Sun Tzu's military thought can be summarized as the following points:
(1) Pay attention to the war and be cautious about it ── On Sun Zi's Caution about War.
Sun Tzu's Art of War has a clear meaning at the beginning. The first statement is that "soldiers, national affairs, places of life and death, and ways of survival must be observed." Sun Tzu closely linked war with the fate of the country and the life and death of the people. He not only pointed out the important position and role of war in state affairs, but also clearly pointed out that the political purpose of war is to ensure the survival and development of the country. This pushed the war to the top position of national affairs. The truth that "being a soldier is a national event" is simple, but not all rulers know it. In this regard, the basic idea of Sun Tzu's Art of War is to fight again, be cautious and prepare for war, so as to ensure that "the way to secure the country is the policy of the whole army." I not only discussed the idea of heavy fighting from the war consequences of life and death in the opening plan, but also further expounded the seriousness of the war consequences from the relationship between war and economy in the chapter on war arguments, repeatedly pointing out that "taking a hundred thousand armour" means "a thousand dollars a day", "a teacher who has been violent for a long time will not be enough for the country" and "those who benefit the country outside the military will have nothing" Similarly, considering the consequences of the war, the fire attack warned people: "If you don't move, you will have it, and you won't fight unless you are in danger. The Lord can't be angry and start a division, and he can't fight in anger; Move with profit, not with profit; Anger can revive happiness, resentment can revive happiness, national subjugation cannot revive, and the dead cannot revive. So it is wise to be cautious, and a good general will warn you. This is also the way of security for the country and the whole army. " From this, it can be seen that taking profit as the motive is the core of Sun Tzu's thought of emphasizing war and being cautious about war, and it is Sun Tzu's basic viewpoint and thought on war.
(2) "Those who win first"-Sun Tzu's theory of winning first.
Sun Tzu said, "The victorious soldiers win first and then fight, and the defeated soldiers win first and then fight." "Winning first" here means qualifying yourself to win the war before the war. First, know yourself and yourself. Sun Tzu attached great importance to the objective basis that determines the outcome of a war, and profoundly pointed out that the key to war guidance is to "know yourself and know yourself" in order to be "invincible". To know ourselves and ourselves, we should not only understand and grasp the "five things" and "seven plans" from a strategic perspective, but also understand and grasp the changing specific conditions of the opposing sides throughout the operation. This is a basic idea throughout the book and the essence of this art book. Sun Tzu's Art of War emphasizes knowing yourself and yourself, so that you can be invincible.
The second is to carry out "temple calculation". The so-called "temple count" means that in ancient China, whenever a country encountered a war, it had to be reported to the ancestral hall and set up in the Ming Hall. It is a ceremony to analyze the situation and formulate strategies. Sun Tzu's Art of War: Several articles say: "The husband does not fight, the temple wins, and there are so many;" If the temple did not win before the war, it would be too little. " "Temple calculation" is the first strategic concept in the history of China. Sun Tzu realized that a good pre-war strategic analysis directly affected the outcome of the war. Therefore, according to the situation of the enemy and ourselves, based on the existing material conditions and war potential, we should make a systematic comparison from the aspects of road, sky, land, generals and law, analyze the situation, fully estimate the possibility of military action, make plans and make decisions.
(C)' Five Things and Seven Strategies'-'The Art of War'
The strategic prediction thought and operational theory with "five things and seven plans" as the core is one of the core ideas in Sun Tzu's Art of War. It fully reveals the inherent law of military struggle and is a high generalization of Sun Wu's law of using troops.
The so-called "five things and seven plans", that is, "Tao, heaven, earth, generals and law", refer to politics, meteorology, geography, general quality and military system respectively. The "seven strategies" are derived from the "five things", which refers to analyzing the situation of the enemy and ourselves from seven aspects: clear politics, wise generals, good weather and place, strict law and discipline, excellent weapons, well-trained foot soldiers and fair rewards and punishments.
The strategic prediction thought and operational theory with five things and seven plans as the core reveal the inherent law of military struggle. Through the comprehensive analysis and comparison of the above factors, we can clearly see the strength of the fighting capacity of both sides, understand the victory and defeat of the other side, and then draw the conclusion that "we can know the victory and defeat by this".
(d) "Defeat the enemy without fighting"-Sun Tzu's theory of total victory.
Sun Tzu's "total victory" strategic thought of "defeating the enemy without fighting" is the central content and leading thought of Sun Tzu's whole ideological system. He believes: "Every battle is victorious, and those who are not good are also good; Defeat the enemy's soldiers without fighting, and the good ones are also. "
Sun Tzu's "total victory" thought of "defeating the enemy without fighting" is to force the enemy to yield to our will through bloodless struggle and achieve the goal of "self-protection and total victory" in a way that does not damage one's own strength and financial resources or the other's strength and financial resources. If we do this, we will minimize the "danger of fighting" and "benefit of fighting". If we can win the war in this way, even those who win every battle are better than those who win a bloody battle. Therefore, this is the best way to win by war.
The original meaning of the idea of "total victory" in Sun Tzu's Art of War is by no means to say that we should not use force, give up force or do not want to fight or oppose war. Instead, we should use force as the backing to create great power, strive not to fight directly, and force the enemy to surrender, so as to achieve the goals of "defeating the enemy", "leaving the city" and "destroying the country". It is in this premise and system that Sun Tzu talked about war, summed up the experience and laws of war, and talked about "conquering the enemy without fighting". When this goal cannot be achieved, there are all kinds of means such as "breaking the country", "Pojun", "cutting troops" and "attacking the city". "The method of siege is not allowed.