Art of War Collection

Chapter 20: Topography

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[Cao Cao said: If you want to fight, you must judge the terrain to win. 〕

Grandson said:

Terrain: There are those who pass, those who hang on, those who have support, those who are narrow, those who are dangerous, and those who are far away.

[Cao Cao said: These six are also the shape of the earth. 〕

I can go, he can come, saying pass; Tong Xing said: first live in the high sun, benefit the food, and fight for the benefit.

[Cao Cao said: It is better for people, not for people. 〕

It is possible to go, but it is difficult to return, it is said to hang; to hang it: the enemy is unprepared, and wins it; the enemy is prepared, it is invincible, it is difficult to return, it is disadvantageous.

I do not profit, and the other does not profit, saying support; the support shape says: Although the enemy benefits me, I have no means; to draw it away, make the enemy half attack it, it is profitable.

The narrow shape says: If I live first, I will make good for the enemy; if the enemy lives first, I won’t follow if I won’t make money.

[Cao Cao said: Ai, there is a valley between the two mountains, and the enemy can't hurt me. I live there first, and I must go forward to the pass, and Chen will guard it, so as to be surprising. If the enemy resides here first, he will speak with one's mouth, don't follow. That is to say, the half-minded Chen will follow it, and share this benefit with the enemy. 〕Dangerous form said: I live first, I must live in the high sun to wait for the enemy; if the enemy lives first, don't follow it, lead away.

[Cao Cao said: The land is dangerous, especially not to people. 〕

Yuan Xing said: equal potential, difficult to challenge, and unprofitable in battle.

[Cao Cao said: The challenger, also the enemy. 〕

All of these six, the way of the earth is also; it is the responsibility of the task, you must not ignore it.

Old soldiers: there are those who walk, there are those who relax, there are those who sink, there are those who collapse, there are those who are in chaos, and there are those who are north. All of these six are not a disaster from the heavens, but they can also be passed away. Husband Jun: Take ten with one strike, then go.

[Cao Cao said: Unexpectedly. 〕

The pawn is strong and the official is weak, saying relaxation.

〔Cao Cao said: The officials can't control the soldiers, so they will relax. 〕

If the officials are strong and weak, they say they are trapped.

〔Cao Cao said: The staff are strong and want to enter, but the soldiers are weak, and they are also defeated. 〕

The big official was angry and refused to accept, and fought against the enemy, without knowing his ability, and said collapse.

〔Cao Cao said: The big official, the young general. When the general is angry, he will not be subdued, but he will go to the enemy in anger, and he will collapse if he does not weigh his weight or heaviness. 〕The generals are weak and lax, and the teaching is unclear; the officials are impermanent, and the troops are in a vertical and horizontal direction, and they are chaotic.

[Cao Cao said: In order to make this happen, the way of chaos is also. 〕

Will not be able to predict the enemy, with few united, strong with the weak, the soldiers have no choice of front, said North.

〔Cao Cao said: If this is the case, the soldiers must go. 〕

For all these six, the way to defeat is also: take it to duty, and you must not ignore it.

For those who love the terrain, the soldiers will help. Anticipating the enemy's victory, calculating the distance and danger, the admiral's way is also. Those who know this and fight will win; those who do not know this will lose. Therefore, the way of war must be victorious, and the main saying is that there is no battle, but there is no battle; the way of war is not victorious, and the main saying is that no battle is possible.

Therefore, advance does not seek fame, and retreat does not avoid crime. Only the people are the protection, which is beneficial to the Lord, and the treasure of the country.

The pawn is like a baby, so you can go to the deep river with it; the pawn is like a beloved son, so you can die with him.

Love can't make it, thick and can't make it, chaos can't be cured; for example, a proud son can't be used.

〔Cao Cao said: Grace should not be used exclusively, and punishment should not be used alone; if the joy and anger of the proud son are against the eye, it is also not available for the harm. 〕If you know that you can strike, if you don’t know that the enemy is unbeatable, you can only win half the battle. Knowing that the enemy can be attacked, but not knowing that I cannot attack, is half the victory. Knowing the enemy's ability to strike, knowing the enemy's ability to attack, but not knowing the terrain can't fight, half the victory.

[Cao Cao said: The half of the victory is unknown. 〕

Therefore, those who know the soldiers move without being sleepy, and lift without being poor. Therefore, the soldier knows the enemy and himself, and victory is not endangered; knows the sky and the earth, and victory is complete.

[Translation]

Sun Tzu said: Topography can be divided into six categories: "pass", "hang", "branch", "pass", "risk", and "far". Everything that I can go and the enemy can go is called "Tong". To fight or station in a "Tong-shaped" area, you need to take advantage of the terrain, especially those high and sunny places. We must always keep the food channel open. If we do this, we will be particularly advantageous when fighting the enemy. All the places where you can go but return to difficult places are called "hanging"; fighting in the "hanging" area, if the enemy has no defense, we must decisively attack and defeat the enemy; if the enemy is prepared, if our army is prepared It is difficult to win the attack, and it is difficult to return, which is not good for our army. All places that are unfavorable to both the enemy and us are called "supports." In "supported" areas, no matter what means the enemy uses to lure our troops, they cannot attack; the best countermeasure is to lead the troops to pretend to leave. , To induce the enemy to pursue, and then our army suddenly launches a counterattack, so that it will be beneficial to our army. Fighting in the "striking" area, if our army takes the area before the enemy, we must guard the valley and the pass with heavy troops, and wait for the enemy to attack; if the enemy first we occupy this area, and also with heavy troops If the enemy is fully guarded, then you must not attack. If the enemy only sends a small number of soldiers and horses to guard, then you must attack decisively and end the battle in the shortest time. When fighting in a "dangerous" area, if our army takes over the area before the enemy, we must set up camp in a high and sunny place and wait for the enemy to arrive; unfortunately, it is wise to take the initiative to retreat by the enemy. s Choice. Fighting in the "distant" area, and the forces and other conditions of the two sides are comparable, then we can only adopt defensive counterattack tactics, wait for the enemy to attack, and then defeat them. We must not take the initiative to challenge. unfavorable. The six points mentioned above are the principles of how to make full use of different terrains to achieve victory; any general must seriously consider and study these.

When the army is defeated, the situation can be roughly divided into six types: "walking", "chi", "trapping", "collapse", "chaos", and "north". The reasons for these six situations are not natural disasters but man-made disasters, and most of them are caused by the fault of the generals. Under the condition that the enemy and the enemy are evenly matched, if the reason for the failure is that the number of the enemy is ten times that of our army, the failure caused by this is called "walking." The soldiers are close, shrewd and strong, but the generals are weak and incompetent. The failure caused by this is called "chi". The generals are superb, but the soldiers are timid, and the failure caused by this is called "trapping." Because the generals were indifferent to each other, they fought each other when they encountered the enemy, and the commander could not control them. This failure was called "collapse." The commander is weak, the laws are not respected, the discipline is not clear, the officers and soldiers have no backbone, there is no discipline and no restraint in the battle, and the failure caused by this is called "chaos." The commander-in-chief could not predict that the enemy was false and real, and attacked rashly, attacking an enemy that was much stronger than him. The vanguard troops were like other troops without a backbone. Such failures were called "North".

The above six situations are the reasons for the failure of the army; among them, the responsibilities that the generals should bear must be seriously considered. Terrain can be used as an auxiliary condition when using troops. The general must correctly identify the enemy's situation, control the enemy, study the dangers of the terrain, and calculate the distance of the road. Using troops to gain insight into the enemy's situation and terrain during wartime will inevitably win, otherwise, it will inevitably fail. Therefore, grasping the war situation according to the actual situation of the army marching will have a certainty of victory. If the monarch orders not to fight, he can resolutely attack; if the monarch orders must fight, he may not send troops to attack. Therefore, a general should not be good at fighting, not afraid to resist the orders of the monarch, protect the soldiers and the people, and benefit the country. Such a general is the most precious talent in the country. The general should raise the soldier like a baby, and there will be inseparable feelings between the soldiers; the general should treat the soldier like his "beloved son", and the soldier can live and die with the general. However, the soldiers are too generous to support them to fight bravely with the enemy, blindly spoiling them and cannot be punished with prestige, and illegal disturbances cannot be governed by the law. Such an army is like a son of pride and cannot be used for war. Only understand that our army can fight bravely, but do not understand that the enemy is strong and unbeatable. This is one win and one loss, and the probability of winning is only half; only understand that the enemy is weak and can fight, but does not understand that our soldiers cannot be cowardly. , The probability of winning is only half; understanding that the enemy is weak can be used to fight, and also that the elite of our army can be used to fight, without understanding the terrain conditions can not fight with, the confidence of winning is still only half. Therefore, a general who really knows how to use troops has no mistakes in his actions, and there are no difficulties in taking measures. So: if you understand the enemy’s reality and our strengths and weaknesses, you will be able to win and not be in danger. If you understand the time and place, you will gain all the advantages of the victory.