It is imperative to contest all factions for complete victory, so the army is not garrisoned and the profit can be total. This is the law of strategic siege. |
Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories. |
Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster. |
Let your plans be dark and as impenetratable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt. |
Now the reason the enlightened prince and the wise general conquer the enemy whenever they move and their achievements surpass those of ordinary men is foreknowledge. |
O divine art of subtlety and secrecy! Through you we learn to be invisible, through you inaudible and hence we can hold the enemy's fate in our hands. |
Of all those in the army close to the commander none is more intimate than the secret agent; of all rewards none more liberal than those given to secret agents; of all matters none is more confidential than those relating to secret operations. |
One who sets the entire army in motion to chase an advantage will not attain it. |
Opportunities multiply as they are seized. |
Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance. |
Prohibit the taking of omens, and do away with superstitious doubts. Then, until death itself comes, no calamity need be feared. |
Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look on them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death. |
Secret operations are essential in war; upon them the army relies to make its every move. |
So it is said that victory can be made. |
So the important thing in a military operation is victory, not persistence. |