[Thanks for this Cheldon. This is a fascinating set of strategems. I’m not saying they’re the last word in warfare – but there is some sound and excellent historical thinking worth considering. Its long but good. Jan]

1. Stratagems for the Stronger Force
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Editor’s Note: The 36 stratagems were divided into six categories, depending on situation. This division was always fluid and flexible, for the Chinese view of war is that the situation continually changes

In modern times, the divisions are, perhaps, even less applicable. Rather than viewing the first six stratagems as being most applicable for a stronger force to use, perhaps it will be better to apply a descriptor to them. These stratagems advocate ways to mis-direct the energy of others and to seize the advantage of misdirected energy.
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01. Deceive the sky to cross the sea
Conceal your preparations by being completely open and public. The police of a town were looking for a cat burglar that continually struck in a certain wealthy neighborhood. Finally, after failing to catch him after weeks of trying, they set up a watch on either end of every street. The officers were ordered to note the arrival and departure of every person, so that all could be questioned. And yet, the burglaries continued for several days, until one observant policeman realized that a postman was making rounds on a postal holiday. The “postman” was finally nabbed. Yet he had succeeded for so long because he had made himself an acceptable part of the scenery while in the act of committing burglaries.

Another form of deceiving the sky to cross the sea is to make open preparations for war without ever actually going to war—until the enemy no longer takes you seriously.
02. Besiege Wei to rescue Zhao
To draw off the energy of an attack against an ally, let the enemy fully commit himself against his prey, and then—instead of rushing to the rescue—attack the enemy’s dearest possessions.

When the small kingdom of Zhao was attacked by the mighty Wei forces, the kingdom of Zhao fortified itself and became a city under seige. It managed to get a few messengers out to ask for help from its allies. But the Wei forces had come prepared to lay a long seige, and so they dug in around Zhao and fortified themselves against both front and rear attacks.

The Wei military force encamped against Zhao was huge, so Zhao’s allies decided not to confront the Wei army in the field. Instead, the allies marched boldly to the Wei capital, which had been left with a very light guardian force while the main body of troops was beseiging Zhao. Panicked recall messages were sent to the Wei troops, and these were allowed to get through.

The Wei attack force quickly broke camp and tried a forced march back to their capital to defend it. As soon as they embarked on their hasty retreat, the Zhao gates opened, and the small Zhao army pursued and harried their former attackers. Meanwhile, the allies of Zhao laid ambushes against the returning Wei forces and raided them on the open roads. And then the allies who had attacked the Wei capital met the Wei forces head on, while the Zhao army attacked from the rear.

Thus the Wei army was decimated and harried back to its capital, rendering it unable to carry out another massive seige.

03. Kill with a borrowed knife
Convince others to fight your battles for you. The most masterful strategists of the past have used deception to convince enemy kings that their best generals were about to betray them. So the rulers would order all their own best generals beheaded for treason. Thus the enemy did to himself what would have taken months or years to accomplish on the battlefield.

Another way to use this strategy is to cause discord between your enemy and another party. Your enemy exhausts himself and spends up his resources, so that he’s decimated by somebody else’s weaponry while you conserve your resources. The enlightened fighter lets somebody else do the fighting for him and can either watch the battle to its conclusion or else enter at the end and win.
04. Wait at ease for the enemy
Sun Tzu wrote these three maxims:
If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them. (from Section One, “Laying Plans,” AOW)
If the enemy is taking his ease, he can harass him; if well supplied with food, he can starve him out; if quietly encamped, he can force him to move. (from Section Six, “Weak Points and Strong,” AOW)
To be near the goal while the enemy is still far from it, to wait at ease while the enemy is toiling and struggling, to be well-fed while the enemy is famished:–this is the art of husbanding one’s strength. (from Section Seven, “Manuevering,” AOW)
It’s always an advantage to be one step ahead of your opponent, and it’s a benefit for you get to the site of battle ahead of him. But if speed is not your gift, you can also simply force or entice him to come to you, where ever you are. An opponent who must destroy you to get his reward will come after you where ever you go, so cover hard ground that is unfamiliar to him. Lead him through awkward and expensive situations. Keep evading him and force him to spend himself up to reach you.

The commentators on Sun Tzu recommend that if you have a small force and your enemy a strong force, encamp your men in rocky, divided terrain so that you force the pursuer to break up his army. Thus, you create confusion in his troops, and he loses the advantage of being able to fight you with a single, massive charge.

05. Loot a burning house
Sun Tzu wrote, “While heading the profit of my counsel, avail yourself also of any helpful circumstances over and beyond the ordinary rules. According as circumstances are favorable, one should modify one’s plans.” (from Section One, “Laying Plans,” AOW).

If your opponent suffers an adversity not related to your battle, you can use the diversion of his attention, energy, and resources to further weaken him. Later stratagems advise that you actually create any diversion possible to divide your opponent’s focus, apart from the standard military diversions of the battle field: force him to camp in a swamp so that his troops get sick; alert his ruler about the debt of his army; warn local officials about his shady dealings. When his attention is divided and his spirits low, you can force him to compromise and make peace. Use the misery and distress of your opponent to bring him to terms.

06. Make a feint to the east while attacking in the west
The pre-requisite for this stratagem is that your opponent must have no real insight on what you are about to do. If you have been predictable in the past, then be wary of trying to fool an enemy who has already succeeded in out thinking you and correctly guessing your plans.

But if you know that your opponent is information hungry and has a healthy fear of what you might do, the situation is ripe for creating a diversion. The best example of this tactic is the low-interest loan tactics so widely available today. Credit card companies or loan companies promise low interest on “transfer checks” that enable you to pay off other credit accounts. But they make their money when you start charging new purchases on their card. These new purchases are often made at a much higher rate of interest than is available via the “transfer checks”, or else new purchases come with “finance charges” that are incredibly high. So by making consumers believe that they are fighting off debt by one method, many credit card companies keep the rate of debt high by other methods.

2. Stratagems for Two Equal Forces
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Editor’s Note: These stratagems focus on immediate options that you have on hand. Using what you already have or what exists in your environment, create illusions, make new weapons, or form new and innovative plans. These stratagems require that you look at your own situation with fresh eyes and that you understand how your opponent looks at your environment and arsenal, so that you can create convincing illusions or put old items to new uses.
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07. Create something out of nothing
Get what you need by trickery or illusion. A British agent planted in Vichy France had to procure his own funds. So he took on the persona of a carefree playboy and befriended a wealthy young German officer who had an easy assignment driving a German commander around and maintaining his staff car. The British agent stole the car one night when the young man was drunk, and sold it to a sympathetic French car mechanic. They stripped it of its military decoration that night.

The next day, in a panic, the young German officer came to his British friend and begged him for help. Somebody had stolen the staff car, and he would be punished for being drunk on duty. He could buy a replacement, but the French people wouldn’t do business with Germans, and he had to get the car replaced before it was missed. The British agent told the young officer that it would probably be possible to get a car of the same make and model from the black market, but it would be expensive, and he would have to act as go-between. The officer said he could get any amount of money required, and so the British agent asked for twice the amount of the value of the car. The young officer got the amount for him, and the Brit went back to the French man and paid him exactly the same amount for which he’d sold it.

He drove it back to the young German officer, who was grateful for the favor and never knew that he had bought back his own car. The British agent, having received twice the cash value of a luxury car, was well financed to begin his espionage work.

08. Use a well-known path to advance by a hidden path
Use the commonly expected strategy to hide the real strategy. Military tactics, applied to certain terrains, suggest certain obvious attacks. Before Hitler invaded France, the French knew he was building up his military, but they supposed that no army could penetrate their famous “Maginot Line.” They made their preparations for Hitler elsewhere. He used their military theory to further this illusion. But Hitler used a lightning fast attack force never yet seen, called panzer units. They burst through the antiquated defenses of the Maginot line.

Similarly, the D-Day invasion was expected, but the Germans assumed it would occur at or near Calais, which was a place more hospitable to a large force trying to land quickly. The rough seas and long, exposed stretch of Omaha Beach, fronting onto miles of confusing “lanes” that could mislead invading soldiers, was considered unlikely because it offered so little advantage. So it was lightly guarded. The main invasion force came in here.

09. Watch the fire burning across the river
Use delay if it enhances in-fighting within the enemy alliances. Westerners tend to under-value delay in their conflicts. Especially if you have an egotistical opponent or somebody who tries to advance by abusing others, then time is on your side. The wise fighter waits to let a foolishly aggressive or egotistical opponent alienate those around him and creates problems within his own administration. If things work out, the in-fighting that a manipulative, cruel, or controlling leader creates will eat up his energy and resources and increase the wise opponent’s advantage over him.

10. Conceal a dagger in a smile
Never express anger, and never express sarcasm. They show weakness, and they show a hastiness in revealing motives. Concealing a dagger with a smile may be taken as advice to be treacherous, but it also has an honorable side. You can be powerful and dangerous—and polite. The kindly person who suddenly and decisively reveals the dagger sheathed in his belt is going to be taken more seriously than the fool who brandishes a dagger on any provocation. Threats, sarcasm, and open hostility serve no good purpose, no matter what your goal. Disassociate yourself from your ego and strike hard because you know it is time to strike, not because your anger is gratified in striking. Do this once in front of others, and your smile will be respected thereafter, because everybody will know there is a dagger behind it.

11. Cut down the plum tree to save the peach tree
When you cannot avoid losses, sacrifice the lesser for the benefit of the greater. The saying comes from the problem of blight infesting fruit tree groves. Farmers would decimate the blight by removing the plum trees, thus allowing the peach trees to get all the benefits of the nutrients in the soil.

Generals have been called upon to sacrifice one band of men to save another. In everyday life, recognizing that one cannot have his cake and eat it too forces us to choose our priorities. The person who knows that he must engage in struggle sets up a hierarchy of goals so that he knows ahead of time what he can sacrifice and what he cannot.

12. Steal any passing goat
Make use of everything you get from the other side. Sun Tzu advises us to “forage on the enemy,”(Section Two, “Waging War,” AOW) and we can do this by eating his scraps but also by hoarding the information that he might carelessly provide. Look at how an opponent treats others. Note where he makes trouble for himself or where he has blinded himself. Take inventory of what irritates him and what frightens him. What the opponent views as inconsequential and the things he lets slip can provide you with valuable material for managing your side of the conflict.

3. STRATAGEMS FOR DIRECT ATTACK
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Editor’s Note: These are the stratagems of “mind games”. Two of them focus on intimidation; two of them focus on tempting the enemy’s greed, and two of them focus on the enemy’s premises, assumptions, or morality. The section is well named as “direct attack,” for it shows that battle takes place in the mind, and direct attacks succeed if you know how your opponent thinks.
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13. Beat the grass to startle the snake
Frighten or startle the enemy to see how he will react. You should note that making threats will probably undo you, especially against an opponent who is stronger or more ruthless than you. Instead, the enlightened fighter has to make the enemy feel threatened without stooping to make threats. A calm, straightforward demeanor in discussions helps a person’s word to be more believable. Instead of speaking threats, the wise fighter arranges circumstances or performs actions that create the threat.

A woman who is being stalked, instead of threatening to call the police, simply calls the police, thus startling the stalker by her decisive action and letting the authority of the law frighten him. She watches his reaction and learns how committed he is to continue this behavior.

Due to mismanagement of their own records, a credit card company sends a collection agency against a man who has actually paid his bills. After faxing copies of the checks that prove he’s up to date, the man is still being harassed. Instead of threatening to get a lawyer, he asks a lawyer to write a letter to both companies, letting them know their legal danger. At this mark of serious consequences to their own negligence in record keeping, the credit company reveal their level of commitment to harassing him (not very committed, as it turned out).

Preliminary actions that don’t commit you to a single course of behavior can still startle an opponent into revealing his mindset and goals.

14. Raise a corpse from the dead
Putting a “puppet” ruler on the throne is a means of raising a corpse from the dead. The ineffectual figurehead provides the credibility or the justification for the military coup. The Japanese Shoguns used this principle for centuries to justify their efforts to “protect the emperor” and thus rule Japan.

Calling upon a slogan that doesn’t really mean anything is another means of raising a corpse from the dead. Citing “family values” or “love of democracy” is a means of gaining credibility and justification for power plays.

15. Lure the tiger out of the mountain
Bring the opponent out from a situation that favors him to a situation that favors you. Sun Tzu writes, “Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him. If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.” (from Section One “Laying Plans,” AOW)

Farmers of ancient China who had the problem of a tiger raiding their sheep weren’t eager to hunt him down in his own territory. So they would tether a lamb out in a field, and when the tiger appeared in that wide open place, they would rise up from the grasses and kill him.

16. Let the enemy off in order to snare him
This stratagem has two possible applications. The admonition can be taken quite literally in that—in a situation in which you defeat your enemy—you can sometimes more effectively snare the opponent by releasing him or forgiving him. (After all, if you execute an enemy general, then his lieutenant becomes general in his stead, so you still have an enemy to fight. But if you spare the general and win him over, you gain an ally.) Sun Tzu repeatedly urges that those who are defeated be treated humanely, because if you win their loyalties, then you increase your own fighting force with very little expenditure. The Chinese generals who wrote extensive commentaries on Sun Tzu have observed that feeding and clothing prisoners means you are really feeding and clothing recruits. The opportunity to be magnanimous shows the opponent that you are not the devil he assumed you to be. And after being defeated, a proud fighter may be much more approachable and agreeable when treated with dignity and respect.

The USA accomplished this, after a fashion, by bringing German POWs back to the USA for interment during WWII. One German prisoner wrote that they all knew they would understand their real conditions only when they arrived at the prison barracks. They were frightened and dispirited, and the incredibly long journey across a vast ocean had made them all feel cut off and isolated. There then followed several days of travel by bus, so that all of the young men felt that they were powerless to escape or return.

But when he entered the barracks and saw a row of neat bunks, each with a mattress, and clean sheets, and a small kit bag stocked with shaving cream, a razor, soap, a toothbrush, and toothpaste, he was overcome with both gratitude and humility. He realized that his captors were not cruel. Prisoners were not beaten nor humiliated, and they were required to attend classes on law, ethics, and the Constitution of the United States. Eventually, they were allowed to work off site, under guard, for ranchers in the area. By the end of the war, with the exception of three hold outs, all of the men in his section of the camp were willing to see Constitutional government with equal rights for all instituted in Germany.

On the other hand, relying on the loyalty of a former enemy can be dangerous to the point of disastrous. The second application of this stratagem is more pragmatic and quite efficient: Make the enemy believe that a means of escape is open to him, and—rather than fight whole heartedly—he will turn his energies to get away, and thus you can direct him into a trap or harry his troops as they try to flee.

Sun Tzu warns that trapped soldiers—your own or the other general’s—will fight at their best if they think there is no hope. They will resolve to take as many of the enemy with them as possible, so the great general writes, “When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard” (from Section Seven, “Mauevering,” AOW). It’s better to get the other person to run for cover or run for escape. Provided you arrange the situation so that you know which way he will run, you can still effectively destroy his army. And this way, you suffer fewer losses.

17. Hold out a brick to attract a gem
In the great Drugstore Wars of the 1980’s, entrepreneurs built up inventory and services. But the competition was equal across the board. One chain of stores broke the deadlock by offering blood pressure machines in their stores. Customers could wander in, sit at the machine with their arm in the automated cuff, and have their blood pressure taken for free. No hassle, no pressure to buy anything, no charge for the service. Each machine was placed back in the pharmacy section so the customers walked the length of the store to get to the machine.

Equipping each store with an automated blood pressure machine required an investment, but it turned casual customers into consistent customers. Thousands and thousands of people suffer from high blood pressure, and the handy, free reading prompted them to use this certain drug store chain whenever they needed any of the items stocked there. They could pick up what they needed and check their blood pressure. Thus, the outlay of a few thousand dollars per store, with maintenance of a few hundred dollars every year, returned thousands of dollars more in revenue and profit.

So, by tossing out a bait that cost relatively little, the drug store chain hauled in a lot of profit in return. It surely worked, because these days, no matter what drugstore you’re in, chances are good that you’ll find a blood pressure machine along a back wall.

18. To catch rebels, bring down their leader first
Douglas MacArthur, a general not known for military brilliance, proved himself the man for the job in the occupation of post WWII Japan. MacArthur respected the Asian point of view and had studied it more than his other West Point peers. Though he had been something of a plodder on the battle fields of the Pacific, he distinguished himself in humanely and efficiently running an occupation that began with both conquerors and conquered highly antagonistic towards each other and misinformed.

Certainly, the Japanese had been portrayed as devils to American service men, and vice versa. For this problem, MacArthur ordered restraint and food. As GIs passed out food to a starving people, the Japanese lost their initial distrust of the American military; and the young American soldiers, seeing children who had gone hungry and giving them food, made them appreciate the humanity of their former enemies. And what prejudice could stand at the sight of children hungrily eating and remembering their manners long enough to say “Thank you” and bow with respect. The US occupation of Japan is remarkable for how thoroughly the transformation of attitude took place on both sides as enmity gave way to profound friendships and new understanding.

But there were nationalistic hold outs, and the threat of violence was never far away during the early days of the occupation. Japan’s military tradition had been one of “Death or Victory,” and there were leftover right-wing elements in Japan that were ready to riot.

MacArthur could not police an entire nation to that extent. If the old fervent patriotism took hold of the people again, catastrophe could ensue. So he arranged to have a public audience with Japan’s emperor, a man reputed to be descended from the gods, and a man who had never been photographed for public view. When MacArthur met Hirohito, the American general wore his daily army uniform. He didn’t even have a tie on. Hirohito dressed in fine Western clothes. MacArthur spoke politely but briefly with the emperor and then had their picture taken together. Japanese advisors urged against having the photograph published, but MacArthur over rode them. He ordered the picture published on the front page of the newspapers, and it appeared the very next day.

The Japanese people, who had never even been allowed to look directly at their divine ruler, saw a photograph of the laconic MacArthur, towering over the short and wilted looking Hirohito. This was their mighty emperor, a mere man dwarfed by the American General and unable to forbid the photograph.

Adroitly, MacArthur had provided perfect, unarguable proof that the emperor was merely a man, and not all that impressive of a man, even when he presented himself at his finest. The Japanese common man lost that reverential edge, and the hardcore nationalists found that the outcry to protect a divine emperor had lost a lot of its majestic ring.

4. STRATAGEMS TO CONFUSE THE ENEMY
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Editor’s Note: If you want to confuse the other guy, then you must operate with proper and thorough method. These six stratagems all rise up from the commander’s complete knowledge of what he has on hand, what the enemy has, and what the enemy will require in order to advance. Thus if you cannot outgun the enemy, you may be able to starve him. If you cannot starve him, you may be able to exhaust his other supplies. If you cannot exhaust his supplies you may be able to send him down the wrong path, etc., etc. No matter how strong the enemy’s supplies, by attending to a systematic and thorough knowledge of the enemy, the commander may see where the enemy has damaged himself. In this section, two of the stratagems advocate waiting for the enemy’s flaws to catch up to him.
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19. Take away the fire from under the cauldron
If your enemy lives on rice, then steal the wood for the cauldrons, and the enemy will starve. If you cannot defeat your enemy by military tactics, you may be able to defeat him with non-military tactics. Or, put another way, any tactic that works is a military tactic. If his weapons are more powerful, his army more powerful, and his skills superior to yours, look for the non-military ways to defeat him.

Star Trek: Next Generation fans highly prize the two-part story in which the Enterprise and the Federation had to fight the Borg. Ultimately, the Borg could absorb all Federation knowledge and warcraft, so the Borg were always superior to the Federation. Yet the crew of the Enterprise, when they realized they could not outgun their deadly enemy, broadcast a low-security level command to the Borg to signal a brief, system-wide maintenance interval. The entire Borg force temporarily shut down, overpowered by non-military means, and the brief minutes of helplessness allowed enough time for the Enterprise to defeat them.

Anythng you do to interfere with the day to day operation or well being of the enemy may be enough to win the war for you.

20. Fish in troubled waters
Sometimes waters become troubled by storms you haven’t created. Whether or not you throw your opponent’s resources into confusion, be sure to take advantage of disarray in the other camp.

New leaders emerge (and old leaders lose credibility) during times of upheaval and uncontrolled change. Rudy Guilliani was declining in power and prestige as mayor of New York when the attack on the World Trade Center took place on 9/11. He instantly became the man on the scene: compassionate, organized, generous, courageous, and articulate. While George Bush was being whisked around the country to be protected, and Dick Cheney was no where to be found, Rudolph Guilliani showed himself to be an able and popular leader whose decision and command of the situation prompted others to compare him to Winston Churchill during the bombing of Britain.

You can make gains during troubled times if you have command of your composure and your communication skills. By swiftly taking advantage of troubled situations to provide guidance and solutions, you can gain prestige and influence.

21. The cicada sheds its skin
The cicada sheds its skin intact, so that the shell looks like a real cicada. Similarly, outnumbered generals or those who were targets for assassination created false impersonations of themselves to escape danger.

This stratgey again plays on the expectations of your opponent. If he expects you to be in a certain place or supposes you will try a certain tactic, you can create the illusion that you are where he expects you to be. Meanwhile, you can put your energies into your real plans.

George Washington used this plan effectively when he pulled his men back under the eyes of the British army. As night fell, Washington ordered all the fires lit and he ordered the pipers to play folk songs and favorite melodies, as was usually done in camp at night. Then in small groups his men slipped away into the dark forest, leaving behind a few coats propped up with muskets to pose as guards and sentries.

22. Bolt the door to catch the thief
Miyamoto Musashi made an oblique reference to this idea when he wrote,
“In the world, people tend to think of a robber
trapped in a house as a fortified enemy
[and thus are afraid to approach the house—Editor].
However, if we think of “becoming the enemy”,
we feel that the whole world is against us
and that there is no escape. He who is shut
inside is a pheasant. He who enters to arrest
is a hawk. You must appreciate this.
—- “The Fire Book”, Book of Five Rings

Sometimes a person gets himself into a trap, and all that is necessary is that you shut the door. Bring his fears home to him, and he will collapse. Catching a person in a web of lies that he has been broadcasting is a means of shutting the door, for his own lies are ready to trap him. The enlightened general only needs to pick the proper time and have the proper words (and evidence) ready. “Bolting the Door” often requires patience in that the enlightened fighter has to let a person’s harmful behavior build up so that very little action is required to trap him. This strategy is not a power move or something that requires great exertion. Rather, bolting the door to catch the thief is a natural strategy in which the enlightened fighter follows out a person’s harmful activities and acts in harmony with the situation so that accumulated misdeeds come home to him.

The most effective way to “Bolt the door” is to understand what an overly aggressive, harmful person fears and dreads. The enlightened fighter also must practice iron composure so that he doesn’t get dragged into the trap with the opponent. In any situtation where a general “bolts the door,” it must be clear who is the thief and who is the good guy.

… The article was too long, so I had to cut if off here. You can see the remainder at the URL below:-

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