The Art of War

Nonfiction | Book | Adult

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-8

Chapters 9-11

Chapters 12-13

Key Figures

Themes

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

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Discussion Questions

Themes

Planning Is Primary

Sun Tzu prioritizes planning above all else. An unplanned war is a disaster waiting to happen, but a carefully planned one has a good chance of success.

Planning takes place in several stages. The first is receiving the commands of the ruler. If the king tells his general, “You must conquer State X within three months,” the general knows that he must move quickly to prepare a strategy, organize his army, and build supply lines.

War plans must take into account the terrain and weather in the State to be contested. Different types of terrain call for different actions: Difficult terrain should be worked around; valuable wide and flat terrain will need to be occupied quickly before the opponent gets to it; passes and cliffs must be taken as well. Weather also affects maneuvers: Windy conditions might make fire a useful weapon, while rainy conditions may offer a chance to divert rivers to flood the enemy.

The general then gauges the opposing army’s strength and considers carefully any of its weaknesses, which can be attacked at the right moment. The leader draws up a list of the opposing country’s most valuable resources to be captured when it is time to divert or split the adversary’s focus and forces. The wise leader never attacks directly at the opponent’s strengths but instead focuses on its weaknesses.

Most importantly, military leaders must look deeply into their own hearts for weaknesses and root out impatience, anger, fear, confusion, and worry. A cool mind plans well, but a heated mind hurtles toward disaster.

The army must be raised properly, organized well, and supplied efficiently. These are complex processes that should be addressed well beforehand. In the field, the army must be arranged so that it cannot be attacked successfully. It should dig in in such a way that it appears to be weak, without giving the enemy any opening for attack. From this position of immense but barely visible strength, the army can deploy its forces in a series of rapid sorties and full-on attacks.

In battle, the general follows his strategic plans carefully. One of the most important of these “is to balk the enemy's plans” (3.3). Ruining the opponent’s strategy sows confusion in enemy ranks and opens up opportunities for victory. To prevent this from happening to themselves, generals arrange their armies in unassailable positions and then send out sallies that disrupt the opponent’s battle lines.

A well-organized army in a strong position can so intimidate an enemy that it may capitulate before the battle has begun. This is the highest form of victory, since it wins without a fight and preserves the victorious army’s strength for the next campaign.

The Importance of Deception

If an opponent knows an attacker’s plans in advance, countermeasures can be taken that foil those plans. Smart leaders therefore keep the enemy in the dark and maneuver their armies in ways that mislead. “All warfare is based on deception” (1.18): False information and unexpected maneuvers are used to fool the opponent.

As part of deceiving an enemy, leaders keep their true intentions secret, from the foe and from friendly troops as well. The smaller the number who know the strategy, the smaller the chance that the information will get into the wrong hands.

One way to deceive an adversary is to send it bad intelligence. When doing so, it is vital to have spies in the field who feed false information to higher-ups. A turncoat official can be useful in this regard. Another technique is to give bad information to a spy and then betray that spy to the enemy, who then interrogates the spy and absorbs the faulty information.

The army itself can mislead an opponent: “Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant” (1.22). A weak or disorganized appearance in the front ranks can hide great strength in the rear that is ready to rush forward. Also, small forays sent to attack at certain points can distract the enemy and divide up its forces so that the real attack will be a surprise.

Striking at the Enemy’s Weak Spots

Heroic battles are fought and sometimes won against huge odds, but winning generals never pit their troops against an enemy’s strengths. Instead, wise leaders search for the opponent’s weaknesses and attack those quickly and with full force.

Several techniques open up an enemy’s weaknesses. One approach is to capture a valuable resource—a vital city, an important roadway, a water dam, or even a high-ranking official—that the foe must retake by diverting troops to the effort, weakening the rest of its line. Another method uses small attacks in a location different from the intended target that distracts the foe while the main army lunges elsewhere. “Appear at points which the enemy must hasten to defend; march swiftly to places where you are not expected” (6.5). A third scheme involves feigning weakness, drawing in the enemy, and attacking it suddenly and in force.

Once the enemy is distracted, the main attack must be launched with overwhelming strength and speed against a weak spot in the enemy’s lines. The speed of the attack adds to the surprise and sows disorder in the foe; its massive strength guarantees success.

In all cases, wise generals avoid direct, pitched battles in favor of diversionary tactics, followed by a full assault against a weakness in the enemy’s defenses.

Adapting Rapidly to Changing Conditions

The best-laid plans often go awry, and wise military leaders know how to adapt to changing conditions and innovate new and useful tactics in the midst of battle. Nothing is more disastrous than a leader who sticks to a plan long after it no longer fits the situation: “If, on the other hand, in the midst of difficulties we are always ready to seize an advantage, we may extricate ourselves from misfortune” (8.9). Innovative tactical changes on the fly can reverse a bad situation and change a possible loss into a victory.

Every tactical situation is different, and the changing fortunes of battle create unique problems that require customized solutions. Some general techniques serve most such situations: Distractions split the attacker; openings in their lines as they move can be attacked; difficult terrain can be used as a defensive wall. At other times, the troops may use local resources creatively: A river can be dammed up and its waters released later in a flood; a rocky hill’s boulders can serve as an avalanche; a dry, windy night provides perfect weather for an attack by fire.

The intelligent commander makes use of everything that presents itself in the field. Under wise leadership, all strategies are subject to revision, and any tactic may need to be altered quickly. Although the main principles of war—planning, deception, and attack against weakness—remain true in all circumstances, the means of completing those tasks should be altered as needed. It is better to win a war than prove a point, and all theories must take a back seat to the essential goal: defeating the opponent.

The main points to keep in mind during the heat of battle are that changing situations create new opportunities, and that problems can be converted into the means of victory.