Speaker 1: Chapter eleven of the Art of War. This is a
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Speaker 1: The Art of War by Swinter, Chapter eleven. The Nine
Speaker 1: Situations one Swinter said, the Art of War recognizes nine
Speaker 1: varieties of ground. One dispersive ground, two facile ground, three,
Speaker 1: contentious ground, four, open ground, five, ground of intersecting highways, six,
Speaker 1: serious ground, seven, difficult ground, eight, hemmed in ground nine
Speaker 1: desperate ground. Two. When a chieftain is fighting in its
Speaker 1: own territory, it is dispersive ground. Three. When he is
Speaker 1: penetrated into hostile territory but to no great distance, it
Speaker 1: is facile ground. Four ground the possession of which imports
Speaker 1: great advantage to either side is contentious ground. Five, ground
Speaker 1: on which each side has liberty of movement is open ground.
Speaker 1: Six ground which forms the key to three contiguous states,
Speaker 1: so that he who occupies it first has most of
Speaker 1: the empire at his command is the ground of intersecting highways. Seven.
Speaker 1: When an army has penetrated into the heart of a
Speaker 1: hostile country, leaving a number of fortified cities in its rear.
Speaker 1: It is serious ground. Eight mountain forests, rugget steeps, marshes
Speaker 1: and fens, or country that is hard to traverse. This
Speaker 1: is difficult ground. Nine ground which is reached through narrow
Speaker 1: gorges and from which we can only retire by tortuous paths,
Speaker 1: so that a small number of the enemy would suffice
Speaker 1: to crush a large body of our men. This is
Speaker 1: hemding ground. Ten ground on which we can only be
Speaker 1: saved from destruction by fighting without delay. Is desperate ground.
Speaker 1: Eleven on dispersed ground. Therefore, fight not on fesser ground,
Speaker 1: Hold not on contentious ground, Attack not twelve on open ground.
Speaker 1: Do not try to block the enemy's way on the
Speaker 1: ground of intersecting highways. Join hands with their allies. Thirteen
Speaker 1: on serious ground, gather in plunder in difficult ground, keeps
Speaker 1: deadly on the march fourteen on hemmed in ground, resort
Speaker 1: to stratagem on desperate ground. Fight fifteen. Those who were
Speaker 1: called skillful leaders of old knew how to drive a
Speaker 1: wedge between the enemy's front and rear to prevent cooperation
Speaker 1: between his large and small divisions, to hinder the good
Speaker 1: troops from rescuing the bed. The officers from rallying the men. Sixteen.
Speaker 1: When the enemy's men were united, they managed to keep
Speaker 1: them in disorder. Seventeen when it was to their advantage,
Speaker 1: they made a forward move when otherwise they stopped still. Eighteen.
Speaker 1: If asked how to cope with the great host of
Speaker 1: the enemy in orderly array and on the point of
Speaker 1: marching to the attack, I should say, begin by seizing
Speaker 1: something which your opponent hosts deer. Then he will be
Speaker 1: amenable to your will. Nineteen. Rapidity is the essence of war.
Speaker 1: Take advantage of the enemy's unreadiness, make away by unexpected roots,
Speaker 1: and attack unguarded spots. Twenty The following are the principles
Speaker 1: to be observed by an invading force. The further you
Speaker 1: penetrate into a country, the greater will be the solidarity
Speaker 1: of your troops, and thus the defenders will not prevail
Speaker 1: against you. Twenty One Make forays in fertile country in
Speaker 1: order to supply your army with food. Twenty Two. Carefully
Speaker 1: study the well being of your men and do not
Speaker 1: overtaxt them. Concentrate your energy and hold your strength. Keep
Speaker 1: your army continually on the move, and devise unfathomable plans.
Speaker 1: Twenty three. Throw your soldiers into positions whence there is
Speaker 1: no escape, and they will prefer death to flight. If
Speaker 1: they will face death, there is nothing they may not achieve.
Speaker 1: Officers and men alike will put forth their uttermost strength.
Speaker 1: Twenty four. Soldiers, when in desperate strikes, lose the sense
Speaker 1: of fear. If there is no place of refuge, they
Speaker 1: will stand firm. If they are in hostile country, they
Speaker 1: will show a stubborn front. If there is no help
Speaker 1: for it, they will fight hard. Twenty five. Thus, without
Speaker 1: waiting to be marshaled, the soldiers will be constantly on
Speaker 1: the key vive, without waiting to be asked. They will
Speaker 1: do your will without restrictions. They will be faithful without
Speaker 1: giving orders. They can be trusted. Twenty six. Prohibit the
Speaker 1: taking of omens, and do away with superstitious doubts. Then,
Speaker 1: until death itself comes, no calamity need be feared. Twenty seven.
Speaker 1: If our soldiers are not overburdened with money, it is
Speaker 1: not because they have a estate for riches. If their
Speaker 1: lives are not unduly long, it is not because they
Speaker 1: are disinclined to longevity. Twenty eight. On the day they
Speaker 1: are ordered out, to battle. Your soldiers may weep, those
Speaker 1: sitting up be doing the garments, and those lying down
Speaker 1: letting the tears run down their cheeks, but letting once
Speaker 1: be brought to bay, and they will display the courage
Speaker 1: of a shoe or a quay. Twenty nine. The skillful
Speaker 1: tactician may be likened to the schwai jen. Now, the
Speaker 1: shwai jen is a snake that is found in the
Speaker 1: Chung mountains. Strike at his head, and you will be
Speaker 1: attacked by his tail. Strike at his tail, and you
Speaker 1: will be attacked by this head. Strike at his middle,
Speaker 1: and you will be attacked by head and tail both.
Speaker 1: Thirty Asked if an army can be made to imitate
Speaker 1: the shwai jen, I should answer yes. For the men
Speaker 1: of war and the men of Yue are enemies. Yet
Speaker 1: if they are crossing a river in the same boat
Speaker 1: and a court by a storm, they will come to
Speaker 1: each other's assistance, just as the left hand helps the
Speaker 1: right thirty one. Hence, it is not enough to put
Speaker 1: one's trust in the tethering of horses and the bearing
Speaker 1: of chariot wheels in the ground thirty two. The principle
Speaker 1: on which to manage an army is to set up
Speaker 1: one standard of carriage which all must reach. Thirty three.
Speaker 1: How to make the best of both strong and weak,
Speaker 1: That is a question involving the proper use of ground
Speaker 1: thirty four. Thus the skillful general conducts his army just
Speaker 1: as though he were leading a single man willy kneelly
Speaker 1: by the hand. Thirty five. It is the business of
Speaker 1: a general to be quiet, and thus insure secrets upright
Speaker 1: and just, and thus maintain order. Thirty six. He must
Speaker 1: be able to mystify his officers and men by force,
Speaker 1: reports and appearances, and thus keep them in total ignorance.
Speaker 1: Thirty seven. By altering his arrangements and changing his plans,
Speaker 1: he keeps the enemy without definite knowledge. By shifting his
Speaker 1: camp and taking securitous roots, he prevents the enemy from
Speaker 1: anticipating his purpose. Thirty eight. At the critical moment, the
Speaker 1: leader of an army acts like one who is climbed
Speaker 1: up a height and then kicks away the ladder behind him.
Speaker 1: He carries his men deep into the hostile territory before
Speaker 1: he shows his hand. Thirty nine. He burns his boats
Speaker 1: and breaks his cooking pots, like a shepherd driving a
Speaker 1: flock of sheep. He drives its men this way and that,
Speaker 1: and nothing knows whither he is going forty to muster
Speaker 1: his host and bring it into danger. This may be
Speaker 1: termed the business of the general forty one. The different
Speaker 1: measures suited to the nine varieties of ground, the expediency
Speaker 1: of aggressive or defensive tactics, and the fundamental laws of
Speaker 1: human nature, These are things that must most certainly be
Speaker 1: studied Forty two. When invading hostile territory, the general principle
Speaker 1: is that penetrating deeply brings cohesion. Penetrating but a short
Speaker 1: way means dispersion. Forty five Three. When you leave your
Speaker 1: own country behind and take your army across neighborhood territory,
Speaker 1: you find yourself on critical ground. When there are means
Speaker 1: of communication, or on all four sides, the ground is
Speaker 1: one of intersecting highways. Forty four. When you penetrate deeply
Speaker 1: into a country, it is serious ground. When you penetrate
Speaker 1: but a little way, it is facile ground. Forty five.
Speaker 1: When you have the enemy's strong holds on your rear
Speaker 1: and narrow passes in front, it is hemmed in ground.
Speaker 1: When there is no place of refuge are tor it
Speaker 1: is desperate ground forty six. Therefore, on dispersive ground, I
Speaker 1: would inspire my men with unity of purpose. On facile ground,
Speaker 1: I would see that there is close connection between all
Speaker 1: parts of my army. Forty seven. On contentious ground, I
Speaker 1: would hurry up my rear. Forty eight. On open ground,
Speaker 1: I would keep a vigilant eye on my defenses. On
Speaker 1: ground of intersecting highways, I would consolidate my alliances. Forty
Speaker 1: nine On serious ground, I would try to ensure a
Speaker 1: continuous stream of supplies. On difficult ground, I would keep
Speaker 1: pushing on along the road. Fifty On hemmed in ground,
Speaker 1: I would block any way of retreat. On desperate ground,
Speaker 1: I would proclaim to my soldiers the hopelessness of saving
Speaker 1: their lives fifty one, For it is the soldier's disposition
Speaker 1: to offer an obstinate resistance when surrounded, to fire, take
Speaker 1: hard when it cannot help himself, and to obey promptly
Speaker 1: when he has fallen into danger. Fifty two. We cannot
Speaker 1: enter into alliance with neighboring princes until we are acquainted
Speaker 1: with their designs. We are not fit to lead an
Speaker 1: army on the march unless we're familiar with the face
Speaker 1: of the country, its mountains and forests, its pitfalls and precipices,
Speaker 1: its marshes and swamps. We shall be unable to turn
Speaker 1: natural advantages to a count unless we make use of
Speaker 1: local guides fifty three. To be ignored of any one
Speaker 1: of the following four or five principles does not be
Speaker 1: fit a warlike prince. Fifty four. When a warlike prince
Speaker 1: attacks a powerful state, his generalship shows itself in preventing
Speaker 1: the concentration of the enemy's forces. He overawes his opponents,
Speaker 1: and the allies are prevented from joining against him. Fifty five. Hence,
Speaker 1: he does not strive to ally himself with awe and sundry,
Speaker 1: nor does he forced the power of other states. He
Speaker 1: carries out his own secret designs, keeping his antagonists in awe.
Speaker 1: Thus he is able to capture the cities and overthrow
Speaker 1: the kingdoms. Fifty six. Bestow rewards without regard to rule,
Speaker 1: issue orders without regard to previous arrangements, and you will
Speaker 1: be able to handle a whole army as though you
Speaker 1: had to do with but a single man. Fifty seven.
Speaker 1: Confront your soldiers with the deed itself. Never let them
Speaker 1: know your design. When the outlook is bright. Bring it
Speaker 1: before the eyes, but tell them nothing when the situation
Speaker 1: is gloomy. Fifty eight. Place your army in deadly peril
Speaker 1: and it will survive. Plunge it into desperate strikes and
Speaker 1: it will come off in safety. Fifty nine. For it
Speaker 1: is precisely when a force has fallen into harm's way
Speaker 1: that is capable of striking a blow for victory. Sixty
Speaker 1: Success in warfare is gained by carefully accommodating ourselves to
Speaker 1: the enemy's purpose. Sixty one. By persistently hanging on the
Speaker 1: enemy's flank, we shall succeed in the long run in
Speaker 1: killing the commander in chief. Sixty two. This is called
Speaker 1: ability to accomplish a thing by sheer cunning sixty three.
Speaker 1: On the day, then you take up your command, block
Speaker 1: the front passers, destroy the official talis, and stop the
Speaker 1: passage of all emissaries. Sixty four be sterned in the
Speaker 1: council chamber, so that you may control the situation. Sixty five.
Speaker 1: If the enemy leaves the door open, you must rush in.
Speaker 1: Sixty six. Forestore your opponent by seizing what he holds deer,
Speaker 1: and subtly contrive the time his arrival on the ground
Speaker 1: sixty seven. Walk in the path defined by rule and
Speaker 1: a reimidate yourself to the enemy until you can fight
Speaker 1: a decisive battle sixty eight at first, then exhibit the
Speaker 1: coiners of a maiden until the enemy gives you an opening. Afterwards,
Speaker 1: emulate the rapidity of a running hare, and it will
Speaker 1: be too late for the enemy to oppose you. End
Speaker 1: of chapter eleven.