Conducting War

When you are at war, even if you are winning, if it lasts for a long time, your forces will weaken and the edge of your attack will be blunted; if you lay siege to a fortified city, it will exhaust your strength. If you keep your army in the open for a long time, you will be left without a sufficient amount of basic supplies.
Armed forces carry a bad omen - if you use them for longer than necessary, there will be great suffering. As the saying goes: “Those who love to fight and thus exhaust their army cannot avoid their own ruin.”
When your armed forces are weakened, the edge of your attack will be blunted, your strength will be exhausted and your supplies will be used up, the other side will take advantage of your weakness and rise to its feet. Then even wise advisers, if you have them, cannot help you to turn things completely in your favor.
Therefore, I have heard of hasty and unsuccessful military operations, but I have never heard of a protracted war bearing fruit. No nation has ever benefited from prolonged military engagement.
It has been said: be swift as thunder, which strikes before a man can even think of putting his hands to his ears, swift as lightning, which flashes faster than the blink of an eye.
Therefore, those who are not fully aware of the negative aspects of the use of armed force cannot be fully aware of its advantages.
Those who know how to wage war do not mobilize their troops twice and do not supply them with food on three occasions.
This means that the people are called up for the army only once and victory is achieved immediately - do not return home to gather new troops. Take your own provisions at the very beginning, and then take food from the enemy.
If you bring your equipment from your own country and take your food from the enemy, you will not lack either weapons or provisions.
When a country becomes poor due to military engagement, it is because it transports provisions to a distant place. If you transport provisions to a distant place, the population will become poor.
Those who live near the army will sell things at higher prices. Because of the high prices, a large part of the population will become poor.
When provisions are transported to distant places, the population is exhausted by the cost. In the markets near the army, there is a sudden jump in the price of goods. Therefore, prolonged warfare is disastrous for any state.
When the sources of supply are exhausted, supplies are collected by force. When the power and sources of supplies are exhausted, the country also becomes poor. Ordinary people are left without seventy percent of their budget, while the state has to spend sixty percent of the national wealth to cover the cost of destroyed equipment.
The people are the main strength of a state; food is the most important prerequisite for its well-being. The ruler must respect this and be frugal.
Therefore, the wise general is the one who seizes food from the enemy. Every kilogram of food seized from the enemy is equal to twenty times the amount of food you procure yourself.
To transport one kilogram of food over a long distance, an additional twenty kilograms of food are needed.
Accordingly, enraged soldiers kill the enemy, and rewarded soldiers seize his goods.
If you reward your soldiers with a part of the acquired booty, you will encourage them to fight out of their own motivation, in order to get their hands on the enemy's goods. That is why it is said that where there are good rewards, there are also brave fighters.
Therefore, reward the one who first captures at least ten chariots in a chariot battle.
If you reward everyone, there will not be enough rewards for everyone. Therefore, reward one to motivate everyone else.
Win the prisoners over to your side so that they fight alongside you. Treat them well and take care of them.
You should treat captured soldiers well to win them over to your side.
This is how you defeat the enemy, and at the same time strengthen your own power.
If you use the enemy to defeat the enemy, you will be strong wherever you go.
Therefore, in war, it is not perseverance that matters, but victory.
Persistence does not pay off. An army is like a fire - if you do not put it out, it will burn until it goes out on its own.
Based on this, we become aware of the fact that the lives of people and the fate of a nation are in the hands of a military leader.

When you are at war, even if you are winning, if it lasts for a long time, your forces will weaken and the edge of your attack will be blunted; if you lay siege to a fortified city, it will exhaust your strength. If you keep your army in the open for a long time, you will be left without a sufficient amount of basic supplies.
Armed forces carry a bad omen - if you use them for longer than necessary, there will be great suffering. As the saying goes: “Those who love to fight and thus exhaust their army cannot avoid their own ruin.”
When your armed forces are weakened, the edge of your attack will be blunted, your strength will be exhausted and your supplies will be used up, the other side will take advantage of your weakness and rise to its feet. Then even wise advisers, if you have them, cannot help you to turn things completely in your favor.
Therefore, I have heard of hasty and unsuccessful military operations, but I have never heard of a protracted war bearing fruit. No nation has ever benefited from prolonged military engagement.
It has been said: be swift as thunder, which strikes before a man can even think of putting his hands to his ears, swift as lightning, which flashes faster than the blink of an eye.
Therefore, those who are not fully aware of the negative aspects of the use of armed force cannot be fully aware of its advantages.
Those who know how to wage war do not mobilize their troops twice and do not supply them with food on three occasions.
This means that the people are called up for the army only once and victory is achieved immediately - do not return home to gather new troops. Take your own provisions at the very beginning, and then take food from the enemy.
If you bring your equipment from your own country and take your food from the enemy, you will not lack either weapons or provisions.
When a country becomes poor due to military engagement, it is because it transports provisions to a distant place. If you transport provisions to a distant place, the population will become poor.
Those who live near the army will sell things at higher prices. Because of the high prices, a large part of the population will become poor.
When provisions are transported to distant places, the population is exhausted by the cost. In the markets near the army, there is a sudden jump in the price of goods. Therefore, prolonged warfare is disastrous for any state.
When the sources of supply are exhausted, supplies are collected by force. When the power and sources of supplies are exhausted, the country also becomes poor. Ordinary people are left without seventy percent of their budget, while the state has to spend sixty percent of the national wealth to cover the cost of destroyed equipment.
The people are the main strength of a state; food is the most important prerequisite for its well-being. The ruler must respect this and be frugal.
Therefore, the wise general is the one who seizes food from the enemy. Every kilogram of food seized from the enemy is equal to twenty times the amount of food you procure yourself.
To transport one kilogram of food over a long distance, an additional twenty kilograms of food are needed.
Accordingly, enraged soldiers kill the enemy, and rewarded soldiers seize his goods.
If you reward your soldiers with a part of the acquired booty, you will encourage them to fight out of their own motivation, in order to get their hands on the enemy's goods. That is why it is said that where there are good rewards, there are also brave fighters.
Therefore, reward the one who first captures at least ten chariots in a chariot battle.
If you reward everyone, there will not be enough rewards for everyone. Therefore, reward one to motivate everyone else.
Win the prisoners over to your side so that they fight alongside you. Treat them well and take care of them.
You should treat captured soldiers well to win them over to your side.
This is how you defeat the enemy, and at the same time strengthen your own power.
If you use the enemy to defeat the enemy, you will be strong wherever you go.
Therefore, in war, it is not perseverance that matters, but victory.
Persistence does not pay off. An army is like a fire - if you do not put it out, it will burn until it goes out on its own.
Based on this, we become aware of the fact that the lives of people and the fate of a nation are in the hands of a military leader.