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Six Secret Teachings, Leopard Teaching — Crow and Cloud Troops in the Marshes六韜 烏雲澤兵

Wujing Qishu (The Seven Military Classics) — the six besides the Sunzi 武經七書 · Ascribed to Jiang Taigong · ascribed to Huang Shigong · Wei Liao · Wu Qi · Sima Rangju · Li Jing · Warring States to Tang (4th century BC to 7th century AD) · 1 passages · 278 Chinese characters · reading time 1.1 min

Wujing Qishu (The Seven Military Classics) — the six besides the Sunzi Six Secret Teachings The six that remain when the Art of War of Sunzi is taken out of the seven military books the Song set as the texts for examining military officers. The Six Secret Teachings is sixty chapters of questions and answers in which King Wen and King Wu ask Taigong Wang, running from the governing of a state to chariots, cavalry, battle in the open and the crossing of water; the Three Strategies is three short books said to have been given to Zhang Liang by Huang Shigong; the Wei Liaozi is twenty-four chapters setting down in detail the military orders and the squads of five and ten around the time of Qin; the Wuzi is six chapters of Wu Qi's answers to Marquis Wu of Wei; the Methods of the Sima is five chapters handing down the military rites of before the Spring and Autumn period; and Questions and Replies with Li Weigong is three books in which Taizong of Tang and Li Jing go back and forth over the unorthodox and the orthodox, the empty and the full, the frontier peoples and the Han, and attack and defense. "Arms are an instrument of ill omen," "bring the enemy to you and do not be brought to him," and "a thousand chapters and ten thousand phrases do not go beyond that one phrase" all come from here. The remaining six streams of the military school, read after the Art of War, are gathered in one place.

1The crow and cloud formation in the marshes — scattering like crows and gathering like clouds

武王問太公曰：「引兵深入諸侯之地，與敵人臨水相拒。敵富而眾，我貧而寡。踰水擊之，則不能前。欲久其日，則糧食少。吾居斥鹵之地，四旁無邑，又無草木。三軍無所掠取，牛馬無所芻牧。為之奈何？」太公曰：「三軍無備，士卒無糧，牛馬無食。如此者，索便詐敵而亟去之，設伏兵於後。」武王曰：「敵不可得而詐。吾士卒迷惑。敵人越我前後，吾三軍敗而走。為之奈何？」太公曰：「如此者，分為衝陳，便兵所處。須其畢出，發我伏兵，疾擊其後，強弩兩旁，射其左右，車騎分為烏雲之陳，備其前後，三軍疾戰。敵人見我戰合，其大軍必濟水而來。發我伏兵，疾擊其後，車騎衝其左右，敵人雖眾，其將可走。凡用兵之大要，當敵臨戰，必置衝陳，便兵所處，然後以車騎分為烏雲之陳，此用兵之奇也。所謂烏雲者，烏散而雲合，變化無窮者也。」武王曰：「善哉！」

King Wu asked Taigong, "I lead the army deep into the land of the feudal lords and stand against the enemy with water between us. The enemy is rich and many; we are poor and few. To cross the water and strike him, we cannot go forward; to draw the days out long, our grain is too little. We lie on salt flats, with no town on any side and no grass or trees. The three armies have nothing to forage and the oxen and horses nowhere to graze. What is to be done?" Taigong said, "The three armies have no readiness, the officers and men no grain, the oxen and horses no feed. At such a time seek a convenient way, deceive the enemy and leave in haste, and set hidden troops behind you." King Wu said, "The enemy cannot be deceived. Our officers and men are bewildered, the enemy passes beyond our front and rear, and our three armies are beaten and run. What is to be done?" Taigong said, "At such a time divide into assault formations, where it is convenient for the troops to be. Wait until he has all come out, then send out our hidden troops to strike his rear swiftly, while strong crossbows on both sides shoot at his left and right, and the chariots and horsemen divide into the crow and cloud formation to be ready at his front and rear, and the three armies fight swiftly. When the enemy sees that we have joined battle, his main force is sure to cross the water and come. Send out our hidden troops to strike his rear swiftly, and let the chariots and horsemen charge his left and right. Though the enemy be many, his general can be put to flight. The great point in the use of troops is this: when you meet the enemy and come to battle, you must set out assault formations where it is convenient for the troops to be, and only then divide the chariots and horsemen into the crow and cloud formation. This is what is strange in the use of troops. What is called crow and cloud is this: scattering like crows and gathering like clouds, changing without end." King Wu said, "Good."

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