Tuesday 10 December 2013

b.孫子兵法 (作戰篇第二) (Chapter 2 - 6) (Part 16)

The last part is here:   孫子兵法 (作戰篇第二) (Chapter 2 - 5) (Part 15)

作戰篇第二

孫子曰:凡用兵之法,馳車千駟,革車千乘,帶甲十萬,千里饋糧,則內外之費,賓客之用,膠漆之材,車甲之奉,日費千金,然後十萬之師舉矣。
          其用戰也貴勝,久則鈍兵挫銳,攻城則力屈,久暴師則國 用不足。夫鈍兵挫銳,屈力殫貨,則諸侯乘其弊而起,雖有智者,不能善其後矣。故兵聞拙速,未睹巧之久也。夫兵久而國利者,未之有也。故不盡知用兵之害者,則不能盡知用兵之利也。
          善用兵者,役不再籍,糧不三載﹔取用于國,因糧于敵,故軍食可足也。
          國之貧于師者遠輸,遠輸則百姓貧。近師者貴賣,貴賣則百姓竭,財 竭則急於丘役。力屈、財殫,中原內虛于家。百姓之費,十去其七﹔公家之費:破軍罷馬,甲冑矢弩,戟盾蔽櫓,丘牛大車,十去其六。
          故智將務食于敵。食敵一鐘,當吾二十鐘﹔箕杆一石,當吾二十石。
          故殺敵者,怒也﹔取敵之利者,貨也。故車戰,得車十乘已上,賞其 先得者,而更其旌旗,車雜而乘之,卒善而養之,是謂勝敵而益強。故兵貴勝,不貴久。 故知兵之將,民之司命,國家安危之主也。

Let's continue ...

            故殺敵者,怒也﹔取敵之利者,貨也。故車戰,得車十乘已上,賞其 先得者,而更其旌旗,車雜而乘之,卒善而養之,是謂勝敵而益強。故兵貴勝,不貴久。 故知兵之將,民之司命,國家安危之主也。

Some translation suggested: 
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. Our own flags should be substituted for those of the enemy, and the chariots mingled and used in conjunction with ours. 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, the man on whom it depends whether the nation shall be in peace or in peril. 
Moran:   Truly, killing the enemy is a matter of wrath; on the other hand, the taking of profits from the enemy can be done with the [utilitarian, rational] intention of giving one's soldiers their booty.
So, as for chariot warfare, one should reward those who first take more than ten [enemy] chariots, and give them a new banner [for the captured chariots].
By thus forming an irregular collection of chariots, and by treating the captured soldiers well , one may win against the enemy and supplement one's own strength [in the process].
Therefore in warfare value victory, negatively value taking a long time at getting it.
The general who has a good knowledge of warfare serves as the lord of life and death for the people and is the master of the nation's peace and the perils. 

Let's discuss:

故殺敵者,怒也﹔取敵之利者,貨也。:   So killing the enemy derives from one's anger; taking of profits from the enemy derives bounty.
故車戰,得車十乘已上,賞其先得者,:   In chariot fight, one should reward those who first take more than ten [enemy] chariots,
而更其旌旗,車雜而乘之,卒善而養之,是謂勝敵而益強。:   And give them a new banner [for the captured chariots]. By thus forming an irregular collection of chariots, and by treating the captured soldiers well, one may win against the enemy and supplement one's own strength [in the process].
故兵貴勝,不貴久。 故知兵之將,民之司命,國家安危之主也。:   Therefore in warfare value victory positively, value those victories that take a long time at it negatively. The general who has a good knowledge of warfare serves as the lord of life and death for the people and is the decider of the nation's peace and perils.

This topic of discussion is about mercy.

When you have won the battle, it is merciful for you to forgive the atrocities done by the enemy. Instead of killing them all out of anger, treat them instead like bounty goods. Reward it to the conquering army. In business, never try to be a monopoly, it will never work. Give your competitors a chance to cooperate with you, but at your own terms. If you showed that you are not a killer, you will similarly be spared in defeat.

For those who have done well and bravely, reward them amply. Every one in business are profit-driven. If your employees did a good deal, don't count on too much cost, reward them amply so that they will do it again when the next opportunity arise. This reward will bring forth great and selfless warriors.

Mix all soldiers effectively. Treat the new surrendered soldiers as one's own. This is in fact the idea behind reducing racism and classes. By mixing well, there would be little excuse for racial flare-ups. This assimilation will effectively strengthen one's army for real. Hence, one's victory is truly rewarding as it build further strength to one's army. There were so many business failures in mergers and acquisitions in history, mainly due to differences in business culture. Assimilation is key to adding business strength.

Therefore, winning battles is great, but, taking a long time to getting it is not. I am not so sure about this one liner. It simply means a victory achieved quickly is worthy, but a victory achieved over a long time is not. Let's just take this as just a motherhood statement till further analysis.

The general who has a good knowledge of warfare serves as the lord of life and death for the people and is the decider of the nation's peace and perils. In business, any one that has controls over other's life and death is god. Hold the power to reward / punish and reward / punish justly. That way is the only way to control a large sized business.

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