Sonshi/Emptiness and Strength
VI.
EMPTINESS AND STRENGTH.
Son the Master said:—
To be the first in the field, and there to await the enemy, is to husband strength.
To be late, and hurrying to advance to meet the foe, is exhausting.
The good fighter contrives to make the enemy approach; he does not allow himself to be beguiled by the enemy.
By offering an apparent advantage, he induces the enemy to take up a position that will cause his defeat; he plants obstructions to dissuade him from acting in such a way as to threaten his own dispositions.
If the enemy be at rest in comfortable quarters, harass him; if he be living in plenty, cut off his supplies; if sitting composedly awaiting attack, cause him to move.
This may be done by appearing in seemingly impossible quarters, and assaulting at unexpected points.
If we go where the enemy is not, we may go 1000 leagues without exhaustion.
If we attack those positions which the enemy has not defended, we invariably take them: but on the defence we must be strong, even where we are not likely to be attacked.
Against those skilful in attack, the enemy does not know where to defend: against those skilful in defence, the enemy does not know where to attack.
Now the secrets of the art of offence are not to be easily apprehended, as a certain shape or noise can be understood, of the senses; but when these secrets are once learnt, the enemy is mastered.
We attack, and the enemy cannot resist, because we attack his weakly held positions; we retire, and the enemy cannot pursue, because we retire too quickly.
Again, when we are anxious to fight, but the enemy is serenely secure behind high walls and deep moats; we attack some such other place that he must certainly come out to relieve.
When we do not want to fight, we occupy an unfortified line; and prevent the enemy from attacking by keeping him in suspense.
By making feints, and causing the enemy to be uncertain as to our movements, we unite, whilst he must divide.
We become one body; the enemy being separated into ten parts. We attack the divided ten with the united one. We are many, the enemy is few, and in numbers there is strength.
The place selected for attack must be kept secret. If the enemy knows not where he will be attacked, he must prepare in every quarter, and so be weak at every point of attack.
If the enemy strengthens his front, he must weaken his rear; if he strengthens his right, his left is weakened; and if he strengthens his left, his right is weakened.
Everywhere to make preparations, is to be everywhere weak. The enemy is weakened by his extended preparations, and we gain in strength.
Having decided on the place and day of attack, though the enemy be a hundred leagues away, we can defeat him.
If the ground and occasion be not known, the front cannot help the rear; the left cannot support the right ; nor the right the left; nor the rear the front. For on occasion, the front and rear are two score leagues apart. To be separated a league or so, is to be called near.
The soldiers of Go[1] are less than the soldiers of Etsu; but as superiority in numbers does not of necessity bring victory, I say then, that we may obtain the victory.
If the enemy be many in number, prevent him from using his multitudes simultaneously with effect, and ascertain his plan of operations. Challenge the enemy and discover the weak and strong points of his position. Flap the wings, and unmask his sufficiency or insufficiency. By constant feints and excursions, we may produce on the enemy an impression of intangibility, which neither spies nor art can dispel.
A victory so gained cannot be understood by the soldiers; they see the result but they cannot appreciate the means.
If we gain a victory by a certain stratagem, we do not repeat it. Vary the stratagem according to circumstances.
An army is comparable to water.
Water avoids high places, and takes the easiest downward path. So an army chooses weak points in preference to strong.
The course of water is regulated by the shape of the ground; that of the army by the condition of the enemy.
Water has no settled shape; an army is no mechanical engine of destruction.
He who, varying his plans according to the enemy, gains the victory, is called a god.
Among the five elements[2] there is no settled precedence; the four seasons have no fixed rank; the days are long and short; and the moon waxes and wanes. So in war there is no fixity.