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Authors: Sun Tzu & James Clavell
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beforehand. There should be no fixity in your rules and arrangements.
Confront your soldiers with the deed itself, never let them know your design. When the outlook is bright, bring it before their eyes, but tell them nothing when the situation is gloomy. Place your army in deadly peril, and it will survive; plunge it into desperate straits, and it will come through in safety.
In 204 B.C. , Han Hsin was sent against the army of Chao, and halted ten miles from the mouth of the Ching-hsing pass, where the enemy had mustered in full force. Here, at midnight, he detached a body of 2,000 light cavalry, every man of which was furnished with a red flag. Their instructions were to make their way through narrow defiles and keep a secret watch on the enemy.
“When the men of Chao see me in full flight,” Han Hsin said, “they will abandon their fortifications and give chase. This must be the sign for you to rush in, pluck down the Chao standards and set up the red banners of Han in their stead.” Turning then to his other officers, he remarked: “Our adversary holds a strong position, and is not likely to come out and attack us until he sees the standard and drums of the commander in chief, for fear I should turn back and escape through the mountains.”
So saying, he first of all sent out a division consisting of 10,000 men, and ordered them to form in line of battle with their backs to the River Ti.
Seeing this maneuver, the whole army of Chao broke into loud laughter. By this time it was broad daylight, and Han Hsin, displaying the generalissimo’s flag, marched out of the pass with drums beating, and was immediately engaged by the enemy.
A great battle followed lasting for some time, until at length Han Hsin and his colleague Chang Ni, leaving drums and banners on the field, fled to the division on the river-bank, where another fierce battle was raging. The enemy rushed out to pursue them and to secure the trophies, thus denuding their ramparts of men, but the two generals succeeded in joining the other army, which was fighting with the utmost desperation.
The time had now come for the 2,000 horsemen to play their part. As soon as they saw the men of Chao following up their advantage, they galloped behind the deserted walls, tore up the enemy’s flags, and replaced them with those of Han.
When the Chao army turned back from the pursuit, the sight of these red flags struck them with terror. Convinced that the Hans had got in and overpowered their king, they broke up in wild disorder, every effort of their leader to stay the panic being in vain.
Then the Han army fell on them from both sides and completed the rout, killing a great number and capturing the rest, among whom was King Ya himself.
After the battle, some of Han Hsin’s officers came to him and said: “In The Art of War we are told to have a hill or tumulus on the right rear, and a river or marsh on the left front. You, on the contrary, ordered us to draw up our troops with the river at our back. Under these conditions, how did you manage to gain the victory?”
The general replied: “I fear you gentlemen have not studied The Art of War with sufficient care. Is it not written there: ‘Place your army in deadly peril, and it will survive; plunge it into desperate straits and it will come through in safety’? Had I taken the usual course, I should never have been able to bring my colleagues round. If I had not placed my troops in a position where they were obliged to fight for their lives, but had allowed each man to follow his own discretion, there would have been a general rout, and it would have been impossible to do anything with them.”
The officers admitted the force of his argument, and said: “These are higher tactics than we should have been capable of.”
For it is precisely when a force has fallen into harm’s way that it is capable of striking a blow for victory.
Success in warfare is gained by carefully accommodating ourselves to the
Confront your soldiers with the deed itself, never let them know your design. When the outlook is bright, bring it before their eyes, but tell them nothing when the situation is gloomy. Place your army in deadly peril, and it will survive; plunge it into desperate straits, and it will come through in safety.
In 204 B.C. , Han Hsin was sent against the army of Chao, and halted ten miles from the mouth of the Ching-hsing pass, where the enemy had mustered in full force. Here, at midnight, he detached a body of 2,000 light cavalry, every man of which was furnished with a red flag. Their instructions were to make their way through narrow defiles and keep a secret watch on the enemy.
“When the men of Chao see me in full flight,” Han Hsin said, “they will abandon their fortifications and give chase. This must be the sign for you to rush in, pluck down the Chao standards and set up the red banners of Han in their stead.” Turning then to his other officers, he remarked: “Our adversary holds a strong position, and is not likely to come out and attack us until he sees the standard and drums of the commander in chief, for fear I should turn back and escape through the mountains.”
So saying, he first of all sent out a division consisting of 10,000 men, and ordered them to form in line of battle with their backs to the River Ti.
Seeing this maneuver, the whole army of Chao broke into loud laughter. By this time it was broad daylight, and Han Hsin, displaying the generalissimo’s flag, marched out of the pass with drums beating, and was immediately engaged by the enemy.
A great battle followed lasting for some time, until at length Han Hsin and his colleague Chang Ni, leaving drums and banners on the field, fled to the division on the river-bank, where another fierce battle was raging. The enemy rushed out to pursue them and to secure the trophies, thus denuding their ramparts of men, but the two generals succeeded in joining the other army, which was fighting with the utmost desperation.
The time had now come for the 2,000 horsemen to play their part. As soon as they saw the men of Chao following up their advantage, they galloped behind the deserted walls, tore up the enemy’s flags, and replaced them with those of Han.
When the Chao army turned back from the pursuit, the sight of these red flags struck them with terror. Convinced that the Hans had got in and overpowered their king, they broke up in wild disorder, every effort of their leader to stay the panic being in vain.
Then the Han army fell on them from both sides and completed the rout, killing a great number and capturing the rest, among whom was King Ya himself.
After the battle, some of Han Hsin’s officers came to him and said: “In The Art of War we are told to have a hill or tumulus on the right rear, and a river or marsh on the left front. You, on the contrary, ordered us to draw up our troops with the river at our back. Under these conditions, how did you manage to gain the victory?”
The general replied: “I fear you gentlemen have not studied The Art of War with sufficient care. Is it not written there: ‘Place your army in deadly peril, and it will survive; plunge it into desperate straits and it will come through in safety’? Had I taken the usual course, I should never have been able to bring my colleagues round. If I had not placed my troops in a position where they were obliged to fight for their lives, but had allowed each man to follow his own discretion, there would have been a general rout, and it would have been impossible to do anything with them.”
The officers admitted the force of his argument, and said: “These are higher tactics than we should have been capable of.”
For it is precisely when a force has fallen into harm’s way that it is capable of striking a blow for victory.
Success in warfare is gained by carefully accommodating ourselves to the
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