XII. Attacking with Fire

Sun Tzu said: In general, there are five kinds of fire attack. The first is burning men, the second burning stockpiles, the third burning baggage trains, the fourth burning storehouses, and the fifth burning formations.¹ Using fire requires the right conditions, and the means must always be kept ready. There is a season for setting fires and there are days for starting them. The season is when the weather is dry. The days are when the moon is in the Winnowing Basket, the Wall, the Wings, or the Chariot.² These four lodges mark the days when the wind rises.

In general, in a fire attack one must respond to the five changes of fire. When fire breaks out inside the enemy’s camp, respond early from outside. If fire breaks out but his troops stay calm, wait and do not attack; let the fire reach its height, and if it can be followed up, follow it up; if it cannot, stop. If fire can be set from outside, do not wait for it inside; set it at the right time. When fire is set upwind, do not attack from downwind. Wind that blows by day lasts long; wind at night dies down. Every army must know the five changes of fire and keep watch for them by calculation.

So using fire to aid an attack shows intelligence; using water to aid an attack shows strength. Water can cut the enemy off, but it cannot take what is his. To win battles and take what one attacks but fail to consolidate the achievement is ominous. It is called wasteful lingering.³

So it is said: The enlightened ruler thinks it through; the good general consolidates it. Do not move unless there is advantage; do not use troops unless there is gain; do not fight unless there is danger. The ruler must not raise an army out of anger; the general must not do battle out of resentment. When it accords with advantage, move; when it does not accord with advantage, stop.

Anger can turn back into delight, and resentment back into pleasure, but a state destroyed cannot be restored, and the dead cannot be brought back to life. So the enlightened ruler is careful about it, and the good general is wary of it. This is the way to keep the state secure and the army intact.

Notes

1. 1. Some read the last word as “roads” rather than “formations”: burning the supply routes.

2. 2. Four of the twenty-eight lunar lodges into which the Chinese divided the sky. The wind was thought to rise when the moon entered them.

3. 3. Our source text has “neglect” where the received text has “consolidate,” here and in the next paragraph. Read that way the sentence says the opposite of what it means; we follow the received text.