What does the saying all war is deception mean?

Answer 1

The saying comes from Chinese military general Sun Tzu who wrote "The Art of War," one of the most famous books on warfare and tacits of all time. The saying baiscally means that to be effective in war you must decieve the enemy at all times. You have to trick the enemy into believeing you have different intentions than you actually have. Sun Tzu stressed the importance the use on spies and double agents, as they are integral in deception and knowing your enemies goals. In a war, if your goals and tactics are predictable, they will be easy to exploit, which is why the enemy must be constantly deceived. A good example is the Normandy invasion during WWII. The allies spent months fabricating communications to make the Germans believe the allies were going to land in Pas de Calais, which enabled them to take the beaches in Normandy facing much less resistance.