The Duke listened quietly and then said: “Who will attack the first tomorrow-I or Bonaparte?” “Bonaparte,” replied Lord Uxbridge. From here and other parts of Sun Tzu Art of War, we have seen that Sun Tzu place great emphasis on supplies and provisions, as they are very important to troops. However, having been written two thousand years ago, the book can be somewhat daunting to the modern reader. Sun Tzu, as a practical soldier, will have none of the “bookish theoric.” He cautions us here not to pin our faith to abstract principles “for,” as Chang Yu puts it, “while the main laws of strategy can be stated clearly enough for the benefit of all and sundry, you must be guided by the actions of the enemy in attempting to secure a favorable position in actual warfare.” On the eve of the battle of Waterloo, Lord Uxbridge, commanding the cavalry, went to the Duke of Wellington in order to learn what his plans and calculations were for the morrow, because, as he explained, he might suddenly find himself Commander-in-chief and would be unable to frame new plans in a critical moment. The reason why Sun Tzu advocates that after crossing the mountains, the troops are to stay close to the valleys because this is where usually food and water are abundant and close by. Long acknowledged as a classic text on strategy, Sun Tzus The Art of War has been admired by leaders as diverse as Mao Zedong and General Norman Schwartzkopf.

Sun zhus the art of war 3 principles