“In order to carry out an attack with fire, we must have means available. The material for raising fire should always be kept in readiness.”
You cannot launch the strike without the means prepared in advance; readiness precedes opportunity.
Chapter 12’s first operational caution: to attack with fire, we must have means available — the material for raising fire kept always in readiness. Note the word always. Fire attacks are opportunity weapons; the dry wind arrives on its own schedule, and the general who must then acquire the means will still be acquiring them when the wind dies. Readiness is stored in advance of the occasion.
A firm watches for years the moment its largest rival’s key patent expires — and when the window opens, begins developing its entry. Two competitors had the product engineered, the regulator engaged, and the launch materials drafted for that specific week. The opportunity was equally visible to all four; only three had the firewood.
Keeping material ready is not hoarding options — Sun Tzu names a specific intended strike and stages its means, which is the opposite of maintaining capability for every conceivable contingency. The discipline requires knowing which one or two fires you actually intend to light. Everything else is storage theater at holding cost.