Ho Lu: “may the test be applied to women?”
So he [Sun Tzu] started drilling them [girls]

"14-By means of these seven considerations I can forecast victory or defeat.
15-The general that hearkens to my counsel and acts upon it, will conquer..."
Sun Tzu

Very good. No wonder his army won facing a much larger one. Strategy at its best. 2,400 years old strategy. Old, yet wise. Still endures, capable of teaching many generations, in a manifold manner.

As I read, I tried to apply some of the concepts to the ongoing, dangerous situation in the Korean Peninsula.
18th April 2017

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Main players

-USA versus NORTH-KOREA

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Other players

-SOUTH-KOREA IS AN ALLY; FOR MANY YEARS; WITH AMERICAN BASES IN ITS TERRITORY; AND PLENTY OF JOINT MILITARY EXERCISES.

-CHINA* AND RUSSIA** HAVE MOVED MILITARY FORCES TO THEIR BORDERS ALONG NORTH KOREA; THEY HAVE BACKED FOR MANY YEARS NORTH KOREA; THOUGH CHINA CHANGED LATELY. CHINESE SUBMARINES AND OTHER VESSELS ARE MONITORING THE AMERICAN ARMADA MOVES.

-JAPAN IS AN ALLY
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(Update: 21st April; Japanese destroyers join the American armada)



Possible scenarios

-FULL-SCALE WAR; CONVENTIONAL TYPE; THE USA HAVE MOVED AN "ARMADA" TO THE KOREAN PENINSULA; MORE AIRCRAFT CARRIERS TO COME.

-NUCLEAR WAR/PROMPTED BY THE USE OF NORTH KOREA'S ICBMs (if they're for real)

-SPECIAL FORCES ASSASSINATION OF KIM.

-"CREATIVE" DIPLOMACY

Possible outcomes

-USA WINS WAR; IDEALLY, THE KOREAS UNITE.

-USA HIT AT HOME, RETALIATES IN FULL MEASURE; NORTH KOREA TURNED INTO RUBBLE/ASHES.

-NOT A "NASTY, BRUTISH, SHORT-WAR", BUT A LONGER ONE, DUE TO CHINA'S AND RUSSIA'S INTERVENTION, "SIDING" IN SOME WAY (MILITARILY, DILOMATICALLY...) WITH NORTH KOREA. IN THIS CASE, THIS IS VIETNAM REVISITED. USA LIKELY TO LOSE. IN THIS CASE, CHINA AND RUSSIA WOULD HAVE TRAPPED THE USA.

Considerations

-FOR THE MOMENT, THE WILL TO FIGHT OF THE PEOPLE OF NORTH KOREA IS UNBROKEN.

-AS THINGS PROGRESS IT REMAINS TO BE SEEN IF THE AMERICA'S WILL (ESPECIALLY AT HOME) WON'T WAVER. I MEAN, IF THERE'S ANY.

-THE ELEMENT OF SURPRISE IS STILL LACKING ON THE AMERICAN SIDE.

-ANY MILITARY INTERVENTION SHOULD CONSIDER SOUTH-KOREAN CONSENT; EVEN THEIR RIGHT TO SAY "NO". ***

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*China 'deploys 150,000 troops to deal with possible North Korean refugees
in: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/artic...

**Russia Moves Military Forces To North Korean Border Ready For War
in: Read more at: http://www.neonnettle.com/news/2074-r...
© Neon Nettle

UPDATEs;
I'VE JUST LEARNED THE US MARINES ARE ARRIVING IN NORTH AUSTRALIA.
‘Ready to fight & win’: US marines deployed to Australia amid N. Korean ‘nuclear threat’
in: https://www.rt.com/news/385172-us-mar...

***
South Koreans bristle at Trump’s handling of Pyongyang tensions
In: https://www.ft.com/content/dd305d38-2...

Otto Warmbier Might Trigger Change Of U.S.-N. Korea Policy - Forbes
www.forbes.com/.../otto-warmbier-migh....

"North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States," Trump said, arms crossed, from his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Tuesday. "They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen."
in: http://edition.cnn.com/2017/08/08/pol...

Nikki Haley: Trump's fire and fury comment 'not an empty threat'
in: http://edition.cnn.com/2017/09/17/pol...

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"Higher"
In: http://anonymous-news.com/north-korea...
1st December 2017

South and North Korean negotiators meet at DMZ for first time since 2015
in: http://edition.cnn.com/2018/01/08/asi...
10th January 2018 (good news)

Not entirely sure if Giles' was the right translation to pick up. In any case, it had a certain majesty to it and the timeless elegance of great works. Not sure about the relevance and applicablity that the back cover boasted of though. My interest was derived primarily from the rich tapestry it wove of 600 BC China.

I read this book out of the blue, not because I actually planned to use any of its information in real life, but because I hoped to learn a few things about planning fictional battles in my own writing. There were certainly some noteworthy tactics and some sprinklings of philosophical ideology, but I felt like some ideas were vague and would've benefited from including actual situations or wars in which the strategies were successfully applied, even some theoretical battle scenarios would've been appreciated. It reads like an instruction manual without many actual examples of the strategies being applied to support the author's claims. All in all, I did manage to learn a few interesting things about military strategy so I don't feel like my time was wasted.