"Weak Points and Strong" through "Variations in Tactics"

In the chapter "Weak Points and Strong," Sun Tzu discusses the idea of selecting your targets carefully in an engagement. You should attack the enemy where he can not adequately defend. He tells us to "probe them to know where they have an excess, where a deficiency." This is similar to the use of a leader's recon or some other form of reconnaissance to determine the best place and time for an operation before the operation even takes place.

"Maneuvering" is defined as a movement or series of movement requiring great skill or care. Sun Tzu discusses the best ways to maneuver troops and avoid exhaustion or putting yourself at a disadvantage. He stresses the importance of having plenty of knowledge of the plan and the terrain prior to movement (whenever possible). "Someone unfamiliar with the mountains and forests... cannot advance the army." He also tells us not to move too fast. If all of your men are exhausted by the time they reach the battlefield, they are not going to be very combat effective.

"Variations in Tactics" talks about how tactics change on a situational basis. Sun Tzu says "... the wise must contemplate the intermixture of gain and loss. If they can discern advantage, their efforts can be trusted..." When leading troops, we need to pick our battles, their are times when attacking an opposing force is a bad idea and will result in nothing more than unnecessary casualties. We need to make good decisions as leaders in order to successfully complete missions and keep our soldiers alive.