The 36 Stratagems

[smalltalk]

I spose you've all heard of Sun Tzu's Art of War.

But did you know there is also a traditional list of 36 chinese stratagems?


Stratagems for a stronger force

1. Cross the sea by fooling heaven.
2. Besiege Kingdom Wei to rescue Kingdom Zhao.
3. Kill with a borrowed knife.
4. Relax while the enemy exhausts himself.
5. Loot a burning house.
6. Clamor in the East while attacking in the West.


Stratagems for Two Equal Forces

7. Create something out of nothing.
8. Pretend to take path A while secretly taking path B.
9. Watch the fires burning from across the river.
10. Conceal a dagger in a smile.
11. Sacrifice the plum tree for the peach tree.
12. Lead away a goat in passing.


Stratagems for direct attack

13. Beat the grass to startle the snake.
14. Borrow a corpse to return the soul.
15. Lure the tiger out of the mountains.
16. Snag the enemy by letting him off the hook.
17. Cast a brick to attract a piece of jade.
18. Catch the ringleader to nab the bandits.


Stratagems to confuse the enemy

19. Steal the firewood from under the cooking pot.
20. Muddle the water to catch the fish.
21. The cicada sheds its shell.
22. Shut the door to catch the thief.
23. Befriend distant states while attacking the nearby ones.
24. Borrow the safe passage to conquer the kingdom of A.


Stratagems to gain ground

25. Replace the beams and pillars with rotten timber.
26. Point at the mulberry but curse the locust.
27. Play dumb while remaining smart.
28. Take away the ladder after the ascent.
29. Deck the tree with bogus blossoms.
30. The guest becomes the host.


Stratagems when in a Desperate Situation

31. The beautiful woman stratagem.
32. The empty city stratagem.
33. The counter-espionage stratagem.
34. The self-torture stratagem.
35. The interrelated stratagem.
36. Running away is the best stratagem.



As some are really cryptic, I will elaborate on a few of them.
Let me start with


#36 Running away is the best stratagem.

aka "Know when It is best to run"
aka "He Who Runs Away Today Lives to Fight Another Day"

If you cannot win, then losing is no solution, and dying will not solve any military justice. Therefore, flee. Return when the time is right.

[smalltalk]

#5 Loot a burning house

chinese: chen huo da jie
literally: use firestorm conduct robbery

Standard AI strategy in CIV 3. If some civ is on the decline, the whole world seems to gang up on the weakened victim.


#15 Lure the tiger out of the mountain

Bring the opponent out from a situation that favors him to a situation that favors you.

Farmers of ancient China who had the problem of a tiger raiding their sheep weren't eager to hunt him down in his own territory. So they would tether a lamb out in a field, and when the tiger appeared in that wide open place, they would rise up from the grasses and kill him.

[smalltalk]

#2 Besiege Kingdom Wei to rescue Kingdom Zhao.

In 354 BC, Wei attacked the Kingdom Zhao, besieging its capital Handan. Zhao pledged the Kingdom Qi for alliance. The King of Qi sent an army of 80,000 man. General Tian Ji intended to attack the forces of Wei directly in Zhao.

His advisor Sun Bin however said:
"If you want to untangle a knot, you can't do it by pulling and teasing. If you want to end the besiege, then it is best to avoid the region where the enemy has massed his troup. Instead, it is better to advance into the regions, that are devoid of enemy troups.

"All elite soldiers of Wei are amassed in the Kingdom Zhao. So Wei is without protection. Therefore, I propose we should attack the capital of Wei. Then the troops of Wei are forced to end the siege of Zhao and have to return to Wei."

The general followed the advise. The army of Wei turned round, head for home in a fast walk. The Qi troops set up an ambush and defeated the Wei troops, which where exhausted by the power walk.

Thus, the Kingdom of Zhao was saved.

[ProPain]

I like this! More elaborations pretty please!!!

[smalltalk]

Glad to be of service. :D

Was wondering already, where all the notorious spammers would hide out?

[Lt. Killer M]

here, we hide here, waiting for the non-obvious [:p]

[smalltalk]

You wouldn't want to give away our not-so-obvious strategies and our little dirty mean tricks in a public forum, would you?


To be continued ...

[anarres]

I'm reading it! [book]

[Skyfish]

quote:Stratagems when in a Desperate Situation

31. The beautiful woman stratagem.

Gotta wanna know more about this great stratagem Smalltalk :D

[Shabbaman]

Interrelated stratagem? Anyway, the only stratagem I know is a game by Meadows that I played in a university course. You rule a country and your goal is sustainability. We cheated by starving the population and by putting our increased income on the bank. In the end our interest was higher then our expenditures, good times. Highest score ever.

[ProPain]

The win by starvation stratagem. Works very well in Civ too!

[smalltalk]

#3 Kill with a borrowed knife.

Make someone else do the dirty work for you.


The buried document of Duke Huan

Duke Huan (806-771 BC) of the Zheng state was plotting to conquer the state Kuai. First, he gathered intelligence about the the names of the most competent ministers and generals of Kuai. He had all the names written into a document, which also declared:

"If the state Kuai should fall, all noted ministers and generals will be granted high
official positions by the new leaders. Also, the land of Kuai will be granted to them as a
feudal tenure."

Then he held a public ceremony, where he pledge by heavens, that he would fulfill his agreement with the nobles of Kuai. The document was buried under a big altar outside the city.

When the King of Zhuang heard of that, he suspected his staff to be traitors. In a moment
of wrath, he had them all executed.

Thus, the elite of Kuai was eliminated. With no one to lead the defence and no one to provide sound stratagies, Kuai was easily crushed by Zheng.



Red Army at Warsaw

In 1944, about 40000 polish resistance figther in Warsaw were hopeing they could profit from the difficult German situation after Stalingrad and the Invasion. Warsaw should not be battleground for German and Soviet troops.

On July, 31, 1944, soviet avantgarde troops reached the outer rims of Warsaw. Time seemd right for the Polish to attack the Germans on 1. August. However, after the attack started, the Soviet army stopped, and even retreated.

The Germans, seeing that there was no immediate threat from the Soviets, went with full vengeance against the Polish underground fighters. Roosevelt and Churchill repeatedly telegraphed Stalin to advance and save Warsaw. Stalin ignored it.

Only as late as Sept,10 the advance continued, but was again stopped on Sept,15. Meanwhile, the Germans were turning Warsaw into rubble. Only when the polish resistance was almost completly anihilated, the Red Army marched into Warsaw.

[smalltalk]

#4 Relax while the enemy exhausts himself.

aka

Wait at ease for the fatigued enemy
Face the weary in a condition of ease.

Sun Tzu's version

This point was already mentioned by Sun Tzu in his Art of War.

- If the enemy is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them. (from Section One, "Laying Plans)
- If the enemy is taking his ease, he can harass him; if well supplied with food, he can starve him out; if quietly encamped, he can force him to move. (from Section Six, "Weak Points and Strong,")
- To be near the goal while the enemy is still far from it, to wait at ease while the enemy is toiling and struggling, to be well-fed while the enemy is famished:--this is the art of husbanding one's strength. (from Section Seven, "Manuevering,")


Chairman Mao's version

Enemy comes, we go
Enemy rests, we interfere
Enemy exhausted, we fight
Enemy leaves, we follow