How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from the Japanese to English translated subtitles of Seven Samurai.
Quote #7
KAMBEI: There are only thirteen left, so we're going to let them all in at once. As soon as they pass us, we'll follow and trap them inside. This is the final battle. It will decide the outcome.
Normally with something like this, the film would refrain from talking about it beforehand, so as not to spoil the surprise. Kurosawa takes the opposite route here because he thinks that the need for us to understand the military strategy involved was more important than a dramatic surprise.
Quote #8
GOROBEI: I thought I told you to let us go, did I not? To think that instead you would choose your own death.
Death is omnipresent here. In warfare, you're only as good as the choices you make. There's a subtle nod to the link between the killers and the killed here. The fact is that the guy who kills you shares a bond with you that no one else in the world has. It's twisted, but that's reality, especially in a world like this.
Quote #9
KAMBEI: War is like that. If the defense is for everyone, each individual will be protected. The man who thinks only of himself, destroys himself. From now on, such desertion will be punished.
Military tactics depend on an inherent selflessness: valuing the whole community above yourself. Kambei is telling them that because it makes sense, but also because he knows it's the only way they're going to win this thing.