Pagina 233 di 266

through his neglect of this simple precaution. "At the head of a

large army he was besieging Ch'ang-she, which was held by

Huang-fu Sung. The garrison was very small, and a general feeling

of nervousness pervaded the ranks; so Huang-fu Sung called his

officers together and said: "In war, there are various indirect

methods of attack, and numbers do not count for everything. [The

commentator here quotes Sun Tzŭ, V. §§ 5, 6 and 10.] Now the

rebels have pitched their camp in the midst of thick grass which

will easily burn when the wind blows. If we set fire to it at

night, they will be thrown into a panic, and we can make a sortie

and attack them on all sides at once, thus emulating the

achievement of T'ien Tan.' [See p.