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The Art of War by Sun Tzu: Chapter 5 – The Force of Momentum

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Justcuz Fan Club

This excerpt from Sun Tzu's 'The Art of War' delves into fundamental military strategies, emphasizing the importance of organizational structure, signals, and the interplay between orthodox and unorthodox tactics. It illustrates how skilled leaders manage armies, exploit weaknesses, and leverage 'momentum' and 'timing' to achieve victory without relying on extraordinary efforts from individual soldiers.

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Sun Tzu said: To manage a large army as easily as a small one, rely on organizational structure.

To command a large force in battle as easily as a small one, rely on signals (flags and drums).

To ensure that the entire army, though facing the enemy, remains undefeated, rely on the employment of orthodox and unorthodox tactics.

To strike the enemy like throwing a stone against an egg, rely on exploiting their weaknesses and concentrating your strength.

In all battles, engage with the orthodox, but achieve victory with the unorthodox.

Thus, those skilled in deploying the unorthodox are as boundless as heaven and earth, as inexhaustible as rivers and seas. They end and begin like the sun and moon; they die and are reborn like the four seasons. There are no more than five musical notes, yet their combinations produce an endless variety of sounds. There are no more than five colors, yet their blends create an infinite array of hues. There are no more than five flavors, yet their mixtures yield an unending range of tastes. In warfare, tactics are no more than orthodox and unorthodox, yet their permutations are limitless.

Orthodox and unorthodox generate each other, like a circle with no end—who can exhaust their possibilities?

The swiftness of a rushing torrent that can carry boulders is due to "momentum"; the rapidity of a bird of prey that can break bones is due to "timing." Thus, the skilled warrior creates a momentum as dangerous as a taut crossbow and strikes with timing as sudden as releasing the trigger.

Amid chaos in battle, maintain order; amid confusion, keep formation unbreakable. Chaos arises from order, cowardice from courage, weakness from strength. Order and chaos depend on organization; courage and cowardice depend on momentum; strength and weakness depend on disposition.Thus, those skilled in moving the enemy display feints, and the enemy will follow; offer bait, and the enemy will take it. Lure them with profit, then ambush them with your troops.

The skilled warrior seeks victory through momentum, not by demanding extraordinary efforts from men. Thus, he selects men and exploits momentum. Those who exploit momentum command troops like rolling logs or stones. Logs and stones are inert when on level ground, but move when on a slope; square ones stop, round ones roll. Thus, the momentum of a skilled warrior is like rolling a round stone down a thousand-fathom mountain—this is "momentum."