The general receives his commands from the sovereign, collects his army, and concentrates his forces. Then the ground starts refusing the obvious next step. In difficult country, do not encamp. Where high roads intersect, join hands with your allies. Do not linger in dangerously isolated positions. In hemmed-in situations, resort to stratagem. In a desperate position, fight. There are roads which must not be followed, armies which must not be attacked, towns which must not be besieged, positions which must not be contested, and commands of the sovereign which must not be obeyed. The general who thoroughly understands the advantages that accompany variation of tactics knows how to handle his troops. The general who does not understand them may be well acquainted with the configuration of the country and still unable to turn his knowledge to practical account. The student of war who cannot vary his plans, even though acquainted with the Five Advantages, will fail to make the best use of his men.
In the wise leader's plans, considerations of advantage and of disadvantage are blended together. If the expectation of advantage is tempered in this way, one may succeed in accomplishing the essential part of one's schemes. If, in the midst of difficulties, one is always ready to seize an advantage, one may extricate oneself from misfortune. Reduce the hostile chiefs by inflicting damage on them, make trouble for them, keep them constantly engaged, hold out specious allurements, and make them rush to any given point. The art of war teaches reliance not on the likelihood of the enemy's not coming, but on one's own readiness to receive him, and not on the chance of his not attacking, but on the fact that the position has been made unassailable.
Five dangerous faults may affect a general. Recklessness leads to destruction. Cowardice leads to capture. A hasty temper can be provoked by insults. A delicacy of honour, sensitive to shame, can be stung by opprobrium. Over-solicitude for his men exposes him to worry and trouble. These are the five besetting sins of a general, ruinous to the conduct of war. When an army is overthrown and its leader slain, the cause will surely be found among these five dangerous faults. Sun Tzu leaves them as a subject of meditation.
Coming Up in Chapter 9
Chapter IX, The Army on the March, reads terrain like a field manual: when to pass mountains, where to camp, and how dust, birds, and camp behaviour reveal advance, retreat, or ambush before words do.
