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[The general meaning of the last phrase is doubtlessly, as Tu Yu

says, "not to allow the enemy to cut your communications." In

view of Napoleon's dictum, "the secret of war lies in the

communications," [1] we could wish that Sun Tzŭ had done more

than skirt the edge of this important subject here and in I. §

10, VII. § 11. Col. Henderson says: "The line of supply may be

said to be as vital to the existence of an army as the heart to

the life of a human being.