第 6 章 虚实篇

Sun Tzu said, when fighting, if you arrive at the battlefield first and wait for the enemy, it will be very easy.

If you arrive later, it will be very tiring.

Therefore, a skilled fighter can make the enemy listen to him, not him listen to the enemy.

How to make the enemy come?

Use small benefits to attract him.

How to prevent the enemy from going where he wants to go?

Find ways to block him.

Therefore, if the enemy rests well, make him tired.

If the enemy has plenty of food, make him hungry.

If the enemy lives securely, make him move.

To attack the enemy, strike where they cannot rescue.

In action, take a path the enemy does not expect.

The army can travel far without tiring, because the path they take has no enemy.

An attack will definitely succeed, because it targets a place the enemy does not pay attention to.

Defense will definitely hold, because it guards a place the enemy dares not attack.

Therefore, those who are good at attacking, the enemy does not know how to defend against.

Those who are good at defending, the enemy does not know how to attack.

This is very formidable, so formidable that others cannot see it.

This is very mysterious, so mysterious that others cannot hear it.

In this way, one can determine the enemy's outcome.

When advancing, the enemy cannot stop it, because we hit his weak points.

When retreating, the enemy cannot catch up, because we retreat quickly.

Therefore, if I want to fight, even if the enemy hides in a safe place, he must come out to fight me, because I hit a place he must rescue.

If I do not want to fight, even if I casually draw a circle on the ground, the enemy cannot attack me, because I make him change direction.

Therefore, use fake things to deceive the enemy, making him reveal his plan.

If I do not tell my plan, the enemy will not know.

In this way, my troops can stay together, and the enemy's troops become separated.

My troops are together, and the enemy's troops are divided into ten places, so I can use many troops to attack his few troops.

I can use many to attack few, so the enemies fighting me become fewer.

Where I want to attack, the enemy does not know.

He does not know, so he must prepare in many places.

The more places he prepares, the fewer soldiers he has.

Thus, the enemies fighting me are not many.

Therefore, if the enemy pays attention to the front, the soldiers in the back are fewer.

If they pay attention to the back, the soldiers in the front are fewer.

If they pay attention to the left, the soldiers on the right are fewer.

If they pay attention to the right, the soldiers on the left are fewer.

If they pay attention to every place, the soldiers in every place are fewer.

The enemy has fewer soldiers because he must prepare in every place.

I have more soldiers because I make the enemy separate.

If you know where to fight and when to fight, even if you travel a thousand li, you can still fight.

If you don't know where to fight and also don't know when to fight, then the left side cannot save the right side, the right side cannot save the left side, the front cannot save the back, and the back cannot save the front.

The far ones are tens of li away, and the near ones are also several li away.

In my view, although the troops of Yue are numerous, what help do they provide for the victory in battle.

Therefore, victory can be obtained.

Although the enemy's troops are numerous, you can also make it so that they cannot all fight against me.

Therefore, you must think carefully and know whether the enemy's plan is good or not.

You must move the enemy to know how they act.

You must use fake things to lure them and know where is easy to go and where is not easy to go.

You must try fighting a bit to know where they have many troops and where they have few troops.

Therefore, using fake things to deceive the enemy works best, and others cannot see through it at all.

They cannot see through it at all, even if there are people who are good at gathering information, they still do not know my situation.

Even if it is a very clever enemy, they cannot think of a way to deal with me.

Achieve victory based on the enemy's changes, show the victory to others, and others still cannot see through it.

Others only know that I achieve victory because of the enemy's changes, but they do not know how I do it.

Therefore, every victory is not achieved using old methods, but each time is different.

The law of warfare is like water.

Water flows to low places.

The law of warfare is to attack the enemy's weak points, not their strong points.

Water flows according to the terrain, warfare is fought according to the enemy's situation.

Therefore, there is no fixed method in warfare, just as water has no fixed shape.

Those who can achieve victory by adapting to the enemy's changes can be said to be very skilled in warfare.

The laws of warfare are like the changes in nature.

Metal, wood, water, fire, and earth influence each other, spring, summer, autumn, and winter follow one after another, days are sometimes long and sometimes short, the moon is sometimes full and sometimes not full, always changing.