But when the army is restless and distrustful, trouble is sure to come
from the other feudal princes. This is simply bringing anarchy into
the army, and flinging victory away.
Most of the commentators take 引 in the sense of 奪, which it seems
to bear also in the _Li Chi_, 玉藻, I. 18. [卻 is there given as
its equivalent, but Legge tries notwithstanding to retain the more
usual sense, translating “draw ... back,” which is hardly
defensible.] Tu Mu and Wang Hsi, however, think 引勝 means “leading
up to the _enemy’s_ victory.”
17. 故知勝有五知可以戰與不可以戰者勝識衆寡之用者勝上下同欲者勝以虞待不虞者勝
將能而君不御者勝此五者知勝之道也
Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory: (1) He
will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.
Chang Yü says: “If he can fight, he advances and takes the
offensive; if he cannot fight, he retreats and remains on the
defensive. He will invariably conquer who knows whether it is
right to take the offensive or the defensive.”
(2) He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior
forces.
This is not merely the general’s ability to estimate numbers
correctly, as Li Ch‘üan and others make out. Chang Yü expounds the
saying more satisfactorily: “By applying the art of war, it is
possible with a lesser force to defeat a greater, and _vice
versâ_. The secret lies in an eye for locality, and in not letting
the right moment slip. Thus Wu Tzŭ says: ‘With a superior force,
make for easy ground; with an inferior one, make for difficult
ground.’”
(3) He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout
all its ranks.
Ts‘ao Kung refers 上下 less well to sovereign and subjects.
(4) He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy
unprepared.
(5) He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with
by the sovereign.
Tu Yu quotes 王子 as saying: 指授在君決戰在將也 “It is the
sovereign’s function to give broad instructions, but to decide on
battle is the function of the general.” It is needless to dilate
on the military disasters which have been caused by undue
interference with operations in the field on the part of the home
government. Napoleon undoubtedly owed much of his extraordinary
success to the fact that he was not hampered by any central
authority,—that he was, in fact, 將 and 君 in one.
Victory lies in the knowledge of these five points.
Literally, “These five things are knowledge of the principle of
victory.”