Chinese strategy explained : know yourself and the ennemy, use deception, spies, and "win with ease". Tr. Giles (en, annotated) and Amiot (fr).
The Attack By Fire
Rather more than half the chapter (SS. 1-13) is devoted to the subject of fire, after which the author branches off into other topics.
Hence those who use fire as an aid to the attack show intelligence; those who use water as an aid to the attack gain an accession of strength.
By means of water, an enemy may be intercepted, but not robbed of all his belongings.1
Giles XII.13,14.
Un général qui, pour combattre ses ennemis, sait employer le feu toujours à propos est un homme véritablement éclairé. Un général qui sait se servir de l'eau et de l'inondation pour la même fin est un excellent homme. Cependant, il ne faut employer l'eau qu'avec discrétion. Servez-vous-en, à la bonne heure ; mais que ce ne soit que pour gâter les chemins par où les ennemis pourraient s'échapper ou recevoir du secours.
Amiot
The Art of War – Sun Zi XII. 9. – Chinese off/on – Français/English
Alias Sun Tzu, Sun Wu, Sun Tse, Sunzi Bingfa, Souen Tseu, Souen Wou, 孫武.
The Book of Odes, The Analects, Great Learning, Doctrine of the Mean, Three-characters book, The Book of Changes, The Way and its Power, 300 Tang Poems, The Art of War, Thirty-Six Strategies
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