Assignment 5- Art of War

Sun Tzu’s main point in this section has to deal with what he calls energy and how it relates to battle effectiveness. He also stresses the need for a unit to have effective communication from the bottom up as well as the need to be well organized. Tzu talks about how a unit that is familiar with one another is more likely to succeed as the leader as well as the rest of the unit are familiar with everyone’s strengths and weaknesses. This not only helps in respect to effective communication but it also ensures that the unit is better suited to the changing environment in a battle situation. Thus, the units’ energy can now be redirected faster to obtain the strongest combat effectiveness depending on the situation. Tzu, goes onto explain how being able to do this is difficult to master, but if used is a valuable asset to a unit in battle. He also places emphasis on how important a commander’s decision is and the timing of that decision. He portrays this by relating a decision process to a swooping hawk, being both swift and accurate in its decision on when and where to attack its prey. The underlying points of this section are, One, Tzu is showing us what aspects are required for a successful maneuver of both units and its energy. Two, familiarization; in the manner of knowing your fellow soldiers within your unit. As said before being able to determine their strengths and weaknesses allows other solider to fill in the gaps, thus helping communication and energy output.  And again, the importance of communication within a combat unit.