Sun Tzu wrote that speed, surprise, and deception were the primary essentials of the attack

Guerrilla tactical doctrine may be summarized in four Chinese characters pronounced "Sheng Tung, Chi Hsi," which mean "Uproar [in the] East; Strike [in the] West". Here we find expressed the all- important principles of distraction on the one hand and concentration on the other; to fix the enemy's attention and to strike where and when he least anticipates the blow.


Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians (or "irregulars") use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and less-mobile traditional army, or strike a vulnerable target