One Hundred Unorthodox Strategies by Ralph D. Sawyer

Author:Ralph D. Sawyer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Westview Press
Published: 2011-04-19T16:00:00+00:00

50

Danger

Tactical Discussion

Whenever engaging an enemy in battle, if you should suddenly penetrate terrain where you are in danger of perishing, you should arouse your generals and officers, encouraging them to commit themselves to fight to the death, for you cannot seek to live and hope to be victorious. A tactical principle from the Art of War states: “When the officers and soldiers have penetrated deeply they will not be afraid.”

Historical Illustration

During the Later Han dynasty, when general Wu Han, engaged in a punitive expedition against Kung-sun Shu, had advanced across the border of Chieh-hui commandery, the various district forces in the commandery all ensconced themselves in their fortified cities. General Wu assaulted the city of Kuang-tu and seized it. He then dispatched light cavalry units to burn the bridges in Ch’eng-tu, thereby frightening all the towns east of Wu-yang into surrendering.

The emperor admonished General Han: “Ch’eng-tu has more than a hundred thousand troops so you cannot treat them lightly. However, you can solidly occupy Kuang-tu and wait for them to come and attack rather than fight them head-on. If they do not dare come forth, you should shift your encampment in order to pressure them. Wait for their strength to abate; then they can be attacked.” General Wu Han did not obey but instead exploited the advantages presented by the situation to personally lead more than twenty thousand cavalrymen to advance and press Ch’eng-tu, setting up his camp some ten miles away, north of the Yangtze River, which blocked them. Then he had floating bridges constructed and dispatched General Liu Shang in command of approximately ten thousand cavalrymen to establish a camp about twenty miles away, south of the river.

When the emperor learned of these developments he was greatly startled and dispatched a missive upbraiding Wu Han: “I instructed you many times, so what do you mean by embarking on a military action in this confused and rebellious manner? Now you have already treated the enemy lightly and deeply penetrated their territory, and moreover have established Liu Shang in a separate encampment. If affairs should suddenly turn inauspicious, you will not be able to reunite. If the brigands come forth and entangle your forces while a large mass attacks Liu Shang, Liu will be destroyed and then you in turn will also be destroyed. There is no alternative but to hastily lead your troops back to Kuang-tu.”

The imperial missive had not yet reached Wu Han when Kung-sun Shu indeed dispatched two generals—Hsieh Feng and Yuan Chi—with more than a hundred thousand troops to attack Han, and had other generals, with more than ten thousand men, suppress Liu Shang, preventing him from providing any rescue forces. Wu Han fought a fierce battle with the enemy for a full day, but was defeated and forced back within his fortifications, where he was encircled by Hsieh Feng.

Wu Han summoned his generals and incited them by saying: “You and I have overstepped danger and obstacles, conducting running battles for more than a thousand miles,

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