“Doesn’t he know that hesitation leads to change” - it’s a quote from a famous Ming dynasty military work, Access to the Altar. The general idea of the full quote would be that a general needs to quickly seize opportunities, because if you hesitate, things will inevitably change. Now, obviously Ming dynasty happened several centuries later than this show, but a) so did cherry-patterned boxers and b) it is reasonable to imagine this being general military wisdom even before being put into writing.