Hello, everyone. This is a small broadcast of reading. Today, we continue to share the first military book in history: Sun Tzu's Art of War. Today, we share the second: War
Operations:
It is also the leader of national security.
The title of this chapter is "Operation", but "Operation" here does not mean war, but refers to the preparation and planning before war. The first chapter of Sun Tzu's Art of War, "Planning", talks about the comparison of the strength of the two warring sides. The so-called "five things and seven strategies" refers to the comparison and calculation of the strength of the two sides from the dimensions of Tao, heaven, earth, generals, and law. In this "war chapter", Sun Tzu compares the strength of both sides from all aspects required for war, including manpower, material resources and financial resources. War is a major event related to the rise and fall of the country and the happiness of the people. War is also a matter of wasting financial resources, human resources, labor and money. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive comparison and calculation before the war.
Sun Tzu said at the beginning that war is a huge consumption for both sides. He said:
It means that the general rule of military operations is to use thousands of light vehicles, thousands of baggage vehicles, call up 100000 soldiers, and at the same time, transport food and fodder thousands of miles away. As for the expenses of the front and rear, such as entertaining the guests and ambassadors, supplementing and maintaining weapons, providing various vehicles and armor, etc., they have to pay a huge amount of money every day. Then, 100000 major military forces can be dispatched.
"Che Qian Si", Che, is a light car, chariot. "Si", a car pulled by four horses, runs fast. In Sun Tzu's time, the stirrup had not yet been invented, and people were not stable in fighting on horseback, so there was no cavalry, and they were all chariots. According to Sima Fa, one vehicle is equipped with three armour soldiers and 72 infantry, which is similar to the later tank tactics. The infantry follows the chariot. So a chariot is 75 people. We often read about "a country with a thousand chariots" when reading history, that is, there are 1000 chariots and a force of 75000 people. This is his military strength.
"Thousands of cars are driven by leather". A leather cart is a baggage cart, which holds food, war gear, cooking utensils, clothes and other materials. The Sima Law says that a leather cart is equipped with ten cooks, five custodians, five horse keepers, and five wood cutters and water pullers, a total of twenty-five people. So there are 25000 people in a thousand revolutionary carts. This adds up to "a hundred thousand armed men", a thousand four horse chariots with seventy-five thousand men, a thousand baggage carts with twenty-five thousand men, and an army of one hundred thousand men.
Such a large army needs "food for thousands of miles". You have to transport food for him! In ancient times, food transportation was a major event in wars. If the expedition to the Huns took place, ten carts of food would be sent to the front, and only two carts would be sent to him. Because four carts were eaten by the grain transport troops on the way, four carts should be left for them to eat on the way back, because there are still several months to go back. If food is not enough, they starve to death on the road. I said that the proportion was relatively high. Li Quan explained that when transporting food thousands of miles away, 20 people will be given one person, and it will cost 20 people's rations to transport one soldier to eat!
In a word, war consumes financial resources, human resources and materials very much. Moreover, if the war drags on for a long time, it will also make the army tired, bruised, and exhausted. Other states will take advantage of the opportunity to attack. Sun Tzu said:“ Its use of war also means that if it wins for a long time, its troops will be blunt and its strength will be subdued; if it seizes a city, its strength will be subdued; if it fights hard for a long time, its troops will not be enough for the country. ”
War consumes a lot of human, financial and material resources, especially offensive operations, which consume a lot of military supplies, and transport tasks are difficult. A long war will inevitably lead to "insufficient national use" and "yielding strength and consuming goods". This waste of money and labor will soon leave the national treasury empty. Not only does the country's economic burden increase, but also it will sharply reduce morale, leading to laxity in military morale, and even lead to people's livelihood. We all know that in history, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was a king who used arms as if they were gods. After the "rule of literature and scenery" of the Han Dynasty, the national treasury of the Han Dynasty was full. By the time Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ascended the throne, the money and grain in the national treasury could not be loaded. The history books said that the rope that tied the money was rotten, and there was no place to spend the money.
He began to look for places to spend. So Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty began to fight in the south and the north. Every year, he became militaristic and began to expand his territory. As a result, the national treasury was soon empty. He began to engage in state-owned enterprises. The so-called salt and iron theory was that the pillar industry of the salt and iron country at that time was monopolized by central enterprises, and private enterprises were not allowed to operate. China's central enterprises monopolized the national economy and the people's livelihood, forming the system of the second tax bureau, which originated from the administration of the Qi State in the Spring and Autumn Period and solidified in the Han Dynasty.
The money of the central enterprises in the Han Dynasty soon ran out of money, so Emperor Wu began to raise taxes at will. The tax increase has also been increased to the top. He began to collect taxes on the stock of social wealth, requiring families above the middle class to declare their property to the government and impose property taxes. Of course, we are not willing to report, or report less. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ordered people all over the country to report to each other. If there was a false report, neighbors or friends would report to the government, and the informant would get half of the property of the informant! At this moment, Pandora's magic box was opened, and officials took the opportunity to extort. Those who did not make false reports were also falsely accused. All families above the middle class are bankrupt.
In the late years of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the country could not play anymore because of the huge material consumption caused by successive years of foreign wars. The unprecedented political pressure made him write a self-criticism to the people of the whole country, which was the first imperial edict in Chinese history: Luntai's edict of guilt. A generation of powerful Han Emperor Wu had to admit the suffering brought to the country by the war. He said, "Since I ascended the throne, I have committed outrageous disobedience, which has made the world miserable. I cannot regret it.". Those who have harmed the people and wasted the whole world since now, let me know.
Sun Tzu also put forward some suggestions on how to solve the problem of war material consumption. He advocated that the enemy should solve the problem of food and grass on the spot, that the soldiers should be rewarded with rich goods, that prisoners should be treated favorably, and that the captured materials should be used to supplement and strengthen themselves. He believes that only by doing so can he maintain his own strength and quickly defeat the enemy. As the saying goes, "A wise general must feed on the enemy, and if he eats the enemy for one hour, he will serve us twenty; if he avoids hitting a stone, he will serve us twenty." Sun Tzu said that a wise general always wants to raise food and grass in the enemy's territory. One hour of food consumed by the enemy country is equivalent to 20 hours of transportation from home; Consuming one stone of forage from the enemy country is equivalent to transporting 20 stones from the country. Always, if the war is always based on our own late support, it is difficult to last. The best way is to use local materials, grab the enemy's materials, and make good use of captured prisoners of war.
In 208 BC, Liu Bang led his troops to the west to fight in the hinterland of the Qin army. However, Liu Bang had no idea what to do because he was alone and had to supply food and grass. One day he led his army across Gaoyang, and Li Shiqi, the counselor at that time, asked for advice. He offered Liu Bang a strategy of "giving food to the enemy". He told Liu Bang that Chenliu County near Liu Bang was a ready large granary. He suggested Liu Bang send troops to capture Chenliu, because Chenliu was a major traffic artery, rich in military supplies, and "it is possible to fight when entering and defend when retreating". Liu Bang took his advice and cooperated with Li Shiqi from inside to outside to conquer Chen Liu and solve the supply problem of military supplies such as grain and grass. With sufficient logistics supply, Liu Bang relieved his worries and quickly conquered Xianyang. His son asked for surrender, and the Qin Dynasty perished.
At the beginning of his career, Liu Bang's military strength was relatively weak. To destroy the once powerful Qin State, he had to fight in its hinterland. At this time, the supply and transportation of food and grass became a top priority. Li Shiqi advised the army to "give food to the enemy" and capture Chen Liu, so that the army had substantial logistical support, but also saved a lot of manpower and material resources. It's really killing two birds with one stone. It's wonderful. This is the most vivid example of the military strategy of "relying on food for the enemy".
However, no matter how local materials are used, war will always bring huge disasters to the country and people. If war is necessary, "quick war and quick decision" can minimize losses. So Sun Tzu put forward the strategic idea of "speed is the most important thing in war". He said, "It is not long before war is won."
