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Weekend Topic | Thirty-Six Stratagems: Besiege Wei to Rescue Zhao
1. Original Text
Divide the enemy rather than unite against them; attack the enemy's hidden forces rather than their overt forces.
2. Translation
It is better to attack the enemy after they have been dispersed and weakened than to attack a concentrated and strong enemy force. Attacking the enemy's weak points is more effective than attacking their strong points.
3. Source
This strategy comes from the "Records of the Grand Historian: Biographies of Sunzi and Wu Qi," describing the Battle of Guiling between Qi and Wei.
In 354 BC, the King of Wei sent troops to attack the Zhao capital, Handan. Zhao sought help from Qi. The King of Qi recruited 80,000 soldiers, appointed Tian Ji as commander and Sun Bin as strategist to aid Zhao. Tian Ji originally planned to march directly to Handan to fight Wei. Strategist Sun Bin advised, "Since Wei has deployed its elite troops to attack Zhao, its homeland is left vulnerable and lightly defended. Therefore, we should attack Wei's capital, Daliang. This will force Wei to lift the siege of Handan and return to defend their own territory." Tian Ji followed Sun Bin's advice and led Qi troops to Daliang. Upon hearing this, Wei general Pang Juan hastily withdrew from Zhao and rushed back to Wei. Qi troops set an ambush near Guiling, the route Wei troops had to take, and after a long and exhausting march, Wei forces were ambushed and suffered a crushing defeat, quickly lifting the siege of Zhao.
4. Interpretation
"Besieging Wei to rescue Zhao" originally meant that when Wei besieged Zhao, instead of directly aiding Zhao, one should besiege Wei's capital to force them to withdraw and relieve Zhao. It later came to mean a tactic of attacking the enemy's rear stronghold to force them to pull back their forces. 。
In this strategy, there is a necessary cause-and-effect relationship between "besieging Wei" and "rescuing Zhao": besieging Wei is the means, rescuing Zhao is the end. It is a strategy of avoiding the enemy's strength and striking their weakness.
When applying this strategy, one should pay attention to cleverly choosing the breakthrough point; adopting a flanking attack strategy; avoiding the enemy's main force and striking at their vital points.
Have a nice weekend~
