They cannot be properly managed without benevolence and straightforwardness. Spies cannot be usefully employed without a certain intuitive sagacity.
Knowledge of the enemy's dispositions can only be obtained from other men.
Now this foreknowledge cannot be elicited from spirits it cannot be obtained inductively from experience, nor by any deductive calculation. What enables the wise sovereign and the good general to strike and conquer, and achieve things beyond the reach of ordinary men, is foreknowledge. Hence the saying: The enlightened ruler lays his plans well ahead the good general cultivates his resources. We shall be unable to turn natural advantages to account unless we make use of local guides. We are not fit to lead an army on the march unless we are familiar with the face of the country – its mountains and forests, its pitfalls and precipices, its marshes and swamps. We cannot enter into alliance with neighbouring princes until we are acquainted with their designs. Strike at its head, and you will be attacked by its tail strike at its tail, and you will be attacked by its head strike at its middle, and you will be attacked by head and tail both. Now the shuai-jan is a snake that is found in the Ch'ang mountains. The skillful tactician may be likened to the shuai-jan. Keep your army continually on the move, and devise unfathomable plans. Concentrate your energy and hoard your strength. Ponder and deliberate before you make a move.Ĭarefully study the well-being of your men, and do not overtax them. When the general is weak and without authority when his orders are not clear and distinct when there are no fixed duties assigned to officers and men, and the ranks are formed in a slovenly haphazard manner, the result is utter disorganization. If, however, you are indulgent, but unable to make your authority felt kind-hearted, but unable to enforce your commands and incapable, moreover, of quelling disorder: then your soldiers must be likened to spoilt children they are useless for any practical purpose. Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys look upon them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death. over-solicitude for his men, which exposes him to worry and trouble.
a delicacy of honor, which is sensitive to shame.a hasty temper, which can be provoked by insults.recklessness, which leads to destruction.There are five dangerous faults which may affect a general:
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