The principle of defeating others without fighting

Sun Tzu said: "Victory in a hundred battles is not a good thing; subduing the enemy's troops without fighting is a good thing. Therefore, the first is to attack the enemy, the second is to attack the enemy, the second is to attack the army, and the second is to attack the enemy. "Siege the city."

"Conquering the enemy without fighting" is a complete and systematic strategic theory. In terms of actual conditions, we must have a strong comprehensive national strength; in terms of actual strength, if we compare the enemy's and our own forces, our army is numerically greater than the enemy's; in terms of implementation methods, one is conquest, and the other is It is to cut ties; in terms of the scope of implementation, it applies not only to the vassal states and cities in the late Spring and Autumn Period of Sun Tzu's time, but also to today's world; in terms of the purpose of implementation, Sun Tzu emphasizes "total victory", that is, "must win". Conquer the world with comprehensive strategies." "The way to secure the country and the entire army" is what Sun Tzu considers to be the supreme strategic principle. First, use "power on the enemy" as a psychological tactic to achieve the goal. "Nine Places": "Intimidation is given to the enemy, so the city can be captured." It can be seen from this that the "soldiers who conquer the enemy without fighting" are based on psychological deterrence and making the enemy psychologically fearful. . Second, superior strength and adequate preparations for battle serve as the material basis for complete victory. "Xing Pian": "In the past, those who were good at fighting first made themselves invincible and waited for the enemy to be victorious." In the past, those who were good at fighting first created an unwinnable situation and waited for the enemy to have a chance to win. "Nine Changes": "Therefore, the method of using troops is not to rely on them not coming, but to rely on me to be waiting; not to rely on them not to attack, but to rely on me to have something that cannot be attacked." Therefore, the law of preparing to defend against foreign enemies is not to lose hope. It is reliable to put our hope on the possibility that the enemy will not attack, but only if we are well prepared and ready for defense. We should not put our hope on the possibility that the enemy will not launch an attack, but only if we are fully prepared to defend against the enemy. There is no gap to take advantage of to be reliable. This is the material basis for our complete victory. We must first prevent ourselves from being defeated by the enemy before we can "subjugate the enemy's troops." Only with strong military strength can we implement the strategy of "conquering the enemy without fighting". Otherwise, if our country is small and our people are weak, we have no soldiers to fight, and we are not able to protect ourselves, how can we talk about "defeating others"? Third, use non-military means of "conspiracy" and "contradiction" as effective means to achieve complete victory. The "non-war" in "conquering the enemy without fighting" refers to the non-fighting in military struggles, which can reach the level of fierce fighting in fields other than military. Among them, the most intense one is undoubtedly diplomacy. Diplomacy is the eyes of military and political affairs, and military and political affairs are the backing of diplomacy. If diplomacy is carefully scrutinized and military and political affairs are cultivated, victory can be achieved. The "plots" and "communication" here are various means to achieve the goal of complete victory, as well as various methods of "knowing the enemy", and are means of comprehensive comparison between the enemy and ourselves. Fourth, comprehensive measures of "cultivating the Tao and protecting the law" should be used as a reliable guarantee to achieve the goal of complete victory. "Xingpian": "Those who are good at using soldiers cultivate the Tao and protect the law, so they can defeat the enemy." People who are good at using troops not only cultivate the Tao but also ensure the law and order, so they can make winning strategies.

There are too many ways to subjugate an opponent without fighting. The most common ones are to divide the opponent, intensify the opponent's internal contradictions and create civil strife, support one of the forces, and use various means to induce the opponent to do something. Whether you make the wrong decision or not, it is all a means of defeating the enemy without a fight. To put it simply, it is to offset the opponent's advantages through attacks. You can also use assassination, slander and other means to ensure that the opponent's outstanding talents are squeezed out or suppressed. To completely eliminate them physically, you must ensure that the person in charge of the other party is not too smart.

You can also use methods such as showing weakness and exaggerating the threat of third-party forces to ensure that you stay out of the matter and reap the benefits. When it comes to subduing an enemy's army without fighting, I think Zigong's mission is quite a classic example. He only relied on verbal persuasion to weaken Qi, defeat Wu, cross the border, prosper Jin, and save Lu.

< p>The inspiration it gives us is: there are many ways to achieve a certain goal. The smartest thing is to win without spending a single soldier.