尉缭子 （五）

---中国古代军事著作

陈水明（1962届） 英译

Weiliaozi (5)

---An ancient Chinese work for military strategy and tactics

                
Translated by Chen Shuiming

第十七章     经卒令

经卒者，以经令分之为三分焉：左军苍旗，卒戴苍羽；右军白旗，卒戴白羽；中军黄旗，卒戴黄羽。

卒有五章：前一行苍章；次耳行赤章，次三行黄章，次四行白章，次五行黑章。次以经卒，亡章者有诛。前一五行，置章于首；次二五行，置章于项；次三五行，置章于胸；次四五行，置章于腹；次五五行，置章于腰。如此，卒无非其吏，吏无非其卒。见非而不诰，见乱而不禁，其罪如之。

鼓行交斗，则前行进为犯难，后行进为辱众。逾五行而后者有诛。所以知进退先后，吏卒之功也。故曰：鼓之前如雷霆，动如风雨，莫敢当其前，莫敢蹑其后，言有经也。

Chapter  17     Formation Regulations

With regard to the management of the troop, divide the men into three armies according to the corresponding regulations.

The left army uses green flag and the soldiers wear green feathers. The right army uses white flag and the soldiers wear white feathers. The middle army uses yellow flag and the soldiers wear yellow feathers.

The soldiers wear the marks in five colors: Those of the first line were green marks; those of the second line wear red ones; those of the third line wear yellow ones; those of the fourth line wear white ones; those of the fifth line wear black ones.

Arrange the soldiers according to the above order. He who loses his mark must be punished.
Those of the first five horizontal lines wear their marks on their heads; those of the second five horizontal lines wear their marks on their necks; those of the third five horizontal line wear their marks before their chests; those of the fourth five horizontal line wear their marks before their abdomen parts and those of the fifth five horizontal line wear their marks on their waists. Thus the soldiers will not mistake their own officers, nor the officers mistake their soldiers. He who finds the soldier that is not one of his file and doesn’t question him closely or finds the army order gets confused but doesn’t stop it, must be punished as those who violate the military laws.

While the battle drums are being beaten and the army are marching on to fight, he who oversteps his rank and fights is counted as a brave hero and he who lags behind his rank or retreats is a coward that sullies the honor of all his comrades, then the former is rewarded and the latter is punished. Thus the commanders will be able to know which one soldier or officer is to make contributions by observing their marching on or retreating. So that once ordered, the army will march on as powerfully as the thunder and retreat as swiftly as the storm. Then no enemy dares to prevent such army while they advancing, nor pursue and attack them while they are retreating. Such conditions are the result from good establishment.

第十八章   勒卒令

金，鼓，铃，旗，四者各有法：鼓之则进，重鼓则击；金之则止，重金则退；铃，传令也；旗麾之左则左，麾之右则右。奇兵则反是。一鼓一击而左，一鼓一击而右。一步一鼓，步鼓也；十步一鼓，趋鼓也；音不绝，骛鼓也。商将鼓也；角，帅鼓也；小鼓伯鼓也。三鼓同，则将、帅、伯，其心一也。奇兵则反是。鼓失次者有诛，不听金、鼓、铃、旗而动者有诛。

百人而教战，教成而合之千人；千人教成，合之万人；万人教成，会之于三军。三军之众，有分有合。为大战之法，教成试之以阅。方亦胜，圆亦胜；错邪亦胜，临险亦胜。敌在山，缘而从之；敌在渊，没而从之。求敌若求亡子，从之无疑，故能败敌而制其命。

夫蚤决先敌。若计不先定，虑不早决，则进退不定，疑生必败。故正兵贵先，奇兵贵后。或先或后，制敌者也。世将不知法者，专命而行，先击而勇，无不败者也。其举有疑而不疑，其往有信而不信，其致有迟疾而不迟疾，是三者，战之累也。

Chapter

18      Training and Commanding Regulations

The gong, the drum, the bell and the flag are the four commanding tools that have their own use respectively. To beat the drum means ordering the army to march forward; to beat it once more means ordering them to attack; to beat the gong means ordering them to stop fighting; to beat once more means ordering them to retreat; to ring the bell means that the high ranking officer will issue orders; to wave the flag left means ordering the army to move left; while to wave the flag right means ordering the army to move right. For the surprising army to do the above means being contrary to those. Sometimes to beat the drum one time by one time means ordering the army to march left; sometimes to do means ordering the army to march left. To beat the drum one time for instructing the army to move one step means ordering them to march forward slowly. To beat the drum one time for instructing them to move ten steps means ordering them to march forward fast. To beat the drum successively means ordering the army to charge swiftly and violently. The drum that makes shang (商corresponding to 2 in numbered musical notation) sound is specially used by the commander leading 10,000 men, that makes jue（角corresponding to 3 in numbered musical notation） sound is specially used by the commander leading 1,000 men and that makes dull sound is specially used by the bo-leader. When the three kinds of drums are being beaten simultaneously, it means all the commanders are making concerted efforts. The drums for ordering the surprising army are used contrary to what mentioned above. He who wrongly beats the drum will be punished and he who makes noise or acts presumptuously without obeying the direction of the four commanding tools will be punished. 
Take one hundred men as a unit and train them to fight. After training them well,  merge ten units into one thousand men as a unit and train them to fight. After training them well, then merge such units into ten thousand men as one unit and train them to fight. At last merge them into three armies and train them to fight in large scale separated and concentrated. After this, carry out military maneuvers and exam the training results.

The well-trained army can win in every respect whether it strikes on the square battle formation or the round battle formation. It can climb the high mountains or go under deep water to defeat the enemies if they are there. It searches the enemies without any hesitation as though they searched the lost children, so it can defeat any enemies and put them to the fatal position.

The stratagem of using military forces lies in early making up mind and plan. Without decision and plan beforehand, one will hesitate about commanding the army whether to strike, or to defend or to retreat, which surely leads to failure. Therefore, the key to normal force lies in gaining mastery by striking first and that of the ingenious force lies in gaining mastery by striking after the enemy has struck. The aim of the two is the same: to win victory. Now, the conventional commanders do not know the normal and the ingenious changing ways of using military forces, they often act willfully and depend on their own courage to rashly order their men to strike. Such commanders are bound to fail. The mistakes often committed in fight are: do not suspect about the matter in observing the enemy when it should be suspected about; losing confidence in fighting against the enemy when should be full confidence; don’t start to strike quickly or slowly when should do so.

 第十九章     将令

将军受命，君必先谋于庙，行令于廷，君身以斧钺授将，曰：“左、右、中军，皆有分职，若逾分而上请者死。军无二令，二令者诛，留令者诛。”将军告曰：“出国门之外，期日中，设营表，置辕门，期之，如过时则坐法。”

将军入营，即闭门清道。有敢行者诛，有敢高言者诛，有敢不从令者诛。

Chapter19                Ceremony of Authorizing Martial Leader

When there is going to be a battle and a martial leader is needed, the lord of the country must discuss with his men about choice of a proper person in his imperial ancestral temple first, then formally appoints the martial leader in the imperial court and personally grants the ax and yue (two weapons that stand for power) to him and orders: “The left army, the right army and the middle army have their own duties respectively. He who asks for instructions by bypassing the immediate leadership must be put to death. There shouldn’t two men that have the authority to issue orders in the army. He who presumptuously issues another orders must be strictly punished and he who delays or bungles orders or disobeys orders must also be strictly punished.” After accepting the order, the martial leader will issue the order, saying: “All the units must, assemble at the point outside of the capital, the final time limitation is the mid-day, then the outer gate of the office will be built and the sundial erected. Every unit must register in time. If any one is late, he must be punished according to the military law.”

After the martial leader enters the camp gate, the gate must be closed immediately and the ways in the camp cordoned off. He who moves willfully or makes noise or disobeys orders must be strictly punished.

第二十章  踵军令

所谓踵军者，去大军百里，期于会地，为三日熟食，前军而行。为战合之表，合表乃起。踵军餐士，使为之战势，是为趋战者也。

兴军者，前踵军而行，合表乃起。去大军一倍其道，去踵军百里，期于会地，为六日熟食，使为战备。

分卒据要害，战利则追北，按兵而趋之。踵军遇有还者，诛之。所谓诸将之兵，在四奇之内者胜也。

兵有什伍，有分有合，豫为之职守要塞关梁而分居之。战合表起，即皆会也。大军为计日之食，起战具无不及也。令行而起，不如令者有诛。

凡称分塞者，四境之内当兴军。踵军既行，则四境之民，无得行者。奉王之命，授持符节，名为顺职之吏。非顺职之吏而行者，诛之。战合表起，顺职之吏乃行，用以相参。故欲战，先安内也。

Chapter 20      Disposition of Troops

The successive party of the advanced force is one hundred li (one li=500m) apart from the main force and reaches the assemble place in time. It must have solid food for three day’s use and starts before the main force. When it is going to fight, its military tally must be examined beforehand. Before it acts, the soldiers must be rewarded with food and drink so that their morale and fighting power are aroused.

Advanced force starts before the successive party. It may act after its tally is examined. It is one hundred li apart from the successive party and apart from the main force two times as far as the successive party is. It should have solid food for six days use and reach the assembly place in time for the vanguard of the main force.

The scattered soldiers must occupy the strategic topography. When the main force triumphs, they must pursue and attack the enemy. While the main force doesn’t start, its commanders must tell and keep the soldiers to get ready to hurry to the battlefield at any time. The successive force must punish the deserters of the advances force when meet them. When the four parts of the troop, i.e. advanced force, the successive force, the scattered disperse force and the main force are commanded by various high-ranking commanders and well coordinated, they’ll win.

The army has the establishments of shi-unit and wu-unit and the dispersed and centralized battle formations. Their duties are defined beforehand, i.e. which ones should hold the fortresses, bridges, etc. Once they receive the operation order and their military tally is examined, they must immediately throw themselves into battle. The whole troop should be well equipped with fight arms and devices and provided with enough food according to the fighting times. He who doesn’t act according to the combat order should be punished.

The separated units that guard fortresses perform the garrison duties in their own areas. After the advanced force and the successive party started, the inhabitants in the fortress area shouldn’t move at will. The officer who acts under the order of the lord of the country to carry out special task and holds the military tally can move there. The officer that has no special task and passes there willfully should be punished. The officer that carries out special task can start after receiving the order and the tally examined, so as to monitor this unit. In order to win the battle, the internal security must be strengthened first.

--- 待续