The Art of War A book of physics and psychology

Mondo Culture Updated on 2024-01-28

Sun Tzu's actual combat operation of the Art of War丨 Author: Liu Wenxin.

It isSun Tzu lectures on the Art of Warof theoriginal article.

Full textwords, reading about the needMinute.

Seeing such a title, I feel that I have pointed to the key point of the operation of "The Art of War", which is very close to the entry point of the actual combat system we understand, but it seems that it is not clear when we look at its content, so I want to briefly sort it out according to our system.

According to the idea of the operation system of the Art of War, all operations are carried out from two levels, namely spiritual and material, and their specific manifestations are three levels, one is to talk about its essence from the perspective of strength, the second is to talk about its system from the perspective of goals, and the third is to talk about its methods from the perspective of operation.

Mental and material forcesThey are the two essential attributes of power, which are inseparable from each other, and are the two sides of the coin of power.

Spiritual power and material force run through all aspects of the operation of things, although there is a focus, but it will not be absent, in the "Art of War" is manifested as two angles.

1. Element perspective

The elements of the combat effectiveness of the Art of War are the "five things", that is, the five basic elements of the Tao, the heaven, the earth, and the law, and the "Tao" and "the law" represent spiritual power and material power respectively.

"Tao" is spiritual powerMany people think that this is a policy, concept, vision and the like, but in fact it should be dynamic and achieved by action, which also contains both material and spiritual aspects, "can die with" is the spiritual force, and "can live with it" is the material force in operation.

"Law" is a material forceIt is a complete system that organizes many individuals, and "bending system, official way, and main use" includes all aspects of it, including organizational structure, job responsibilities, processes, assessments, and security systems.

The operation of spiritual and material forces as elements should be applied to the specific environment to "cultivate the Tao and protect the law", revise the spiritual power based on the battlefield situation, achieve ideological unity through "the same desire from top to bottom" (consent from top to bottom), and ensure the timeliness and authority of the "law".

2. Operational perspective

In battlefield operations, spiritual and material forces are mainly manifested in "ordering them to be written and using force together"."Lingwen" is spiritual power, aiming to achieve a unified idea on the battlefield, so that the whole team "up and down want the same thing" and "up and down agree";"Qiwu" is a material forceThrough systems and laws and regulations, we ensure that the team acts in unison and the pace is unified.

Let it be written", through "text" to unify ideas, unite people's hearts, and form resonance between team members in a way or movement suitable for the battlefield environment. For example, during the Liberation War, Huaye used the method of "grievance meeting" to detonate the psychological resonance between soldiers, especially the resonance of the captured ** officers and soldiers who "died well and raised them", which effectively unified people's hearts.

"Together", through the way of "force" and "punishment" to unify action, so that the whole team is in step and acts in harmony. Of course, the method of "punishment" is very simple to use, but it is difficult to use it well, and it is necessary to "attach" it before it can be used.

This also shows that the order of "Lingwen" and "Qiwu" cannot be changed, and "Wen" must be used first, and then "Wu".

It should be noted that the environment and atmosphere of unified thinking and action on the battlefield are also important influencing factors, and "taking precautions without cultivating, obtaining without seeking, getting things without making an appointment, and believing without orders" is a specific form of expression.

If material force and spiritual force are the foundation, their specific application is to operate the target or object, the spiritual force is manifested as a blow to the enemy's cognition and morale, and the material force is manifested as a blow to the enemy's organization.

1. Attack the enemy's perception and morale

The military battle chapter says: "Therefore, the three armies can win the spirit, and the general can win the heart." ”

The "spirit of the three armed forces" is to seize morale, so that the entire team of the enemy can not see the hope of victory, so that it loses the courage to confront, through the psychological collision between individuals, produce a kind of unconfident, frustrated, so that the team loses its combat effectiveness.

About the use of morale,Generally, there are two waysOne is to detonate emotions, mobilize the enthusiasm of the whole team through some kind of motivation or mobilization, and stimulate their morale, "those who kill the enemy, anger is also" is for this, and many of the pre-war mobilizations we are familiar with are to achieve this purpose, which belongs to the spiritual level.

The other is through the restraint of "military law", the qi of the Qin army is drawn out by the "law", and the qi of "detonating emotions" is easy to "fade passion" for a period of time, and the qi drawn by the "law" is often more durable, which belongs to the material level.

The "general's heart" takes away cognitionSpecifically, it mainly includes the grasp of the whole chain of war organization, in the words of "The Art of War", that is, "knowing the other and knowing the enemy" and "knowing the heaven and the earth".

We have constantly emphasized that it is not a general knowledge of the other or all kinds of information about oneself, but mainly the characteristics and advantages of one's combat effectiveness before the war, and the deployment (shape) and odd positive trends (potential) of the other and oneself in wartime.

It can be said that the general's perception of the battlefield is biased, and the will to fight will also be affected, so that he can win the "heart of the general".

2. Strike at enemy organizations (systems).

Generally speaking, just like a football game, the confrontation between two organizations is essentially a game between two systems, who can first find the weak links or loopholes in the opponent's system, and effectively carry out actions to break through its system, and then divide and encircle and annihilate, who wins.

This is the Art of WarThe operation of "avoiding the real and attacking the virtual".

That is to say, the main goal of the material level of the attack is to break through the enemy's system, whether it is the deployment of troops, or the deployment of odd forces, or the choice of the way of movement of troops on the battlefield revolves around finding a breakthrough in the opponent's system, or creating a breakthrough in the opponent's system.

Therefore, in our interpretation of the Art of War, the "virtual and real chapters" are understood as the two parts of creating the virtual and the real and the identifying the virtual and the real, and the creation of the virtual and the real is to mobilize the forces in the opponent's system through the operation of "the odd and the positive", so that the system has weak links or loopholes;Identifying the virtual and the real is to judge the weak links or loopholes in the opponent's system through the distribution and deployment of the opponent's forces.

The use of power in the Art of War has its own complete operational system, which also embodies both material and spiritual aspects, and the "Nine Places Chapter" reveals this operational point.

Sun Tzu said: "The changes in the nine places, the benefits of bending and stretching, and the reason of human feelings, must not be ignored." ”

Many people believe that the Nine Places Chapter is a comprehensive training ground for Sun Tzu's thirteen chapters, and it also makes sense, and this geography, affairs, and psychology run through the entire operation of the Art of War.

The definition and naming of the "earth" in the Nine Lands have both material and psychological elements.

The benefits of bending and stretching represent the matter and belong to the material level, which provides the choice and method of the operation path of attack and defense (form) and advance and retreat (potential).

The principle of human feelings, on behalf of psychology, belongs to the spiritual level, and highlights the management and control of team psychology in different battlefield environments or processes.

Regarding the potential of the land, the benefits of things, and the feelings of people, I just wrote a short article some time ago, and interested friends can find it in this number as a reference, and this article will not repeat it.

In short, whether it is the elements of operation, or the method of operation, and the operation goal (object) all contain two kinds of material force and spiritual force, and we are also required to continue to take stock from these two perspectives and check its shortcomings, whether we are engaged in management or a specific project.

End of full text).

"The Art of War" is a good book for actual combat, with processes, methods, and tools

"This is the Art of War".

This is a column of this platform, which belongs to the electronic version, not the physical book).

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