number." With this compare Col. Henderson: "The rules of strategy are few and simple. They may be learned in a week. They may be taught by familiar illustrations or a dozen diagrams. But such knowledge will no more teach a man to lead an army like Napoleon than a knowledge of grammar will teach him to write like Gibbon."]
- Military tactics are like unto water; for water in its natural course runs away from high places and hastens downwards.
- So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak.
[Like water, taking the line of least resistance.]
- Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing.
- Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are no constant conditions.
- He who can modify his tactics in relation to his opponent and thereby succeed in winning, may be called a heaven-born captain.
- The five elements (water, fire, wood, metal, earth) are not always equally predominant;
[That is, as Wang Hsi says: "they predominate alternately."]
the four seasons make way for each other in turn.
[Literally, "have no invariable seat."]
There are short days and long; the moon has its periods of waning and waxing.