According to my assessment, even if you have many more troops than others, how can that help you to victory?

Those who are victorious plan effectively and change decisively. They are like a great river that maintains its course but adjusts its flow.

There are not more than five musical notes, yet the combinations of these five give rise to more melodies than can ever be heard.

Therefore, to estimate the enemy situation and to calculate distances and the degree of difficulty of the terrain so as to control victory are virtues of the superior general.

Therefore the good fighter will be terrible in his onset, and prompt in his decision.

The skillful tactician may be likened to the shuai-jan. Now the shuai-jan is a snake that is found in the Ch'ang mountains. Strike at its head, and you will be attacked by its tail; strike at its tail, and you will be attacked by its head; strike at its middle, and you will be attacked by head and tail both.

The general must be the first in the toils and fatigues of the army. In the heat of summer he does not spread his parasol nor in the cold of winter don thick clothing. In dangerous places he must dismount and walk. He waits until the army's wells have been dug and only then drinks; until the army's food is cooked before he eats; until the army's fortifications have been completed, to shelter himself.