What are the combat ideas of Sun Tzu's The Art of War

1. Avoiding the real and striking the virtual.

In "The Art of War", Sun Tzu pointed out that the arrangement of troops in a war is determined by the war commander in accordance with the actual situation, and there must be both strong and weak troops. We should avoid the strong part of the enemy's army and focus on the weak part of the enemy's army in order to win the battle. Sun Tzu's Art of War, "The Book of Falsehood and Reality", is an excellent illustration of this point. Sun Tzu said: "The military is like water, the line of water, avoiding the high and tending to the low; the shape of the military, avoiding the real and hitting the virtual." At the same time, for how to implement one of the combat principles, Sun Tzu also put forward some specific methods. For example, focusing on superior forces, attacking what they are not defending; avoiding their strength and striking their inertia. In short, the key of this principle is to concentrate the strength, find the weakness and strike quickly.

2. To cause people but not to cause people.

Another key point of Sun Tzu's "Art of War" is that it is better to be aggressive than to be aggressive. "To cause people" means to mobilize the enemy and make them act according to my intention; "to cause people" means to be mobilized by the enemy. Sun Tzu pointed out that in war, the most important point is to grasp the initiative of the battle, without the initiative, the enemy will be led by the nose, will be trapped in a passive, passive defense, and even beaten everywhere. And mastered the initiative of the battle, can change the unfavorable situation, so that the enemy "anonymous can labor, satiety can hunger, security can move," which is a prerequisite for victory.

3. First win and then seek war.

Sun Tzu wrote in the first chapter of his Art of War: "The military, the country's major events, the place of life and death, the way of survival, can not be ignored." As Sun Tzu realized that war is a major event related to the survival of the country and the nation, he put forward the idea of treating war with a prudent attitude. Sun Tzu suggested that before a war, one should carefully analyze the strengths and weaknesses of both the enemy and us, and try to make oneself invincible. Those who are good at war always fight with certainty, but not without certainty. Sun Tzu said: "Therefore, the good fighter, standing in an invincible position, and not lose the enemy's defeat", "the winning soldier first win and then seek war, the losing soldier first war and then seek victory", "the ancient so-called good fighter, victory in the easy to win also ". The meaning of these words, the intention is this.

4. Knowing the enemy and knowing yourself will keep you safe in a hundred battles.

Sun Tzu pointed out that in order to be invincible in war, you must know yourself as well as your enemy. If you know the enemy and know yourself, then you can carry out the plan of avoiding the real and attacking the virtual, and you can take the initiative of the battlefield, change the unfavorable factors into favorable factors, and finally defeat the enemy. At the same time, Sun Tzu also pointed out that in order to truly "know your enemy and know yourself", you must be willing to spend a great deal of effort to find out the enemy's situation, to grasp the enemy's situation, which is the basic premise of the "temple calculations".

5. To the positive combination, to win by surprise.

Sun Tzu in his theory of the art of war, put forward a "strange and positive" proposition, that is, in the tactical deployment of combat, the deployment of forces to undertake frontal combat for the positive, flanking, encircling, detouring for the strange; to serve as a pincer of the enemy's main force for the positive, arrayed against the enemy, the attack for the positive; to undertake a surprise attack for the strange, the use of maneuver, The one who takes the role of surprise attack is considered odd, and the one who adopts maneuver, sneak attack or special tactics is considered odd. Sun Tzu suggested that there must be "positive and odd" changes in the battle, and that "to combine with the positive, to win with the odd", in order to win the initiative in the end. This military idea of Sun Tzu has been applied by many later militarists. There are many cases of winning wars by using this strategy and tactics as a guide.

6. The one who recognizes the strength of the many and the weakness of the few wins.

In "The Art of War", Sun Tzu also summarized the different ways of using many soldiers and few soldiers. On the one hand,

Sun Tzu pointed out the general rule of the number of troops in the use of combat,

Sun Tzu said: "Where the law of war,

Ten is surrounded,

Five is attacked,

Ten times is divided,

The enemy is able to fight,

Smaller is able to defend,

Not as if it can be avoided." This is the general principle of the use of force. On the other hand, Sun Tzu also said, "Soldiering is based on swindle, moving by advantage, and changing by division and combination." He pointed out that, depending on different situations, we should flexibly disperse or concentrate our troops, and when our troops are not as strong as the enemy's, we should try to disperse the enemy's troops, so as to locally create a comparative advantage of "I am specialized in one and the enemy is divided into ten, and it is to attack one with ten", and then deal a powerful blow to the enemy. Sun Tzu in his art of war, after summarizing the use of more and less soldiers, pointed out: "soldiers are not more beneficial, but no military advancement, enough and force, expect the enemy, take people only." It can be seen, Sun Tzu advocated the deployment of troops to the contrast between the enemy's strength and our strength as the basis, in combat to take the maneuverability of the strategic tactics to save themselves and eliminate the enemy.

From the above strategies and tactics proposed by Sun Tzu, it can be seen that the essence of Sun Tzu's strategic thinking lies in his viewpoint of "avoiding the real and striking at the virtual", and his military tactics are based on how to effectively combat the enemy. Sun Tzu emphasized the importance of choosing the appropriate form of combat to win by surprise, on the premise of having a full understanding of the enemy's situation and the geographical conditions of the battle. These strategic and tactical ideas have had a wide and deep impact on the future generations.