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[Chang Yu says: If he can fight, he advances and takes the

offensive; if he cannot fight, he retreats and remains on the

defensive. He will invariably conquer who knows whether it is

right to take the offensive or the defensive.]

(2) He will win who knows how to handle both superior and

inferior forces.

[This is not merely the general's ability to estimate numbers

correctly, as Li Ch'uan and others make out. Chang Yu expounds

the saying more satisfactorily: "By applying the art of war, it

is possible with a lesser force to defeat a greater, and vice

versa. The secret lies in an eye for locality, and in not letting

the right moment slip. Thus Wu Tzŭ says: 'With a superior force,

make for easy ground; with an inferior one, make for difficult

ground.'"]

(3) He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit

throughout all its ranks.

(4) He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy

unprepared.