The Art of War by Sun Tzu

I Laying plans contd...

25,26

These military devices, leading to victory, must not be divulged beforehand.

Now the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere [before] the battle is fought. The general who looses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations [to] lead to victory, and few calculations to [lead] to defeat: how much more no calculation at all! It is by attention to this point that I can foresee [predict] who is likely to win or lose.

Notes by Zephyrist:

The first thing to notice about these last two paragraphs is that they are very poorly phrased. Above I have added the minimum of extra words to clarify small points but the entire second paragraph would be better written as:

"Now, the general who winds a battle makes many of the above considerations in his head before the battle is fought. The general who looses a battles gives little consideration to the above before a battle: How badly would a battle go with no consideration! It is by examining the amount of consideration given to the battle plan that I can predict who will win or lose."

In terms of interpreting meaning the first paragraph is simple, if the enemy knows your plan he can beat it. So best to keep it a secret and tell as few people as possible, after all you may have spies on your side.

As many typical posters in the UK during world war II said "Careless talk cost lives".

The final paragraph is basically where Sun Tzu says the outcome of the battle can by in large be predicted by looking at the plan. If the general has taken all of Sun Tzu's advice into consideration then victory is likely. If the plan is haphazard and doesn't consider all possibilities then defeat is likely. If there is no planning then although Sun Tzu leaves it up to the reader to decide it is obvious he believes that utter defeat or worse is likely.

That is the end of section I, next week a quick summary and then onto section II waging war.