Mao Tse-tung: On Guerrilla Warfare

[Otagiri Tatsuzou]

In guerrilla warfare, select the tactic of seeming to come from the east and attacking from the west; avoid the solid, attack the hollow; attack; withdraw; deliver a lightning blow, seek a lightning decision. When guerrillas engage a stronger enemy, they withdraw when he advances; harass him when he stops; strike him when he is weary; pursue him when he withdraws. In guerilla strategy, the enemy's rear, flanks, and other vulnerable spots are his vital points, and there he must be harassed, attacked, dispersed, exhausted and annihilated. Only in this way can guerrillas carry out their mission of independent guerrilla action and coordination with the effort of the regular armies. But, in spite of the most complete preparation, there can be no victory if mistakes are made in the matter of command. Guerilla warfare based on the principles we have mentioned and carried out over a vast extent of territory in which communications are inconvenient will contribute tremendously towards ultimate defeat of the Japanese and consequent emancipation of the Chinese people.
www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/works/1937/guerrilla-warfare/index.htm

I actually got a chill reading this paragraph in Mao Tse-tung's On Guerrilla Warfare. To hear the echoes of Strategists dead for 2500 years in the writings of a man who shaped modern Asian history by force ... powerful stuff.

[Saiaiko]

I remember hearing about our involvement in Vietnam early on, and how an American commander said he didn't think much of the North Vietnamese fighters. They stayed hidden, attacked under the cover of night, etc. It wasn't until much later that I realized that the Vietnamese had read Sun Tzu and the Americans hadn't.

[Baron Alejandro]

Vlad the Impaler used to do the same type of thing. He is credited, among some, to have invented guerrilla warfare in the west. He was completely psychotic but a great general.