| Military Defence: |
In defending walled cities, the best way is, with the strength of the worn-out men, to fight the fresh strength of the invaders. It is assaults upon walled cities that wear out the strength of men. So long as the walled cities have not all been razed, the invaders have no means of penetrating the country. This is meant by the saying that the strength of worn-out men should fight the fresh strength of the invading force. But when the walled cities have all been razed and the foreign army thus finds the means of penetrating, then certainly it will be exhausted, and the people within the country will be rested. Fighting with rested strength against those of exhausted strength is said to be: fighting with the strength of fresh men against the worn-out strength of the invading forces. All these are called the misfortunes attendant upon the besieging of walled cities. It is regarded as a misfortune that always, in capturing cities, the strength of the army is worn out. In these three things misfortune is due, not to insufficient effort, but to mistaken generalship. |
