Nov 25 (edited) in 📚 Book Summaries
The Art of War : Classic Military Strategy For Business And Life
Victory is achieved through planning, computing, and comparing armies.
A state fights for its survival when it goes to war. Therefore, the art of war is to be studied meticulously. When war comes, this knowledge must be executed perfectly.
A general who makes detailed plans before a war will definitely trump a general who does not. Hence, it is necessary to make plans and discuss before battles. Comparing two armies with seven factors can spell out defeat or victory.
1. Which of two leaders of warring states has complete command and obedience from his people that even in death they will follow him?
2. Which ruler is more competent?
3. Which faction has the advantage of heaven and earth. This pertains to things like weather, distance, and terrain.
4. Who disciplines their men more?
5. Whose army is stronger?
6. Who has more trained men and officers?
7. Who is more consistent in giving rewards and punishments for discipline?
You must compare the army of your enemy well to your army so you will know his strengths and weaknesses. Plan according to circumstances at hand. Knowing your opponent and knowing yourself will guarantee you victory.
Victory is achieved through planning, computing, and comparing armies.
Never be defeated by waiting for the perfect opportunity for victory.
People who win only go to battles they are sure they will win. Unsuccessful people act and do not think of how they will win.
A skilled warrior steers clear of battles he could lose, this secures his being never defeated. However, even the smartest general can’t tell exactly when he will win. He must always wait for his nemesis to make a mistake that will guarantee his victory.
There are five rules every successful general knows to attain victory.
1. You need to know when to enter a battle or not.
2. You need to know how to handle armies above and below your ranking.
3. Your army should have a strong and uniform discipline and spirit in all ranks.
4. You must be prepared when fighting, at the same time, your enemy must be unprepared.
5. You must have the authority and freedom to order your troops with complete control and free from sovereign interferences.
Be vigilant. Only attack when you have the upper hand. Do not face your enemy when he is strong, attack him when he is weak.
Do not go to war only because you are angry. There should always be a prize. Your hatred will cease eventually, but once a kingdom is desecrated, it cannot be restored.
Stay clear from enemy traps that try to draw you in. Do not command your army to places where supplies are scarce or when the battleground is unfamiliar.
Never be defeated by waiting for the perfect opportunity for victory.
Success in war can only be achieved when generals and sovereigns don’t bring their own defeat to themselves.
A general commands an army, but it is the sovereign that commands a general. Thus, a sovereign’s commands can deter a general’s victory. The worst scenario is when he commands an army to retreat or advance when it is impossible to do so. Governing an army in a lax way or putting officers in wrong roles are hindrances to victory.
Such mistakes affect an army’s confidence and may lead to defeat.
A general can also show disastrous weaknesses like being reckless and leading his army to a sure defeat. He can also show cowardice and become captured by the enemy. He can also be very proud and toxic that insults and enemy slander provoke him easily. He can also be too entrenched in the comfort of his soldiers and let such concerns disrupt military strategies.
A general is responsible for these six disasters that affects armies:
1. Letting his army go against an army whose ten times its number making his warriors run away.
2. If his officers are weaker than his soldiers which causes insubordination.
3. If soldiers are easily worn down by officers because they are weak.
4. If officers are hateful and lack discipline which causes independent attacks that destroy the army.
5. If the leader is indecisive and weak causing a disorganized army.
6. If the leader cannot estimate the strength of the enemy and throws a force that is inferior to it leading to absolute defeat.
Take care of your resources through strategy, foraging, and spying. To maintain an army costs a lot. A group of 100,000 can cost you 1,000 ounces of silver per day for things like weapons, food, chariots, armor, and animals.
A war that goes on for a long time can deplete a state of its resources making it vulnerable and weak. Always go for fast and sure victories and not stretched out wars.
Stay clear of conquering walled cities. This could take months of preparing causing impatient officers to command their army to attack pointlessly.
The ideal method of conserving resources in war is to conquer the enemy’s army, city, or country at large than destroy it through an expensive battle. Doing this requires a force bigger than your enemy’s.
A skilled leader defeats his enemies without drawing a sword. This ensures ultimate victory. This is called winning by strategy. The best fighters are not only skilled in winning but also winning easily.
Another approach to save state resources is to steal them from your enemy by local foraging and extending your strength by seizing your enemy’s men, weapons, and armor. This solves the problem of supplying your own army with your own resources and saves your peasants from carrying your army.
There are times in war that a single battle can end a war. This is done through spies. They give your enemy false secrets and give you enemy information to make quick decisions.
Stay close to your spies and give them bountiful rewards. The price is small compared to a long war that can be avoided.
Building a strategy that revolves on a spy that told you a secret requires you to kill him along with the people who he told the secret to so the plan holds power.
Trick your enemy and let him do what you want.
Winning a war is all about deception. Deceive your enemy you are weak when you are strong, timid when you are courageous, and disorderly when you are in complete control. Play your enemy and make him careless.
Let your soldiers act disorderly when truthfully you are in order. When you are near your enemy, make it look like you are far. When you can attack, feign the inability to do so.
Like a cat does with a mouse, play with your enemy. If he is quick-tempered, provoke him. If he is relaxed, disturb him. If he is well-stocked, starve him. If he is settled, make him move out. If you want your enemy to go forward, wait to bait him and if you want him to retreat, do a lot of damage.
A smart general takes initiative and controls the enemy.
Attack where the enemy is vulnerable--areas where he rushes to defend. Make him reveal himself so you will know his weaknesses.
Make your enemy constantly wonder where you will attack so he will be forced to spread out his army. Weakness in number comes also in the form of not being able to prepare for attacks.
Study the war terrain and make a strategy around it.
A great leader always knows that there are impossible battle positions, roads that should not be followed, and orders from sovereign bodies that should not be fulfilled.
Like water running shifting its course from the ground it travels, you too must adjust to an environment, situation, and the enemy’s condition.
Study the terrain to make use of its advantages and keep away from disadvantages. To fight, do not climb high places, travel upstream or avoid water and shelter.
Do not stay on cliffs, confined places, quagmires that can eliminate entire armies. Be on the look out for birds or beasts that make sounds when an ambush approaches.
Investigate the enemy. When warriors lean on their weapons while standing, they are suffering from starvation. When they seek out water, they are thirsty.
When they start to eat their cows, forget to hang pots on camp fires, and behave like they will not return to their camp, this means they are going to fight until death.
Adjust your strategy as necessary to the circumstances and take full of advantage as opportunities appear.
A successful war is a troop managed sternly, keeping them in uncertainty, and making them fight to the death. Managing a small army is no different from managing a big army. It’s only a matter of dividing them into groups and using the correct signals to command them. You can make use of drums, gongs, banners, and signal fires.
Together they will move as one unit, and the scared will never dare to retreat, and the brave will not attack alone. A powerful general commands an army like he is leading just one man by the hand.
Take care of your soldiers like they are your sons and they will be by your side until their deaths. If you cannot command, they are as useless as spoiled kids.
Imbue them with discipline and you will have victory. For discipline to be implemented, your men must need you. Ergo, you must manage them humanely, at the same time keeping them in check with punishments.
As a leader, you must keep secrets. Make your soldiers clueless and change plans often to keep all parties, including the enemy, guessing.
Switch camps and take long routes instead of easy ones. Reveal your hand only when necessary, like being in a hostile country.
When things look up, tell your men your strategy. When things are grim, keep matters in your head.
The deeper you go into a hostile country, the stronger your soldiers are bonded.
Put them in harrowing situations they can’t escape, so they will leave their fears and fight with their full strength until they die.
Final summary
The main takeaway in this read:
War is of life and death for the country, requiring careful planning and measuring must be in the equation in the actions of war. A great leader only chooses to fight when there is a sure victory, making him undefeated. He is vigilant, adaptable, and resourceful. He puts his will on the enemy, and deceives and irks him to make a wrong move.
Questions this book answered are:
How you can never be defeated and always win?
Planning, measuring, and comparing armies leads to winning.
Waiting for the perfect opportunity for victory secures winning.
War can only be won when sovereigns and leaders do not cause their defeat.
How can you take advantage of your enemy?
Save resources through strategy, hunting, and spying.
Trick your enemy and make him do what you want.
Study the battlefield and your opponent, then adapt to the situation.
How do you manage your army?
To be successful, impose discipline on your soldiers sternly. Keep them uncertain and do not make them afraid to die in the battlefield.
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The Art of War : Classic Military Strategy For Business And Life
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