Tahiri Veila (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
weetuskenraider) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomhigh2016-01-27 02:22 am
weetuskenraider) wrote in fandomhigh2016-01-27 02:22 am
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Diplomacy, Relationships, & Tactics: The Art of War, Week 4 [Wednesday, Period 2]
Students coming into the classroom might still see Tahiri finishing up with something she was writing on the board.
17. Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory:
(1) They will win who know when to fight and when not to fight.
(2) They will win who know how to handle both superior and inferior forces.
(3) They will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks.
(4) They will win who, prepared themselves, wait to take the enemy unprepared.
(5) They will win who have military capacity and are not interfered with by the sovereign.
"Sun Tzu always makes it sound so simple," she said lightly when the class appeared to be assembled. "But he's not wrong when it comes to these basic principles."
"Try keeping a sovereign from meddling, or giving stupid orders to the military beyond 'go win,'" Ghanima said dryly. "Please, try. Tell me how that turns out."
"This is also where the saying 'know your enemy' was popularized from. Or, to quote directly, '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 succumb in every battle.'"
"So the parts from last week about trying to get the conquered foe to work with you come in pretty handy here, assuming you succeeded," Tahiri spoke up. "But it'd be interesting to hear from you, before we go on, about how you think these five principles translate into a form you would use."
"Especially since Tzu opens this pi'en telling us '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 regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.' Killing an enemy is easy. Abstaining from destruction is difficult."
This time it was her turn to write on the board.
Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles
is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists
in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.
"Think about uses of these five principles beyond just use on the literal battlefield, either," Ghanima added. "Try coming up with non-combat scenarios--" Yes, she was aware it was hard for some of you. She had every confidence you could do it. "--in which the five principles would apply, as well as how breaking resistance without fighting could be superior to total and complete decimation."
"It's like --" Tahiri began, then trailed off, shaking her head. "No, no examples from me. You're all smart enough to come up with your own." There, kids. Have a nice big vote of confidence.
"But hey, think of it this way: if you can apply these principles to the right non-combat scenario, you might be able to avoid the fight altogether."
17. Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory:
(1) They will win who know when to fight and when not to fight.
(2) They will win who know how to handle both superior and inferior forces.
(3) They will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks.
(4) They will win who, prepared themselves, wait to take the enemy unprepared.
(5) They will win who have military capacity and are not interfered with by the sovereign.
"Sun Tzu always makes it sound so simple," she said lightly when the class appeared to be assembled. "But he's not wrong when it comes to these basic principles."
"Try keeping a sovereign from meddling, or giving stupid orders to the military beyond 'go win,'" Ghanima said dryly. "Please, try. Tell me how that turns out."
"This is also where the saying 'know your enemy' was popularized from. Or, to quote directly, '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 succumb in every battle.'"
"So the parts from last week about trying to get the conquered foe to work with you come in pretty handy here, assuming you succeeded," Tahiri spoke up. "But it'd be interesting to hear from you, before we go on, about how you think these five principles translate into a form you would use."
"Especially since Tzu opens this pi'en telling us '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 regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.' Killing an enemy is easy. Abstaining from destruction is difficult."
This time it was her turn to write on the board.
Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles
is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists
in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.
"Think about uses of these five principles beyond just use on the literal battlefield, either," Ghanima added. "Try coming up with non-combat scenarios--" Yes, she was aware it was hard for some of you. She had every confidence you could do it. "--in which the five principles would apply, as well as how breaking resistance without fighting could be superior to total and complete decimation."
"It's like --" Tahiri began, then trailed off, shaking her head. "No, no examples from me. You're all smart enough to come up with your own." There, kids. Have a nice big vote of confidence.
"But hey, think of it this way: if you can apply these principles to the right non-combat scenario, you might be able to avoid the fight altogether."
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