Waging War

M aster Sun said: reckon the cost first. A thousand fast chariots, a thousand heavy ones, a hundred thousand men in armor, grain hauled a thousand li. Add what you spend at home and at the front, the envoys and their hospitality, the glue and paint for repairs, the upkeep of chariots and arms — a thousand pieces of silver a day. Only then can you put an army of a hundred thousand in the field. Master Sun said: in the method of waging war, there are a thousand fast chariots, a thousand heavy chariots, a hundred thousand armored troops, and grain carried a thousand li. Then the costs at home and abroad, the upkeep of envoys, the materials of glue and lacquer, the supply of chariots and armor — a thousand pieces of gold a day. Only then can an army of a hundred thousand be raised.

Once the fighting starts, drag it out and your edge goes dull. Lay siege to a walled town and your strength runs out. Keep an army in the field too long and the treasury cannot bear it. In the use of war, if victory is slow it blunts the troops and dulls their edge; if you assault walled towns your strength is exhausted; if the army is long exposed in the field, the state's resources fall short.

Let your weapons go blunt, your edge dull, your strength spent and your money gone, and the other lords will move on you while you are down. Then no one, however clever, can clean up what follows. When the troops are blunted, their edge broken, their strength bent and their goods used up, then the other feudal lords will rise to exploit your collapse, and even a wise man will not be able to mend what comes after.

“In war, then, prize the quick win, not the long campaign.”

So you will hear of war that was clumsy but quick. You will never see one that was clever and long. No state has ever profited from a war it let drag on. So one hears of war that is crude but swift; one has never seen war that is skillful yet drawn out. There has never been a case of a prolonged war from which the state has profited.

A man who does not grasp the full harm of war cannot grasp its full advantage either. One who does not fully know the harms of using war cannot fully know its advantages.

The one who is good at war does not levy his men twice or load his grain wagons three times. Take your equipment from home, but feed your army off the enemy. Then it will have grain enough. One skilled at war does not conscript a second time and does not load grain three times. Take supplies from your own state, but take grain from the enemy — then the army's food will be sufficient.

A state goes poor shipping supplies to a distant army. Ship them far and the common people are bled. Camp an army near them and prices climb; high prices drain the people's substance. Drained, they buckle under levies. Strength gone and wealth gone, the homes of the heartland are stripped bare. Of an ordinary household's income, seven parts in ten are gone; of the state's, broken chariots and worn horses, armor and helmets, bows and arrows, spears and shields, oxen and wagons take six parts in ten. A state is impoverished by its army through distant transport; distant transport impoverishes the common people. Where an army is near, prices rise; high prices drain the people's wealth; with wealth drained, they are pressed by levies. Strength bent and goods spent, the homes of the central plain are emptied — of the people's income, seven parts in ten are gone; of the state's, broken chariots and worn-out horses, armor and helmets, bows and crossbows, halberds and shields, draft oxen and heavy wagons, six parts in ten are gone.

So the wise general feeds off the enemy. One measure of the enemy's grain is worth twenty hauled from home; one bale of his fodder is worth twenty of yours. So the wise general makes a point of feeding off the enemy. One zhong of the enemy's grain is worth twenty of one's own; one picul of his fodder-stalks is worth twenty of one's own.

What makes men kill the enemy is anger. What makes them seize his goods is reward. So in a chariot fight, when you have taken ten chariots or more, reward the man who took the first. Swap out their flags for your own. Mix the captured chariots into your own ranks and use them, and treat the captured soldiers well and keep them. This is what it means to beat the enemy and grow stronger doing it. What rouses men to kill the enemy is anger; what makes them take the enemy's goods is reward. So in chariot fighting, when ten or more chariots are captured, reward the one who took the first. Change out their flags and banners, mix the chariots in and ride them, treat the captured soldiers well and keep them. This is called defeating the enemy and growing stronger by it.

In war, then, prize the quick win, not the long campaign. The general who understands war holds the people's lives in his hands and decides whether the state stands safe or stands in danger. In war, then, value victory, not duration. So the general who understands war is the arbiter of the people's fate and the master of whether the state is safe or in peril.

作戰 The original Chinese · honored as an artifact

孫子曰：凡用兵之法，馳車千駟，革車千乘，帶甲十萬，千里饋糧，則內外之費，賓客之用，膠漆之材，車甲之奉，日費千金，然後十萬之師舉矣。

Opening lines, classical Chinese · The Art of War 孫子兵法