The Art of War/Source/Section XII

Section XII: The Attack by Fire

 * 1)  Sun Tzu said:  There are five ways of attacking with fire.  The first is to burn soldiers in their camp; the second is to burn stores; the third is to burn baggage trains; the fourth is to burn arsenals and magazines; the fifth is to hurl dropping fire amongst the enemy.
 * 2)  In order to carry out an attack, we must have means available.  The material for raising fire should always be kept in readiness.
 * 3)  There is a proper season for making attacks with fire, and special days for starting a conflagration.
 * 4)  The proper season is when the weather is very dry; the special days are those when the moon is in the constellations of the Sieve, the Wall, the Wing or the Cross-bar; for these four are all days of rising wind.
 * 5) In attacking with fire, one should be prepared to meet five possible developments:
 * 6) (1) When fire breaks out inside to enemy's camp, respond at once with an attack from without.
 * 7) (2) If there is an outbreak of fire, but the enemy's soldiers remain quiet, bide your time and do not attack.
 * 8) (3) When the force of the flames has reached its height, follow it up with an attack, if that is practicable; if not, stay where you are.
 * 9) (4) If it is possible to make an assault with fire from without, do not wait for it to break out within, but deliver your attack at a favorable moment.
 * 10) (5) When you start a fire, be to windward of it.  Do not attack from the leeward.
 * 11)  A wind that rises in the daytime lasts long, but a night breeze soon falls.
 * 12)  In every army, the five developments connected with fire must be known, the movements of the stars calculated, and a watch kept for the proper days.
 * 13)  Hence those who use fire as an aid to the attack show intelligence; those who use water as an aid to the attack gain an accession of strength.
 * 14)  By means of water, an enemy may be intercepted, but not robbed of all his belongings.
 * 15)  Unhappy is the fate of one who tries to win his battles and succeed in his attacks without cultivating the spirit of enterprise; for the result is waste of time and general stagnation.
 * 16)  Hence the saying:  The enlightened ruler lays his plans well ahead; the good general cultivates his resources.
 * 17)  Move not unless you see an advantage; use not your troops unless there is something to be gained; fight not unless the position is critical.
 * 18)  No ruler should put troops into the field merely to gratify his own spleen; no general should fight a battle simply out of pique.
 * 19)  If it is to your advantage, make a forward move; if not, stay where you are.
 * 20)  Anger may in time change to gladness; vexation may be succeeded by content.
 * 21)  But a kingdom that has once been destroyed can never come again into being; nor can the dead ever be brought back to life.
 * 22)  Hence the enlightened ruler is heedful, and the good general full of caution.  This is the way to keep a country at peace and an army intact.


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