Whenever engaging in combat with an enemy, you must select courageous generals and fierce troops, forming them into an advance front. On the one hand this will strengthen their resolve; on the other it will suppress the enemy’s awesomeness. The Art of War states, “An army that lacks a properly selected vanguard is termed ‘routed.'”

(Translation by Ralph D. Sawyer)

Notes:

· The title, ‘Elite Forces’ (xuan, 選), means basically “selection,” so it is a unit of specially selected troops.

· The quote from Sun Tzu’s The Art of War (fa yue, 法曰) is from chapter 10, paragraph 19, in the translation of Lionel Giles (1910): “(When a general …) neglects to place picked soldiers in the front rank, the result must be a rout.”

Original Text:

凡與敵戰，須要選揀勇將、銳卒，使為先鋒，一則壯其志，一則挫敵威。法曰：「兵無選鋒曰北。」

Historical Example:

The text gives the example of the Battle of White Wolf Mountain (白狼山之戰) in 207 CE between the warlord Cao Cao and the nomadic Wuhuan tribes, who were allied with Cao Cao’s rivals Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi. The encounter was sudden for both parties. Faced with superior numbers and the baggage left in the rear, Cao Cao’s lightly armored men became afraid. The Wuhuan, on the other hand, were evidently unprepared for battle as they were not in proper formations, nor did they attempt to take the initiative by harassing Cao Cao’s march. Undaunted, Cao Cao climbed a slope to observe the enemy’s formations. He saw that the Wuhuan were unordered, and immediately unleashed his vanguard soldiers to exploit this weakness. Cao Cao’s general Zhang Liao led the vanguard army and defeated the Wuhuan by exploiting a weak point in their formation. Their chieftain Tadun was slain in the battle along with many of his men.