Chapter 2: Waging War - The Art of War - Sun Tzu

View our full collection of podcasts at our website:  https://www.solgood.org/ or YouTube channel: www.solgood.org/subscribe

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Chapter two, Waging War, Sansusays, in the operations of war,
where there are in the field athousand swift chariots, as many heavy chariots,
and a hundred thousand male clance soldierswith provisions enough to carry them,
a thousand lie. The expenditure athome and at the front, including entertainment

(00:23):
of guests. Small items such asglue and paint and sums spent on chariots
in armor will reach the total ofa thousand ounces of silver per day.
Such is the cost of raising anarmy of one hundred thousand men. When
you engage in actual fighting, ifvictory is long in coming, then men's

(00:45):
weapons will grow dull, and theirardor will be damped. If you lay
siege to a town, you willexhaust your strength again. If the campaign
is protracted, the resources of thestate will not be equal to the strain.
Now, when your weapons are dulled, your ardor damped, your strength
exhausted, and your treasure spent,other chieftains will spring up to take advantage

(01:11):
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 and war cleverness has never beenseen associated with long delays. There is
no instance of a country having benefitedfrom prolonged warfare. It is only one

(01:36):
who is thoroughly acquainted with the evilsof war that can thoroughly understand the profitable
way of carrying it on. Theskillful soldier does not raise a second levy,
neither are his supply wagons loaded morethan twice. Bring war material with
you from home, but forage onthe enemy. Thus the army will have

(01:57):
food enough for its needs. Povertyof the state exchequer causes an army to
be maintained by contributions from a distance. Contributing to maintain an army at a
distance causes the people to be impoverished. On the other hand, the proximity
of an army causes prices to goup, and high prices cause the people's

(02:21):
substance to be drained away. Whentheir substance is drained away, the peasantry
will be afflicted by heavy exactions.With this loss of substance and exhaustion of
strength, the homes of the peoplewill be stripped bare, and three tenths
of their income will be dissipated,while government expenses for broken chariots, worn

(02:43):
out horses, breastplates and helmets,bows and arrows, spears and shields,
protective mantles, draft oxen, andheavy wagons will amount to four tenths of
its total revenue. Hence, awise general makes a point of foraging on
the enemy. One court load ofenemies provisions is equivalent to twenty of one's

(03:07):
own, and likewise a single picoulof his provender is equivalent to twenty from
one's own store. Now, inorder to kill the enemy, our men
must be roused to anger that theremay be advantage from defeating the enemy.
They must have their rewards. Therefore, in chariot fighting, when ten or

(03:29):
more chariots have been taken, thoseshould be rewarded who took the first.
Our own flags should be substituted forthose 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 usingthe conquered foe to augment one's own strength.

(03:53):
In war. Then let your greatobject be victory, not lengthly campaigns.
Thus it may be known that theleader of armies is the arbiter of
the people's fate, the man onwhom it depends whether the nation shall be
in peace or in peril. Endof Chapter two