To speak of the Art of War, written by Sun-Tzu, is to enter the world of the militia, of the tricks and strategies to emerge victorious; This writing made up of 13 chapters analyzes part by part the elements that make up a war. As one advances in the reading we are situating ourselves, thinking, evaluating and equating with the present time and we can realize that the ancestral battles have moved to the business field, now the real battles are being fought to achieve marketing, to position ourselves, for appropriating a slice of the cake it is said now.
In the first chapter, which is that of "Initial Estimates," Sun-Tzu presents us with the need to fully prepare ourselves, carefully contemplate potential courses of action, and initiate only those movements that are likely to succeed. He also speaks of deception as the essence of war and the fundamental principle of manipulating the enemy; deception underlies and provides the possibility of manipulating the enemy by seizing their weaknesses: "Even if you are capable, show them incapacity" "Attack when they are not prepared" "Create disorder in their forces and take them" "If they are united make them separate", they are just some phrases that we find in this chapter.
In chapter 2 he talks about "Making War" and says that no country has ever benefited from a protracted war and that it can even condemn it to defeat at the hands of third parties not involved in the immediate conflict. It also tells us about the motivation of man to overcome fear –perceived this as the worst problem of command- through the use of rewards and punishments promising material and unimaginable things like acquiring nobility, rank. In chapter 3 he talks about "Planning the Offensives" and tells us that victory should be achieved with the least possible sacrifice of men and materials. He tells us that the highest ideal is to subdue the enemy without fighting, thwarting his plans, thwarting his preparations and undermining his alliances, because the victories thus achieved will keep the state intact and increase its power and its power. If war is inevitable, a cunning general will seek to conquer the enemy with minimal destruction on both sides, trying to avoid protracted conflicts; stresses that the use of military intelligence is necessary as well as self-evaluation is necessary; you have to look inside to know yourself one hundred percent so that there are no unpleasant surprises such as discovering that our strategies are inappropriate or that there is no understanding of our capabilities and deficiencies.
" The unconquerable being is within you, the conquerable being is within the enemy" Whoever has excellence in war can become unconquerable, but may not necessarily make the enemy conquerable "Sun-Tzu tells us that just because they are the best does not mean that the enemy is already defeated, but that the conditions that lead to the defeat of the enemy must be created, either by means of tricks or traps, so that the enemy trusts and becomes easy prey. Then in the next chapter he talks about "The Strategic Military Power" which tells us that "Intermixed and turbulent, the fight seems chaotic, but you can't mess it up. In the tumult and confusion, their deployment is circular, and they cannot be overcome. ” “Simulated chaos is born out of control; the illusion of fear is born of courage; feigned weakness is born of strength ”“ Order and disorder are a matter of numbers; Courage and fear are a matter of strategic power configuration; strength and weakness are a matter of deployment of forces ”from this chapter tactical or strategic concepts begin to appear, the orthodox and the non-orthodox coupled with that this had to be prosecuted by the commander-in-chief who gave the guidelines as if it was only one man.
In Chapter 6 he tells us about “Emptiness and Substance” and in this regard he tells us “ In general, whoever occupies the battlefield first and awaits the enemy will be comfortable; Whoever occupies the battlefield afterwards and must run towards the conflict will be fatigued. Thus he who possesses excellence in war compels men and is not compelled by other menThroughout this chapter Sun-Tzu expresses that if there is no prior strategy, one should never undertake tasks or enter into conflict if one is inferior to the enemy; therefore, you must be prepared anticipating the facts so that when the opportunity arises or the conditions are created for it to arise, you should be prepared without suffering weaknesses, henceforth the situation can and should be manipulated in such a way that the efforts are aimed at applying the planned strategies.
Chapter 7 tells us about the “Military Combat” Sun-Tzu says “ The combat between armies is advantageous; the combat between masses is dangerous, "; Thus, the army is established through deception, moves through advantage, and changes through dispersing and gathering. Thus its speed is like the wind, its slowness is like the forest, motionless it is like the mountains. It is as difficult to know as darkness; on the move it is like thunder "and then advises" When you pillage in a district, divide the wealth among your troops. When you enlarge your territory, divide the profits. Take control of the strategic balance of power and move" We are referred to the fact that the victorious army must be prepared and not be the result of recruiting any man by the mere fact that he presents himself as a volunteer, since the integration of trained people will leave the army which will walk together towards the victory. It also refers to not pressuring an exhausted invader and not going after apparent withdrawals, always leaving a decent exit for the enemy. In Chapter 8 he talks about the “Nine Changes” and tells us “ This is the strategy for employing the army: do not depend on its non-arrival, but depends on us having the means to wait for them. Do not depend on them not attacking, instead it depends on us having an impregnable positionWhat Sun-Tzu transmits to us in this chapter is an analytical evaluation of the battlefield, about what to do and what not to do so that things are resolved in our favor, next he talks about the five dangerous character traits of generals which can be understood as that death, life, anger, obsession and love are often dangerous determining factors in the character of a general, for example we can say that if a ruler loved his people and did not want sending his men to war, that same love made that town was invaded and could not defend itself, likewise an angry general does not think and snatches what will make his actions be driven by his irrationality leading his army to defeat.
In chapter 9 it says "Maneuver the Army" in this chapter Sun-Tzu refers to how to lead and manage the army, he also talks about the signs that are in the environment and to which we must be alert, he also tells us that When there is no congruence between what we see and what we hear, there is surely a wear and tear, to quote something: “ Those who stand leaning on their weapons is because they are hungry. If those who draw the water drink first it is because they are thirsty. When they see potential gain but don't know whether to move forward, they are tired; if they kill their horses and eat their meat, the army lacks grain... "He also refers to how an army should behave and what should be done to make the mass unified, orderly and controlled, he says about it"If you impose punishments on the troops before they have joined, they will not be submissive. If they are not submissive, they will be difficult to use. If you don't impose punishments after the troops have joined, they can't be used. ” In chapter 10 he talks about "Terrain Configurations" and tells us that "The main terrain configurations are: accessible, suspended, neutral, constrained, steep and expansive. Terms used to denote the prevailing situation at a given time, as well as telling us that when conditions are in place and victory is certain, we must fight and win despite the fact that the ruler has instructed to avoid combat, otherwise if an adverse situation is perceived not fighting is allowed even if the ruler gives instructions to fight. In one paragraph it says "So it is said that if you know others and you know yourself, your victory will not be jeopardized. If you know Heaven and Earth, your victory will be complete. ” What can be interpreted as the commander-in-chief cannot simply know his forces, but must also analyze the enemy and his capabilities, since this will allow him to have a mastery of the situation.
In Chapter 11 "Nine Terrains" tells us that there are various types of terrain, such as scattering terrain, light terrain, contentious terrain, traversable terrain, focal terrain, heavy terrain, trapping, envelope and the fatal terrain and that in each of them we must fight according to these types of terrain, also tells us that “ The nature of the army is to emphasize speed, take advantage of the absence of the enemy; traveling on unanticipated roads; and attack when they are not alert...”Sun-Tzu comments that it is necessary to have a unified army in order for them to fight together for the same purpose, he also mentions that the general who commands an army must be calm and dark, correct and self-disciplined and be capable of stupefying the eyes and ears of officers and troops keeping them ignorant.
In chapters 12 and 13 which are from "Fire Attacks" and "Employing Spies" he tells us firstly that " If it is not advantageous, do not move. If the objective cannot be reached, do not employ the army. Unless you are in danger, don't get involved in war.The ruler cannot mobilize the army out of his personal anger. The general cannot be locked in battle out of personal frustration. When it is advantageous, move; when it is not, stop. Anger can be reversed to happiness, annoyance can be reversed to joy, but an expired state cannot be revived, the dead cannot be brought back to life. ”Fire was widely used in combat throughout the history of China, they used it to assault limited targets, such as fortified towns or protected camps, also used in the plains, which are generally windy, so commanders were constantly warned to position themselves in the wind and avoid terrain with thick vegetation and the next chapter talks about the use of secret intelligence and shows us five categories of spies,It also tells us about the control that must exist over spies and about the care and wisdom to interpret the data acquired in this way.
In conclusion, I can say that we would spend hours and hours reading and analyzing The Art of War, since each chapter gives us an opportunity to expand on its dissertation; Although it has been written for thousands of years, it is so current in our days because, as I mentioned in the opening paragraph, the war has moved to organizations, land, winds, fires, spies, spaces, gaps, soldiers, strategic maneuvers are found in the business world, reading Sun-Tzu is like reading a book on strategic planning or a book on competitiveness, where the author takes us on the path of war, so to call the fierce competition that exists today; that part where you talk about surprising the enemy,we can exemplify it when we wake up overnight with the city full of advertising about a new product and that if the competition did not see this coming, it lags behind; In short, this humble essay does not intend to cover everything that The Art of War is, but is only a very small sketch of it.
