墨子 MOZI

Qin Guli served Master Mo for three years until his hands and feet were covered with calluses and his face was blackened by the sun. He had laboured to be of service and had not dared to express his own wishes. Master Mo greatly pitied him, so taking some purified wine and dried meat, he went to Mount Tai, cleared a patch of grass to sit on and made an offering to Qin. Qin bowed several times and sighed. Master Mo said: 'What else do you wish?' Qin bowed repeatedly and said: 'Dare I ask about the Way of defence?'

Master Mo replied: 'Put it aside for the moment! Put it aside for the moment! In ancient times, there were those who had this skill, but within they did not become close to the people, and without they did not manage the affairs of government. When few, they fought against many. When weak, they made light of the strong. The result was that they themselves died, their states were lost and they became the laughing stock of the world. You should be very careful about this. Otherwise, I fear you will end up a corpse yourself.'

Qin again made obeisance and bowed his head, wishing to ask further about the Way of defence. 'Dare I ask what is to be done when enemies are many and brave, when they have filled in our moat, when the troops advance in a phalanx, when the cloud ladders are in position, when the equipment for attack is already complete, when the warriors are increasingly numerous, and they are making a headlong rush to scale our walls?'

Master Mo said: 'Are you asking about defence against cloud ladders? Cloud ladders are heavy pieces of equipment and moving them is very difficult. The defence consists of movable walls with various towers placed at intervals as a means of encircling their centre. By taking the appropriate width or narrowness as the measure, surround the centre with rush screens, but do not widen its position. The pattern for movable walls is that they are 20 chi higher than the city wall with a 10 chi wide parapet added on top. To the left and right project rams, each 20 chi long. The various towers are tall and broad in the manner of the movable walls.

Holes are made as for smoking out rats, and woven screens are set up on the outside. The ingenious machines, battering rams, movable bridges and movable walls are deployed over a width commensurate with that of the advancing line of enemy forces. Interspersed among these are chisels and piercing implements, using ten men to manage a battering ram and five men to control a piercing implement; all the men must be strong. Order those with an unwavering gaze to keep watch on the enemy, using the drum to give the signal to shoot at them from both sides and continuously. Set the crossbows into action against them and from the wall above harass them below with arrows, stones, sand and coals, falling like rain. Use blazing wood and boiling water to burn and scald them. Examine rewards and carry out punishments. Make plans in a calm way but follow them with action that is swift so you don't let anxieties arise. This is how an attack by cloud ladders can be defeated.'

In the defence with moving parapets, make them 6 chi high and at one level. Swords are set up on their faces and fired by a mechanism. If the battering rams come, release them. If they don't come, leave them set up. Cavities are made, one every 3 chi. Cylindrical caltrops are put in and must be used against troop lines. Pull them back and forth with a cart.

Arrange palisades outside the wall at a distance of 10 chi from it, the palisades being 10 chi thick. Collect timber for the palisades, both large and small pieces, and cut off the roots completely. Then, cut the pieces into 10 chi lengths to make a strong construction that cannot be pulled up. Every 20 bu, there should be one sha, each sha having one ge, the ge being 10 chi thick. In a sha there are two gates, each gate being 5 chi wide. In each palisade there is one gate which is shallowly buried and not heavily built, so it is easy to pull up. On the wall and facing towards the palisade gate, set up things to throw.

In the case of 'hanging fires', every 4 chi there should be one stake with a hook on it and every 5 bu one furnace with a brazier of charcoal at the doors of the furnace. The enemy soldiers are allowed to enter fully, upon which the gates are set ablaze with 'hanging fires' to follow. Send out carriers and set them up, their width being equivalent to that of the enemy line. Have one fire between two carriers. When everything is set up, await the sound of the drum and set them alight, then release them all together. If the enemy troops extinguish the fire and attack again, the 'hanging fires' are again released, bringing the enemy great distress and causing them to lead their forces away and flee. Then we give the order for our crack troops to go out in all directions from the sally ports and attack the fleeing enemy. Order the brave soldiers and generals all to go forth when they hear the sound of the drum on the wall, and to reenter when they hear the sound of the drum on the wall again. As before, when sending forth soldiers, create a diversion. In the middle of the night, create a clamour of drums on the wall on all sides, so there is inevitably doubt within enemy ranks. By this, you will certainly rout the army and kill the general. Put on white garments as clothes and use shouts to communicate with each other. In this way, the attack by cloud ladders can be defeated.