PLAN BEFORE U ACT!!!!!

Winning hearts is better than violence

攻心为上,攻城为下;心战为上,兵战为下

What does this quotation means? It means it is better to attack a person by his/her heart than attacking him/her in battle. Firstly, one must not order troops to attack without knowing the hearts or situation of the enemy or an unknown opponent. In Sun Tzu's Art of War:

不戰而屈人之兵,善之善者也.

This means that the wisest stratagem of victory is to win without killing and war. Winning a hundred or thousand wars is not the wisest or best. More war result in more deaths and resources will soon tired out, in the end victory will not be certain.

Therefore a person cannot resort to violence when solving a problem, he/she must put fighting as last resort. If one is able to win over the hearts of the enemy, then fighting is prevented.

Sima Ranju stated that loving the enemy will bring unity stronger. If a general express love and concern not only to his own soldiers but also the enemy's side, they will submit to him. Use the hearts rather than violence.

In the Three Kingdom Era, where Zhuge Liang have a Southern Expedition against the Nanman King Meng Huo. Ma Su, his advisor suggested the quotation and Zhuge Liang was impressed. Zhuge Liang did not kill the enemy, he release them for them to reunite with their families and gave them food supply. The Nanman soldiers and the citizens was touched by his actions and felt that Meng Huo's battle was meaningless, therefore they are unwilling to fight against their benefactor. Zhuge Liang captured Meng Huo but did not execute him, instead he released him for seven times. Meng Huo was so embarrassed with his acts and failures and soon surrender. But Zhuge Liang trust Meng Huo and let him continue the role of Nanman King. Meng Huo was touched by him and soon the Southern Nanman was stabilized.

This is the meaning of 攻城为下,攻心为上。心战为上，兵战为下.

Quotations of the Wise

"夫君子之行：静以修身，俭以养德；非淡泊无以明志，非宁静无以致远。" - 诸葛亮

One should seek serenity to cultivate the body, thriftiness to cultivate the morals. Seeking fame and wealth will not lead to noble ideal. Only by seeking serenity will one reach far. - Zhugeliang

二人同心，其利断金。
If two people are of the same mind, their sharpness can cut through metal. Confucius

天时不如地利，地利不如人和。
Opportunities vouchsafed by Heaven are less important than terrestrial advantages, which in turn are less important than the unity among people. Mencius

Arrangement of the Army

In ancient wars in China, formations are formed in order to strengthen the soldiers. There are many types of soldiers to consider, different soldiers have different kinds of skills and weapon.

Types:

• Horsemen - for attacking, penetrating
  
• Footmen - a normal component of an army,
  
• Archers -long range attack
  
• Spearmen - long ranged attack, hold spear, axe or long weapon
  
• Defender - Hold large shield
  
• Elite troop - Highly trained troops
  
• Siege army - Siege machine, ladder, dashing troops
  
• Chariots - Transporter, Wagons, Assault
  
• Incendiary - Fire assault, cannon, fire material
  

Now we know the different types of soldiers to be consider, so how do we place them in order to get a solid formation.

The arrangement are (by number of layers)

1. Defender - shield for protection from the enemy's dashing attack and arrows
   
2. Spearmen - defend the halberd troop behind
   
3. Halberd - support the spearmen
   
4. Archer - long ranged attack
   
5. Horsemen - dashing attack
   
6. Chariot, Wagon and Assault Vehicles - Total Assault, attack the weakened enemy force
7. Other forces - elite force, extra troops for support, reinforcements
   

Using the seven layers of soldier to form a formation.

• Attacking force - Horsemen as first line, create a wedge formation and dashing attack
  
• Defensing force - Defender as first line, large shield, solid in formation
  
• Invading fortress force - Assault force, Defenders protect the front line, Siege machines at the front, back and center layers of the formation. Archers at the back to attack the fortress guards.
  

What is the Tao of military?

The Tao is about benevolence towards people. Tao of warfare is about deception, so what is the Tao of military or in the modern case organizations?

When King Wu asked Jiang Ziya (Tai Gong): "What is the Tao of the military?"

Jiang Ziya said, "In general, as for the Tao of military, nothing surpasses unity."

Unity is the most important factor in the military. If there is unity, soldiers will stick together like brother. One taking care of the other, fight for each other and die together with honor. Unity is teamwork, therefore when orders are passed down, everyone is clear about the instructions. Disunity corrupt the whole military operation, bringing chaos and miscalculation. Therefore even if a general have the best winning strategies in the world, he will still lose because of the disunity among the army.

In Sun Tzu's Art of War, one of the six values of a general is trustworthy. Only with trustworthy, the soldiers will listen the orders of the generals and die for him.

In Zhuge Liang's Jiang Yuan, it stated that general should not be arrogant for they will become discourteous and people will rebel against him/her. A general should not be stingy for he/she will not reward the trustworthy and the soldiers will not be dedicated. Therefore strict instructions are given and discipline must be observed within the army. Make sure that rewards and punishments are clear so that the soldiers will trust the general and die fighting for him.

A wise general will show concern to the soldiers, he will treat them as brothers. Wu Qi, a famous winning strategist, emphasized on the unity of the army. When Wu Qi discovered that one of his soldiers is suffering from a painful boil, he went to the soldier and use his mouth to suck out the boil. The soldiers was shocked and touched by Wu Qi's actions and swear loyalty to him, when the whole army know about it, the morale of the army increased.

In modern day, organizations requires teamwork, therefore friendship counts. Friendship brings people closer to one another, this is unity. Therefore when chaos reigns or a problem appears, they will work together to solve the problem, they will never be apart from each other.

What is Tao?

Many people believed that Tao is Taoism. Tao is related to Taoism but it is not Taoism. Tao is also known as the path or way. In a life of a person, that are many tao waiting for him to walk, but he will choose the path he is willing to take. Either bad or good. In Japanese martial arts, title ended with the Japaneses' name DO which means Tao.

In Sun Tzu's Art of War, the first factor among the five factors was Tao. In this case, Tao refers to the agreement between the Sovereign and his people. In order for the sovereign to win the hearts of the people, he must go with the agreement of the people.

In the Three Strategy of Yellowstone Elder, the superior strategy stated that if the general or sovereign has the same likes as the masses, there is nothing he will not accomplish.

In Sima's Rules of War, Sima Ranju said that the Tao is about benevolence. "Neither contravening the seasons nor working the people to exhaustion, neither attacking a state in national mourning nor taking advantage of natural disaster, or not mobilize the army in either winter or summer, this is the mean of loving the people, both yours and your enemy's."

While in another different case, Sun Tzu's Art of War stated that the Tao of Warfare is about deception, this is stated in the first chapter of Sun Tzu's Art of War.

Therefore, there are many different types of Tao, all are not meant to be the same. For Lao Tzu said, "Tao is not real Tao, a name may not be the real name." Therefore, a path may not be the real path to victory. Good path may turn to bad path, things in the world will change over times, thus people does not use a single path to be successful, there maybe shortcuts or even long and difficult path. For "A thousand journeys beginning with one step."

Fight or not to Fight

The Art of War is also known as the Art of Peace. As stated in every art of war, the best strategy is to win without any fighting, thus no bloodshed and death will be involved. A wise general or sovereign must not think about winning or domination, he/she must have Tao. Tao, also known as the Path, have been emphasized in the first chapter of Sun Tzu's Art of War. To be successful, the sovereign must have the support of the people. With a strong support from the people, a united army can be produced.

How to win over the hearts of people?

• Go with the interest of the people, not against
  
• Government must be observant
  
• Do not go to war due to self anger or frustration
  
• The sovereign must practice virtue and wisdom
  
• He must not take people's expenses to satisfy his personal desire
  
• He must not resort to violence and torturing

With a wise and generous ruler, the country will become prosperous. People will follow him for he make decisions that benefits the people, he goes to war only in the interest of the whole state. Therefore, a ruler should not wage war to satisfy oneself or due to anger and frustration. For Sun Tzu said: Anger or sadness can turn into happiness and delight easily, but a perished state cannot be revived and the dead cannot be brought back to life. For example, during the Three Kingdom Era, when Guan Yu was executed by Sun Quan, Shu Emperor Liu Bei lead thousands of troops to attack the state of Wu in order to avenge his sworn-brother. He did not listen to his advisor's advices and in the end, he was defeated by Wu strategist Lu Xun. A Kingdom or nation must have an observant and perceptive government. It will look at subtle phenomena and listens to small voices. The Sovereign must rid all evil and arrogant and seek the wise. He must make good use of people's talents, and treat everyone equally. Uphold justice and punish the unjust.

"The world is not the private possession of the ruler but the common property of all. He who shares the benefits of the world gains the world, he who tries to grab the benefits of the world all for himself is certain to lose the world."