Chapter 3 Attack By Stratagem

1. Sun Tzu said: In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact;to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too, it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it,to capture a regiment¹, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.
2. Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme² excellence³; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.
3. Thus the highest form of generalship is to balk⁴ the enemy's plans; the next best is to prevent the junction⁵ of the enemy's forces; the next in order is to attack the enemy's army in the field;and the worst policy of all is to besiege⁶ walled cities.
4. The rule is, not to besiege walled cities if it can possibly be avoided. The preparation of mantlets, movable shelters, and various implements⁷ of war, will take up three whole months; and the piling up of mounds⁸ over
against the walls will take three months more.
5. The general, unable to control his irritation,will launch his men to the assault like swarming⁹ ants,with the result that one-third of his men are slain,while the town still remains¹⁰ untaken. Such are the disastrous¹¹
effects of a siege.
6. Therefore the skillful leader subdues¹² the enemy's troops without any fighting; he captures their cities without laying siege to them; he overthrows¹³ their kingdom without lengthy¹⁴ operations in the field.
7. With his forces intact he will dispute the mastery of the Empire, and thus, without losing a man, his triumph will be complete. This is the method of attacking by stratagem¹⁵.
8. It is the rule in war, if our forces are ten to the enemy's one, to surround him; if five to one,to attack him; if twice as numerous, to divide our army into two.
9. If equally matched, we can offer battle;if slightly inferior in numbers, we can avoid the enemy;if quite unequal in every way, we can flee from him.
10. Hence, though an obstinate¹⁶ fight may be made by a small force, in the end it must be captured by the larger force.
11. Now the general is the bulwark¹⁷ of the State;if the bulwark is complete at all points; the State will be strong; if the bulwark is defective¹⁸, the State will be weak.
12. There are three ways in which a ruler can bring misfortune upon his army:--
13. (1) By commanding the army to advance or to retreat, being ignorant of the fact that it cannot obey.This is called hobbling the army.
14. (2) By attempting to govern an army in the same way as he administers a kingdom, being ignorant of the conditions which obtain in an army. This causes restlessness in the soldier's minds.
15. (3) By employing the officers of his army without discrimination, through ignorance of the military principle of adaptation to circumstances.This shakes the confidence of the soldiers.16. But when the army is restless and distrustful,trouble is sure to come from the other feudal¹⁹ princes.This is simply bringing anarchy²⁰ into the army, and flinging
victory away.
17. Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory:
(1) He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.
(2) He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.
(3) He will win whose army is animated²¹ by the same spirit throughout all its ranks.
(4) He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.
(5) He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered²² with by the sovereign.
18. Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy,for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb²³ in every battle.

      原文：　 【谋攻第三】
      1.孙子曰： 夫用兵之法，全国为上，破国次之；全军为上，破军次之；全旅为上，破旅次之；全卒为上，破卒次之；全伍为上，破伍次之。
      是故百战百胜，非善之善也；不战而屈人之兵，善之善者也。
      2.故上兵伐谋，其次伐交，其次伐兵，其下攻城。攻城之法，为不得已。修橹贲温，具器械，三月而后成；距堙，又三月而后已。将不胜其忿而蚁附之，杀士卒三分之一，而城不拔者，此攻之灾也。故善用兵者，屈人之兵而非战也，拔人之城而非攻也，毁人之国而非久也，必以全争于天下，故兵不顿而利可全，此谋攻之法也。

      3.故用兵之法，十则围之，五则攻之，倍则战之，敌则能分之，少则能逃之，不若则能避之。故小敌之坚，大敌之擒也。
      4.夫将者，国之辅也。辅周则国必强，辅隙则国必弱。故君之所以患于军者三：不知军之不可以进而谓之进，不知军之不可以退而谓之退，是谓縻军；不知三军之事而同三军之政，则军士惑矣；不知三军之权而同三军之任，则军士疑矣。三军既惑且疑，则诸侯之难至矣。是谓乱军引胜。

      5.故知胜有五：知可以战与不可以战者胜，识众寡之用者胜，上下同欲者胜，以虞待不虞者胜，将能而君不御者胜。此五者，知胜之道也。
      6.故曰：知彼知己，百战不殆；不知彼而知己，一胜一负；不知彼不知己，每战必败。
      　　 译文：　　　　　　【谋攻第三】
      1.孙子说：战争的原则是：使敌人举国降服是上策，用武力击破敌国就次一等；使敌人全军降服是上策，击败敌军就次一等；
      使敌人全旅降服是上策，击破敌旅就次一等；使敌人全卒降服是上策，击破敌卒就次一等；使敌人全伍降服是上策，击破敌伍就次一等。所以，百战百胜，算不上是最高明的；不通过交战就降服全体敌人，才是最高明的。
      2.所以，上等的军事行动是用谋略挫败敌方的战略意图或战争行为，其次就是用外交战胜敌人，再次是用武力击败敌军，最下之策是攻打敌人的城池。攻城，是不得已而为之，是没有办法的办法。制造大盾牌和四轮车，准备攻城的所有器具，起码得三个月。堆筑攻城的土山，起码又得三个月。如果将领难以拟制焦躁情绪，命令士兵象蚂蚁一样爬墙攻城，
      尽管士兵死伤三分之一，而城池却依然没有攻下，这就是攻城带来的灾难。所以善用兵者，不通过打仗就使敌人屈服，不通过攻城就使敌城投降，摧毁敌国不需长期作战，一定要用“全胜”的策略争胜于天下，从而既不使国力兵力受挫，又获得了全面胜利的利益。这就是谋攻的方法。

      3.所以，在实际作战中运用的原则是：我十倍于敌，就实施围歼，五倍于敌就实施进攻，两倍于敌就要努力战胜敌军，势均力敌则设法分散各个击破之。兵力弱于敌人，就避免作战。所以，弱小的一方若死拼固守，那就会成为强大敌人的俘虏。
      4.将帅，国家之辅助也。辅助之谋缜密周详，则国家必然强大，辅助之谋疏漏失当，则国家必然衰弱。所以，国君对军队的危害有三种：不知道军队不可以前进而下令前进，不知道军队不可以后退而下令后退，这叫做束缚军队；不知道军队的战守之事、内部事务而同理三军之政，将士们会无所适从；不知道军队战略战术的权宜变化，却干预军队的指挥，将士就会疑虑。军队既无所适从，又疑虑重重，诸侯就会趁机兴兵作难。这就是自乱其军，坐失胜机。
      5.所以，预见胜利有五个方面：能准确判断仗能打或不能打的，胜；知道根据敌我双方兵力的多少采取对策者，胜；全国上下，全军上下，意愿一致、同心协力的，胜；以有充分准备来对付毫无准备的，胜；主将精通军事、精于权变，君主又不加干预的，胜。以上就是预见胜利的方法。
      6.所以说：了解敌方也了解自己，每一次战斗都不会有危险；不了解对方但了解自己，胜负的机率各半；既不了解对方又不了解自己，每战必败。

1 regiment   

n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制

参考例句：

• As he hated army life,he decide to desert his regiment.因为他嫌恶军队生活，所以他决心背弃自己所在的那个团。
• They reformed a division into a regiment.他们将一个师整编成为一个团。

2 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

3 excellence   

n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德

参考例句：

• His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。
• My performance is far below excellence.我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。

4 balk   

n.大方木料；v.妨碍；不愿前进或从事某事

参考例句：

• We get strong indications that his agent would balk at that request.我们得到的强烈暗示是他的经纪人会回避那个要求。
• He shored up the wall with a thick balk of wood.他用一根粗大的木头把墙撑住。

5 junction   

n.连接，接合；交叉点，接合处，枢纽站

参考例句：

• There's a bridge at the junction of the two rivers.两河的汇合处有座桥。
• You must give way when you come to this junction.你到了这个路口必须让路。

6 besiege   

vt.包围，围攻，拥在...周围

参考例句：

• The Afghan air force was using helicopters to supply the besieged town.阿富汗空军正用直升机向被围城镇提供补给。
• She was besieged by the press and the public.她被媒体和公众纠缠不休。

7 implements   

n.工具( implement的名词复数 )；家具；手段；[法律]履行（契约等）v.实现( implement的第三人称单数 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• Primitive man hunted wild animals with crude stone implements. 原始社会的人用粗糙的石器猎取野兽。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• They ordered quantities of farm implements. 他们订购了大量农具。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 mounds   

土堆，土丘( mound的名词复数 )； 一大堆

参考例句：

• We had mounds of tasteless rice. 我们有成堆成堆的淡而无味的米饭。
• Ah! and there's the cemetery' - cemetery, he must have meant. 'You see the mounds? 啊，这就是同墓，”——我想他要说的一定是公墓，“看到那些土墩了吗？

9 swarming   

密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去

参考例句：

• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。
• The beach is swarming with bathers. 海滩满是海水浴的人。

10 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

11 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

12 subdues   

征服( subdue的第三人称单数 )； 克制； 制服

参考例句：

• In China postman subdues all wearing green color. 在中国邮递员都穿绿色制服。
• He is the God who avenges me, who subdues nations under me. 这位神、就是那为我伸冤、使众民服在我以下的。

13 overthrows   

n.推翻，终止，结束( overthrow的名词复数 )v.打倒，推翻( overthrow的第三人称单数 )；使终止

参考例句：

• Newly-elected French President Charles Louis Bonaparte overthrows the Second Republic. 1851年，新选出来的法国总统查尔斯·路易斯·波拿巴推翻了第二次共和。 来自互联网
• With unexpected innovative elements, the Next Step overthrows your knowledge for percussion! 意想不到的创新元素，颠覆你对打击乐的印象。 来自互联网

14 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

15 stratagem   

n.诡计，计谋

参考例句：

• Knit the brows and a stratagem comes to mind.眉头一皱，计上心来。
• Trade discounts may be used as a competitive stratagem to secure customer loyalty.商业折扣可以用作维护顾客忠诚度的一种竞争策略。

16 obstinate   

adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的

参考例句：

• She's too obstinate to let anyone help her.她太倔强了，不会让任何人帮她的。
• The trader was obstinate in the negotiation.这个商人在谈判中拗强固执。

17 bulwark   

n.堡垒，保障，防御

参考例句：

• That country is a bulwark of freedom.那个国家是自由的堡垒。
• Law and morality are the bulwark of society.法律和道德是社会的防御工具。

18 defective   

adj.有毛病的，有问题的，有瑕疵的

参考例句：

• The firm had received bad publicity over a defective product. 该公司因为一件次品而受到媒体攻击。
• If the goods prove defective, the customer has the right to compensation. 如果货品证明有缺陷， 顾客有权索赔。

19 feudal   

adj.封建的，封地的，领地的

参考例句：

• Feudal rulers ruled over the country several thousand years.封建统治者统治这个国家几千年。
• The feudal system lasted for two thousand years in China.封建制度在中国延续了两千年之久。

20 anarchy   

n.无政府状态；社会秩序混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• There would be anarchy if we had no police.要是没有警察，社会就会无法无天。
• The country was thrown into a state of anarchy.这国家那时一下子陷入无政府状态。

21 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

22 interfered   

v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉

参考例句：

• Complete absorption in sports interfered with his studies. 专注于运动妨碍了他的学业。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am not going to be interfered with. 我不想别人干扰我的事情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 succumb   

v.屈服，屈从；死

参考例句：

• They will never succumb to the enemies.他们决不向敌人屈服。
• Will business leaders succumb to these ideas?商业领袖们会被这些观点折服吗？