"Sun Tzu's Art of War": The highest realm of war is "a soldier who surrenders without fighting"
Sun Tzu's Art of War is a book of soldiers, and there is no doubt that the book of soldiers is used to guide wars. However, what makes Sun Wu different from other military experts is that he first proposed that war is an extension of politics, and the so-called "soldiers, major affairs of the country, the place of life and death, and the way of survival must not be ignored", that is, war is a major event related to the life and death of the country, and those in power must be cautious. The highest realm of war is to avoid war as much as possible, and it is best to be a "soldier who yields without fighting."
"Sun Tzu's Art of War" perfectly embodies the great wisdom of Chinese. Sun Tzu lived in the late Spring and Autumn period of "Li Collapse and Happiness", and war had become the norm. Even so, no thinker encouraged war. Lao Tzu called the soldier an "unknown instrument", Confucius said that "the lile conquest came from the Son of Heaven", Mozi advocated "both love" and "non-attack", and Mencius even proposed "Spring and Autumn Without Righteous War". It is precisely on the basis of this consensus on war that Sun Wu's so-called "prudent war" concept.
"Therefore, those who make good use of soldiers, those who bend the soldiers instead of fighting, those who pull up the city of men instead of attacking, and those who destroy the country of men instead of jiuye will fight for the whole world, so the soldiers will not be able to make all profits, and this method of attacking will also be."
The highest art of war is not to be tough, but to make the opponent give up resistance in a bloodless way, let the other side hand over the city, do not engage in protracted war, and must use the strategy of "total victory" to win over the world.
"Therefore, the upper soldiers cut down the plot, the second cut the exchange, the second cut the soldiers, and the next attacked the city."
Sun Tzu said that the best military action is to defeat the enemy with strategy, followed by diplomatic means to defeat the enemy, thirdly to defeat the enemy by force, and the next strategy is to attack the enemy's city. Attacking the enemy's cities and pools will not be done easily unless forced, which will cause inevitable casualties and even disastrous consequences.
"Soldiers, tricksters also". In order to defeat the opponent, we must use means, even to the extreme, and no matter which means are used, it is to reduce our losses. The so-called "profit and temptation, chaos and take, reality and preparation, strong and avoid, anger and scratching, humble and arrogant, laborious, close to the left, attacking the unprepared, unexpected", the ultimate goal is still to prevent the fight and consumption, to achieve "total victory."
Still, many in power do not understand this. In order to annex, to win, for honor, they often shed the last drop of blood for war at all costs.
"The poor of the country are far from losing to the teachers, and if they are far away, the people are poor." Those who are close to the teacher sell expensively, and if they sell expensively, the people are exhausted, and when they are exhausted, they are anxious to serve in the hills. ”
War is not only a contest of military strategies between the warring parties, but also a contest of national military strength, and even more a contest of national financial and material resources. The key is to fight logistics and economy. A stalemate will inevitably lead to rising prices in belligerent countries, exhaustion of financial resources, impoverishment of the population, and prolonged state of war that can drag down a country. This is the reason for "cautious warfare".
There are three major military books in the world, "Sun Tzu's Art of War", "Theory of War", and "Five Wheels Book", and the realm of war is different. The German military scientist Clausewitz said in "The Theory of War": "In war, the ultimate solution to the problem is the battle, the bloodshed. The purpose pursued in war can be diverse, such as crushing the enemy, destroying the enemy's army, occupying the territory of the enemy country, invading the enemy country's areas, and waiting for the enemy to attack. There is only one way to achieve these goals, and that is to fight. The Japanese military master Miyamoto Musashi emphasized in the "Book of Five Wheels" that "killing the enemy head-on, leaving no trouble behind, cutting the grass and removing the roots." Compared with the "soldier who surrenders without fighting" in "Sun Tzu's Art of War", the realm of the three is obviously not at the same level. The reason why Sun Wu is a "soldier saint" does not need to cite more reasons.