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THE ARTICLES OF SUNTZU
VII
BATTLE TACTICS
Sun the Master said:—
For the most part, military procedure is as follows:—
The general receives orders from his lord; assembles and settles harmony among the forces, and takes the field.
There is nothing more difficult than Battle Tactics. Their difficulty lies in the calculation of time and distance, and the reversal of misfortune.
To make the enemy take a circuitous route by a show of gain, and then, whilst starting after him, to arrive before him, is to be a master of the art of manœuvre.
The operations of an army may reap advantage; the wrangles of a multitude are frought with peril.
Employing our whole force at one time in order to gain advantage over the enemy,
