“ignore where the enemy is strong. Hit where he is weak”
“Feed your soldiers”
“if you think you will loose, run away, fight another day”
“sieges eat time and ressources…”
“Lie to your enemy lmao”
“Dont repeat the same tactics all the time or the enemy will learn your tricks”
“Your soldiers may fight better if they like you and think you consider them as humans”
Peak wisdom.
Drakoniid on
I’m a history doofus, but wasn’t aleast part of the Art of War common sense back then ? Like OP pointed in their comment, it looks like the plainest platitudes ever.
Alex103140 on
Isn’t it fascinating how Achimedes’s “wisdom” reads like common sense today.
“The volume of spilt water is the same of the object inside the water”
lordkhuzdul on
It should be noted that the intended audience for Sun Tzu’s book was never experienced soldiers. It is aimed at pampered princelings who barely know which end of the spear goes into the enemy, but who are still expected to lead armies.
Showtysan on
It was a wildly disappointing read lol
Educational-Store131 on
I mean, it should. Guy wrote it so people would use it. People who apply it win victories. Eventually, everyone would use it and apply it to every aspect of life… thus it becomes common sense.
It would be troubling if a guy figures out how wars worked 3,000 years ago and somehow, it remains a mystery.
CowardNomad on
Duke Xiang of Song: Why does this book written a century later sound like a diss to me?
Context: That idiot refused to attack a much larger Chu army when they’re crossing the river unorganisedly, and refused to attack again when the Chu army were forming their formations, citing that it would be not be benevolent or just to do so.
He unsurprisingly lost, with his own thighs getting shot as well. He then said that in the ancient wars, gentlemen don’t injure the already serious injured, don’t capture elders, don’t use geographical advantages, don’t attack people before formations are made, so he is doing the same. He died next year due to the wounds.
People unsurprisingly blamed him for sending his own people to death in a stupid way while practicing “benevolence and justice” to enemy – why even start the war if the Duke was being serious over those ideas? Song was small when compared to the Chu, and Duke Xiang picked the fight himself because he wanted to play hegemon and uniting the states on the central plains by using the southern barbarians as a common enemy.
… So yeah, there’s an actual need here, people back then could really be stupid as hell.
7 Comments
“ignore where the enemy is strong. Hit where he is weak”
“Feed your soldiers”
“if you think you will loose, run away, fight another day”
“sieges eat time and ressources…”
“Lie to your enemy lmao”
“Dont repeat the same tactics all the time or the enemy will learn your tricks”
“Your soldiers may fight better if they like you and think you consider them as humans”
Peak wisdom.
I’m a history doofus, but wasn’t aleast part of the Art of War common sense back then ? Like OP pointed in their comment, it looks like the plainest platitudes ever.
Isn’t it fascinating how Achimedes’s “wisdom” reads like common sense today.
“The volume of spilt water is the same of the object inside the water”
It should be noted that the intended audience for Sun Tzu’s book was never experienced soldiers. It is aimed at pampered princelings who barely know which end of the spear goes into the enemy, but who are still expected to lead armies.
It was a wildly disappointing read lol
I mean, it should. Guy wrote it so people would use it. People who apply it win victories. Eventually, everyone would use it and apply it to every aspect of life… thus it becomes common sense.
It would be troubling if a guy figures out how wars worked 3,000 years ago and somehow, it remains a mystery.
Duke Xiang of Song: Why does this book written a century later sound like a diss to me?
Context: That idiot refused to attack a much larger Chu army when they’re crossing the river unorganisedly, and refused to attack again when the Chu army were forming their formations, citing that it would be not be benevolent or just to do so.
He unsurprisingly lost, with his own thighs getting shot as well. He then said that in the ancient wars, gentlemen don’t injure the already serious injured, don’t capture elders, don’t use geographical advantages, don’t attack people before formations are made, so he is doing the same. He died next year due to the wounds.
People unsurprisingly blamed him for sending his own people to death in a stupid way while practicing “benevolence and justice” to enemy – why even start the war if the Duke was being serious over those ideas? Song was small when compared to the Chu, and Duke Xiang picked the fight himself because he wanted to play hegemon and uniting the states on the central plains by using the southern barbarians as a common enemy.
… So yeah, there’s an actual need here, people back then could really be stupid as hell.