What the general needs to excel at

A general has five strengths and four aims. The five strengths are: skill in discerning the enemy’s situation and deployment; skill in grasping the timing of advance and retreat; skill in understanding the real strengths and weaknesses of both sides’ national power; skill in perceiving heavenly timing and the direction of human hearts; and skill in making use of the danger and obstruction of mountains, rivers, and terrain. The four aims are: in warfare, to seek victory through surprise; in planning, to seek thoroughness and secrecy; in the troops, to seek calm and freedom from disorder; and in the mind, to seek singleness of purpose without distraction. Modern Application:This chapter can be seen as a capability-based supplement to “The Aspiration of a General.” The previous chapter discussed how not to be distorted under heavy pressure; this chapter discusses the specific dimensions in which a general’s “strength” actually lies in judgment and action. The “five strengths” are not five parallel techniques but a complete cognitive chain: from external enemy......