Warfare and the Moon

Sun Bin said: “Standing between Heaven and Earth, nothing is more precious than people. War cannot rely on a single condition. If any one of the three—heavenly timing, geographical advantage, and human harmony—is missing, even if victory is won, disaster will remain. Therefore one must wait until the three conditions depend on and complete one another before going to war, and resort to war only when absolutely necessary. Thus, fighting in accordance with the opportune moment, after one victory one need not mobilize the masses again. Those who fight without relying on the three conditions yet obtain a small victory do so only because the timing of sending troops happens to coincide with the calendrical sequence.” “Sun Bin said: Winning six out of ten battles relies on the stars; winning seven out of ten relies on the sun; winning eight out of ten relies on the moon; winning nine out of ten, the moon has ...; winning ten out of ten is the result of the general being skilled in using troops and the soldiers’ fighting power surpassing the enemy’s. One single ...” “.........