Training of An Army

In order to lay out strategies and do the different function of military operation, soldiers are needed. To form an army or a formation, skilled soldiers are needed. To find fine and powerful soldiers, highly-skilled soldiers are needed. In ancient war, soldiers are needed to defense their loved ones and their nation. Before soldiers were the people, normal people with hidden talents.

Confucius since said: to send people to war without teaching them is abandoning. Therefore, soldiers must be skilled in fighting and armed with weapons. The important and main factor of a powerful army is Unity. With unity, the soldiers will stay together as one even in time of chaos. In Wu Tzu’s Art of War, it stated the unity between soldiers and generals.

There are five main factor of getting a great army; formation, strength, morale, speed and weaponry.

• · Formation - Neatness in arrangement, orthodox and unorthodox
• · Strength - large amount, discipline, strictness, types of troops
• · Morale - eagerness
• · Speed - fast
• · Weaponry - spear, sword, axe, arrow/ siege

In Zhuge Liang’s 將苑, there are ways of training an army:

1. Train them in conduct and duty
2. Teach them to be loyal and trustworthy
3. Instruct them in military rules and penalties
4. Awe them with rewards and punishments
5. Only when the above all are done, then train them in maneuvers and formation

With this, one person can teach 10 people, 10 people can teach 100, 100 people can teach 1000and soon developed into armed forces. Observe their performance and use them according to their talents, give them weapons to protect themselves from danger.

Next, we refer to the Questions and Replies between Emperor Tang Taizong and General Li Jing on the training of arrangement and formations. In 唐李問對, training of soldiers should start from the lowest to the highest level.

• · Firstly, divide the soldiers into small fighting squad
• · Secondly, organize them into platoons
• · Thirdly, form them into battalions
• · Lastly, put them together to form different army formation

Training in this order will make the formation stronger. Even though the strong formation is broken, the army will broke down into battalions and platoons, forming a new and neat formation.

Lastly, Endurance and Consistency is needed to maintain the strength of the army. The soldiers should continue their strict training and not let down their guards, even though they gain big victory. Discipline must be upheld and military rules must not be lightened. Rewards and punishment should be given accordingly. If rewards and punishments are not given accordingly, the soldiers will not trust the general. If discipline is not observed, then the soldiers will lax. If the soldiers do not undergo strict and consistent training, they are unprepared for war.

The Incendiary Attack

When we say about fire attack, we will most likely remember the Battle of the Red Cliff; how Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu use fire attack to defeat Cao Cao’s numerous navy fleets. Fire attack in Ancient China history was used during night raids or surprise attack. In fire tactic, instructions to the army or troop must be clear. If there is a small mistake, the plan may backfire and the enemy will have the advantage.

孙子曰：
凡火攻有五：一曰火人，二曰火积，三曰火辎，四曰火库，五曰火队。
行火必有因，因必素具。发火有时，起火有日。时者，天之燥也。日者，月在
箕、壁、翼、轸也。凡此四宿者，风起之日也。凡火攻，必因五火之变而应之：火
发于内，则早应之于外；火发而其兵静者，待而勿攻，极其火力，可从而从之，不
可从则上。火可发于外，无待于内，以时发之，火发上风，无攻下风，昼风久，夜风止。凡军必知五火之变，以数守之。

Sun Tzu stated that there are five main target of using a fire attack; soldiers, stores and supply, equipments, carts and chariots, and army formation. Burning the soldiers will decrease the strength of the army, burning the supplies will decrease the energy of the army, burning the equipments will make the enemy unarmed. Burning carts and chariot, the enemy will not have transportation for supply and stores, therefore the speed of the enemy decreases. Lastly, using incendiary attack will break the enemy’s army formation, therefore they will not in order.

There are several ways to ensure a successful fire tactic:

Firstly, make sure the equipments to start a fire must be adequate.

Secondly, if the wind is blowing towards the target, then the fire tactic will be successful. Therefore when the moon is in the constellation of 箕、壁、翼、轸, then that are the days of which the wind will raise.

Thirdly, the season and weather condition affect the progress of the fire tactic. Dry season and weather condition is favorable for a fire attack. If the weather is raining, then fire attack will be in vain.

Lastly, the assistance of the army is important as the fire tactic may only weaken the enemy. If the fire occurs inside the enemy, then attack at once, for the fire will make the enemy’s soldiers panic and dispersed in chaos. But if the enemy is calm during the outbreak of fire, then do not attack and wait for the opportunity. When moving the troop during the fire attack, do not order the troop to move against the direction of the wind or the spreading of the fire; follow the direction of the fire.

The Battle of the Red Cliff (208) was the war against the combined force of Liu and Sun (Dongwu) against the warlord Cao Cao. So how did they defeat the Cao navy troop in the battle?

反間計 - Firstly, the Wu commanding general Zhou Yu decided to write a fake letter about Cao's navy admiral Cai Mao and Zhang Yun allied with him. This made Cao Cao executed the two generals mistakingly.

苦肉計 - Zhou Yu and the old general Huang Gai decided to plot the beating trick. By beating Huang Gai, Cao's spy revealed the situation to Cao Cao. Huang Gai wrote a fake surrender letter and order his advisor Kan Ze to sent it to Cao Cao.

無中生有 - Zhuge Liang and Lu Su mobilize straw boat to Cao Cao's naval shipyard. This made Cao Cao use archer to defend the naval base. This made Zhuge Liang collect more than 10,000 arrows.

連環計 - Pang Tong went to Cao Cao's base and advise him to chain all his ship together to ease the sea-sickness of the soldiers. But his intention is to trap the ship together so that Zhou Yu's fire attack will spread.

大 火計 - Huang Gai send speedboats to pretend to surrender to Cao Cao. Upon reaching the naval shipyard, Huang Gai ordered all boats to be set on fire and collide to Cao Cao's chained ships. Soon, Cao Cao's thousands ships were all burnt down.

Preparation for War

Sun Tzu, also known as Sun Wu, was a legendary figure in ancient China history. He was known as the Sage of War. He was heroic general during the Spring and Autumn Period (722 - 481BC) under the King of Wu. He was also the author of the commonly and famous military treatise known as 孫子兵法. The treatise was the basic instruction of a successful military operation and was spread around the war. It was said that Sun Tzu executed two concubines of the King of Wu for not taking instructions seriously, despite how King of Wu protested.

In Sun Tzu’s Art of War, there consisted of 13 chapters. The first chapter is the most essential for victory in military conflict. It stated:


孙子曰： 兵者，国之大事，死生之地，存亡之道，不可不察也。故经之以五事，校之以计，而索其情：一曰道，二曰天，三曰地，四曰将，五曰法。

In my own words, as a general or a soldier, armed conflict impact the country largely, therefore in a battlefield, life and death is observed and fighting is the only way to survive. Thus, the art of war must be studied carefully.

• 道者，令民于上同意，可与之死，可与之生，而不危也 • 天者，阴阳、寒暑、时制也 • 地者，远近、险易、广狭、死生也 • 将者，智、信、仁、勇、严也 • 法者，曲制、官道、主用也。凡此五者，将莫不闻，知之者胜，不知之者不胜。

Tao, the path - Go with the people’s hearts, so that they will stay at your side in the matter of life and death. Against the people’s hearts, there will be rebellion

Heaven - know the weather condition, observe the star, and know the yin-yang concept

Earth - knows how far or near, knows the features of different terrain

General - Knowledge, Trustworthy, Virtue, Courage and Discipline

Military operation/ tactics - the methods of military operation and the roles and function

Why was Zhuge Liang so success?

When people see in the history of the Three Kingdom Era, the most recognized man is the famous strategist Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang, also known as Master Sleeping Dragon, was an accomplished strategist. In my childhood, I often heard after the story of the man sitting playing a zither on the castle, the Empty Fort Strategy. Then ask yourself why is he so success in everything he did?

In his treatise, Jiang Yuan 將苑 , the Way of a General stated:
上知天文，中察人事，下识地理， 四海之内，枧如室家，此天下之将.

One who knows the movement of the planets and the position of the star, who study the stars constellation and the celestial process of creation, who know the affair of human and the features of the earth, who is able to know the weather condition and the advantages of the earthly, is a talent beyond extraordinary.
Examples:

Empty Fort Strategy
Zhuge Liang's Empty Fort Strategy, according to some studies, may not be due to logic. For Zhuge Liang to use this risky strategy, was that he knew what was his rival, Sima Yi thinking. Sima Yi knew that Zhuge Liang did not use risky strategy, and upon seeing the castle gates opened and the dirt rising up, he expected huge ambushes behind the castle walls. Upon hearing the clear and peaceful music of the zither, Sima Yi believed that the peace and undisturbed music showed that Zhuge Liang is fully prepared.

Borrowing of 10,000 arrows
Zhuge Liang, before the Battle of Red Cliff, promised Zhou Yu to get 10,000 arrows in three days. How did he achieve that? Common sense, to do this is to do at night, where the straw boats cannot be seen clearly. But what's so special about his plan of borrowing arrows? Zhuge Liang knew that on the third day, there will be fog. When Cao Cao seen the situation, he believed that fog means ambushes and other reason, therefore he order not to send out the navy fleets to attack and use archers to get rid of the enemy, thus making Zhuge Liang's plan more effective.

Burning of Bowangpo Slope
After Liu Bei recruited Zhuge Liang as strategist, XiaHou Dun of Wei came to attack Liu Bei, passing by Bowangpo. Zhuge Liang use the terrain of Bowangpo as advantage to defeat the Wei troops. He lured the enemy troops into the narrow slope of Bowangpo and use a fire tactic to win Xiahou Dun's thousand troops

Welcome to the Dynasty... ... ... ... ...

Welcome again to my secondary blog, this blog is dedicated to History of China. To U all readers out there, those who know little about the history of China, here are simple and detailed explanations of all of them. Those who got any queries, post it on the shoutbox. This blog will emphasize mostly on Bing Fa 兵法 or called the Art of War.

As you know, the most famous and commonly founded Art of War is Sun Tzu's. But there are many military treatises before or after his. Famous strategists or emperors in the past, wrote down their opinions about war and their experiences on military operation; what made them so successful in wars. In Ancient China, the best known classics are known as the Seven Military Classics 武經七書. The seven classics are:

1. Wu Tzu's Art of War
   
2. Wei Liao Tzu's Art of War
   
3. Sun Tzu's Art of War
   
4. Sima's Rules of War
   
5. Questions and Replies between Tang Taizong
   
6. Three Strategies of Master Yellow Stone
   
7. Six Teachings of Jiang Zi Ya

Of course there are other military treatises such as the famous and heavenly Zhuge Liang or Sun Tzu's grandson Sun Bin.

Applying these treatise on today's life
Nowadays, there are modern technologies, there is no need for sticks and sword, there's guns. The Ancient Arts of War is the basic and advanced way of the military. Art of War are also linked to wisdom, leadership and even martial arts.