He who does not fully understand the harms of warfare can never fully understand its benefits.
A skilled commander does not conscript troops repeatedly, nor transport grain time and again. Military equipment is supplied from the homeland, while grain is seized from enemy lands. In this way, the army’s provisions will always be sufficient.
A nation grows poor from war mainly due to long-distance grain transport, which impoverishes the people. In areas near the army, prices soar and people’s wealth is drained. When wealth runs out, heavy corvée and taxes follow.
Eventually manpower and resources are exhausted. Ordinary families lose seventy percent of their property. For the state, chariots and horses are worn out, armors, weapons and transport carts are damaged, and sixty percent of public supplies are lost.
Note
A great military strategist and thinker in ancient China, who lived in the late Spring and Autumn Period. He authored The Art of War, the world’s earliest and most influential military classic. His strategic thoughts have been widely applied in military, politics and management worldwide.
Seize grain from the enemy
A classic logistical strategy in The Art of War. It means collecting food locally in occupied enemy lands to avoid the cost of long transportation.
Long-distance transport
The main cause of national poverty in wartime. It wastes labor and materials and pushes up commodity prices near military camps.
Corvee and taxes
Compulsory labor and taxes imposed by ancient governments. Wars would sharply increase such burdens on civilians.
Armors, weapons and transport tools
Basic military supplies in ancient battles, which suffer severe wear and tear during prolonged wars.
Huo Qubing’s Northern Campaign
“Seizing grain from the enemy” is a classic logistical strategy meaning collecting food locally in occupied enemy lands to avoid the cost of long transportation. The historical example of Huo Qubing’s Campaign in the Desert (119 BC) provides a perfect illustration of this principle in action.
The Context: The War against the Xiongnu
In 119 BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty resolved to deliver a decisive blow against the Xiongnu (Hun) tribes in the northern deserts. The objective was to annihilate the main force of the Left King of the Xiongnu. General Huo Qubing led an elite cavalry force of 50,000 men out of Dai Commandery, venturing deep into the heart of the Gobi Desert.
This campaign was a textbook application of Sun Tzu’s warning against the perils of “Long-distance transport.” Supplying an army in the vast, arid steppes of the north would have been logistically impossible through conventional supply lines stretching back to the Han capital. The cost in manpower and resources (as described in the webpage) would have been catastrophic.
The Execution: “Living off the Land”
Huo Qubing’s army was a pure cavalry legion, stripped of heavy baggage and redundant supply carts. He understood that to strike deep, he had to sever the logistical umbilical cord. Instead of relying on the state for grain, he adopted a strategy of “self-sufficiency through warfare” (以战养战).
- Forage for Food: When his troops defeated a Xiongnu force, they seized the enemy’s livestock (cattle and sheep) to feed his men.
- Capture Resources: Damaged equipment and tents were replaced with captured enemy gear.
- Replenish Horses: Horses lost during the march were replaced with captured Xiongnu mounts.
This mirrors the webpage’s definition of “Seizing grain from the enemy” perfectly. Huo Qubing did not need to “transport grain time and again” from home because he was consuming the enemy’s wealth.
The Aftermath: A Decisive Victory
The result was a devastatingly efficient campaign. Huo Qubing’s army advanced over 2000 li northward, killing or capturing over 70,000 Xiongnu soldiers. He pursued the remnants all the way to the Wolf Mountain (Lang Juxu Shan).
Emperor Wu later praised Huo Qubing as recorded in the Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji) with the phrase: “取食于敌，逴行殊远而粮不绝” (Taking food from the enemy, marching extremely far, yet the grain never ran out). This is the ultimate validation of Sun Tzu’s principle – if you understand the harm of long supply lines, you can secure the benefit of a mobile, well-fed army.
故不盡知用兵之害者，則不能盡知用兵之利也。善用兵者，役不再籍，糧不三載，取用于國，因糧于敵，故軍食可足也。國之貧于師者遠輸，遠輸則百姓貧，近于師者貴賣，貴賣則百姓財竭，財竭則急于丘役，力屈財殫，中原內虛于家，百姓之費，十去其七，公家之費，破車罷馬，甲冑矢弩，戟楯蔽櫓，丘牛大車，十去其六。
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