Chang Yü attempts to explain the sequence of chapters as follows:
“Chapter IV, on Tactical Dispositions, treated of the offensive
and the defensive; chapter V, on Energy, dealt with direct and
indirect methods. The good general acquaints himself first with
the theory of attack and defence, and then turns his attention to
direct and indirect methods. He studies the art of varying and
combining these two methods before proceeding to the subject of
weak and strong points. For the use of direct or indirect methods
arises out of attack and defence, and the perception of weak and
strong points depends again on the above methods. Hence the
present chapter comes immediately after the chapter on Energy.”