Page:Sun Tzu on The art of war.djvu/181

Rh 23. Throw your soldiers into positions whence there is no escape, and they will prefer death to flight.
 * 1) 

If they will face death, there is nothing they may not achieve.


 * “If there be no alternative but death.” But I do not see how this is to be got out of the Chinese. Chang Yü gives a clear paraphrase:, and quotes his favourite Wei Liao Tzŭ (ch. 3): “If one man were to run amok with a sword in the market-place, and everybody else tried to get out 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.

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 the heart of a hostile country, they will show a stubborn front.

If there is no help for it, they will fight hard.