Amidst the Warring States Period, Sun Bin stood out as one of the most brilliant and important (if not the most) military strategist of this period. He served as a military adviser for the state of Qi, his home state after he suffered deceit in the State of Wei. Here are some thoughts from Master Sun Bin from his dialogue with the King Weiwang of Qi
War is not omnipotent, belligerent rulers are bound to ruin their state.
Conditions necessary to achieve victory in war:
- sufficient material (economic) preparation
- fighting for justice :
Needless to reiterate, I totally agree with Sun Bin. We can't replace the backward with the application of benevolence or anything similar with Gandhi's passive resistance. Unless we intend to hoax advancement and change in favor of the justification of the backward and the justification of present system that led the majority to the unabated oppression. Why do we need to fight through war? Because the efficacy of benevolence is futile when the opponent do not acknowledge benevolence, do not acknowledge the majority's freedom and rights - not just civil rights that the written law has imparted to each and every citizen of the state (I'm actually referring to the modern states) but more importantly, the political and economic freedom. The very right to have access to the basic needs, needs that must be satiated first as stated by Maslow. We could not change the system by solely relying on the written law that emanated from the state itself. The state was created in defense of the oppressor, so does the law. Law was created to justify and perpetuate the oppression of oppressor to the oppressed. The legal machinery was a fruit and means of their oppression. More so, we cannot lobby for change via faith or benevolence when our enemy are the artificer of oppression, it will never occur that benevolence and oppression reconciled.
In the case of our state, our enemy is the administration and its machineries - legal and military among others. Why does AFP exist? Is it to wage war against other nations threatening our territory. Weh? Enschuldigung, don't waste our money for defense allocation!
feign defeat at the first instance
principle of gaining overall victory with partial loss
tactics:whereas B pertains to the enemy
A=B: first order a small detachment under a brave officer to launch a probing attack on the enemy formation. While probing operation is ongoing, ready the main force for the offensive
(large) A vs. (small) B : commander should puposely make the battle array look confused and in disorder so as to cater to the wishes of the enemies and lure them to engage in a decisive battle
(small)A vs (large)B: divide the force into two units. keep the main force mobile and deploy another unit that will confront the enemies. Main forces should reserve their strengths in attacking the enemy once they're exhausted
If B is driven into impasse : wipe him out when he attempts to fight his way out
If B and A are evenly matched : confuse him and mislead him into dividing his forces then secretly concentrate superior forces to wipe out the divided enemy units one by one
to be continued...
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