The Art of War

The Art of War was written by Sun Tzu is a text explaining military strategy as a guide to victory.

Sun Tzu lived in the state of Wu during the Warring States period. The state of Chu became hostile towards Wu and had over 100,000 troops compared to Wu's 30,000 troops. Sun Tzu believed that discipline was a key factor in having a strong military force. He gathered a group of palace ladies and ordered them to get into formation when drums began beating. The ladies laughed and Sun Tzu explained the instructions agian in a clear manner. When the ladies laughed and did not move again, he executed one of the ladies and ordered them to start again. At this point, the ladies got into formation without hesitation. Sun Tzu was then appointed the commander of the Wu forces. At the start of the war, Sun Tzu did not embrace for the Chu's large army as he did not have the numbers. Instead of attacking the strong points, he decided to attack the weak points. He invaded Chu and destroyed Chu's remote outposts and maneuvered to avoid Chu's reinforcements. In other words, Chu's big army was going backwards and forwards only to find that Sun Tzu's forces had disappeared. Sun Tzu's tactics had frustrated Chu's forces with many defections made towards Wu. Chu decided to punish and invade Cai, a nation north of Chu. The duke of Cai called for it's ally Wu for help as they did not have the force to hold back Chu. Sun Tzu deployed a small force towards Cai which is used a bait that drew the Chu forced away from Cai and so that meant that Cai was saved without a single battle. The small force confronts the main Chu forces while Sun Tzu's main forces head to the Ying, Chu's capital. The commander of the Chu's main forces decided to chase Sun Tzu's main force otherwise if the commander of the Ying's commander held off Wu's main force then he will take credit. The commander of Chu's main forces was arrogant which was never part of Sun Tzu's thinking. As Chu's main forces gave chase, Sun Tzu turned around and surrounded them with the smaller force to catch up and attack their rear. Sun Tzu's 20000 elite troops ambushed the Chu main force by surprise and won. His movement towards Ying was deception that attracted Chu's main force. After the war Sun Tzu disappeared as he did not like his leaders' behaviour and the King of Wu enjoying the wealth he has when entering Ying. So how did an army of 30,000 defeated and army of over 100,000? Sun Tzu used preparation to discipline his troops, deception to lure the Chu forces and indirect attacks by attacking weak points and never confronting Chu head on.

So does Sun Tzu's Art of War apply to wars being fought today or the past 200 years?


Lets look at the American Civil War for example. During the Battle of Gettysberg, the Confederates attacked the Union troops sitting on top of Cemetery Hill. The Art of War advised that it is not wise to attack forces sitting on top of a hill. During the Civil War, the battles were often fought with both sides confronting each other head on which caused heavy casualties while the Art of War advised that attacks should be made towards the weakest points, in other words, Sun Tzu only wanted to use minimal resources.

During World War 2, the Art of War was applied on the D-Day invasion. Nazi Germany knew that the Allies were going to invade Europe soon and it definately around Northern France as it was in range of air support provided by planes stationed in Southern England. The Allies did some deception tactics prior to the D-Day invasion. Fake tanks (inflated) and equipment were used as fake intelligence and to make the Germans think that other beaches, not Normandy, would be invaded. During the invasion, the Allies were successful while the Germans failed. This was because of generals had no interference from their leaders. The Allies had a simple command structure with Dwight Eisenhower being the top Commander with easy access to other commanders. The Germans had a complex command structure with Hitler being the top and it meant that Hitler was the one making the final decision. The Field Marshal was serperated from the Navy and Air Force while the SS was under Himmler's command. This complex command structure was completely opposite to the Art of War.

During the Vietnam War, General Vo Nguyen Giap had followed the Art of War. He did not fought against the Americans head on because he knew his forces and the enemy just what the Art of War stated. Instead, he chose to conduct guerrilla warfare and to outthink the US instead of outfighting them. The US dropped 7 million tonnes of bombs on Vietnam relying on sheer military force to advance which Sun Tzu does not recommend. Giap knew the US would launch airstrikes before sending troops in. Giap ordered his forces to take shelter during the airstrikes and ambush the Americans when they land. Giap even ordered his forces to fight closely with the Americans to prevent US air support from bombing it's own men. Giap constantly harassed US troops via ambush, booby traps and snipers to the point where the American public no longer supported the war. In other words, the US were losing the war in Vietnam because of it's support lost from it's people. Giap subdue the US without any head on/direct fighting. Giap's advisors got impatient and demanded a full scale head on attack against the US troops. Giap decides to launch all attacks at all South Vietnamese cities and bases at the same time and kept the plan secret and launch the operation by surprise which was called the Tet Offensive. Giap even used spies prior to the offensive. Giap promised a cease fire during the Tet New Year and made a direct attack on Khe Sanh. He wanted the direct attack on Khe Sanh to be a destraction while the indirect attack on all South Vietnamese cities and bases to win the war. However, during the Tet Offensive, the Viet Cong hoped the people of South VIetnam rose and help them win but the massacre of South Vietnamese sympathizers in Hue saw the people of South Vietnam refusing to give support. The images of the Tet Offensive saw the increase in support from the American public. Giap returned to his typical guerrilla tactics which led to anti war protests in the US. After US withdrawal, Saigon finally fell to North Vietnam.

In a such a short time

Normally a big project would take years if not, decades to build like cruise ships, dams, skyscrapers, bridges and tunnels. Imagine building a small island, an airport, miles of highway, railway lines and a large suspension bridge in seven years? This happened in Hong Kong and the reason for seven years was because Hong Kong was to be handed over back to China from the British. The engineers feared the if not completed by then, the Chinese might pull the plug.

Hong Kong needed a new airport as Kai Tak was overwhelmed by huge number of passengers and cargo with only one runway. Due to the overwhelming numbers, if incoming cargo is delayed, then millions of dollars is at stake. Expansion was impossible as Kai Tak was surrounded by buildings and skyscrapers. When pilots land, they often flew low around buildings which was considered dangerous for people living in apartments around the airport.

The only option left was to build a new airport. There was too few land to build and looked at Chek Lap Kok and Lam Chau Islands. Both islands were mountainous and work began on clearing the mountains so both islands were level. The rubble was not wasted but used to connect both islands. Ships were used to vacuum the sea bed to expose the flat bedrock before adding the rubble on top. Because of the shortage of time, The terminals had identical rooves with 126 of them mass produced on sight. A cargo terminal was built with state of the art system where cargo can be transferred through a conveyor belt and if lifted through a high levels of shelves for storage.

Infrastructure had to built to and from the airport. Hong Kong already had two tunnels built decades ago. Due to constant heavy traffic, a new six lane tunnel had to be built. Bridges in the city had to be built due to heavy traffic. It was only built at night and on top of existing roads. Through the Ma Wan channel, a tunnel was going to be built but was too dangerous to build due to theavy traffic of container ships. The Tsing Ma Bridge (long suspension) was built. It was also tall enough for any ship to pass under. At 1733 metres long, engineers found that a deadly typhoon can knock it down so the bridge was made heavier. A tunnel was added inside along with a railway line and it became a double decker bridge. High speed railway lines were built along the highways for the millions of people using rail transport each day.

The fear of not completing on time was showing and negotiations were being made with the Chinese. When Hong Kong was handed back to China, the terminal was still not completed and the fear of the Chinese pulling the plug did not occurred. The Chinese gave Hong Kong a one year extension to complete the airport construction which they have successfully done.

Hong Kong Airport opened in 1998 with the historic closure of Kai Tak. The runway flights were turned off after the final takeoff made by Cathay Pacific and the quote "Goodbye Kai Tak, and thank you" before turning off the runway lights. All the equipment was moved to the new airport in seven hours. Cathay Pacific also made the first landing on the new airport. Hong Kong Airport's location away from the city centre would be alot safer instead of having planes constantly flying low above apartments. To be able to build big infrastructures and a big airport in seven years is an incredible achievement for the tiny land of Hong Kong.

30 day video game challenge - Day 30

My favourite game of all time

30 day video game challenge - Day 29

A game I thought I would not like, but ended up loving

After enjoying Modern Warfare 2's epic gameplay and graphics, I thought Bad Company 2 was no match against it. Bad Company 2 managed to impress the community with it's comedy campaign along with huge destruction and vehicles in multiplayer.

30 day video game challenge - Day 28

Favourite game developer

A company from Sweden, developed the Battlefield series and made big success from Battlefield 2 to Battlefield Play4Free to Battlefield 2142. It was very brave of them to accept a challenge given from EA to develop Battlefield 3 and try to take down Modern Warfare 3 in late 2011. They managed impressed the gaming community with it's Frostbite 2 engine and major features that Modern Warfare 3 did not offer like 64 player modes, huge maps, vehicles, etc. Battlefield 4 is expected to be released in late 2013 and expections are high. This year celebrates Battlefield's 10th anniversary.

30 day video game challenge - Day 27

Most epic scene ever

In Battlefield 3's mission "Going Hunting" where the player is flying through the Carrier Battle Group after take off with the Battlefield theme playing while base is giving the pilot its next instructions. Sure you're not piloting the plane but the thrill, the sound effect and the speed of flying off the carrier is amazing.

30 day video game challenge - Day 26

Best voice acting - Battlefield 3

Digital sounds and great voice acting puts the game one step further to realism. During development, Andy McNab (former SAS) assisted the development by giving advice on how soldiers think, act and talk trying to reflect what a real soldier would speak.

 

"Words like 'maybe', 'we will try to' or 'we will attempt', don't exist in a soldier's world. We use words like 'you will', 'I will', 'we will'. All dialogue is absolute because soldiers in the real world must be positive in everything they do. After all, real lives are at stake, so there is no room for failure."

Andy McNab

30 day video game challenge - Day 25

A game I plan on playing

Using the Frostbite 2 engine, showing off epic campaign trailers plus having multiple special forces factions in multiplayer makes the game look very promising.

30 day video game challenge - Day 24

Favourite classic game - Road Rash

Riding through highways and cities while evading police plus trying to reach the top three without putting too much damage on the bike puts in alot of fun and adrenaline.

30 day video game challenge - Day 23

Game with best graphics - Battlefield 3's Frostbite 2 engine

30 day video game challenge - Day 22

A game sequel that disappointed me

Modern Warfare 3 using the same I.W 4.0 engine as Modern Warfare 2 despite knowing that they were facing competition against Battlefield 3 and it's Frostbite 2 engine. After a lawsuit occurred between Infinity Ward's West and Zampella against Activision, 44 Infinity Ward employees left to joing West and Zampella's new company. This crippled IW which saw Sledgehammer Games and Raven Software to help co-develop Modern Warfare 3. A new engine was never developed and many gamers complained it looked like the same as previous Call of Duty games even though MW3 later made $400 million in the first 24 hours plus reaching $1 billion in 16 days beating Avatar who reached it in 17 days.

30 day video game challenge - Day 21

Game with best story -   Ghost Recon - Future Soldier

30 day video game challenge - Day 20

Favourite genre - First person shooter

 

30 day video game challenge - Day 19

Picture of a game setting I wished I lived in - Rise of Nations

30 day video game challenge - Day 18

Favourite protagonist - Captain Price

In 1996, he was involved in an assassination attempt to kill Zakhaev under Captain MacMilan's command. As SAS captain in 2011, he led his team on a number of missions like hunting a nuke on a ship, rescueing Nikolai, searching for Al-Asad and stopping Russia from launching it's nukes to the US. During a standoff, he slid his pistol to Soap which he used to kill Zakhaev. During Operation Kingfish, he deliberately stayed behind to fend off enemy troops, allowing the rest of the team to leave. He was captured and held in a gulag for years as Prisoner 627. He was later rescued by Task Force 141 and led the team in hijacking a Russian submarine by launching a nuke to trigger an EMP over the East Coast to turn the tide of the Russian invasion on the US. He saved Soap from Shepherd from executing him and worked along side Yuri in Prague, Serria Leone and Somalia. He and Yuri assaulted the hotel Makarov was hiding in and killed him with his bare hands.