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[The meaning is: If two enemies will help each other in a time of

common peril, how much more should two parts of the same army,

bound together as they are by every tie of interest and

fellow-feeling. Yet it is notorious that many a campaign has been

ruined through lack of cooperation, especially in the case of

allied armies.]

31. Hence it is not enough to put one's trust in the tethering of

horses, and the burying of chariot wheels in the ground.

[These quaint devices to prevent one's army from running away

recall the Athenian hero Sophanes, who carried the anchor with

him at the battle of Plataea, by means of which he fastened

himself firmly to one spot. [See Herodotus, IX. 74.] It is not

enough, says Sun Tzŭ, to render flight impossible by such

mechanical means. You will not succeed unless your men have

tenacity and unity of purpose, and, above all, a spirit of

sympathetic cooperation. This is the lesson which can be learned

from the shuai-jan.]