The general, unable to control his irritation, will launch his men to
the assault like swarming ants,
Capt. Calthrop unaccountably omits this vivid simile, which, as
Ts‘ao Kung says, is taken from the spectacle of an army of ants
climbing a wall. The meaning is that the general, losing patience
at the long delay, may make a premature attempt to storm the place
before his engines of war are ready.
with the result that one-third of his men are slain, while the town
still remains untaken. Such are the disastrous effects of a siege.
We are reminded of the terrible losses of the Japanese before Port
Arthur, in the most recent siege which history has to record. The
_T‘ung Tien_ reads 不勝心之忿 ... 則殺士卒 ... 攻城之災. For 其忿 the
_Yü Lan_ has 心怒. Capt. Calthrop does not translate 而城不拔者, and
mistranslates 此攻之災.