The enemy’s command becomes confused and unrestrained, with the symbol of Kun below and Dui above, signifying river water ready to overflow the bank. Subdue the enemy when it has thus lost its discipline.

In war, surprise can be achieved by deception as well as by the troops’ speed and mobility. As a Chinese saying goes, “There can never be too much deception in war.” However, this strategy cautions that one has to ascertain the enemy’s lack of judgment before making false moves to deceive it. A commander with presence of mind knows his strong and weak points and arrays his troops accordingly; he is therefore not liable to be misled by the enemy’s false gestures. He can even pretend to be deceived and turn the enemy’s trick against it. Therefore, when one tries to deceive the enemy, he must bear in mind the deceitfulness of the enemy. Thus Sun Zi observes, warfare first made sure that they could not be defeated and then waited for an opportunity to defeat enemy.”