Delaying Battle

AnonymousBashu Publishing House · ChinaJul 2024

3.7

Word count: 289 words
Chapters: 2

Summary

"Slow Warfare" is a military treatise recorded in the ancient Chinese art-of-war compendium Hundred Battles, Hundred Strategies (Baizhan Qilue), and it sets out the key considerations in mounting an attack on a fortified city. It holds that because building siege engines and raising earthen assault mounds are time-consuming and laborious, siege operations readily increase casualties, so siegecraft is a last resort to be adopted only when unavoidable. It therefore argues that against defenders whose fortifications are strong, whose troops are numerous but whose grain is scarce, and who have no outside relief, one should not rush to attack; instead one may adopt the method of a prolonged encirclement and a war of attrition. The considerations on siege warfare discussed in this piece amount to no more than the view articulated in "Attack by Stratagem" in The Art of War, that "the method of attacking a city is a last resort." In antiquity, when advanced siege technology was lacking, this view was not without reason. Yet with advances in weaponry and siege techniques and the practical demands of warfare's development, assault operations aimed at seizing towns and cities were bound to assume an important place. Whether to employ siege tactics against defending forces should therefore be decided by the needs of the war and by the technical conditions of one's equipment, and such tactics should not be dismissed wholesale as a last resort without concrete analysis.

Editor's review

This entry, the "Slow Warfare" article in Hundred Battles, Hundred Strategies, is devoted specifically to the timing of siege operations. Its core argument: building engines and raising earthen mounds take time and effort, and frontal assault readily increases casualties, so siegecraft is a last resort; against defenders with strong fortifications, many troops but little grain, and no outside relief, one should mount a prolonged encirclement and war of attrition and await their exhaustion. The text is concise, and its view runs in the same vein as "the method of attacking a city is a last resort" in "Attack by Stratagem" in The Art of War, reflecting a pragmatic approach to command under the limited siege technology of antiquity. As a collated edition of a single military treatise, this book makes it easy for readers to concentrate on this tactical proposition, and it is also suited to being read alongside other entries in Hundred Battles, Hundred Strategies in order to observe how ancient strategists classified and discussed different methods of warfare. Note that the views in this piece are conditioned by their technological setting: as siege engines and the forms of warfare changed, assault operations grew in importance, so readers should not treat "slow warfare" as a universal rule but should examine its limits of applicability in light of specific conditions.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Military-history readers studying Hundred Battles, Hundred Strategies and the classificatory scheme of ancient Chinese military texts
Enthusiasts of military strategy interested in siege tactics and the thought of "Attack by Stratagem" in The Art of War
Teachers who need a short military text as classroom reading material
General readers interested in the conditional reasoning in ancient Chinese military thought

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a systematic campaign history with detailed case studies
Utilitarian readers seeking to apply military strategy directly to modern business or management
Researchers who prefer lengthy theoretical constructions and dislike short entries

Reading tips

Read the relevant passage in "Attack by Stratagem" in The Art of War first, then compare it with the argument in this piece.
Read "Slow Warfare" alongside other tactical entries in Hundred Battles, Hundred Strategies and compare their conditions of application.
As you read, note the premises in the text concerning fortifications, scarce grain, and absence of outside relief, and do not generalize them.
Draw on general knowledge of ancient siege engines to understand the technological background of the "last resort" judgment.

About the publisher

Bashu Publishing House China · Founded in 1983

Bashu Publishing House is a publisher centered on collating and publishing classical Chinese cultural texts, with its main publishing areas covering classical literature, Eastern philosophy, ancient poetry, and educational classics. Its library currently holds 1,075 titles, including representative works such as Dream of the Red Chamber, the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Gathering, Renjian Cihua, and Out to the Frontier, involving authors such as Cao Xueqin, Wang Xizhi, Wang Guowei, Wang Changling, Liu Xie, and Yan Yu. These reflect the publisher's focus on literary classics, poetry criticism, and philosophical readings. Its publishing character lies in working around ancient texts and canonical works, with attention to textual collation and presentation. Public information on its more detailed publishing background and series plans is limited; this introduction is based only on the library's book information.

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FAQ

Does "Slow Warfare" hold that siege warfare should always be avoided?

Not categorically. The piece stresses that siegecraft is a last resort, mainly in view of the time required to build engines and raise mounds, the heavy casualties of frontal assault, and the situation of defenders with strong fortifications, many troops but little grain, and no outside relief, in which it advocates prolonged encirclement and attrition. But the material also points out that as weaponry and siege techniques advanced and the needs of war changed, assault operations would assume an important place, and whether to besiege should be analyzed concretely in light of needs and technical conditions.

How does this piece relate to The Art of War?

According to the material, the considerations on siege warfare discussed here amount to no more than the view articulated in "Attack by Stratagem" in The Art of War, namely that "the method of attacking a city is a last resort." "Slow Warfare" may be said to elaborate this idea concretely in the context of siege operations, emphasizing the use of prolonged encirclement and attrition; at the same time the material reminds readers to note its technological limits and not simply equate the two.

What can a general reader gain from this piece?

From this short essay a general reader can appreciate how ancient strategists weighed cost against timing: siege engines and earthen mounds take time and effort, and frontal assault causes heavy casualties, so against particular defenders they chose encirclement. This approach of "first reckon the cost, then decide the method of warfare" helps in understanding how Hundred Battles, Hundred Strategies is organized by category of tactics, and it trains readers to watch for preconditions when reading military texts and to avoid treating particular conclusions as universal formulas.

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About the author

Anonymous Author

Anonymous is not a real personal name but a general Chinese designation for authors whose names are unknown, lost, or unsigned. Neither nationality nor dates of birth and death can be verified, and available public information is limited, so the works attributed to this name are the only basis for description. The collection holds 2,078 works under Anonymous, spanning medicine, classics, historical readings, ancient poetry, classical literature, and philosophy. Representative works include The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon: Lingshu, Mencius, The Book of Documents, Nineteen Old Poems, Complete Song Ci, and The Peacock Flies Southeast. Most of these works took shape through long transmission and editing, emerging either from collective folk creation or from authors whose names were lost over time. In ancient China, the Book of Songs, the Great Learning, and many popular storybooks and plays were signed Anonymous because their authors could not be traced. Anonymous works cross the classics, histories, philosophical writings, medical texts, and poetry; their subjects are broad, and their styles vary from archaic simplicity to clear naturalness, making them important and influential sources for understanding ancient Chinese thought, medicine, and literature.