[This passage may be cited as evidence against Mei Yao- Ch’en’s interpretation of I. § 23.]
if well supplied with food, he can starve him out; if quietly encamped, he can force him to move.
- Appear at points which the enemy must hasten to defend; march swiftly to places where you are not expected.
- An army may march great distances without distress, if it marches through country where the enemy is not.
[Ts’ao Kung sums up very well: "Emerge from the void [q.d. like "a bolt from the blue"], strike at vulnerable points, shun places that are defended, attack in unexpected quarters."]
- You can be sure of succeeding in your attacks if you only attack places which are undefended.
[Wang Hsi explains "undefended places" as "weak points; that is to say, where the general is lacking in capacity, or the soldiers in spirit; where the walls are not strong enough, or the precautions not strict enough; where relief comes too late, or provisions are too scanty, or the defenders are variance amongst themselves."]
You can ensure the safety of your defence if you only hold positions that cannot be attacked.
[ I.e. , where there are none of the weak points mentioned above. There is rather a nice point involved in the interpretation of this later clause. Tu Mu, Ch’en Hao, and Mei Yao-ch’en assume the meaning to be: "In order to make your defence quite safe, you must defend even those places that are not likely to be attacked;" and Tu Mu adds: "How much more, then, those that will be attacked." Taken thus, however, the clause balances less well with the preceding—always a consideration in the highly