PDF Summary:The Art of War, by Sun Tzu

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The Terrain can be understood as “the lay of the land.” Geographical factors to consider include distance to be traversed, type of terrain and accompanying effort required to cross it, land size, and degrees of security or harm encompassed in the environment.

• Once these elements are known, you can accurately determine the best strategies to approach the land.

The Leadership relates to the constitution of leaders and how it affects their ability to command successfully. A good leader should display the combined qualities of intelligence, trustworthiness, humaneness, courage, and sternness.

• Depending on one quality over another or dismissing one completely creates a broken link in the leader’s ability to be effective.

Discipline means the level of structure and organization within the ranks. How troops and officials are organized is as important as material preparations, such as supplies and weapons, for the success of military action.

• Both soldiers and leaders need to be disciplined in their training.
• If either is not prepared sufficiently, fear and confusion on the battlefield are likely.

Using Knowledge to...

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• Further impacting locals, the supply of goods will be used up quickly by the military. When there is no more food, the locals will suffer.
• They will have no money available for the procurement of goods from other sources.
• Without food and money, the quality of life for the locals will decrease.

Lengthy campaigns create a negative situation for the homeland, whether the battleground is nearby or far away.

• When resources are depleted through lengthy battles, the people, as well as the military, become exhausted and suffer.
• If your country is left in peril without resources or money, there will be no one to support your leadership anymore.
• If the military acts intelligently, everyone involved, including those at home, will benefit.

Managing Your Force

You should gather your troops only after an assessment of yourself and your enemy has been made and victory is determined the likely outcome. If you gather troops too soon and have to redo the action down the line when you really need them, the public will be weary and less supportive.

However, gathering the troops is not all that is required to build a strong and successful force....

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Prepare Adequately

However, if strategic, psychological warfare does not lead to an early solution, then you may be called upon to physically attack enemy forces. Attacks should be on enemy forces only, not territories, cities, or civilians.

• Prepare ahead of time to avoid catastrophe in the field. Sun Tzu says six months are required to prepare the materials for an attack, including weapons and shelters, to avoid malfunctions and casualties. Don’t rush into battle without first ensuring that you’re adequately prepared. If you fight from a place of anger and don’t take time to prepare, you will be sending your troops to their deaths.

A strategic siege is one where your forces are still strong, your resources still ample, and your casualties are nil.

The Rules for Approaching Enemy Forces

If all traits are equal between you and your enemy, there are rules for how to proceed.

If you have ten times the troops, you should surround the enemy.

• A large differential is needed if you are to enclose them without gaps in the formation.

If your numbers are not large enough to attack, such as only five times larger than those of the enemy, divide...

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A victorious leader wins first and battles second. Therefore, a good leader takes advantage of opportunity, wherein they succeed when winning is easy. An easy victory means understanding the nuances of your opponent in order to preemptively strike.

• Stand on advantageous ground by taking into consideration all circumstances that create vulnerability in your opponent.
• Another way of thinking about advantageous ground is creating a strategy that is so inscrutable and adaptable that defeating you becomes close to impossible.
• You have a contingency for everything, making you always prepared.
• You know your opponents so well as to be able to recognize even the slightest weakness and exploit it.

Historical Example: The Consequences of Battle Without Strategy

Toward the end of the sixth century, two empires were in conflict for supremacy: the Zhou and the Qi. The Zhou ruler wanted to attack a valuable Qi territory, but one of his advisors cautioned against it. The advisor expressed concern over the large and highly trained Qi forces tasked with defending the territory, stating that even if they attacked with their full strength, they would not be...

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• Orthodox behavior is always direct, and unorthodox behavior is always a surprise.
• But the manifestation of each is endless in its possibilities.

Manipulate what your enemy views as orthodox and unorthodox behaviors. By feigning orthodox behavior, you set your opponent up for attack through unorthodox action. For instance, disorganization emerges from organization, fear emerges from bravery, and vulnerability emerges from strength.

• If you want to appear unorganized, you must first be organized.
• If you want to appear cowardly, you must come from a place of courage.
• If you want to appear weak, you must start from a foundation of strength.
• These deceptions will mislead your enemy.

Deception is a great way to gain information about your opponent. If they think you are weak and they attack, you know the level of their aggression and greed.

Any time you can confuse or deceive the opponent, you force them to adapt. In these adaptations, you can discern their patterns of movement, strength of force, and tendencies to react.

• This information becomes useful in determining how to strategize against them.
• You will know...

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Six Tactics to Gain Advantage

1) Draw your opponents out. By continuing to draw your opponent out, you cause them to give up their advantage. You force your opponent to focus their strength in a particular direction.

• If they are comfortable, make them mobilize.
  • Leaving a place of comfort creates stress.
  • Forcing them to continually be on the defensive creates exhaustion.
• If they are healthy and sufficient in supplies, attack their supplies.
• When they are on defense, attack a vital target to ensure their offense.

2) Be formless. You attack where they are not so they don’t know where to defend. You defend by laying low so they don’t know where to attack. When you are formless, your opponent will not be able to generate intelligence and cannot adapt.

• This will confuse the opponent. They will become wary of your strategies and reluctant to engage in conflict.

3) Attack what is dear to them. If your opponent attempts to be formless, draw them out by attacking what is dear to them. They will not be able to resist defending and rescuing what is important to them.

• When you force your enemy to take a form while...

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Three Other Considerations During Armed Struggle

1) Use signals to gain fullness and force emptiness. Signals are a way of organizing your troops and confusing the enemy.

• Use drums and banners to draw multiple ears and eyes to the same message. Drums and banners signify unity among your troops so all are linked under the same umbrella.
• Use signals to send false messages to enemies, such as setting more fires than there are troops (as in the example in the previous chapter) or raising more banners than there are squads.

2) Understand the nature of energy and how it leads to advantages. Energy is the key to any successful mission. Energy is strong in the mornings, wanes in the afternoon, and depletes in the evening.

• A good leader does not strike the energized. They wait until the energy has waned or depleted to strike.

Morning also means early in the battle, afternoon means mid-battle, and evening means the end of battle.

• If conflict has gone on for too long, the energy of the enemy’s troops will wane, and they will be more vulnerable.
• Psychologically, even the most timid soldier is brave when energized. But as their energy...

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• Make your enemy believe harm will come from attacking you, and they will thwart themselves.
• Confuse the enemy with deception and formlessness, and they will work overtime chasing you around.
• Tempt the enemy with profit, and they will be easily persuaded.

Assume the enemy will enter conflict and attack, and prepare for it before it is even broached.

There are five ways you can do more harm than good as a leader.

• If you have no fear of death, you can be killed.
• If you have too great a fear of death, you are vulnerable to capture.
• If you have a hot temper, you can be lured into foolish situations.
• If you are self-righteous, you can be offended easily.
• If you are too benevolent, you can be lured into rescue traps or hesitant to take the necessary actions.

Therefore, you should not be resigned to death or feel that life is too precious. Be guided by strategy and momentum only, thereby being immune to goading or flattery.

Historical Example: Tempting the Enemy into Formation

During the Spring and Autumn Era, the state of Chu wanted to attack the state of Jiao. The Chu general knew that the Jiao were small and led by volatility. He...

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• If the dust is close to the ground, it is caused by foot traffic.
• If birds gather in a certain area, there is no disturbance there.
• If there are disturbances in the undergrowth, be mindful. It may be a trap or misdirection.

Reading the Enemy

Look out for signs of the enemy’s behavior, interpret them to understand the enemy’s weakness, and react accordingly.

Signs of Exhaustion, Thirst, or Hunger

• If the negotiator is irritable, it means they are exhausted.
• If the enemy requires fortification to stand upright, they are weak and hungry.
• If enemy troops are sent to fetch water for the group and those sent pause to drink first, their entire group is thirsty.
• If the enemy hands out numerous punishments, they are trying to motivate tired troops or are reacting to worn-out troops who are not able to follow commands.

Signs of Fear

• If you see that the enemy has an opportunity to gain advantage but they do not react, they are weary.
• If you hear enemy calls in the night, they are communicating fear. Calling out in the night is a way of connecting with each other for security.

Signs of Imminent Retreat

• If an...

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• Do not fight uphill on this terrain.
• If you get there first, set up high and wait for the enemy.
• If the enemy gets there first, retreat and fortify your defense position.

Wide-open terrain: Terrain that lends no advantages to either side.

• On this terrain, the momentum is equal.
• Do not advance or engage in battle on this terrain because there is no way to gain advantage.

Once you have assessed your opponent and the terrain, you will have a clear picture of where advantages lie and can be victorious. If you don’t assess either, you will lose.

The Nine Grounds

There are nine types of “grounds” encompassed in armed conflicts.

Ground of dissolution: Basically a civil war, in which two factions from the same territory war with each other.

• When troops battle close to home, their stability and endurance come into question.

Light ground: When you enter foreign territory but stay along the fringe.

• Light ground allows troops to retreat easily.
• Because light ground is easy to retreat from, the minds of the troops are not yet overcome by the realities of their duty, making them less effective.
• When on light...

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Arms

The use of arms should be considered carefully and only when all other tactics have been exhausted. The main goal of conflict is to avoid direct battle and defeat.

Only mobilize armed forces when there is no choice but to do so. Do not allow anger, pride, or petty grievances to guide your decisions.

Only go to battle when it is advantageous or easy to do so. If it is not, do not advance.

Emotions are malleable. They come and go with the seasons. But a broken nation cannot be rebuilt to its former self, and the dead cannot be resurrected. Remember these solemn truths when deciding whether or not to use arms.

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Living spies: Spies who gather information and return to your basecamp to report.

• The best living spies are those who appear innocent and simple but are in fact cunning and clever.
• These spies should be forgettable on the outside but stalwart on the inside.
• They should be courageous, trustworthy, immune to flattery and persuasion, and able to overcome a variety of negative conditions, whether personal, natural, or psychological in nature.

The Role of the Spy

The secrecy involved with using and maintaining spies is on level with the necessary secrecy of strategy. Spies are some of the most cherished and rewarded individuals among the ranks, for their contribution is vital. Therefore, it is imperative to treat spies well so as not to entice them to revert to reverse spies for the enemy.

There is a mutual understanding between a good leader and a spy.

• A job well done will garner the spy rich rewards.
• A failed job will lead to the spy’s death.
• If information is received before a spy returns with the information, both the spy and the messenger should be killed.

Likewise, spies are only as good as the intelligence of the...

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As well as guarding your strategy from the troops, guard the dangers and disadvantages, as well.

• Do not make them fearful of the tasks ahead.
• Keep them motivated with thoughts of advantage.
• When danger comes upon them, they will voluntarily mobilize to survive.

Ignorance in Leadership

A good leader always takes into account the dangers as well as the advantages when determining action. The mark of defeat is when a leader does not consider advantages and disadvantages. They either rush into battle, react too slowly, are susceptible to emotional disturbances, and fail to conceal strategies. For this leader, defeat is not an occurrence but a consequence.

There are six ways poor leadership leads to defeat.

• Not examining the size of their troops and those of their opponents.
• Not instituting a system of rewards and punishments, or instituting one that is not strictly enforced.
• Poorly training and preparing their troops.
• Having a poor disposition or being easily emotionally distrubed.
• Being unable to command and maintain control of their ranks.
• Not considering the strengths and weaknesses of their troops.

Further...