謀攻篇
孫子曰：凡用兵之法，全國為上，破國次之﹔全軍為上，破軍次之﹔ 全旅為上，破旅次之﹔全卒為上，破卒次之﹔全伍為上，破伍次之。 是故百戰百勝，非善之善也﹔不戰而屈人之兵，善之善者也。
故上兵伐謀，其次伐交，其次伐兵，其下攻城。攻城之法為不得已。 修櫓轒轀、具器械、三月而後成，距闉，又三月而後已。將不勝其忿 ，而蟻附之，殺士三分之一，而城不拔者，此攻之災也。故善用兵者 ，屈人之兵而非戰也。拔人之城而非攻也，破人之國而非久也，必以 全爭于天下，故兵不頓，而利可全，此謀攻之法也。
故用兵之法，十則圍之，五則攻之，倍則分之，敵則能戰之，少則能 逃之，不若則能避之。故小敵之堅，大敵之擒也。
夫將者，國之輔也。輔周則國必強，輔隙則國必弱。
故君之所以患于軍者三：不知軍之不可以進而謂之進，不知軍之不可 以退而謂之退，是為縻軍﹔不知三軍之事，而同三軍之政者，則軍士 惑矣﹔不知三軍之權，而同三軍之任，則軍士疑矣。三軍既惑且疑， 則諸侯之難至矣，是謂亂軍引勝。
故知勝有五：知可以戰與不可以戰者勝，識眾寡之用者勝，上下同欲 者勝，以虞待不虞者勝，將能而君不御者勝。此五者，知勝之道也。
故曰：知己知彼，百戰不貽﹔不知彼而知己，一勝一負﹔不知彼不知 己，每戰必貽。
Let's continue ...
故上兵伐謀，其次伐交，其次伐兵，其下攻城。攻城之法為不得已。 修櫓轒轀、具器械、三月而後成，距闉，又三月而後已。將不勝其忿 ，而蟻附之，殺士三分之一，而城不拔者，此攻之災也。故善用兵者 ，屈人之兵而非戰也。拔人之城而非攻也，破人之國而非久也，必以 全爭于天下，故兵不頓，而利可全，此謀攻之法也。
Some translation suggested:
Thus the highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy's plans; the next best is to prevent the junction of the enemy's forces; the next in order is to attack the enemy's army in the field; and the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities.
The rule is, not to besiege walled cities if it can possibly be avoided. The preparation of mantlets, movable shelters, and various implements of war, will take up three whole months; and the piling up of mounds over against the walls will take three months more.
The general, unable to control his irritation, will launch his men to the assault like swarming ants, with the result that one-third of his men are slain, while the town still remains untaken. Such are the disastrous effects of a siege.
Therefore the skillful leader subdues the enemy's troops without any fighting; he captures their cities without laying siege to them; he overthrows their kingdom without lengthy operations in the field.
With his forces intact he will dispute the mastery of the Empire, and thus, without losing a man, his triumph will be complete. This is the method of attacking by stratagem.
Moran: For that reason, the highest level of warfare attacks the enemy's planning. The next level attacks the enemy's communications or alliances. The next level attacks their soldiers. At the level below that one attacks their fortifications. Attacking fortifications is only to be done when there is no other alternative. 【"fortifications" literally means "walled city."】
The preparation of paveses, mantlet wagons, and all the siege tools necessary for attacking fortifications requires three months. 【A pavese is an extremely large shield for (usually) a single archer or other soldier to take shelter behind. A mantlet is a multi - soldier shield. The Chinese made four-wheeled vehicles that had canopies made of rough lumber covered with rawhide. These vehicles were used to shield workers bringing loads of earth to the edge of fortifications to build up attack ramps.】
Piling ramps against the enemy's walls will require an additional three months.
Supposing that the general could still not slake his fury (after the time required to make the aforesaid preparations), and required his troops to swarm over the walls like ants pouring out of their ant hill, and for that reason killed off one third of his officers and common soldiers, and was yet unable to take out the fortifications of the opposition, that would be a calamity brought on by his own attack.
So those who are good at warfare: Subjugate the other side's soldiers without fighting. Take out the other side's fortifications without making an attack. Destroy the other side's nation without a prolonged fight.
Ultimately, one must make a complete engagement with all under Heaven, so in this way one's soldiers will not lose their edge and yet benefits can be maximized. This is the method of attacking [solely] through the use of planning. 【The character-by-character translating of the first phrase would be: "Must use all/complete struggle/contend in heaven below." Some take this statement to mean that one must use keeping whole as one's principle while contending against the world, and some take this statement to mean that one must use an all out struggle against the world. If the only issue were keeping one's army with the least possible losses, something that Master Sun in deed advocates, there would be no need to mention the world (i.e., "all under heaven"). Taking the second alternative, "Your aim must be to take All - Under - Heaven intact." But that interpretation suggests a military campaign to conquer the world, an undertaking that would be bloody and costly under the best of conditions. The surface meaning suggests that Master Sun was talking about all out warfare. But 爭 can mean "to contend," and it is this broader sense of working out opposing interests that is relevant to Master Sun's real world situation. His country, Wu, was small, was faced by other nations that might want to conquer it, and needed to plan and operate to maintain its own security.】
【Master Sun has in mind the pursuit of a grand strategy. An example of such would be the strategy of containment first put forth by Ambassador George Kennan to deal with the expansive tendencies of the USSR.】
【One way to understand parts of the text above would make them inconsistent with previous text. He first says that one should fight only as a last resort. Subsequently he lists priorities that favor situations with no-fight no-lose conclusions, but then it appears that he could advocate making a war all over the world as it was then known. If he does not mean to express such an aggressive and unrealistic ambition, then I believe that he has to mean that the best general will have a total battlefield awareness of "all under Heaven" and will wage his struggle entirely on the level of being so well defended and so well prepared that nothing in the world can sink a barb in to his nation. Going forward with the aim of contending for and achieving supremacy over all under heaven would, for Master Sun, be a fool's mission.】
【Master Sun cannot hope to minimize losses to his nation without achieving a strategic capacity to anticipate and stymie all potential attacks. And he cannot maintain his capacity to defend his nation over the long run unless he minimizes losses to his troops. To achieve both objectives he must, on the highest plane of planning, maintain an integral web of diplomacy and intelligence over his entire world. The following discussion is on the lower, more specific, scale of inquiry: How can one best maintain one's capability for future military actions while succeeding in currently needed operations?
Let's discuss:
故上兵伐謀，其次伐交，其次伐兵，其下攻城。 攻城之法為不得已。: Therefore, the most ideal warfare is to attack enemy's stratagem. Next, then attack enemy's connections. Next, then attack their soldiers. The lowest level is to attack their walled city. Attacking walled city is only done when there is no other better alternative.
修櫓轒轀，具器械，三月而後成，: Preparing paveses, mantlet wagons, siege towers and all the tools needed for attacking walled city requires three months.
距閩又三月而後已。: Piling earth ramps against enemy's walls requires an additional three months.
將不勝其忿，而蟻附之，殺士卒三分之一，而城 不拔者，此攻之災也。: At this juncture, if the general still has not slaked his fury, he would then direct his troops to swarm over the walls like ants pouring out of their ant hill. Consequently, the conquest would have lost at least one third of his officers and soldiers, but yet the walled city remained intact. The general would have calamity brought unto him.
故善用兵者，: So those generals who are good at warfare:
屈人之兵而非戰也。: Subjugate enemy's soldiers without fighting.
拔人之城而非攻也，: Take out enemy's wall city without making an attack.
毀人之國而非久也。: Destroy enemy's nation without a prolonged fight.
必以全爭於天下，故兵不頓而利可全，此謀攻之法也。: Ultimately, one must use wholesomeness to conquer one's heaven and earth (world). Only so doing, one's soldiers will not lose their edge and yet maximizing benefits. This is THE method in attack by stratagems.
SunTzu suggested in this text that warfare strategies must occur at the highest form - mind warfare. Only after lack of better alternatives, lengthy preparation and given a long period of cooling-off, that physical attacks are conducted as the last resort. Even at this level, the aim is still to engage and win without actual fighting. This is the only method in attack by stratagems.
The silent text behind this was SunTzu after playing for such a long time in warfare. He felt no success in absolute battles. Whether as the victors or the losers, once they engaged in battle, they have all lost.
In business, it is not easy not to engage in warfare. No one in business would have thought that engaging in business warfare would take one's life. Hence, the liberal engagement. Little do they know once you have lost in a business warfare, you not only have to pay back what you have lost first before restarting again. This will set you back by at least 15 years. In the meantime, your spouse and children will leave you.
No many guys can take this lying down. Some took their lives by jumping off buildings and charcoal burning.
So the idea behind this text is you should never try to engage in business battles, unless you absolutely have to. It is lethal and life-threatening.
Find a way to collaborate than fight in business. It is hard. It is not easy-going. But, this is THE method in attack in stratagems in business.
If you have conducted your temple studies as in chapter 1 of SunTzu, your cunning would be way higher than your business collaborators, you should be safe from attacks. But, never employ cunning for dishonourable applies. Those around you would smell you from 10 miles away.
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