Waging War

Many endeavors in life require decisive, committed action; for one’s window of opportunity does not remain forever open. This rule applies when one chooses his field of study, how and where he goes about his occupation, when and to whom he marries, and when and how many children he has. This likewise describes the decision to commit to that which is most meaningful as opposed to what seems expedient in the moment. It describes what it’s like to be in a fight, to lead a team or institution, and of course to engage in war.

What brings these disparate decisions together and in common with Sun Tzu’s second chapter, Waging War?

In all of these cases, lengthy and detailed planning is vital beforehand. And in all of these case, once the moment of action has arrived, the time to execute those plans is limited. Moreover, no matter how meticulous the planning, in situations like the above described, poor or incomplete execution carries forward permanent consequences.

That is all to say that in life, there are circumstances which are and will be expensive in one way or another—or, and perhaps often, in many ways at once. Just like an army’s provisions, equipment, and morale, our resources are finite:

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

Again, if the campaign is protracted, the resources of the State will not be equal to the strain.

Now, when your weapons are dulled, your ardor dampened, your strength exhausted and your treasure spent, other chieftains will spring up to take advantage of your extremity. Then no man, however wise, will be able to avert the consequences that must ensue.

Thus, though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays. (Sun Tzu 29)

When the time comes, one ought not to drag his feet. One cannot plan or prepare forever, for not only are one’s own opportunities limited, they are in competition with others’. To delay is to surrender one’s own advantages to his rivals. One weakens over time as his competitors come into their prime; and while such a coward may be right to name predecessors who failed of ill planning, over-shooting, or excessive haste, those opposite errors to not erase the error he is making. There is such a mistake as deficiency as there is of excess—in this case, of courage.

Sun Tzu goes on to emphasize the importance of braving enemy territory with the mindset that not all provisions need to be brought with the army, that needs can and should be met while behind the enemy line—which is how, in fact, one maintains his morale.

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

Hence a wise general makes a point of foraging on the enemy. One cartload of the enemy’s provisions is equivalent to twenty of one’s own, and likewise a single picul of his provender is equivalent to twenty from one’s own store.

Now in order to kill the enemy, our men must be roused to anger; that there may be advantage from defeating the enemy, they must have their rewards.

Therefore in chariot fighting, when ten or more chariots have been taken, those should be rewarded who took the first. (30)

The attitude that what is needed will, in part, be provided along the journey is necessary for success in life. It is the mentality of the perpetually impoverished to scrimp and save and hide away forever. Such a man misses his chances at success because he fears the risk of uncertain provisions. The reality is that nothing is certain, in life or in war. Therefore, the man who waits for security will not strike while the iron is hot. He will watch while his rivals, in pursuit of the same goals, pass him by time after time. Worse, he will starve himself of his own morale.

Just like a general must reward his soldiers in war as to incentivize them to fight with fervor, so too must one reward himself—specifically with the spoils of success. Celebrating victories in one’s endeavors reinforces the behavior which led to that success, thus increasing the likelihood of future successes. This creates a positive feedback loop, a snowball rolling in the right direction. On the other hand, failure to reward the correct daring action—the seizing of victory—will instead reinforce not pursuing that which is meaningful. Either such a man must never indulge in the pleasures of existence, or else he will poison himself against his better potential. And that is the opposite of Sun Tzu’s final prescriptions when waging war:

The captured soldiers should be kindly treated and kept.

This is called using the conquered foe to augment one’s own strength.

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

Thus it may be known that the leader of armies is the arbiter of the people’s fate, than man on whom it depends whether the nation shall be in peace or in peril. (30)

Sun Tzu. The Art of War, translated by William Ridgeway, Sweetwater Press, 2008.