16
Ten Deployments

IN GENERAL, there are ten deployments: square, circular, diffuse, concentrated, Awl, Wild Geese, hooked, Dark Rising, incendiary, and aquatic. Each of them has its advantages:

The square deployment is for cutting.

The circular deployment is for unifying.

The diffuse deployment is for rapid (flexible) response.

The concentrated deployment is to prevent being cut off and taken.

Deployment into the Awl Formation is for decisively severing the enemy.

Deployment into the Wild Geese Formation is for exchanging archery fire.

Deployment into the hooked formation is the means by which to change targets and alter plans.

The Dark Rising deployment is for causing doubts in the enemy’s masses and difficulty for his plans.

The incendiary deployment is the means to seize enemy encampments.

The aquatic deployment is the means to inundate the solid.

The tactics for square deployment: You must thin out the troops in the middle and make those on the sides thicker. The reserve (ready response) formations are at the rear. By thinning out the middle the general can effect a rapid response. By expanding and making the sides heavy, the general can cut the enemy. Retaining the reserves in the rear is the means by which to react quickly.

The tactics for diffuse deployment: Armor is scarce and men are few. For this reason make it firm. Martial prowess lies in the flags and pennants; showing large numbers of men lies in your weapons. Thus the soldiers must disperse and maintain their internal separation. Make the flags, banners, and feathered pennants numerous; sharpen your blades to act as your flanks. For them not to be compressed by the enemy when diffuse, or surrounded when concentrated, lies in exercising great care. The chariots do not race, the infantry does not run. The tactics for diffuse deployment lie in creating numerous small operational units. Some advance, others retreat. Some attack, others hold and defend. Some launch frontal assaults, others press their developing weaknesses. Thus the diffuse deployment is able to seize the enemy’s elite forces.

The tactics for concentrated deployment: Do not augment the spacing between the men. When they are compressed, gather your blades at the head of the formation and then extend it forward while the front and rear mutually preserve each other. Amidst the changes of battle do not alter it. If the mailed soldiers are afraid, have them sit. Use sound to direct them to sit and arise. Do not dispatch any forces after enemy troops that go off; do not stop those who come forth. Some of our troops should attack their circuitous routes of approach, others should “insult” their elite troops. Make them as dense as feather down without any gaps; when they turn about and retreat they should be like a mountain. Then the concentrated deployment cannot be taken.

Deployment into the Awl Formation should be like a sword. If the tip is not sharp it will not penetrate; if the blade is not thin it will not cut; if the foundation is not thick you cannot deploy the formation. For this reason the tip must be sharp, the blade must be thin, and the foundation must be substantial. Only then can a deployment into the Awl Formation decisively sever the enemy.

Deployment into the Wild Geese Formation: The front ranks should be like a baboon, the rear ranks should be like a wildcat. Attack from three sides, not letting the enemy escape your net to preserve themselves. This is referred to as the function of the Wild Geese deployment.

When deployed into the hooked formation, the front ranks must be square, while those conjoined on the left and right must be hooked. When the three sounds (of the drums, gongs, and pipes) are already complete, flags in the five colors must be prepared. When the sounds of our commands are clearly discriminated and the troops all know the five flags, there is no front or rear, no above or below.

In the Dark Rising deployment you must make the flags, pennants, and feathered banners numerous; the drums should be integrated and resounding. If the mailed troops are confused have them sit; if the chariots are disordered array them in rows. When they have been ordered, the infantry should come forth with a great pounding and tumult, as if descending from Heaven, as if coming out from Earth, and be unwavering. Throughout the day they will not be taken. This is referred to as the Dark Rising deployment.

The tactics for incendiary warfare: when your ditches and ramparts have already been completed, construct another outer ring of ditches and moats. Every five paces pile up firewood, being certain to equalize the quantities in each pile. A designated number of attendants should be assigned to them. Order men to make linked chevaux-defrise; they must be light and sharp. If it is windy, [avoid positions downwind or igniting fires in camp. Once the engagement commences] if the vapors from a fire overspread you and you are unable to conquer the enemy, stand down and retreat.

The tactics for incendiary warfare: if the enemy is downwind in an area abundant with dry grass where the soldiers of their Three Armies will not have anywhere to escape, then you can mount an incendiary attack. When there is a frigid fierce wind, abundant vegetation and undergrowth, and firewood and grass for fuel already piled up, while their earthworks have not yet been prepared, in such circumstances you can mount an incendiary attack. Use the flames to confuse them, loose arrows like rain. Beat the drums and set up a clamor to motivate your soldiers. Assist the attack with strategic power. These are the tactics for incendiary warfare.

The tactics for (defensive) aquatic warfare: You must make the infantry numerous and the chariots few. Command them to fully pre- pare all the necessary equipment, such as hooks, repelling poles, cypress wood, pestles, light boats, oars, baskets, and sails. When advancing, you must follow close on; when withdrawing do not press together. When mounting a flank attack follow the current’s flow, taking their men as the target.

The tactics for (aggressive) aquatic warfare: nimble boats should be used as flags, swift boats should be used as messengers. When the enemy goes off pursue them; when the enemy comes forth press them. Resist or yield as appropriate, and in accord with the situation organize against them. When they shift their forces make them change their plans; when they are deploying, strike them; when they are properly assembled, separate them. Accordingly, the weapons include spades and the chariots have defensive infantry. You must investigate their numerical strength as many or few, strike their boats, seize the fords, and show the people that the infantry is coming.

These are the tactics for aquatic warfare.

COMMENTARY

This chapter again considers the critical question of deployments, the essence of any successful military engagement. Among the pre-Ch’in Seven Military Classics the square and round formations are frequently mentioned, almost always in tandem, but none of the others appear until the T’ang dynasty Questions and Replies where the “square, round, curved, straight, and angular dispositions” are briefly discussed for training the troops. In addition, the first book of the Questions and Replies analyzes the nature of formations and debunks the origin of the names appended to the well known “eight formations”—Heaven, Earth, wind, cloud, dragon, tiger, bird, and snake. This set of formations is generally, although without critical basis, considered to be the oldest series, its creation being attributed to the Yellow Emperor. Insofar as popular tradition commonly acclaims the Yellow Emperor as the progenitor of Chinese military history because of his epoch-making battles with the Red Emperor and Ch’ih Yu, this would project them well back into the mists of antiquity.

Furthermore, the great achievements of outstanding historical generals such as Wu Ch’i and Sun-tzu are sometimes said to have been made possible through their mastery of these formations. However, another series of eight is also well known: square, round, female, male, striking, Wheel, Floating Obstacle, and Wild Geese arrays. Over the centuries various diagrams have been created to characterize them but most seem incongruous, merely the products of imagination.

The Awl and Wild Geese formations have already been encountered in Chapter 3, “Questions of King Wei,” while Chapter 7, entitled “Eight Formations,” discussed in general terms the principles governing the constitution and deployment of all formations, such as creating a sharp front and maintaining adequate reserves. Unfortunately, the present chapter offers only a few salient characteristics for each of the suggestive names rather than itemizing the constituent elements and clearly characterizing the deployment’s shape. No doubt they were well known to the ancients, allowing Sun Pin to merely emphasize certain critical aspects. Only the Awl Formation is particularly clear, while the sword analogy was previously employed in Chapter 9. The contrast between the diffuse and dense deployments merits noting, with the attendant problems of preventing the former from becoming compressed and the later from being too dense and therefore disorganized. Certainly the diffuse deployment’s main advantage should be its mobility and quick responsiveness because small units can move freely—especially across fairly open internal terrain—whereas heavy ones, having great inertia, require both time and extensive logistical support. Unmentioned are the dangers of being penetrated by a concentrated enemy force—perhaps in the Awl Formation—or small units encountering superior forces that may simply overwhelm them. However, some tactics for responding to such situations, as well as for attacking them, are found in the next chapter and scattered throughout the book.

In Chapter 12, “Incendiary Attacks,” Sun-tzu discussed employing fire to realize tactical objectives. Apparently he felt incendiary attacks could facilitate the capture of fortified positions, whereas water could not: “Using fire to aid an attack is enlightened, using water to assist an attack is powerful. Water can be used to sever, but cannot be employed to seize.” Unfortunately, he never described the formations for mounting incendiary attacks, nor are any indicated in the other Seven Military Classics. Furthermore, only a few measures essential to defending against incendiary attacks are noted in the Six Secret Teachings, mainly setting backfires and then occupying the scorched but viable ground with a strong, defensive array.

Just as with incendiary tactics, those for defensive and aggressive aquatic engagements are analyzed separately. Moreover, rather than being directed just toward naval engagements between boats, they focus upon defending against amphibious attacks and even inundation, which accounts for the odd admixture of tools and materials. The assault tactics encompass not only engaging the enemy on the water, but also simultaneously thwarting his attack. Remarkably, despite an extensive history of combat in the Spring and Autumn period among states with numerous rivers, lakes, and marshes, tactics for “water warfare” receive scant attention in the extant early military writings. This perhaps stemmed from the chariot-based nature of early tactics and the consequent predilection to view bodies of water as entanglements and obstacles to be vigorously avoided.