BA- 9730

Capt Tanveer
41 Med Regt Arty 1
2
 Translated by
Brig Gen Samuel
Blair Griffith 3
 INTRO
• Written 2500 yrs ago
• Based on Mil Warfare and Stratigies
• Sun Tzu was a renowned Chinese gen, mil strategist, writer and
philosopher
• He was born in the year of 544 BC and died on 496 BC
• Josef Mari Amio translated this book into French (1772)
• Farguson Calthorp translted this book into English (1910)
• Why “The Art of War”?

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 AIM

To apprise you about the book “THE ART OF WAR” translated by

Samuel B Griffith

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 AUTHOR
• Brigadier General Samuel Blair Griffith (May 31, 1906 – March 27,
1983), was an officer and commander in the United States Marine
Corps
• Entered the marine in 1929 graduating from US Marine Academy
• He commanded marine units in Pacific Theater in WW II
• He retired from the svc in 1956
• He wrote many books and article on mil history after his retirement
• He died on 27 March 1983

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 SCOPE
1. Estimates
2. Waging war
3. Offn Strategies
4. Disposn
5. Energy
6. Weakness and Str
7. Manoeuvre
8. The Nine Variables
9. Marches
10. Terr
11. The Nine Verities of Grd
12. Attk by Fire
13. Use of Secret Agents 7
 ESTIMATES
• War is a matter of vital importance to the state.
• Matter of life and death
• Road to survival of ruin
• The first and foremost thing before going for a war is “ Laying of
Plans” of “Estimaitons” or “Appreciation”.
• Master Sun Tzu mentioned about five fundamentals for assessing the
conditions and making comparisons
• Those are- Moral influence, Wx, Terr, Command, and Doctrine.

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 WAGING WAR
• It means the deductions of the cost a war needs
• Sun Tzu said, “Without a full understanding of the harm caused by
war; it is impossible to understand the most profitable way of
conducting it.”

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 OFFN STRATEGIES
• To capture the en is better than destroying them
• According to the Master, “Ultimate excellence lies not in winning every
battle; but in defeating the enemy without ever fighting.”
• Next best is to destroy his alliance
• Next attk his army and the worst is to attk cities
• Art of using tps:
• When ten to en’s one, surround him
• When five times his str, attk him
• If double his str, divide him
• If equally matched you may engt him
• If weaker, be cap of wdr
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 OFFN STRATIGIES
• He said about five circumstances in which victory may be predicted
• Time of fight
• Use of both large and small forces
• Common aim for victory
• Being ready for every situations
• A capable General.
• Therefore Sun Tzu said “ Know the en, know yourself, in a hundred btl
you will never be in peril”

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 DISPOSN
• Skillful warriors make themselves invincible and wait for their en’s
moment of vulnerability
• One defends when his str is inadequate and attks when it is abundant
• Elements of Art of War.
• Measurement of space
• Estimation quantities
• Calculation
• Comparison
• Chances of victory

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 ENERGY
• It is the managing of the under commands by the leader in the
battlefield
• Using the tps by assigning resp to each of them by dividing into secs,
coys, bn etc
• Using signals to con and comm between tps
• Master Sun Tzu said,” Engt with normal tps and win by the
extraordinary”

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 WEAKNESSES AND STRS
• Determine the en’s plan, you will know which strategy will work which
will not
• Determine his disposn and probe him and learn where his disposn is
strong and where it is weak
• En must not know where I intend to give btl
• This will make him prep at many places thus weakening everywhere
• As water shapes as per the grd of its flow, tactics should change as per
the en sit
• As water has no constant form, war has got no constant condition

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 MANOEUVRE
• Nothing is more difficult than the art of manoeuvre
• What is difficult in manoeuvre is to make the most devious route the
most direct and to turn misfortune into advtg
• March in an indir route and entice the en by baiting him
• Thus you may set out after him and arrive before him
• If the whole army moves to chase the advtg abandoning the stores
the store will be lost and one will not attain the atvtg
• Use local guide to obtain the advtg of the grd

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 MANOEUVRE
• In early morning sprits are keen and in the evening the thoughts turn
towards home
• To a surrounded en you must lve a way to escape

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 THE NINE VARIABLES
• SunTzu mentioned, “general who is aware of the advtgs of the nine
variables can use the grd to the max.
• No camp in low grd
• Unite with your allies in comm grd
• Do not linger in desolate grd
• In enclosed grd resourcefulness is reqr
• In dead grd, fight
• Some rds not to fol
• Some tps not to strike
• Some cities not to aslt
• Some grd should not be contested

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 THE NINE VARIABLES
• He mentioned about the five pitfalls for a general to lose a war

• Recklessness, he can be killed

• Cowardice, can be captured
• Hot tempered, you can make a fool of him
• Too delicate to defend honour, pays no regard to anything else
• Too humanitarian, compassionate and afraid of casualties, can not giveup
temporary advtg for long term gain

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 MARCHES
• Here Sun Tzu has explained the change of natural things into the
situations or deduction of the enemy. Such as:
• Birds rising in flight is a sign that the en is laying ambush
• Wild animals are startled and fleeing means en is trying to take you unaware
• When many obs are placed in the undergrowth, it is for the perpose of
deception
• When without a previous understanding the en asks for a truce, he is plotting
• When tps cont gather in small gps and whisper together the gen has lost the
confidence of the army

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 TERR
• Grds or terr may be classified into six basing on the nature of the grd
• Accessible: Both en and own can traverse with equal ease
• Entrapping: Easy to get out but difficult to return
• Indecisive: Equally disadv for both en and own
• Constricted : I must occupy first and wait for the en by blocking the passes
• Percipitous: I must make posn in sunny and high grd
• Distant: it is unprofitable to fight in the distant grd chosen by en

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 THE NINE VARIETIES OF
GRD
• Gen Sun Tzu again divided grd into nine types basing on the empl of
tps

• Dispersive Grd: A feudal lord fights in his own territory

• Frontier Grd: When he makes but a shallow penetration into en
territory. Keep the forces closely linked
• Key Grd: Equally advtg for both en and own. Hasten up rear elms
• Communicating Grd: Pay strict attention to def

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 THE NINE VARIETIES OF
GRD
• Dead Grd: Make it evident that there is no chance of survival
• Focal Grd: Strengthen allies
• Serious Grd: Cont flow of provisions
• Difficult Grd: Press on over the rd
• Encircled Grd: Block the pts of access and egress

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 ATTK BY FIRE
There are five methods of attacking with fire

• First is to burn pers

• Burn the stores and supplies
• Burn the equipment
• Burn the arsenals or warehouses and
• Use incendiary missiles

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 EMPL OF SECRET AGENTS
• Master Sun Tzu has described the spies as a key element in the
warfare on whom the movement of the army is dependent. For a
successful general or leader prior information is a vital factor in
winning a battle.
• There are five types of secret agents to be empl:
• Native Agents: En’s country people whom we empl
• Inside Agents: En’s officials whom we impl
• Doubled Agents: En’s spies whom we bribe and empl against en
• Expendable Agents: Our own spies with wrong info
• Living Agents: Those who return with info

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 EMPL OF SECRET AGENTS
• When these five agents are wk together but none knows their
method of op then it is called “The Divine Skein” and are the
treasures of a sovereign

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CONCLUSION

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