Davidizer13 (post: 1480024) wrote:"[T]o win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill." - Sun Tzu, The Art of War.
Sun Tzu, now there was a manly man among men. He invented fighting, then perfected it so that no living man could best him in the ring of honor. Forcing your opponents to give up before they actually fight you because they're already that scared of you? That is supremely manly, better than any incredible battle you could come up with.
Sun Tzu firstly never invented fighting. He made his set of codes and a lot of them happened to make sense. Not the one you mentioned, as not all enemies are defensively oriented and will be looking to attack you before you could even make the argument diplomatically. The ring of honor and the ring of war are also two very separate things, for sacrificing honor for practical success, albeit a vice, has often brought victory. *Ala Genghis Khan*
Secondly, very few opponents just 'give up' before a battle. It's not like they are going to spontaneously combust just because they might see themselves as the underdog. 'Bullying' diplomacy can only be conducted for so long. Anything other than that is the peace through strength tactics. It also hardens them and makes them pick up on advancing their military designs, in a way. You might be the one giving them time you cannot afford.
Thirdly, his own military career is not exactly on par with many of the historical greats. Nor was it ever really on a road of conquest for that matter. While I enjoy his theoretical works, I doubt he would survive on equal terms with the practical historical greats. Much of his theories are on the diplomatic, military structure and overall war mentality that has never really changed. It is not as if he invented the elastic defense or modern doctrines of war.