صفحة 169 من 266

11. On dispersive ground, therefore, fight not. On facile ground,

halt not. On contentious ground, attack not.

[But rather let all your energies be bent on occupying the

advantageous position first. So Ts'ao Kung. Li Ch'uan and others,

however, suppose the meaning to be that the enemy has already

forestalled us, sot that it would be sheer madness to attack. In

the Sun Tzŭ Hsu Lu, when the King of Wu inquires what should be

done in this case, Sun Tzŭ replies: "The rule with regard to

contentious ground is that those in possession have the advantage

over the other side. If a position of this kind is secured first

by the enemy, beware of attacking him. Lure him away by

pretending to flee-show your banners and sound your drums-make a

dash for other places that he cannot afford to lose-trail

brushwood and raise a dust-confound his ears and eyes-detach a

body of your best troops, and place it secretly in ambuscade.

Then your opponent will sally forth to the rescue."]