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09 The Army on the March - The Art of War - Lao Tzu · The Philosophy Insights Collection

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  Chapter nine, The Army on the march Sun, Sou said, we come
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  now to the question of encamping the army and observing signs of the enemy.
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  Pass quickly over mountains and keep in the neighborhood of valleys. Camp in high
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  places facing the sun. Do not climb heights in order to fight. So
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  much for mountain warfare. After crossing a river, you should get far away
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  from it. When an invading force crosses a river in its onward march,
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  do not advance to meet it in midstream. It will be best to let
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  half the army get across and then deliver your attack. If you are anxious
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  to fight, you should not go to meet the invader near a river which
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  he has to cross. More your craft higher up than the enemy, and
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  facing the sun, do not move upstream to meet the enemy. So much
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  for river warfare. Salt marshes, your sole concern should be to get over
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  them quickly without any delay. If forced to fight in a salt marsh,
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  you should have water and grass near you, and get your back to a
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  clump of trees. So much for operations in salt marshes. In dry level
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  country, take up an easily accessible position with rising ground to your right and
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  on your rear, so that the danger may be in front and safely lie
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  behind. So much for campaigning in flat country. There are four useful branches
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  of military knowledge, which enabled the Yellow Emperor to vanquish four several sovereigns.
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  All armies prefer high ground to low, and sunny places to dark. If
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  you are careful of your men and camp on hard ground, the army will
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  be free from disease of every kind, and this will spell victory. When
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  you come to a hill or a bank, occupy the sunnyside with a slope
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  on your right rear. Thus you will at once act for the benefit of
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  your soldiers and utilize the natural advantages of the ground. When, in consequence
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  of heavy rains up country, a river which you wish to ford is swollen
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  and flecked with foam, you must wait until it subsides. Country in which
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  there are precipitous cliffs with torrents running between deep natural hollows. Confined places,
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  tangled thickets, quagmires, and crevasses should be left with all possible speed and
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  not approached. While we keep away from such places, we should get the
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  enemy to approach them. While we face them, we should let the enemy
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  have them on his rear. If in the neighborhood of your camp there should
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  be any hilly country, ponds surrounded by aquatic grass, hollow basins filled with
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  reeds, or woods with the undergrowth, they must be carefully routed out and
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  searched, for these are places where men in ambush and insidious spies are likely
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  to be lurking. When the enemy is close at hand and remains quiet,
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  he is relying on the natural strengths of his position. When he keeps aloof
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  and tries to provoke a battle, he is anxious for the other side to
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  advance. If his place of encampment is easy of access, he is tendering
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  a bait. Movement amongst the trees of a forest shows that the enemy is
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  advancing. The appearance of a number of screens in the midst of thick grass
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  means that the enemy wants to make us suspicious. The rising of birds in
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  their flight is the sign of an ambuscade. Startled beasts indicate that a sudden
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  attack is coming. When there is dust rising in a high column, it
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  is the sign of chariots advancing. When the dust is low spread over a
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  wide area. It betokens the approach of infantry. When it branches out in
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  different directions, it shows that parties have been sent to collect firewood. A
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  few clouds of dust moving to and fro signify that the army is encamping.
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  Humble words and increased preparations are signs that the enemy is about to advance.
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  Violent language in driving forward as if to attack are signs that he will retreat.
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  When the light chariots come out first and take up position on the wings,
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  it is a sign that the enemy is forming for battle. Peace proposals
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  unaccompanied by a sworn covenant indicate a plot. When there is much running about
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  and the soldiers fall into rank, it means that the critical moment has come.
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  When some are seen advancing and some retreating, it is a lure.
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  When the soldiers stand leaning on their spears, they are faint from want of
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  food. If those who are sent to draw water begin by drinking themselves,
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  the army is suffering from thirst. If the enemy sees an advantage to be
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  gained and makes no effort to secure it, the soldiers are exhausted. If
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  birds gather on any spot it is unoccupied, clamor by night betokens nervousness.
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  If there is disturbance in the camp, the general's authority is weak. If
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  the banners and flags are shifted about, sedition is afoot. If the officers
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  are angry, it means that the men are weary. When an army feeds
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  its horses with grain and kills its cattle for food, and when the men
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  do not hang their cooking pots over the camp fires, showing that they will
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  not return to their tents, you may know that they are determined to fight
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  to the death. The sight of men whispering together in small knots are speaking
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  in so viewed tones, points to disaffection amongst the rank and file. Two
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  frequent rewards signify that the enemy is at the end of his resources. Too
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  many punishments betray a condition of dire distress. To begin by bluster, but
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  after which to take fright at the enemy's numbers shows a supreme lack of intelligence.
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  When envoys are sent with compliments in their mouths, it is a sign
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  that the enemy wishes for a truce. If the enemy's troops march up angrily
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  and remain facing ours for a long time without either joining battle or taking themselves
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  off again. The situation is one that demands great vigilance and circumspection. If
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  our troops are no more in number than the enemy, that is amply sufficient.
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  It only means that no direct attack can be made. What we can
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  do is simply to concentrate all our available strength, keep a close watch on
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  the enemy, and obtain reinforcements. He who exercises no forethought but makes light
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  of his opponents is sure to be captured by them. If soldiers are punished
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  before they have grown attached to you, they will not prove submissive, and
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  in less submissive then will be practically useless. If when soldiers have become attached
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  to you, punishments are not enforced, they will still be useless. Therefore,
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  soldiers must be treated, in the first instance with humanity, but kept
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  under control by means of iron discipline. This is a certain road to victory.
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  If in training soldiers commands are habitually enforced, the army will be well
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  disciplined. If not, its discipline will be bad. If a general shows
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  confidence in his men but always insists on his art as being obeyed, the
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  gain will be mutual. End of Chapter nine