II.
OPERATIONS OF WAR.
Son the master said:—
Now the requirements of War are such that we need 1,000 chariots;[1]1,000 supply wagons; and therefore 100,000 armoured men: and we must send supplies to distant fields.
Wherefore the cost at home and at the front, including the entertainment of guests;[2] glue and lacquer for repairs; and necessities for the upkeep of wagons and armour; are such that in one day, 1,000 pieces of gold are spent. With that amount a force of 100,000 men can be provided:—you have the instruments of victory.
But if the operations long continue, then the soldiers’ ardour decreases; the weapons become worn; and, if a siege be undertaken, strength disappears.
Again, if the war last long the country’s means do not suffice.
Then, when the soldiers are worn out; weapons blunted ; strength gone; and funds spent; neighbouring princes arise and attack that weakened country. At such a time the wisest man cannot mend the matter.
Therefore it is acknowledged that war cannot be too short in duration.
But though conducted with the utmost art, if long continuing, misfortunes do always appear.
In fact there never has been a country which has benefited from a prolonged war.
He who does not know the evils of war, cannot appreciate its benefits; he who is skilful in war, does not make a second levy; does not load his supply wagons thrice.
War material and arms we obtain from home: but supplies sufficient for the army’s needs can be taken from the enemy.
The cost of supplying the army in distant fields is the chief drain on the resources of a state: if the war be distant, the citizens are impoverished.
Repeated wars cause high prices, and so the farmer’s money is used up. Likewise the state funds are exhausted, and frequent levies must be made; the strength of the army is dissipated; money is spent; the citizen’s home is made bare; in all 7/10ths of his income is forfeited. Again, as regards State property, chariots are broken; horses worn out; armour and helmet ; arrow and bow: spear; shield;[3] pike and 6 THE COMPLETE WORKS OF SONSHI.
fighting tower, used and gone; so that 6/10ths of the Government’s income is spent.
Therefore the intelligent general, taking thought, feeds on the enemy: one bale of the enemy’s rice
counts as twenty from our own wagons; one bundle of the enemy’s forage is better than twenty of our own.
Wantonly to kill and destroy the enemy must be forbidden.
They who take the enemy at a disadvantage should be rewarded.
They who are the first to lay their hands on more than ten of the enemy’s chariots, should be encouraged; the enemy’s standard on the chariots exchanged for our own; the captured chariots mixed with our own chariots, and taken into use.
The accompanying warriors must not be abused, but treated well; so that while the enemy is beaten, our side increases in strength.
Now the object of war is victory; not lengthy operations even skilfully conducted.
The good general is the Lord of the peoples lives; the Guardian of the country’s welfare.
- ↑ Chinese warfare was largely an affair of chariots, or might we say, "Mounted Infantry Wagons." The chariot was drawn by 2 or 4 horses and usually contained 3 archers in addition to the driver. Further, to each chariot were attached 75 footmen, and to each supply wagon 25 men.
- ↑ China was at this period full of unattached and wandering swashbucklers, who quartered themselves on states at war.
- ↑ The Japanese shield was a heavy rectangular piece of wood. which was set on the ground, and kept upright by a prop at the back. The Japanese sword requires both hands, and this fact probably prevented the adoption of a light portable shield. The "Horo,” which was ta peculiar device for protecting the back, was a long piece of loose cloth hung from the shoulders and smothered the arrow or sword thrust, like the Western swordsman’s cloak. Latterly, the cloth was stretched on a frame work of bamboo, and reached enormous propertions.