Chapter XIII
Justifies espionage and describes five spy classifications essential for military intelligence.
24 argumentative units
- 01The enormous expense of raising armies
Sun Tzŭ establishes that war is tremendously costly, involving massive daily expenditures (1000 ounces of silver), disruption of home production, and impoverishment of 700,000 families when 100,000 soldiers are levied.
- 02Wars can last years while victory comes in a day
Sun Tzŭ observes that hostile armies may face each other for years, yet the decisive battle determining victory occurs in a single day.
- 03The false economy of neglecting intelligence
It is inhumane and foolish to grudge the small cost of maintaining spies (100 ounces of silver) when ignorance of enemy conditions causes wars to drag on, wasting vastly greater resources.
- 04Poor leadership ignores intelligence
A ruler who neglects intelligence gathering is not a true leader, cannot aid his sovereign, and cannot achieve victory.
- 05Foreknowledge is the key to victory
The wise sovereign and good general succeed because they possess foreknowledge of enemy dispositions, which enables them to strike and conquer beyond what ordinary leaders can achieve.
- 06Foreknowledge cannot come from spirits, experience, or calculation
Sun Tzŭ rejects three potential sources of intelligence: divination, inductive reasoning from analogous cases, and mathematical deduction.
- 07Intelligence must come from other men
The only reliable source of knowledge about enemy dispositions is other human beings—that is, spies.
- 08Five classes of spies exist
Sun Tzŭ identifies five types of spies: local spies, inward spies, converted spies, doomed spies, and surviving spies. Using all five creates an undiscoverable intelligence system.
- 09Definition of local spies
Local spies are inhabitants of the enemy's district employed to gather information.
- 10Definition of inward spies
Inward spies are enemy officials who have been corrupted or coerced into betraying their own side's secrets.
- 11Definition of converted spies
Converted spies are enemy spies who have been captured and bribed into serving our side, providing both intelligence and enabling us to plant false information.
- 12Definition of doomed spies
Doomed spies are our own agents who carry false information to the enemy after our spies have been captured and persuaded to relay deceptive reports.
- 13Definition of surviving spies
Surviving spies are conventional intelligence agents who return from enemy territory with news and information about the enemy's camp.
- 14Maintain closest relations with spies
Spies deserve the most intimate relationship with commanders, the most generous rewards, and the strictest secrecy regarding their identities and activities.
- 15Requirements for employing spies
One must possess intuitive sagacity to use spies effectively, treat them with benevolence and straightforwardness, and possess subtle ingenuity to verify the truthfulness of their reports.
- 16Subtlety is paramount in espionage
Repeated emphasis on the need for subtlety and the use of spies for all kinds of business activities.
- 17Death penalty for breached intelligence secrets
Both the spy who divulges a secret prematurely and the person to whom the secret is told must be executed to prevent further spread of classified information.
- 18Target identification in espionage
Before attempting to crush an army, assault a city, or assassinate a leader, spies must first identify the names and roles of the general's attendants, aides-de-camp, and sentries.
- 19How to convert enemy spies
Enemy spies discovered in our midst should be bribed, housed comfortably, and turned to become converted spies serving our purposes.
- 20Converted spies enable all other spy operations
Information from converted spies allows us to recruit and employ local spies, plant false information through doomed spies, and use surviving spies effectively.
- 21Converted spies are essential to all espionage
All five varieties of espionage ultimately depend on knowledge derived from converted spies, making their generous treatment essential to successful intelligence operations.
- 22Historical examples of converted spies
The rise of the Yin dynasty through I Chih and the Chou dynasty through Lü Ya illustrate how former enemy officials, now serving the other side, enabled dynastic overthrows.
- 23Only enlightened rulers use intelligence effectively
Only enlightened rulers and wise generals recognize that using the army's highest intelligence for espionage purposes achieves great results.
- 24Spies are essential to military mobility
Spies are critically important because an army's ability to move depends on the intelligence they provide.