in military affairs by the sovereign may lead to a military crisis.
The following are the examples of unnecessary interference by the monarch:
1. Ordering troops to advance or retreat when it is inappropriate to do so. The military will be shackled by such orders.
2. Interfering in military affairs without having intimate knowledge of the internal workings of the military. This will plant the seeds of distrust in the armed forces.
When the monarch creates confusion and distrust among military personnel, other nations may take advantage of the situation and attack. Unnecessary interference by the monarch is a suicidal act.
Know Yourself and your Adversary
Knowing your adversary and yourself will ensure victory in 100 battles.
Requirements for victory:
1. You must have the ability to determine whether or not to fight after assessing the enemy’s military power.
2. You must be able to fight according to your military strength.
3. The sovereign and his subjects should pursue the same goal.
4. You must have the ability to make thorough preparations and take advantage of the enemy’s vulnerability.
5. The military commander must be competent. For the commander to be competent, the monarch should not interfere with the commander’s control.
6. Victory is certain when you know your enemy and yourself.
7. The odds of winning are 50-50 when you know yourself but not your enemy.
8. Defeat is inevitable when you know neither yourself nor your enemy.
Gunkei (Military Format)
The top priority in battle is to launch an attack with minimal effort by finding the enemy’s weak points after building an unbeatable defense.
It is foolish to rely on soldiers’ valor on the battlefield. Gunkei (format) is useless if it is fixed. Defense is useless if it is fixed. A great feat can be accomplished only when you are able to adapt your tactics to the enemy like water.
In the past, skillful warriors prevailed without flaunting their military acumen, and no one praised their valor. Such victory was pursued by good fighters.
Waiting for the Enemy to Collapse
An expert warrior in the past strengthened his position first, and waited for his opponent to start revealing his flaws.
Whether or not you remain undefeated depends on the state of your troops. Whether or not you have a chance of winning depends on the state of enemy troops.
Skilled fighters can enhance their invincibility, but they cannot create invincible conditions.
Even when victory is expected, victory is not always certain. Fortifying defense and attacking the enemy’s weaknesses will not guarantee victory; however, at least it can help strengthen your position to remain unbeaten.
A skillful fighter’s strategy is to wait for his adversary to start revealing his failings. If your defense is flawless, the enemy will not be able to strike. If the enemy seems faultless, focus on reinforcing your troops and avoid carrying out unnecessary attacks. Make sure to strengthen defense before launching an attack.
Offense and Defense
When conditions required for victory do not exist, reinforce your defense. When the chance of winning is high, go on the offensive.
When you are on the defensive, you are losing. When you are on the offensive, you are winning. When on the defensive, good warriors preserve troop strength to guard against the enemy. When on the offensive, good warriors attack swiftly without giving their opponents a chance to defend themselves. By doing this, such warriors can secure complete victory without suffering any damage.
A competent commander does not make a mistake in determining whether to go on the offensive or defensive. Caution is important, but excessive caution may lead to overemphasis on defense. Conversely, excessive boldness may lead to inattentiveness.
The Best Victory
A victory that is obvious to everyone is not the best victory. A victory that draws public praise is not the best victory. A person who can lift a hair is not considered mighty. A person who can see the sun and moon is not considered to have keen eyesight. A person who can hear the sound of thunder is not considered to have acute hearing. Even an ordinary person can do such things naturally. This constitutes the publicly-praised best victory.
Skillful fighters in the past won a battle naturally. Even when they won, their ingenuity was inconspicuous, and their valor was not applauded. Such warriors always prevailed. Every move they made was successful, making no significant errors. The reason for their success was that they chose to fight those who were destined to lose.
Good fighters place their troops in a position that guarantees invincibility. They never fail to detect a flaw in the enemy’s move. As can be seen, only those who are fully prepared to claim victory will succeed. A good monarch first undertakes a political reform. He then strictly enforces the law to make preparations needed to secure victory.
Those who scramble to seize a chance to win after going into battle will suffer defeat.
Four Factors that Determine the Outcome of Battle
The outcome of battle is determined by land area, size of resources, population size, and military power. When the ratio of total power between your country and the enemy nation is 500 to 1, victory will be certain. Any commander can then win without much effort.
Advance calculation and comprehensive assessment are needed to ensure victory; otherwise, defeat is inevitable. Like stopped-up water rapidly falling into a deep ravine, you can overwhelm your opponents.
Heisei (Status of the Military)
Masterly warriors place emphasis on giving momentum to military organization. Momentum can double or even triple the power of an organization. To fight is to skillfully combine ki (unconventional) and sei (conventional) to gain momentum in battle. There are an infinite number of such combinations. The key to victory is to apply such combinations to achieve military objectives.
Military formation, control, conventional and unconventional methods
In order to control large units as if they were small units, reorganize the units by dividing them into proper groups. To have the large units fight in unity like small units, firmly establish the chain of command.
We use a stone to break an egg. Likewise, to ensure victory, we need to use mi (substance), which represents effective military power, to attack kyo (void), which represents weak points. A commander skilled at using ki (unconventional methods) is able to successfully adapt his tactics to the particular time and situation. Such tactics will be infinite like the flow of a big river and endless like heaven and earth. Such a commander disappears and reemerges like the sun and the moon. He vanishes and reappears like four seasons. Such flexible tactics are needed for the entire military to gain the upper hand over the enemy.
There are only five basic musical scales,
