The Art of War: The Liveblog

In it's own time, this was probably mind-blowing cutting edge military strategy.

Yeah. At least it's tactically/strategically sound (apart from that "Heaven/Earth" hocus pocus).

My memory might be a bit sketchy here but as I understand it..

2) Don't invade Russia in the winter.

3) When fighting for control of a Castle, insure that you're the ones defending the Castle; don't charge the enemy through a river, etc..

Well three certainly makes sense. Sun Tzus big rule of war is "Don't attack a city/castle."

Only walled cities, though. Non-walled cities should be okay.

Ironically that Anti- "Wall" philosophy pretty much kept the Earth from nuclear armegeddon in the Cold War.

Chapter 1: continued

7. HEAVEN signifies night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons.

Doesn't make much sense to me, and the commentary doesn't help. The best I can get out of it is possibly "there is opposition in all things."

8. EARTH comprises distances, great and small; danger and security; open ground and narrow passes; the chances of life and death.

Apparently terrain is important to the art of war.

9.The COMMANDER stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerely, benevolence, courage and strictness.

Make sure your commander isn't just not a retard, but actually a pretty decent guy. Apparently Sun Tzu rearranged the classic Chinese virtues, putting wisdom and sincerity first, and switched out uprightness of mind and self-control for courage and strictness. The difference doesn't seem all that big to me, but I suppose a philosopher would make something out of it.

(I'm not in a very intelligent mood today.)

METHOD AND DISCIPLINE are all the logistical realities of dealing with an army.

So, to recap, the five constant factors in war are:

1. The Moral Law (at least morale, possibly a greater philosophy of unity and comraderie.)

2. Heaven (Who knows? Seems to have something to do with opposition and duality.)

3. Earth (terrain)

4. The Commander (Exactly What It Says on the Tin, and the virtues needed in a good commander.)

5. Method and discipline (Also Exactly What It Says on the Tin, including all logistical concerns.)

It seems to cover most, if not all, of the concerns that are dealt with in war. I think that things like "making plans" would either be included under 3 or 5, or else it's a seperate issue where you apply those five points in order to achieve your goal.

I think by "heaven" he means the right seasons and time. Don't attack Russia in the winter and use the cover of night for sneak attacks, that kind of thing.

Don't attack Russia, period. Those are the first 3 rules of warfare. There's no way you are getting done before the winter comes in, and if you halt your advance while it blows by, Ivan will just take the opportunity to counterattack.

Otherwise, yeah, you are probably right.

Pretty sure "Heaven" is global conditions, yeah. Weather modifiers, if you want to get RPG.

Ok, that definition of Heaven makes a lot more sense than what I was thinking. Thanks guys.

Chapter 1: continued

Sun Tzu, Memetic Badass and resident hero, goes on to say that those five things should be familiar to every general. Duh. Of course, how many people really get down pat the basic principals of their profession? Probably not that many. I certainly know that I need to revisit the basics quite often. Sometimes it seems like they're more of a mindset that you need to cultivate than a set of skills, a habitual way of thinking. And when you get that mindset down pat you can devote your higher brain functions to advancing your knowledge since you do those things automatically.

Sorry if I sound like I'm preaching, I'm just thinking out loud and seeing where it leads.

He then says that you need to figure out things like who has the better general and position, who has the best training and morale. which army is stronger. Then it goes into a funny story about a guy who condemned himself to death for a petty crime, and failed to follow through.

Ooh, I like this: "In which army is there the greater constancy both in reward and punishment?" I like that. I don't know about the army, but I always want people that have authority over me to be constant in things like that. It's really freaking hard to figure out what somebody wants if they're not constant, and it always leads to disciplinary problems. In my opinion harshness is a secondary concern to constancy, until you get to the levels where it counts as abuse at least.

I like Sun Tzu's tendency to use lists. It makes things easier to remember.

"According as circumstances are favorable, one should modify one's plans."

Or in other words, stay flexible. I'm really starting to like this guy, so far nothing stupid or dogmatic, just good practical advice. It's true, he really does have a talent for generalization that's still useful. I really hope the commentator was right when he said the story about executing the women wasn't true.

"All warfare is based on deception." Then he goes through several different kinds of psychological traps, attack when it seems you can't, get close while making them think you are far away, hold out bait, keep him guessing, pester him like Jim Carrey.

It's all good advice. I'm afraid if things keep going like this my liveblog will become quite boring.

^Of course he's good at understanding the generalities of war. He invented it.

... And that's why they call it a ZOO!

edited 24th Mar '10 7:36:48 AM by S.exe

...And that's why he's a Badass!

... And that's why they call it a ZOO!

You know I wouldn't have gotten that at all a week ago?

^ Neither would I. That was an awesome video.

All right, The Art of War continued: Chapter 2: Waging War

Already the notes are telling me this chapter isn't going to be about what I thought. "He who wishes to fight must first count the cost." Here I first encounter an annoying thing I expect to find more of in the future, commentary directly in the paragraph, nay, in the middle of a sentence, instead of at the end. It really breaks the flow and makes it harder to understand.

An army of 1,000 swift chariots, 1,000 heavy chariots, and 100,000 men apparently cost a thousand ounces of silver a day to deploy. According to http://www.silverperounce.com/ that's $16,620 in today's money, assuming pure silver. That's actually not as much as I expected. I like how he took care to include things like glue and entertaining guests. It looks like he really took the time to break things down.

The commentaries talk about the arrangement of such an army. They were broken up into battalions of one light chariot, one heavy chariot, and one hundred men. I just realized that I have no idea how chariots would actually be used in warfare.

2. When you engage in actual fighting, if victory is long i coming, then men's weapons will grow dull and their ardor will be damped. If you lay siege to a town, you will exhaust your strength.

I'd say the modern invention of trench warfare has thoroughly proven that true.

Apparently if you're tired, under-equipped, and bankrupt other people will take advantage of you and you can do jack all to prevent it. Sun Tzu said it, so it must be true.

5. Thus, though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays.

Very important that. Be smart and be fast.

The commentators say that a general, though stupid, can win by sheer speed. Others say that stupid and fast is better than smart and slow. I think these wise Chinese sages are being rather stupid. It's not like it's a difficult sentence. Lionel looks like he agrees with me though. "Now Sun Tzu says nothing whatever, except possibly by implication, about ill-considered haste being better than ingenious but lengthy operations. What he does say is something much more guarded, namely that, while speed may be sometimes injucicious, tardiness can never be anything but foolish — if only because it means impoverishment to the nation."

7. It is only one who is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on.

And this is the first place where Mr. Lionel's help has been indispensable. He says it probably means "Only one who knows the disastrous effects of a long war can realize the supreme importance of rapidity in bringing it to a close," instead of "He who does not know the evils of war cannot appreciate its benefits," like I originally thought. Only two of the commentators agree with his interpretation, but I have to agree also. The second, and more obvious way to read that sentence doesn't make sense compared against what Sun Tzu has just been saying.

That's all for now guys, but I have a question before I go. What can I do to make this liveblog better? Are there any points you'd like me to cover or things to bring up? Anything I can do to stave off tl'dr syndrome?

Going well so far. I have a copy of the art of war but I don't have Lionels commentary.

Say it like you're playing a videogame version of it.

I like the way you've been going. By all means, continue as you have.

Also, here's a picture of Lionel, if you are curious. It's interesting to read the works of ancient Chinese scholars combined with that of an old fashioned Victorian scholar.

On a boat!

Thanks for the picture Jaime. For some reason I can't help but think "This guy could never be anything but a badass."

I'm really sorry to disappoint you guys, but I won't be able to do a new post tonight. I'm feeling kind of under the weather. Hopefully I'll be back up on my feet tomorrow, and I'll make it up to you by doing two posts.

The Art of War is nice reading for whenever you have spare time; I've got a copy myself, and it all makes perfect sense.

All right, I'm back. Sorry for the delay.

The Art of War: Chapter 2 continued.

9.Bring war material with you from home, but forage on the enemy. Thus the army will have food enough for its needs.

True...but that's a little heartless isn't it? Sun Tzu doesn't seem to have much regard for civilians.

He warns us against overextending your army. It's harder to maintain one at a distance and causes impoverishment. He also warns about the economic problems of keeping an army too close to home.

I like what one of the commentators says, "The PEOPLE being regarded as the essential part of the State, and FOOD as the people's heaven, is it not right that those in authority should value and be careful of both?" That's a level of enlightenment that could have done the rest of the world some good.

"One cartload of the enemy's provisions is equivalent to twenty of one's own..." because of costs of transportation and probably also costs of draining your own people.

He says to give your men a reason to want to beat the enemy. That's good practice, but you have to be careful that you're not doing it in a really dickish way. This is the sort of policy that Evil Empires love to use.

17. Therefore in chariot fighting, when ten or more chariots have been taken, those should be rewarded who took the first. Our own flags should be substituted for those of the enemy, and the chariots mingled and used in conjunction with ours. The captured soldiers should be kindly treated and kept.

For some reason this passage strikes me as a perfect example of Sun Tzu's skill at writing. He expounded on several different nebulous concepts and their complicated interactions by showing a simple situation where they might be applied. This is what English teachers want you to do when they say "show, don't tell." I also like it because it shows you can use the "forage off the enemy" strategy without necessarily resorting to oppression.

19. In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.

20. Thus it may be known that the leader of armies is the arbiter of the people's fate, the man on whom it depends whether the nation shall be in peace or in peril.

Quoted for truth.

That is the end of Chapter 2. Next post, Chapter 3.

edited 26th Mar '10 2:28:11 PM by CDRW

The Art of War: Chapter 3. Attack by Stratagem

Our resident inventor of war says it's better to capture than destroy.

2. Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.

I remember from my European history class where a country won a war even though they lost every battle. I think it was Prussia.

3. Thus the highest form of generalship is to balk at the enemy's plans; the next best is to prevent the junction of the enemy's forces; the next in order is to attack the enemy's army in the field; and the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities.

I didn't really understand the part about balking, but the commentary helps. Lionel says that "balk" doesn't really give the sense of what they're saying. He says that a general can't be content just to "foil an enemy's stratagems." "Shih puts this very clearly in his note: 'When the enemy has made a plan of attack against us, we must anticipate him by delivering our own attack first.'"

Apparently Sun Tzu really doesn't approve of sieges. It makes sense given his feelings on the importance of speed and not bankrupting your kingdom.

The commentary then goes on a long description of siege equipment used by the Chinese. It's eerie how similar their things are to European.

5. The general, unable to control his irritation, will launch his men to the assualt like swarming ants, with the result that one-third of his men are slain, while the town still remains untaken. Such are the disastrous effects of a siege.

Wow, I think Sun Tzu just predicted WWI and WWII right there. Is he a prophet? Did he know about trench warfare?

He is very much a fan of cutting the war short to minimize damage and losses on all sides. I like this guy. Everything he writes seems aimed at the goal of making a war as short and bloodless as possible.

^More generals could have standed to learn from him.