7. Shih / The Army (continued)

                                                                   7.   Shih  /  The Army

                                    "Ground water is invisibly present in the earth .  In the same way the military power of a people is invisibly present in the masses .   WHEN DANGER THREATENS, EVERY PEASANT MUST BECOME A SOLDIER; when the war ends, he [returns] to his plow .   He who is generous toward the people wins their love, and a people living under a mild rule becomes strong and powerful .   Only a people  economically strong can be important in military power .   Such power must therefore be cultivated by improving the economic condition of the people and by humane government .   Only when there is this invisible bond between government and people, so that the people are sheltered by their government as ground water is sheltered by the earth, is it possible to wage a victorious war . "

                                  Purport* follows .