Six Secret Teachings, Dog Teaching — Horsemen in Battle六韜 戰騎
1The horsemen — ten victories and nine defeats
武王問太公曰：「戰騎奈何？」太公曰：「騎有十勝九敗。」武王曰：「十勝奈何？」太公曰：「敵人始至，行陣未定，前後不屬，陷其前騎，擊其左右，敵人必走。敵人行陣，整齊堅固，士卒欲鬥。吾騎翼而勿去，或馳而往，或馳而來，其疾如風，其暴如雷，白晝如昏，數更旌旂，變更衣服，其軍可克。敵人行陣不固，士卒不鬥。薄其前後，獵其左右，翼而擊之敵人必懼。敵人暮欲歸舍，三軍恐駭，翼其兩旁，疾擊其後，薄其壘口，無使得入，敵人必敗。敵人無險阻保固，深入長驅，絕其糧道，敵人必饑。地平而易，四面見敵，車騎陷之，敵人必亂。敵人奔走，士卒散亂。或翼其兩旁，或掩其前後，其將可擒。敵人暮返，其兵甚眾，其行陣必亂。令我騎十而為隊，百而為屯，車五而為聚，十而為群，多設旌旂，雜以強弩；或擊其兩旁，或絕其前後，敵將可虜。此騎之十勝也。」武王曰：「九敗奈何？」太公曰：「凡以騎陷敵而不能破陣；敵人佯走，以車騎返擊我後，此騎之敗地也。追北踰險，長驅不止；敵人伏我兩旁，又絕我後，此騎之圍地也。往而無以返，入而無以出，是謂陷於天井，頓於地穴，此騎之死地也。所從入者隘，所從出者遠。彼弱可以擊我強，彼寡可以擊我眾，此騎之沒地也。大澗深谷，翳茂林木，此騎之竭地也。左右有水，前有大阜，後有高山；三軍戰於兩水之間，敵居表裏，此騎之艱地也。敵人絕我糧道，往而無以還，此騎之困地也。汙下沮澤，進退漸洳，此騎之患地也。左有深溝，右有坑阜，高下如平地，進退誘敵，此騎之陷地也。此九者，騎之死地也。明將之所以遠避，闇將之所以陷敗也。」
King Wu asked Taigong, "How do horsemen fight?" Taigong said, "Horsemen have ten victories and nine defeats." King Wu said, "What are the ten victories?" Taigong said, "When the enemy has just arrived and his order of march is not yet settled and front and rear are not joined, break his forward horsemen and strike his left and right, and the enemy is sure to run. When the enemy's order of march is even and firm and his officers and men wish to fight, let our horsemen wing him and not leave him, riding now out and now back, quick as the wind and fierce as thunder, so that broad day seems like dusk; change the flags often and change the clothing, and his army can be beaten. When the enemy's order of march is not firm and his officers and men do not fight, press hard on his front and rear, hunt his left and right, wing him and strike him, and the enemy is sure to be afraid. When the enemy would go back to his lodging at evening and the three armies are in dread, wing both his flanks, strike his rear quickly, press hard on the mouth of his ramparts and let him not get in, and the enemy is sure to be beaten. When the enemy has no broken ground to keep him safe and firm, go deep and drive far and cut his grain road, and the enemy is sure to starve. When the ground is flat and level and the enemy is seen on all four sides, break him with chariots and horsemen, and the enemy is sure to fall into disorder. When the enemy runs and his officers and men are scattered and in confusion, wing both his flanks or fall upon his front and rear, and his general can be taken. When the enemy goes back at evening and his troops are very many, his order of march is sure to be in disorder. Then let ten of our horsemen make a squad and a hundred make a camp, and five chariots make a group and ten make a troop, set up many flags and mix in strong crossbows, and strike his two flanks or cut off his front and rear, and the enemy's general can be taken captive. These are the ten victories of horsemen." King Wu said, "What are the nine defeats?" Taigong said, "When you would break the enemy with horsemen and cannot break his ranks, and the enemy feigns flight and turns on our rear with chariots and horsemen, this is the horsemen's ground of defeat. When you chase the beaten across broken country and drive far without stopping, and the enemy lies in ambush on both our flanks and cuts off our rear as well, this is the horsemen's ground of encirclement. When you go and cannot come back, and enter and cannot get out, this is called falling into the well of Heaven and being held fast in the hole of Earth, and it is the horsemen's ground of death. When the way in is narrow and the way out is far, so that their weak can strike our strong and their few can strike our many, this is the horsemen's ground of foundering. Great streams and deep valleys thick with woods are the horsemen's ground of exhaustion. Water on the left and right, a great mound in front and a high mountain behind, where the three armies fight between two waters and the enemy holds both the outside and the inside, is the horsemen's ground of straits. When the enemy cuts our grain road, so that we go and cannot come back, this is the horsemen's ground of hardship. Low and boggy marsh, where you sink whether you go forward or back, is the horsemen's ground of trouble. A deep ditch on the left and pits and mounds on the right, where high and low look like level ground and the enemy lures you forward and back, is the horsemen's ground of sinking. These nine are the horsemen's grounds of death. The clear-sighted general keeps far away from them, and the blind general falls into them and is beaten."
Interlinear notes 1
騎有十勝九敗
The text says "ten victories," but only eight remain in the source text. All nine defeats are present. — translator