VII. MANEUVERING
1. Sun Tzu said:  In war, the general receives his
    commands from the sovereign.
2. Having collected an army and concentrated his forces,
    he must blend and harmonize the different elements thereof
    before pitching his camp.
3. After that, comes tactical maneuvering,
    than which there is nothing more difficult.
    The difficulty of tactical maneuvering consists
    in turning the devious into the direct, and misfortune into gain.
4. Thus, to take a long and circuitous route,
    after enticing the enemy out of the way, and though starting
    after him, to contrive to reach the goal before him,
    shows knowledge of the artifice of DEVIATION.
5. Maneuvering with an army is advantageous;
    with an undisciplined multitude, most dangerous.
6. If you set a fully equipped army in march in order
    to snatch an advantage, the chances are that you will be
    too late.  On the other hand, to detach a flying column
    for the purpose involves the sacrifice of its baggage
    and stores.
7. Thus, if you order your men to roll up their
    buff-coats, and make forced marches without halting day
    or night, covering double the usual distance at a stretch,
    doing a hundred LI in order to wrest an advantage,
    the leaders of all your three divisions will fall into
    the hands of the enemy.
8. The stronger men will be in front, the jaded
    ones will fall behind, and on this plan only one- tenth
    of your army will reach its destination.
9. If you march fifty LI in order to outmaneuver
    the enemy, you will lose the leader of your first division,
    and only half your force will reach the goal.
10. If you march thirty LI with the same object,
    two-thirds of your army will arrive.
11. We may take it then that an army without its
    baggage-train is lost; without provisions it is lost;
    without bases of supply it is lost.
12. We cannot enter into alliances until we are
    acquainted with the designs of our neighbors.
13. We are not fit to lead an army on the march
    unless we are familiar with the face of the country-- its
    mountains and forests, its pitfalls and precipices,
    its marshes and swamps.
14. We shall be unable to turn natural advantage
    to account unless we make use of local guides.
15. In war, practice dissimulation, and you will succeed.
16. Whether to concentrate or to divide your troops,
    must be decided by circumstances.
17. Let your rapidity be that of the wind,
    your compactness that of the forest.
18. In raiding and plundering be like fire,
    is immovability like a mountain.
19. Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night,
    and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.
20. When you plunder a countryside, let the spoil be
    divided amongst your men; when you capture new territory,
    cut it up into allotments for the benefit of the soldiery.
21. Ponder and deliberate before you make a move.
22. He will conquer who has learnt the artifice
    of deviation.  Such is the art of maneuvering.
23. The Book of Army Management says:  On the field
    of battle, the spoken word does not carry far enough:
    hence the institution of gongs and drums.  Nor can ordinary
    objects be seen clearly enough:  hence the institution
    of banners and flags.
24. Gongs and drums, banners and flags, are means
    whereby the ears and eyes of the host may be focused
    on one particular point.
25. The host thus forming a single united body,
    is it impossible either for the brave to advance alone,
    or for the cowardly to retreat alone.  This is the art
    of handling large masses of men.
26. In night-fighting, then, make much use of signal-fires
    and drums, and in fighting by day, of flags and banners,
    as a means of influencing the ears and eyes of your army.
27. A whole army may be robbed of its spirit;
    a commander-in-chief may be robbed of his presence of mind.
28. Now a soldier's spirit is keenest in the morning;
    by noonday it has begun to flag; and in the evening,
    his mind is bent only on returning to camp.