Page:Sun Tzu on The art of war.djvu/173

Rh 7. When an army has penetrated into the heart of a hostile country, leaving a number of fortified cities in its rear,
 * 1) 

it is serious ground.

8. Mountain forests,

rugged steeps, marshes and fens — all country that is hard to traverse: this is difficult ground.

9. Ground which is reached through narrow gorges, and from which we can only retire by tortuous paths, so that a small number of the enemy would suffice to crush a large body of our men: this is hemmed-in ground.

10. Ground on which we can only be saved from destruction by fighting without delay, is desperate ground.