X. Terrain

Sun Tzu said: Among the kinds of terrain there is accessible ground, entangling ground, standoff ground, narrow ground, steep ground, and distant ground. Ground where we can go and they can come is called accessible. On accessible ground, be first to occupy the high, sunny side and keep the supply routes open; then fight, to advantage.

Ground that is easy to go into and hard to come back from is called entangling. On entangling ground, if the enemy is unprepared, go out and defeat him; if the enemy is prepared, going out will not win, and since it is hard to come back, this is not to our advantage. Ground where it is to our disadvantage to go out and to his disadvantage to go out is called standoff ground. On standoff ground, even if the enemy offers us an advantage, do not go out; draw off and leave, and when half the enemy has come out, strike, to advantage.

On narrow ground, if we occupy it first, we must fill it and wait for the enemy. If the enemy occupies it first and has filled it, do not follow him in; if he has not filled it, follow him in. On steep ground, if we occupy it first, we must hold the high, sunny side and wait for the enemy. If the enemy occupies it first, draw off and leave; do not follow him. On distant ground, when the two sides are equal in momentum, it is hard to provoke battle, and fighting is to our disadvantage. These six are the way of the ground. This is the general’s gravest responsibility; it must be examined.

Among armies there is flight, slackness, sinking, collapse, disorder, and rout. These six are not disasters sent by Heaven and Earth but the faults of the general. When the two sides are equal in momentum and one strikes ten, it is called flight. When the soldiers are strong and the officers weak, it is called slackness. When the officers are strong and the soldiers weak, it is called sinking. When the senior officers are angry and insubordinate, and on meeting the enemy fight on their own out of resentment, and the general does not know their ability, it is called collapse. When the general is weak and not strict, his instruction and guidance are unclear, officers and men have no fixed duties, and the troops are drawn up every which way, it is called disorder. When the general cannot size up the enemy, engages many with few, strikes the strong with the weak, and has no picked vanguard, it is called rout. These six are the way to defeat. This is the general’s gravest responsibility; it must be examined.

The shape of the ground is an aid to the army. To size up the enemy and gain control of victory, and to calculate how steep, narrow, far, and near the ground is: this is the way of the superior general. One who knows this and fights will surely win; one who does not know this and fights will surely lose. So if the course of battle points to certain victory, then even if the ruler says not to fight, one may fight; if the course of battle does not point to victory, then even if the ruler says one must fight, one may refrain.

A general who advances without seeking fame and retreats without avoiding blame, whose only concern is to protect the people and to serve his ruler’s advantage, is the treasure of the state. He looks on his soldiers as infants, and so they will go with him into deep ravines; he looks on his soldiers as beloved sons, and so they will die with him. But if he is generous and cannot employ them, loving and cannot command them, and if they are disorderly and he cannot govern them, they are like spoiled children and cannot be used.

To know that our soldiers can attack but not know that the enemy cannot be attacked is only halfway to victory. To know that the enemy can be attacked but not know that our soldiers cannot attack is only halfway to victory. To know that the enemy can be attacked and that our soldiers can attack, but not know that the lay of the ground does not allow a battle, is only halfway to victory. So those who understand war move without confusion and act without being at a loss. So it is said: One who knows the enemy and knows himself wins without danger; one who knows Heaven and knows Earth can make his victory complete.