Chapter Two: On Waging War

Author: * Sankira Qin - 5 Posts on this thread out of 1,342 Posts sitewide.
Date: Dec 9, 2004 - 22:00

The Text	Comments, Notes, and Alternate Translations
Sun Tzu said: In the operations of war, where there are in the field a thousand swift chariots, as many heavy chariots, and a hundred thousand mail-clad soldiers, with provisions enough to carry them a thousand li, the expenditure at home and at the front, including entertainment of foreign envoys and advisors, small items such as glue and paint, and sums spent on chariots and armor, will reach the total of a thousand ounces of silver per day. Such is the cost of raising an army of 100,000 men.	Here, Sun-Tzu is telling us that preparation for battle is as important as battle itself. That without the necessary equipment in good repair, and without the financial means to transport the army, one is not ready to engage in warfare. Master Sun's Art is as much about preparing for war as waging it. Remember, his aim is always to win with as little strife as possible. And a well-equipped army can go a long way, psychologically, to winning over the enemy without battle. Attention to detail is critical. Today, we would replace swift chariots with planes and missles, heavy chariots with tanks, and mail-clad soldiers with well armed soldiers — and make sure Congress (or Parliament or whoever) votes us enough money to keep them maintained. The principles are the same; only the equipment has changed.
When you engage in actual fighting, if victory is long in coming, then men's weapons will grow dull and their ardor will be damped. If you lay siege to a town, you will exhaust your strength.	Pretty much speaks for itself. The quicker the victory, the better. The longer a war goes on, the more likely it is that the the men will become disillusioned.
Again, if the campaign is protracted, the resources of the State will not be equal to the strain.	Same as above. A protracted war is expensive not only in lives, but monetarily as well.
Now, when your weapons are dulled, your ardor damped, your strength exhausted and your treasure spent, other chieftains will spring up to take advantage of your extremity. Then no man, however wise, will be able to avert the consequences that must ensue.	Once the fighting spirit wanes, the probability of victory lessens and others WILL take advantage of that.
Thus, though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays.
There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.
It is only one who is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on.	It is the wise general that can pick the battles that will most likely result in useful victories.
The skillful soldier does not raise a second levy, neither are his supply-wagons loaded more than twice.	As well as the admonitions above, this hearkens back to the principles that winning without fighting is the epitome of the skilled general and in order to do this most effectively, the general must prepare even before he leaves home (in the temple). Having done this, those generals that are better prepared will not have to send home for more troops and supplies. You can't keep asking the people back home to send troops and supplies if you don't have an actual plan for winning the war.
Bring war material with you from home, but forage on the enemy. Thus the army will have food enough for its needs.	It's always a good idea to shorten the supply train where possible (although it isn't always possible). Why use your own supplies when you can use the enemies and save your own for when there are no supplies to be found? Note: This is particularly important when it come to water. In fact, potable water supplies would be a logical place to look for enemy troops on reconnaisance patrols..
Poverty of the State exchequer causes an army to be maintained by contributions from a distance. Contributing to maintain an army at a distance causes the people to be impoverished.	This could be looked at in a two-fold aspect. The further you have to send the supplies, the more it costs to transport them. In addition, the longer the trip, the more supplies will be used not only by the army but by those transporting the goods. Loss of supplies in transport, too, will cost the people back home more, which means less for them. But also there is the psychological cost (to the people in the army itself) of being cut off from their "support system" at home. The further away from home a soldier it taken, the more cut off he feels. This can result in a tremendous cost to morale.
On the other hand, the proximity of an army causes prices to go up; and high prices cause the people's substance to be drained away.	This principle can be summed up in three famous words: Supply and Demand. First, merchants will raise their prices if they believe the soldiers will pay them. But in addition, there are now more people in the area pursuing the same amount of goods. So, prices are raised. If you have the money, you can buy the goods. It's a way for merchants to increase their wealth and also a means of determining how the existing supplies will be distributed. Not particularly a fair way of distribution, but human nature.
When their substance is drained away, the peasantry will be afflicted by heavy exactions (taxes).	When their money doesn't buy as much, heavy taxes become a burden. Again, this is a means of achieving victory against the enemy, but a reason to achieve a quick victory in regard to the population of one's own country.
With this loss of substance and exhaustion of strength, the homes of the people will be stripped bare, and three-tenths of their income will be dissipated; while government expenses for broken chariots, worn-out horses, breast-plates and helmets, bows and arrows, spears and shields, protective mantles, draught-oxen and heavy wagons, will amount to four-tenths of its total revenue.	Here Sun-Tzu is pointing out the effects of war on populations and governments. Indirectly, he seems also to be saying that to win a war, the army will need the support of the population. How many times has a war been won when the people were against it? People are willing to sacrifice to help the army achieve their aims, but such sacrifice is only tolerable for so long. Afterward, people become disillusioned and become less willing to lend their support. So, again, it is necessary to achieve a victory before the war begins to adversely affect the population.
Hence a wise general makes a point of foraging on the enemy. One cartload of the enemy's provisions is equivalent to twenty of one's own, and likewise a single picul of his provender is equivalent to twenty from one's own store.	Taking supplies from the enemy not only lessens the burden and cost of providing supplies that the people back home must bear, but in addition, it weakens the enemy for it means less for his army.
Now in order to kill the enemy, our men must be roused to anger; that there may be advantage from defeating the enemy, they must have their rewards.	I don't think Sun-Tzu literally means "anger" as we initially define the word. I believe an angry emotional soldier is less effective than one that is able to think strategically. However, for a man to be able to kill another man, he needs to depersonalize the enemy. If a soldier looked at the enemy as another human being with a family and friends and a life back home, it might be a lot harder for him to kill. So, he needs to be able to look at the enemy soldier as something other than himself. Propaganda has always been used to great effect in this regard. Witness the stories in Iraq that America is there to "destroy Islam" or on the other hand, the view of terrorists as crazed maniacs. Here we have each side being "roused to anger" and "saving Islam" or "protecting the innocent" as the rewards to be had.
Therefore in chariot fighting, when ten or more chariots have been taken, those should be rewarded who took the first. Our own flags should be substituted for those of the enemy, and the chariots mingled and used in conjunction with ours. The captured soldiers should be kindly treated and kept.	In Sun-Tzu's day, it was common practice to distribute some of the "booty" or "spoils of war" among the soldiers. It was another, more tangible form of reward that would help motivate them to fight. Replacing the enemies flags with one's own is a psychological gambit that helps to demoralize the enemy. And again, using the captured enemy equipment means more for your own soldiers at less cost to your people. As Kautilya of India pointed out in his treatise the Arthaśāstra, you should treat the captured enemy well. In this way, you make it easier for him to accept conquest, which means less battle for you in the future.
This is called, using the conquered foe to augment one's own strength.
In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.
Thus it may be known that the leader of armies is the arbiter of the people's fate, the man on whom it depends whether the nation shall be in peace or in peril.