Evening star., 1922-02-19

ties Of the clever men in the secret
service Of the country. and it is but
natural that the average citizen. hav-
ing had the term impressed on his
subconsciousness. should also apply 1t
during a period of strife. While it
is true that the secret service of the
United States. Scotland Yard of Eng
land and the office of the prefect OF
police of France all lend aid to their
governments in time of war, they are
but small factors in gaining informa-
tion that will assist the military and
naval authorities during such times.
The general public has never ap-
preciated the immense value of a mill
&tary intelligence section. A country
without a military Intelligence divi-
sion stands but little chance Of being
successful in battle. for. after all, war
IS but a succession of stragetic moves.
and the successful general is one who
knows not only his own force, but
likewise that of the enemy.
Contrary to the belief Of the aver
age soldier who fought in the last
war. military intelligence work is
by no means a product of the present
day. In fact, to be historically cor
rect. one may say that the science
and it is indeed a science-ls at least
twenty-four hundred years old, and
the first who put into active operation
military intelligence was q Chinese
general. Sun Tzu WI. native Of the
Chi state. His work, "The Art OF
War" called to him the attention of
Ho Lu, king of WI. and the Chinese
historian Ssu Ma Ch'ien, who, i'll his
biography of Sun Tzu Wu, describes
the first test given WI by the king.
The description is as follows: Ho WI
said to him: 'T have carefully perused
your thirteen chapters. May submit
your theory of managing soldiers to
q slight testr" Sun Tzu replied, You
may" Ho Lu asked. May the test be
applied to womenr' The answer was
again in the affirmative So arrange
ments were made to bring $50 ladies
out Of the palace. Sun Tzu divided
them into two companies, and placed
one of tho kings .favorites at the
head Of each. He then bade them all
dressed them thus, 'T presume you
know the difference between front
and back, right and left handT The
women replied, yes" Sun Tzu went
on: when I say, Eyes 'front.' you
must look straight ahead. When I say.
Left turn you must face toward
your left hand. When I say, Right
turn you must face toward your
right hand. When say, About turn
you must face right around toward
the back"
= X 4
"A GAIN the women assented. The
words of command having been
thus explained, he set up the hal
herds and battle-axes in order to be-
gin the drill. Then, to the sound Of
drums, he gave the order: fright.
turn" But the women only burst
out in laughing. Sun Tzu said: "If
words of command are not clear and
distinct, if orders are not thoroughly
understood, then the general Is to
blame So he started drilling them
again and this time gave the order:
Left turn whereupon the girls
once more burst into laughter. Sun
Tzu said: IF words of command are
not clear and distinct, if orders are
not thoroughly understood, the gen.
eral is to blame. But If his orders
less, disobey. then it is the fault OF
their officers
So saying, he ordered the leaders
Of the two companies to be beheaded.
The King Of WI was Watching the
scene from the top Of a raised pa
Wilton and when he saw that his
Sayorites were about to be executed
he was greatly alarmed and hurriedly
sent down the following message:
1--WE are now quite satisfied as to
our generals ability to handle troops
If we are bereft Of these two women.
our meat and drink will lose their
SAVIOR. It Is our wish that they shall
not be beheaded" Sun Tzu replied:
rHaving once received his majesty's
commission to be general Of his
forces, there are certain commands
Of his majesty. which. acting In that
capacity, am unable to accept" Ac-
bordingly, he had the two leaders be-
headed and straightway installed the
tpatr next in order as leaders in their
places. When this had been done. the
drum was sounded for the drill once
tnore and the women went through
hi the evolutions. turning to the
right or to the left, marching ahead
hr wheeling back, kneeling or stand
ing, with perfect accuracy and pre-
pision, not venturing to utter sound.
Then Sun TEu sent q messenger to
the king, saying: "Your soldiers,
sire, are now properly drilled and dis
ciplined and ready for your majesty's
Inspection. They can be put to any
inse that their sovereign may desire:
kad them 60 through IRE and water
And they will not disobey." But the
King replied: Let our general cease
drilling and return to camp. As for
hA we have no wish to como down
Ind inspect the troopA" Sun Tzu
said: "The king is only fond Of words
knd cannot translate them into
Needs" After that Ho Lu saw that
Sun Tzu was one who knew how to
handle an army, and finally appointed
him general. In the west he de-
feated the Ch'u state and forced his
way into Ying, the capital; to the
north he put fear into the states of
Chl and Chin and spread his fame
Abroad among tho feudal prinoeA
|And Sun Tzu shared In the might Of
As king.