The Art of War – Book Review (Part-2)
9. Caution: No one can be attacked if they are angry
At this stage of the Art of War, Sun-Xu said, “No intelligent leader should send troops to fight for his own anger or pride. No true general fights out of anger. “
10. Importance of information: All the information about the opponent must be confirmed and go to war
The most important thing that can help an army hero win a battle is accurate information about the enemy. Information that ordinary people can never get.
Sun-Xu said there is talk of magic-tones about getting such information. But in the true sense of the word, it is not possible to obtain these impossible secrets through magic or sitting at home.
Accurate and accurate information about the opponent can be obtained only by one’s own trusted person stationed in the enemy camp. Put, the use of spies.
He cannot be made a spy unless he is very intelligent, brave, and cunning. The spies have to choose very carefully. At the same time, they have to manage their work in a very clever way.
The person who will be in charge of managing these spies and receiving their reports – has to be very intelligent. The integrity of their report must be verified in a very subtle way. Being able to use spies properly means you will have the inside information of the enemy.
If there is no accurate information about the opponent, a general can mistake like sending a small army against a large army. To select the right person for a campaign, the general must have accurate information about the target of that campaign. Otherwise, it is more likely to fail.
No matter how strong the weapons and armies are, if the enemy has no accurate idea of their strengths and weaknesses, habits, and fighting tactics – even a relatively large force can be defeated by a small force. Again, this accurate information can help a small and well-armed force win against a very strong opponent.
11. How to lose: Tell soldiers something they can’t; Giving promotions to ineligible people; Excessive workload on the team
At this point in the Art of War book, Sun-Xu says that a leader can bring misfortune to his forces/team in three ways:
- Unreasonably telling the forces to move forward or backward (in war). Trying to force one’s people to do something even after knowing the impossibility. It cripples an army or team.
- If the king wants to manage the army like he manages other affairs of the kingdom. In many places, the king’s will is the last word. But that’s not the case with team management. It causes unrest and anger among the soldiers.
- Appointing officers without considering proper qualifications. Deploying incompetent people without understanding the situation. It destroys the confidence of ordinary soldiers.
An intelligent commander prefers team strength to personal strength. He puts the right people in the right place and uses the power of the whole team in the right way.
12. Management: Some necessary advice
A soldier should work in the morning. It starts to get light in the middle of the day. In the evening, his mind became restless to return to the camp.
Sun-Xu said, “If you see your army standing on arms, you will understand that it is weakened by hunger. If those who are sent to fetch water start drinking there – the whole army will be thirsty. “
Another important suggestion of the Art of War is:
- If there is trouble in the camp, the general’s authority is weak.
- If you see that banners and flags are not in place, you will understand that the law is not being obeyed properly.
- If you see the officers are angry, you will understand that the soldiers are tired.
To solve these problems, Art of War advises: A skilled general will manage his forces in such a way – as if he is leading only one man. This means that he will have an equal eye on everyone.
13. Victory: Who wins? And why win?
In his book Art of War, Sun-Xu originally described who won the war and why. He wrote about five essential elements for victory. You can also call them the summary of the whole book. Let’s take a brief look:
- He will win; who knows when to fight and when not to.
- The winner will be the one who knows how to handle the two types of opponents – stronger and weaker than himself.
- He will win, whose ideals, motives, and inspirations are the same for the whole force.
- He will win, who prepares himself and waits for the enemy to be unprepared
- He will be the winner who has military might and who is not influenced by outsiders.
According to Sun-Xu, the best victory is to capture the enemy’s country completely intact. There is no benefit in wasting resources unnecessarily. He further writes that it is more profitable to capture the enemy forces than to destroy them.
A truly skilled army hero can surrender to an opponent without a fight; He occupied the city without siege; He can remove the king from the throne without a long struggle. A truly good warrior can take defeat away from himself, but he can never guarantee defeat in a face-to-face battle.
Appendix:
The teachings of the Art of War have been similarly effective for thousands of years. Sun-Xu has shown with his finger that war can be won only with strategy and intelligence, even if there is no power. And the effectiveness of his philosophy has been proven for thousands of years.