Chapter 10 · Terrain · 地形

Passage 10-13

夫地形者兵之助也. 料敵制勝, 計險阨遠近, 上將之道也. 知此而用戰者, 必勝; 不知此而用戰者, 必敗.

Terrain assists military operations. Assessing the enemy to achieve victory, calculating danger and distance—this is the Way of the superior general. Those who know this and fight will certainly win; those who do not will certainly lose.

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These passages from other chapters connect to the themes in Passage 10-13:

Assessing Advantage Passage 1-9 故校之以七計, 而塞其情. 曰: 主孰有道, 將孰有能, 天... Command Without Numbers Passage 9-19 兵非益多也, 惟無武進, 足以倂力料敵, 取人而已. 夫惟無... The Five Fundamental Factors Passage 1-2 故經之以五事, 校之以計, 而索其情. 一曰道, 二曰天, ... Favorable Conditions Passage 1-10 將聽吾計, 用之必勝, 留之; 將不聽吾計, 用之必敗, 去... The General as Guardian Passage 2-12 故兵貴勝, 不貴久. 故知兵之將, 民之司命, 國家安危之主... Leading Without Destination Passage 11-26 帥與之期, 如登高而去其梯, 帥與之深, 入諸侯之地而發其機...

More from Chapter 10: Terrain (地形)

Passage 10-1: Sun Tzu said: Terrain types include: accessible, entrapping, stalemating, narrow... Passage 10-2: Ground both sides can traverse freely is called accessible. On accessible terrai... Passage 10-3: Ground easy to enter but difficult to exit is called entrapping. On such terrain... Passage 10-4: Ground where neither side benefits from advancing is called stalemating. Here, e... Passage 10-5: On narrow terrain, occupy it first and fully man it to await the enemy. If the e... Passage 10-6: On precipitous terrain, occupy high, sunny ground first to await the enemy. If t... Passage 10-7: On distant terrain with balanced forces, initiating battle is difficult and disa... Passage 10-8: There are six types of army failure: flight, insubordination, deterioration, col... Passage 10-9: Equal forces sent one against ten—flight Strong troops with weak officers—insubo... Passage 10-10: Senior officers angry and insubordinate, engaging the enemy on impulse without t... Passage 10-11: A weak general lacking strictness, unclear instruction, no consistent standards ... Passage 10-12: A general who cannot assess the enemy, engages many with few, attacks the strong... Passage 10-14: If the Way of battle ensures victory, fight even if the ruler forbids it. If it ... Passage 10-15: Treat troops like infants—they will follow you into deep valleys. Treat them lik... Passage 10-16: Knowing your troops can strike but not that the enemy cannot be struck—half vict... Passage 10-17: Therefore, one who knows warfare moves without confusion, acts without exhaustio...