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17. Therefore in chariot fighting, when ten or more chariots have

been taken, those should be rewarded who took the first. Our own

flags should be substituted for those of the enemy, and the

chariots mingled and used in conjunction with ours. The captured

soldiers should be kindly treated and kept.

18. This is called, using the conquered foe to augment one's own

strength.

19. In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy

campaigns.

[As Ho Shih remarks: "War is not a thing to be trifled with." Sun

Tzŭ here reiterates the main lesson which this chapter is

intended to enforce."]

20. Thus it may be known that the leader of armies is the arbiter

of the people's fate, the man on whom it depends whether the

nation shall be in peace or in peril.

Chapter III. ATTACK BY STRATAGEM