that the enemy may never know exactly where you
are. It has struck me, however, that the true reading might be
"link your army together."]

and devise unfathomable plans.
23. Throw your soldiers into positions whence there is no
escape, and they will prefer death to flight. If they will face
death, there is nothing they may not achieve.

[Chang Yu quotes his favorite Wei Liao Tzu (ch. 3): "If one
man were to run amok with a sword in the market-place, and
everybody else tried to get our of his way, I should not allow
that this man alone had courage and that all the rest were
contemptible cowards. The truth is, that a desperado and a man
who sets some value on his life do not meet on even terms."]

Officers and men alike will put forth their uttermost strength.

[Chang Yu says: "If they are in an awkward place together,
they will surely exert their united strength to get out of it."]

24. Soldiers when in desperate straits lose the sense of
fear. If there is no place of refuge, they will stand firm. If
they are in hostile country, they will show a stubborn front. If
there is no help for it, they will fight hard.
25. Thus, without waiting to be marshaled, the soldiers
will be constantly on the qui vive; without waiting to be asked,
they will do your will;

[Literally, "without asking, you will get."]

without restrictions, they will be faithful; without giving
orders, they can be trusted.
26. Prohibit the taking of omens, and do away with
superstitious doubts. Then, until death itself comes, no
calamity need be feared.

[The superstitious, "bound in to saucy doubts and fears,"
degenerate into cowards and "die many times before their deaths."
Tu Mu quotes Huang Shih-kung: "'Spells and incantations should
be strictly forbidden, and no officer allowed to inquire by
divination into the fortunes of an army, for fear the soldiers'
minds should be seriously perturbed.' The meaning is," he
continues, "that if all doubts and scruples are discarded, your
men will never falter in their resolution until they die."]

27. If our soldiers are not overburdened with money, it is
not because they have a distaste for riches; if their lives are
not unduly long, it is not because they are disinclined to
longevity.

[Chang Yu has the best note on this passage: "Wealth and
long life are things for which all men have a natural
inclination. Henc