Speaker 1: Chapter nine of the Art of War. This is a
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Speaker 1: The Arts of War by Swindzer, Chapter nine, The Army
Speaker 1: on the March one, Suinzer said, we come now to
Speaker 1: the question of encamping the army and observing signs of
Speaker 1: the enemy. Pass quickly over mountains and keep in the
Speaker 1: neighborhood of valleys. Two camp in high places facing the sun.
Speaker 1: Do not climb heights in order to fight. So much
Speaker 1: for mountain warfare. Three. After crossing the river, you should
Speaker 1: get far away from it. Four. When an invading force
Speaker 1: crosses a river in its onward march, do not advance
Speaker 1: to meet it in midstream. It will be best to
Speaker 1: let half the army get across and then deliver your attack. Five.
Speaker 1: If you are anxious to fight, you should not go
Speaker 1: to meet the invader near a river which he has
Speaker 1: to cross. Six. More your craft higher up than the enemy,
Speaker 1: and facing the sun, do not move upstream to meet
Speaker 1: the enemy. So much for river warfare. Seven. In crossing
Speaker 1: salt marshes, your sole concern should be to get over
Speaker 1: them quickly without any delay. Eight. If fours to fight
Speaker 1: in a salt marsh, you should have water and grass
Speaker 1: near you, and get your back to a clump of trees.
Speaker 1: So much for operations in salt marshes. Nine. In dry
Speaker 1: level country, take up an easily accessible position with rising
Speaker 1: ground to your right and on your rear, so that
Speaker 1: the danger may be in front and safety lie behind.
Speaker 1: So much for campaigning in flat country. Ten. These are
Speaker 1: the four useful branches of military knowledge which enable the
Speaker 1: Yellow Emperor to vanquish four several sovereigns. Eleven. All armies
Speaker 1: prefer high ground to low, and sunny places to dark. Twelve.
Speaker 1: If you are careful of your men and camp on
Speaker 1: hard ground, the army will be free from disease of
Speaker 1: every kind, and this will spell victory. Thirteen. When you
Speaker 1: come to a hill or a bank, occupy the sunny
Speaker 1: side with the slope on your right rear. Thus you
Speaker 1: will at once act for the benefit of your soldiers
Speaker 1: and utilize the natural advantages of the ground. Fourteen. When,
Speaker 1: in consequence of heavy rains up country, a river which
Speaker 1: you wish to ford is swollen and flegged with foam,
Speaker 1: you must wait until it subsides. Fifteen. Country in which
Speaker 1: there are precipitous cliffs with torrents running between deep natural hollows,
Speaker 1: confined places, tangled thickets, quad mires, and and crevasses should
Speaker 1: be left with all possible speed and not approached. Sixteen.
Speaker 1: While we keep away from such places, we should get
Speaker 1: the enemy to approach them. While we face them, we
Speaker 1: should let the enemy have them on his rear. Seventeen.
Speaker 1: If in the neighborhood of your camp there should be
Speaker 1: any hilly country, ponds surrounded by aquatic grass, hollow basins
Speaker 1: filled with reeds, or woods with thick undergrowth, they must
Speaker 1: be carefully rooted out and searched. For these are places
Speaker 1: when men in ambush or insidious spies are likely to
Speaker 1: be lurking. Eighteen. When the enemy is close at hand
Speaker 1: and remains quiet, he is relying on the natural strain
Speaker 1: length of his position. Nineteen. When he keeps aloof and
Speaker 1: tries to provoke a battle, he is anxious for the
Speaker 1: other side to advance. Twenty. If his place of encampment
Speaker 1: is easy of access, he is tendering a bait. Twenty
Speaker 1: One movement amongst the trees of a forest shows that
Speaker 1: the enemy is advancing. The appearance of a number of
Speaker 1: screens in the midst of thick grass means that the
Speaker 1: enemy wants to make us suspicious. Twenty two. The rising
Speaker 1: of birds in the flight is the sign of an ambuscade.
Speaker 1: Startled beasts indicate that a sudden attack is coming. Twenty three.
Speaker 1: When there is dust rising in the high column, it
Speaker 1: is the sign of chariots advancing. When the dust is
Speaker 1: low but spread over a wide area, it betokens the
Speaker 1: approach of infantry. When it branches out in different directions,
Speaker 1: it shows that parties have been sent to collect firewood.
Speaker 1: A few clouds of dust moving to and fro signify
Speaker 1: that the army is encamping. Twenty four. Humble words and
Speaker 1: increased preparations are signs that the enemy is about to advance.
Speaker 1: Violent language and driving forward as if to the attack
Speaker 1: are signs that he will retreat. Twenty five. When the
Speaker 1: like chariots come out first and take up a position
Speaker 1: on the wings, it is a sign that the enemy
Speaker 1: is forming for battle. Twenty six. Peace proposals unaccompanied by
Speaker 1: a sworn covenant indicate a plot. Twenty seven. When there
Speaker 1: is much running about and the soldiers fall into rank,
Speaker 1: it means that the critical moment has come. Twenty eight.
Speaker 1: When some are seen advancing and some retreating, it is
Speaker 1: a lure. Twenty nine. When the soldiers stand leaning on
Speaker 1: their spears, they are feint from want of food. Thirty
Speaker 1: If those who are sent to draw water begin by
Speaker 1: drinking themselves, the army is suffering from thirst. Thirty one.
Speaker 1: If the enemy sees an advantage to be gained and
Speaker 1: makes no effort to secure it, the soldiers are exhausted.
Speaker 1: Thirty two. If birds gather on any spot it is
Speaker 1: unoccupied clamor by night, betokens nervousness. Thirty three. If there
Speaker 1: is disturbance in the camp, the general's authority is weak.
Speaker 1: If the banners and flags are shifted about, sedition is afoot.
Speaker 1: If the officers are angry, it means that the men
Speaker 1: are weary. Thirty four. When an army feeds its horses
Speaker 1: with grain and kills its cattle for food, and when
Speaker 1: the men do not hang the cooking pots over the
Speaker 1: camp fires, showing that they will not return to their tents,
Speaker 1: you may know that they are determined to fight to
Speaker 1: the death. Thirty five. The sight of men whispering together
Speaker 1: in small knots, or speaking in subdued tones points to
Speaker 1: disaffection amongst the rank and file. Thirty six. Two frequent
Speaker 1: rewards signify that the enemy is at the end of
Speaker 1: his resources. Too many punishments betray a condition of dire distress.
Speaker 1: Thirty seven. To begin by bluster, but afterwards to take
Speaker 1: fright at the enemy's numbers shows a supreme lack of intelligence.
Speaker 1: Thirty eight. When envoys as scent with compliments in their mouths,
Speaker 1: it is a sign that the enemy wishes for a truce.
Speaker 1: Thirty nine. If the enemy's troops march up angrily and
Speaker 1: remain facing ours for a long time without either joining
Speaker 1: battle or taking themselves off again, the situation is one
Speaker 1: that demands great vigilance and circumspection. Forty If our troops
Speaker 1: are no more in number than the enemy that is
Speaker 1: amply sufficient, it only means that no direct attack can
Speaker 1: be made. What we can do is simply to concentrate
Speaker 1: all our available strength, keep a close watch on the enemy,
Speaker 1: and obtain reinforcements. Forty one. He who exercises no forethought
Speaker 1: but makes light of his opponents is sure to be
Speaker 1: captured by them. Forty two. If soldiers are punished before
Speaker 1: they have grown attached to you, they will not prove submissive,
Speaker 1: and unless submissive, then will be practically useless. If when
Speaker 1: the soldiers have become attached to you, punishments are not enforced,
Speaker 1: they will still be useless. Forty three. Therefore, soldiers must
Speaker 1: be treated in the first instance with humanity, but kept
Speaker 1: under control by means of iron discipline. This is a
Speaker 1: certain road to victory. Forty four. If in training soldiers
Speaker 1: commands are habitually enforced, the army will be well disciplined.
Speaker 1: If not, its discipline will be bad. Forty five. If
Speaker 1: a general shows confidence in his men but always insists
Speaker 1: on his orders being obeyed, the gain will be mutual.
Speaker 1: End of Chapter nine