Author: Sun Tsu
_Sun Tsu_
Reading time: 13 minutes
Synopsis
The Chinese book The Art of War is thousands of years old. It is one of the most important books about tactics. Military leaders, business people, and lawyers all over the world still get ideas from it today. It influenced important leaders like Officer Douglas MacArthur and Mao Zedong.
Good Planning Is Half the Battle: Calculate and Know Both Sides to Win.
When a country goes to war, it fights to survive. So, it must learn the art of war very well. This knowledge is the base for all other plans during the war.
If you plan battles carefully before they happen, you will beat those who don’t. A general must make good plans before every fight. When two armies meet, the general can predict who will win and lose by asking some questions:
Which general has the full trust and obedience of his soldiers? Which army has better-trained officers and fighters? Which army has more discipline and strength? What are the conditions when the armies meet? Which army has an advantage because of the land, the weather, or how far they have to travel?
When the general compares his army and the enemy’s army like this, he quickly sees their strengths and weaknesses. A skilled general changes his plan to fit the situation. You will only win if you know your enemy and yourself well.
Blink 1 – The Right Time to Fight Will Come. Patience Pays Off.
Good leaders only fight when they are sure they can win. Bad leaders start fights before they know how to win.
A smart fighter avoids battles he might lose. This way, he is never beaten. But even the best general cannot always know when to win easily. He must wait for the enemy to make a mistake. This mistake can give him a good chance to win. For this, he needs patience. He should follow these rules:
Being careful is most important. A general should only attack if he is very sure of his advantage. Otherwise, he might lose. He should also plan so that he is never weak. He must stop the enemy from using their strengths.
Do not fight if the enemy army is ready to fight, well-placed, or in a better spot, like on high ground. A smart general will wait for a time when his enemy is in a bad position.
The enemy will also know this strategy. They will try to put your army in a bad spot. Every general must watch out for enemy traps. For example, do not lead your army to places where they might run out of food. Do not go to places where you know less about the area than the enemy.
Acting on strong feelings is very dangerous for a good leader. Patience and planning ahead always help. If someone fights just because they are angry, it is usually not worth it. Anger goes away, but a destroyed kingdom is hard to rebuild.
Blink 2 – The Fish Stinks from the Head: Mistakes Always Come from the Top.
A general leads the army in war. But the general must follow the head of state’s orders. These orders can hurt the army. This is very bad if the leader orders the army to move forward or back when it is not a good time to do so.
If the head of state gives bad orders, or gives the wrong jobs to officers, there can be terrible results. Such mistakes destroy the soldiers’ trust. They can also lead to the whole army losing the war.
A general can also make dangerous mistakes. If he is careless or afraid, the whole army can be destroyed. He might also be captured. If he gets angry quickly or is too proud, he might act without thinking. Having the wrong priorities can also stop him from winning the war.
Often, mistakes that seem to come from the army are actually the general’s fault. For example, soldiers might run away from a much stronger enemy. In this situation, the general should not have started the battle. It is also his fault if he does not show enough authority. Then, his soldiers will not accept his decisions. If his soldiers are not ready or are too weak, and many of them die early in a fight, the general is responsible.
As the army’s leader, he must also control his officers. They must stay disciplined and not attack without orders. This can cost many lives and lead to losing the war. A general must always show his army that he has planned and prepared well. No one wants to follow a leader who has no plan. Not being sure shows weakness. In times when quick decisions are needed, this can mean death.
The worst mistake is to make a decision based on wrong information. If a general does not see that the enemy is stronger than him, this can lead to a terrible loss. Often, the whole army can be destroyed.
Blink 3 – The Cheapest War Is One That Ends Quickly.
An army costs a lot of money. Food, wagons, spears, arrows, and oxen are all very expensive. All the things an army needs can be costly.
Long wars can use up a country’s money and goods. This makes the country weak and easy to attack. So, a general must aim for quick victories, not long wars.
For example, it is not smart to attack cities with strong walls. This kind of attack needs months of planning. Many generals will lose their men in pointless attempts to break through.
The best way to save money in war is not to destroy the enemy’s land, city, or army. Instead, leave them unharmed. The winner might even use the enemy’s resources. But to do this, your army must be much stronger than theirs.
There is another way to save a country’s money. A smart leader can take the enemy’s food, weapons, and men. This makes the enemy weaker and your own army stronger. This also saves money because you don’t have to bring food from home. Farmers at home do not have to work hard to feed the army.
A clever general will beat his enemies without fighting. The best victory is when his attack is smart and surprising. Great fighters not only win, but they also win easily.
One battle can decide a whole war. So, using spies is helpful. Spies give the general important information about the enemy. They also give the enemy false information to trick them. The best spies need good relationships and fair pay. Their cost is small compared to how much they save by ending the war faster. But sometimes, a spy must be removed quickly. If a general makes a plan using a spy’s information, the spy and anyone else who knows must die. This protects the plan from being revealed.
Blink 4 – Smart Deception Turns the Enemy into a Puppet.
The real art of war is to trick your enemy. A smart general hides his strengths by acting weak. He hides his bravery behind fear. He makes order look like disorder. This confuses the enemy. It makes them careless, as they feel safe.
Your soldiers must seem messy, but they must be very disciplined. When your army gets close to the enemy, they must think you are far away. Just before you attack, your army should look like it is not ready and has no plan.
This is a game of cat and mouse. If the enemy gets angry easily, make them angry. Disturb them when it is least convenient for them. If they need food most, make them starve. If they are resting, make them move. To make them move forward, use a trap to tempt them. To make them retreat, threats work very well.
A clever fighter acts first. He makes the enemy do what he wants. The enemy is easiest to beat where they cannot defend themselves well. This means places where they must rush to without being ready.
This tactic also works well to make the enemy weaker. Use tricks so the enemy cannot guess where you will attack next. They cannot focus on just one place. To protect all possible places, they must divide their army into smaller groups. This makes them very weak. Weakness happens when they have many places to defend and cannot put all their strength in one spot.
Blink 5 – The Best Tactics Change with the Enemy and the Situation.
A good general knows that some places should not be held. Some paths should not be taken. Some orders should not be followed. He must be like water. Water takes the shape of its container. He must change his plans to fit the situation, his surroundings, and his enemy’s condition. He must not be too stiff or inflexible.
To act well, a general needs to observe things carefully. Every area has its good and bad points. If you know these, you know where to fight and where not to fight. Bad places for battles include areas with steep hills or not enough water.
Be very careful near steep cliffs, closed-in areas, and swamps. In these places, a small enemy group can destroy a whole army if it is in the wrong position. Signs of a trap, like birds suddenly flying away, can also show bad tactical spots.
Watching the enemy closely also gives you useful information to win a battle. If enemy soldiers can barely stand and lean on their spears, they are probably very hungry. If soldiers searching for water drink fast from a new water source, it means they have been thirsty for a long time.
If enemy soldiers start eating their own animals, or forget to cook, it shows something important. If they act like they will not return to their tents, it means they are ready to fight until they die. They will not give up.
Blink 6 – A Winning Army Moves as One and Trusts Completely.
It is best to lead a large army by dividing it into many small groups. Any type of signal can be used for soldiers to talk to each other. Gongs, drums, flags, and fire signals all tell everyone what is happening.
An army must move as one group. Cowards should not dare to run away and leave the brave ones to fight. No part of the army should break away. A skilled general leads his army as if they were a single person.
A general should treat his soldiers like his own dear sons. The soldiers will feel this. They will stay loyal to him until they die. But soldiers must also learn to respect his power and orders. If not, they will cause problems, like spoiled children.
A disciplined army helps win the war. But for this discipline to work, soldiers must respect their leader. Kindness should be shown to all. But rules and punishments are also needed to control soldiers who do not follow orders.
However, a general must not tell too much. He plans so that the enemy does not know his plan. Even his own soldiers should not fully know it. But his soldiers must trust him enough to follow. They benefit if they hear that the situation is good. But they should not hear if things are bad.
The deeper an army goes into enemy land, the stronger the soldiers’ unity must be. In the end, the whole army must be able to lose their fear. In very bad situations, where there is no escape, they must fight with great strength until death.
Zusammenfassung
The main message of this book is:
War decides if countries survive or fall. It needs careful planning and good preparation beforehand. A smart general only fights when he is sure to win. This means he can never be beaten. He observes things very well. He is clever and can adapt to new situations. He makes his enemy do what he wants. He tricks them in ways that make them make big mistakes.
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For further reading: The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli
The Prince is a famous guide for powerful political leaders. Niccolò Machiavelli tells politicians how to get power. He also explains how to stay in charge. He writes about a way of running a country that is very strict and sometimes cruel. For him, a ruler’s actions are only good if they work. It does not matter if they are morally right or wrong.
Source: https://www.blinkist.com/https://www.blinkist.com/de/books/die-kunst-des-krieges-de