

If the enemy crosses the water to attack, it is more advantageous not to meet them in the water, but to attack when half of the enemy is on the shore;

If one is going to engage the enemy, do not meet them at the water's edge; find a place with a wide field of vision, the commander should be in a high place; do not start a battle in a low depression area at downstream of the enemy. This is the principle of disposing of marches around the water area.

When passing through the saline-alkali swamp area, it is necessary to leave quickly, and it is not advisable to stay; if one want to engage the enemy in the saline swamps, one should be close to the water and grass and have one‘s back to the woods to facilitate the evacuation. This is the principle of disposing of marches in the saline marsh.

It is relatively easy to dispose the marches on the plains, but it is better for the general to be on the right side of the direction of travel, with his back to the heights, with the front of the army facing the enemy and resupplying from the rear. This is the principle of disposing of the march on the plains.

The favorable conditions brought about by the above four disposal principles are an important reason why the Huang Emperor was able to defeat the "Four Emperors".

Normally, the army prefers the highlands and hates the low-lying areas; dry and warm sunny side is a plus, and cold and damp shaded side is a minus; the supply is sufficient, the defense is solid, and the soldiers do not suffer from all kinds of diseases, which is the guarantee of victory in the war.

When marching on hills and levees, one must command on the sunny side, with the general on the right side of the direction of travel, with his back to the heights.

This was a favorable condition for the battle, with the help of geographical conditions.

If it rains heavily upstream while one saw the water foam drifting to oneself, do not wade across the river and wait for the water to stabilize before acting.

Wherever there are terrains as： two mountains steep and there are rapids flowing in between;

a place that is high on all sides and low-lying in the middle, shaped like a well;

cliffs on three sides, no retreat and escape routes, easy to enter and difficult to get out;

deep forest and grassy, shaped like a net, and difficult to travel to and from;

low-lying, swampy, muddy and easily trapped;

narrow and difficult to pass, such as places with gaps;

Be sure to leave quickly and don't approach.

We are to stay away from these terrains and keep the enemy close to them;

We need to face these terrains and have the enemy's back to them.

When the army marches on

terrains which are dangerous, roads which are narrow and rugged, and places which are easy to defend and difficult to attack;

low-lying places with standing water, places with overgrown reeds, mountainous areas with dense trees, places with lush vegetation and dense vegetation;

Be sure to search carefully and repeatedly, these are all places where ambushes are arranged.

The enemy is approaching and can remain quiet because it occupies a favorable steep terrain;

The enemy came from afar to provoke us in order to lure our troops forward;

The place where the enemy is stationed is easy to be seized, because the enemy has favorable conditions.

Many of the trees in the woods were shaking, which is the enemy's attacking towards us;

There is a lot of shelter in the grass, which are suspicious soldiers;

The birds suddenly fly up, which are ambushes;

The beast was frightened and ran away, which are the enemy who sweep forward.

The smoke and dust are high and sharp, which is the enemy chariot attacking;

The smoke is low and wide, which the enemy infantry attacking;

The smoke and dust are scattered and slender, which is the enemy's cutting down trees to collect firewood;

If there is little smoke and dust rises and falls, it is the enemy who is encamped.

The enemy's envoys are humble-worded, but they are stepping up their preparations for battle, it is preparing to attack;

The envoy is forceful and assumes a forward and driving posture, which is ready to retreat;

Those whose light chariots were dispatched first, and deployed on the two wings, is showing off their strength;

Those who have not yet made an appointment for war and take the initiative to ask for peace, is in another conspiracy;

Those who hurried and unfurled his weapons and vehicles, is seeking to fight;

Those who half-in and half-back, is a disguise of confusion to lure us.

Those who leans with a weapon, is unbearable hunger;

Those who draws water from a well and rushes to drink, is unbearable thirsty;

Those who do not move forward when they see the benefits, is due to excessive fatigue.

Those where birds gathering in the camp, is indicating that the camp is empty;

Those who exclaims at night, is a sign of panic;

Those whose army is disordered, is because the generals have no prestige;

Those whose flags are shaken unevenly, is because of lax military discipline and confusion in the ranks;

Those whose officials are impatient and irritable, is because of the excessive tiredness of the enemy;

Those who feeds the horses with grain, kills the cattle for meat, packs up the cooking utensils, and not returning to the barracks, is the last army that is ready to fight to the death.

Those whose general repeatedly admonished his subordinates, with kind expression and soft speech, is because he had lost the support of everyone.

Those who general rewards the soldiers repeatedly, is because he has no other way to motivate them;

Those who general punishes the soldiers repeatedly, is because he is in a predicament and has no way out;

Those who general does violent to the soldiers first and then lets the soldiers fear him, is the most ineffective troops;

Those who sends a messenger to apologize euphemistically, is in order to stop the war.

Those who came to meet in anger, but did not fight for a long time and did not retreat, it is necessary to observe their intentions carefully.

More troops is not always better. As long as one don't blindly advance, one can concentrate your forces, judge the enemy's situation, and be good at using people.

Those who do not have a deep plan and are conceited to underestimate the enemy will surely be captured by the enemy.

If the soldiers are rashly punished according to military law before they are close to and have trust in the generals, they will definitely not accept the generals, and it will be difficult to command the soldiers to fight;

When the soldiers are already close to the generals with trusting and supporting, if the generals do not carry out military punishments, it will be unreliable to command the soldiers to fight.

Therefore, first use the soft written content such as politics and morality to issue decrees.

and then use military discipline, military law and other rigid implementation of the content to unify the pace,

It is a necessary way to acquire talents.

The decrees issued in peacetime are always carried out, so as to guide the soldiers, and the soldiers will submit;

The decrees issued in peacetime can not be carried out, so as to guide the soldiers, the soldiers will no longer submit.

The reason why the laws and regulations in peacetime can be implemented is because of the harmonious relationship and mutual trust between the generals and the soldiers.