Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter twelve, The Attack by Fire. Sun Sou said, there
are five ways of attacking with fire. The first is
to burn soldiers in their camp. The second is to
burn stores. The third is to burn baggage trains. The
fourth is to burn arsenals and magazines. The fifth is
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to hurl dropping fire amongst the enemy. In order to
carry out an attack, we must have means available. The
materials for raising fire should always be kept in readiness.
There is a proper season for making attacks with fire
and special days for starting a conflagration. The proper season
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is when the weather is very dry. The special days
are those when the moon is in the constellations of
the sieve, the wall, the wing, or the cross boar.
For these four are all days of rising wind. In
attacking with fire, one should be prepared to meet five
possible developments. One, when fire breaks out inside the enemy's camp,
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respond at once with an attack from without. Two. If
there is an outbreak of fire but the enemy's soldiers
remain quiet, bide your time and do not attack. Three,
when the force of the flames has reached its height,
follow it up with an attack if that is practicable.
If not, stay where you are for If it is
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possible to make an assault with fire from without, do
not wait for it to break out within, but the
liver your attack at a favorable moment. Five. When you
start a fire, be to windward of it. Do not
attack from the leeward. A wind that rises in the
daytime lasts long, but a night breeze soon falls. In
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every army, the five developments connected with fire must be known,
the movements of the stars calculated, and a watch kept
for the proper days. Hence, those who use fire as
an aid to the attack show intelligence. Those who use
water as an aid to the attack gain an accession
of strength. By means of water. An enemy may be intercepted,
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but not robbed of all his belongings. Unhappy is the
fate of one who tries to win his battles and
succeed in his attacks without cultivating the spirit of enterprise,
for the result is waste of time and general stagnation.
Hence the saying the enlightened ruler lays his plans well ahead.
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The good general cultivates his resources. Move not unless you
see an advantage. Use not your troops unless there is
something to be gained. Fight not unless the position is critical.
No ruler should put troops into the field merely to
gratify his own spleen. No general should fight a battle
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simply out of peaque. If it is to your advantage,
make a forward move. If not, stay where you are.
Anger may in time change to gladness. Vexation may be
succeeded by content. But a kingdom that has once been
destroyed can never come again into being, nor can the
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dead ever be brought back to life. Hence, the enlightened
ruler is heedful and the good general full of caution.
This is the way to keep a country at peace
and an army intact. End of Chapter twelve.