Set the troops to their tasks without imparting your designs.

Keep their friends close and their enemies closer.

One whose troops repeatedly congregate in small groups here and there, whispering together, has lost the masses. One who frequently grants rewards is in deep distress. One who frequently imposes punishments is in great difficulty. One who is at first excessively brutal and then fears the masses is the pinnacle of stupidity.

Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are no constant conditions.

If this is long delayed, weapons are blunted and morale depressed.

Unless you know the mountains and the forests, the defiles and impasses, the lay of the marshes and swamps, you cannot maneuver with an armed force. Unless you use local guides, you cannot get the advantages of the land.

To maintain an army at a distance causes the people to be impoverished.