2308) Did You Know Series (62): (Part One): Some interesting Excerpts from "The Art of War" - A Book by Sun Tzu:

2308) Did You Know Series (62): (Part One): Some interesting Excerpts from "The Art of War" - A Book by Sun Tzu:

This post was inspired by the on-going Ukraine-Russia War, which has already crossed 50 days, devastated several Ukrainian cities and brought about several casualties of both military personnel and Ukrainian civilians.

I brought out a Reference Book from my personal library of Land, Sea and Air Battles Warcraft, which with some modifications for modern warfare still holds good. The Book is titled "THE ART OF WAR" by Sun Tzu":

Some excerpts from the thoughts/strategies of Sun Tzu (or Sunzi):

Sun Tzu or Sunzi (and not Sunjoo) was a general and strategist in the service of King He Lu of Wu during the Spring and Autumn Annals period of Ancient China (770-476 BCE).

Some of his strategies are still relevant in modern day warfare and still largely followed by the Chinese Army.

Sun Tzu was of the view that no matter how large or small the size of any army -

War has five decisive factors, which a general must take into account in his planning . Understanding the nature of war is of vital importance to the State. War is the place where life and death meet, it is the road to destruction or survival. It demands extensive study, which the commanders must take into account in their planning and understand their relevance. These five are -

- A Moral Compass - which brings the people into accord with their  ruler so that they will follow him in life and in death without fear.

- Heavens - encompass night and day, heat or cold and changing of the seasons.

- Earth - encompasses nearness and distance, ease and hinderance, wide plains and narrow gorges - matters of life and death.

- Commander - The General must be possessed of wisdom, honesty, benevolence, courage and discipline.

- Regulation - means the marshalling and training of the army, correct organisation and control of supplies.

A general must pay attention to all five factors.

To be successful in war, a successful general should follow the path of Deception:

Thus, when planning victory, one must act according to the situation and make use of external factors. To act according to the situation is to seize the advantage by adapting one's plans.

Thus, when one is able to act - feign incapacity,

 when deploying - feign inactivity, 

when close - appear to be far off,

when the enemy seeks an advantage - lure him far, 

if he is in disorder - crush him,

if he is organised - be ready for him, 

when he is strong - avoid him,

when he is angry - goad him further,

if he is humble - be overbearing,

if he is resting - harry him,

if his armies are united - split them, 

attack when he is unprepared,

appear when you are least expected - surprise is the key to victory.

Plan for many eventualities, before the battle. 

Many options bring victory, few options bring defeat, no options at all spell disaster.

Only someone who understands the perils of waging war, can also understand the best way of conducting it:

For the military operations, for example, if one has an army of 1,00,000 mechanised troops and 500 tanks (in the present day context), the commander will need provisions for the maintenance/battle readiness for the army and armour, food supplies and also to maintain extensive supply lines from the parent country or forage from the enemy territories etc.

If the objectives of waging the war and achieving victory get delayed, then both troops and weapons get blunted, besieging any city will exhaust the army's strength, a protracted campaign depletes the State's resources. With the soldiers and weapons getting blunted, strength and resources spent, the adversary will seize their chance and harass you. Then no matter how wise you are, you can turn nothing to advantage.

(Part 2 of this post is under preparation and will be posted shortly)