作戰篇第二
孫子曰：凡用兵之法，馳車千駟，革車千乘，帶甲十萬，千里饋糧，則內外之費，賓客之用，膠漆之材，車甲之奉，日費千金，然後十萬之師舉矣。
其用戰也貴勝，久則鈍兵挫銳，攻城則力屈，久暴師則國 用不足。夫鈍兵挫銳，屈力殫貨，則諸侯乘其弊而起，雖有智者，不能善其後矣。故兵聞拙速，未睹巧之久也。夫兵久而國利者，未之有也。故不盡知用兵之害者，則不能盡知用兵之利也。
善用兵者，役不再籍，糧不三載﹔取用于國，因糧于敵，故軍食可足也。
國之貧于師者遠輸，遠輸則百姓貧。近師者貴賣，貴賣則百姓竭，財 竭則急於丘役。力屈、財殫，中原內虛于家。百姓之費，十去其七﹔公家之費：破軍罷馬，甲冑矢弩，戟盾蔽櫓，丘牛大車，十去其六。
故智將務食于敵。食敵一鐘，當吾二十鐘﹔箕杆一石，當吾二十石。
故殺敵者，怒也﹔取敵之利者，貨也。故車戰，得車十乘已上，賞其 先得者，而更其旌旗，車雜而乘之，卒善而養之，是謂勝敵而益強。故兵貴勝，不貴久。 故知兵之將，民之司命，國家安危之主也。
Let's continue ...
其用戰也貴勝，久則鈍兵挫銳，攻城則力屈，久暴師則國 用不足。夫鈍兵挫銳，屈力殫貨，則諸侯乘其弊而起，雖有智者，不能善其後矣。故兵聞拙速，未睹巧之久也。夫兵久而國利者，未之有也。故不盡知用兵之害者，則不能盡知用兵之利也。
Some translation suggested:
When you engage in actual fighting, if victory is long in coming, then men's weapons will grow dull and their ardor will be damped. If you lay siege to a city, you will exhaust your strength.
Again, if the campaign is protracted, the resources of the State will not be equal to the strain.
Now, when your weapons are dulled, your ardor damped, your strength exhausted and your treasure spent, other chieftains will spring up to take advantage of your extremity. Then no man, however wise, will be able to avert the consequences that must ensue.
Thus, though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays.
There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.
It is only one who is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on.
This part is not well crafted by Sun Tzu. Maybe this explains the fallacy faced by the Chinese for 5,000 years. I will analyze why at the end.
Let's discuss:
其用戰也貴勝，久則鈍兵挫銳，: Wage a battle, the victory longing, the men's weapons will now grow dull and their ardor will now be damped.
攻城則力屈，久暴師則國 用不足。: Siege a city, you will exhaust your strength. If the campaign is protracted, the resources of the state will be insufficient to supply the army.
夫鈍兵挫銳，屈力殫貨，則諸侯乘其弊而起，雖有智者，不能善其後矣。: Now, when your weapons are dulled, your ardor damped, your strength exhausted and your treasure spent, other warring chieftains will spring up to take advantage of your extremity. Even with however wise men as advisers, they will not be able to avert the consequences that must ensue.
故兵聞拙速，未睹巧之久也。: Thus, though we have heard of crude hasty victories in war, we never witness a classic win due to protruded time strategy.
夫兵久而國利者，未之有也。: Hence, there is no instance of a country having benefited from protracted battle engagement.
故不盡知用兵之害者，則不能盡知用兵之利也。: Therefore, it is only one who is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it out.
Interestingly, as I take a longer timeline to study 孫子兵法。I realized Sun Tzu is not a 帥才 but a good 將才，i.e., he can try to win local battles but overall, he was a poor strategist. Based on this segment, he already showed his weakness. No battle can be won on a permanent basis. When you are strong, you beat the living daylight out of your neighbour, but, on other days, your neighbour will soon ask for a rematch and he in turn will beat the living daylight out of you. Since both of you are neighbours, both of you can't quit. No conquests are permanent. Just look at Genghis Khan, he may have the largest empire. He lost it all in 2 generations. Just look at British Empire, within 350 years, the empire that sun never sets closed shop. There are numerous other examples. Although I can't think of counter-examples. It is good to note that there are very peaceful companies that last for many centuries and the ownership is with the original family, such as Kikkoman, Hennessy and many others (please wiki them, too many to name). All of them are super non-aggressive types. Once they are aggressive, they will lose in no time. Only patience will win the day.
It is important to note that our enemies won't die. Once they are defeated, they just lie dormant for a while to recuperate. When the day comes that they are strong enough, they will do a rematch. If you can't play well this next time, you will be beaten. This push-pull will last forever.
If you bother to study about trees, most trees don't last very long. Some 100 years; some 500 years; some 1000 years. Very seldom beyond 1200 years. The reason being that the tree couldn't regenerate enough new tissues all the time for renewal. Yet, if you do a research on the net, you will find trees that can last up a million years old. They managed to clone themselves forever and older tissues just die off, but the clonal tree stayed alive.
Hence, given a choice, conserve your resources. If you don't need to battle, please don't tempt your evil intent. Even if you have won, it is not at all permanent. It is only with resources in hand that victory is permanent. Try your luck in building century-old business type. Please don't waste time to wear monkey suits and ties.
Shit! Talking about suit and tie, I am buying and wearing one to meet the ultra-grand chieftains this week and the next.
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