#19/4PHL1

Gonzales, Timothy Joseph C.

“He who knows when to fight and when not to fight will be victorious.
He who understands how to use both large and small forces will be victorious.
He whose ranks are united in purpose will be victorious.
He who is prepared and lies in wait for an enemy who is not will be victorious.
He whose generals are able and not inferred by the sovereign will be
victorious.”
Reflection:
The passage states that the general must know both the conditions of
the terrain they will be fighting for, the condition of his army if his army is
high in morale, well fed, and has a will to fight, if his troops are organized and
well-disciplined, if he himself also has the qualities of being a great general
and a leader of an army if all of these conditions are met then he is prepared
and ready to engage the army, but if he failed to notice and considered these
factors, then the victory of war or battle favors more the enemy, if it does
favor more the enemy than the general himself, he must withdraw from the
battle and wait again for another opportunity to fight. The general in all cases
according to Sun Tzu, must possess the right knowledge regarding to his
limitations and weaknesses both of his enemy and himself and also their
troops and the general’s troops, since it is in this knowledge where the
outcome of the battle and war will be clearly depending on, with the right
amount of intelligence gathered and with the wise use of his forces he will
then be able to easily out manoeuvre the troops of his enemies in a single
swift like an ambush or trap. The general at all costs, must learn how to
retreat if his army is inferior to his enemy’s army, for if he does this action, he
can have again the chance to gather his strength of his army and prepare again
to fight him, the general then must learn when to obey the orders of the
sovereign and when not to, only then will he be able to achieve the victory of
the war.