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Plunder fertile country to supply your army with plentiful food. Pay attention to the soldiers' well-being and do not fatigue them. Try to keep them in high spirits and conserve their energy. Keep the army moving and devise unfathomable plans. |
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It is the business of a general to be quiet and thus ensure depth in deliberation; impartial and upright, and thus keep a good management. |
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He should be able to mystify his officers and men by false reports and appearances, and thus keep them in total ignorance. He changes his arrangements and alters his plans in order to make others unable to see through his strategies. He shifts his campsites and undertakes marches by devious routes so as to make it impossible for others to anticipate his objective. |
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The different measures appropriate to the nine varieties of ground and the expediency of advance or withdrawal in accordance with circumstances and the fundamental laws of human nature are matters that must be studied carefully by a general. |
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Generally, when invading a hostile territory, the deeper the troops penetrate, the more cohesive they will be; penetrating only a short way causes dispersion. |
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When you leave your own country behind, and take your army across neighboring territory, you find yourself on critical ground. |
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When there are means of communication on all four sides, it is focal ground. |
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When you penetrate deeply into a country, it is serious ground. |
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When you penetrate but a little way, it is frontier ground. |
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When you have the enemy's strongholds on your rear, and narrow passes in front, it is encircled ground. When there is no place of refuge at all, it is desperate ground. |
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