With regard to ground of this nature,
The _T‘ung Tien_ reads 居通地.
be before the enemy in occupying the raised and sunny spots,
See IX. § 2. The _T‘ung Tien_ reads 先據其地.
and carefully guard your line of supplies.
A curious use of 利 as a verb, if our text is right. The general
meaning is doubtless, as Tu Yu says, 無使敵絶己糧道 “not to allow
the enemy to cut your communications.” Tu Mu, who was not a
soldier and can hardly have had any practical experience of
fighting, goes more into detail and speaks of protecting the line
of communications by a wall (壘), or enclosing it by embankments on
each side (作甬道)! In view of Napoleon’s dictum, “the secret of
war lies in the communications,”[175] we could wish that Sun Tzŭ
had done more than skirt the edge of this important subject here
and in I. § 10, VII. § 11. Col. Henderson says: “The line of
supply may be said to be as vital to the existence of an army as
the heart to the life of a human being. Just as the duellist who
finds his adversary’s point menacing him with certain death, and
his own guard astray, is compelled to conform to his adversary’s
movements, and to content himself with warding off his thrusts, so
the commander whose communications are suddenly threatened finds
himself in a false position, and he will be fortunate if he has
not to change all his plans, to split up his force into more or
less isolated detachments, and to fight with inferior numbers on
ground which he has not had time to prepare, and where defeat will
not be an ordinary failure, but will entail the ruin or the
surrender of his whole army.”[176]
Then you will be able to fight with advantage.
Omitted by Capt. Calthrop.