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V. Energy
1. Sun Tzu said: The control of a large force is the same principle
as the control of a few men: it is merely a question of dividing up their numbers.
2. Fighting with a large army under your command is nowise different from fighting with a small one: it is merely
a question of instituting signs and signals.
3. To ensure that your whole host may withstand the brunt of the enemy's attack and remain unshaken -- this is
effected by maneuvers direct and indirect.
4. That the impact of your army may be like a grindstone dashed against an egg--this is effected by the science
of weak points and strong.
5. In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order
to secure victory.
6. Indirect tactics, efficiently applied, are inexhaustible as Heaven and Earth, unending as the flow of rivers
and streams; like the sun and moon, they end but to begin anew; like the four seasons, they pass away to return
once more.
7. There are not more than five musical notes, yet the combinations of these five give rise to more melodies than
can ever be heard.
8. There are not more than five primary colors (blue, yellow, red, white, and black), yet in combination they produce
more hues than can ever been seen.
9. There are not more than five cardinal tastes (sour, acrid, salt, sweet, bitter), yet combinations of them yield
more flavors than can ever be tasted.
10. In battle, there are not more than two methods of attack--the direct and the indirect; yet these two in combination
give rise to an endless series of maneuvers.
11. The direct and the indirect lead on to each other in turn. It is like moving in a circle--you never come to
an end. Who can exhaust the possibilities of their combination?
12. The onset of troops is like the rush of a torrent which will even roll stones along in its course.
13. The quality of decision is like the well-timed swoop of a falcon which enables it to strike and destroy its
victim.
14. Therefore the good fighter will be terrible in his onset, and prompt in his decision.
15. Energy may be likened to the bending of a crossbow; decision, to the releasing of a trigger.
16. Amid the turmoil and tumult of battle, there may be seeming disorder and yet no real disorder at all; amid
confusion and chaos, your array may be without head or tail, yet it will be proof against defeat.
17. Simulated disorder postulates perfect discipline, simulated fear postulates courage; simulated weakness postulates
strength.
18. Hiding order beneath the cloak of disorder is simply a question of subdivision; concealing courage under a
show of timidity presupposes a fund of latent energy; masking strength with weakness is to be effected by tactical
dispositions.
19. Thus one who is skillful at keeping the enemy on the move maintains deceitful appearances, according to which
the enemy will act. He sacrifices something, that the enemy may snatch at it.
20. By holding out baits, he keeps him on the march; then with a body of picked men he lies in wait for him.
21. The clever combatant looks to the effect of combined energy, and does not require too much from individuals.
Hence his ability to pick out the right men and utilize combined energy.
22. When he utilizes combined energy, his fighting men become as it were like unto rolling logs or stones. For
it is the nature of a log or stone to remain motionless on level ground, and to move when on a slope; if four-cornered,
to come to a standstill, but ifround-shaped, to go rolling down.
23. Thus the energy developed by good fighting men is as the momentum of a round stone rolled down a mountain thousands
of feet in height. So much on the subject of energy.
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Sections
Part I - Laying Plans
Part II - Waging War
Part III - Attack By Strategem
Part IV - Tactical Dispositions
Part V - Energy
Part VI - Weak Points and Strong
Part VII - Maneuvering
Part VIII - Variation in Tactics
Part IX - The Army On the March
Part X - Terrain
Part XI - The Nine Situations
Part XII - The Attack By Fire
Part XIII - The Use of Spies
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