Wait for the Exhausted Enemy at Your Ease

故事全文


  In the Spring and Autumn Period, the king of Ci appointed Bao Shu Ya as the general of his army to invade the country of Lu. The king of Lu was very frightened when he heard this. His minister Shih Bo recommended a hermit by the name of Cao Suei to lead the defense of Lu. It took a lot of effort to persuade Cao Suei to accept the post. But even then, he was only willing to work as a military adviser and not the general.
  Bao Shu Ya did not take his enemy seriously because he had defeated the army of Lu before. And this time, he wanted to capture the king of Lu alive by attacking Lu directly. On the day of battle, the sound of drums and battle cries from the side of the Ci army was deafening, and the Ci army quickly charged the Lu army. At this time, Cao Suei dissuaded King Lu Jhuang from giving the signal to beat the drums telling the Lu soldiers to engage the Lu army. Cao Suei said, "Just wait a while. Right now the morale of the enemy is very high. We only need to defend ourselves at the moment. We need not act carelessly."
  The advancing Ci army tried in vain to breach the defensive line of the Lu army. Frustrated, Bao Shu Ya ordered another charge without success. However, the failure of the Lu army to engage the charging Ci army both times let Bao Shu Ya to believe that the Lu army must be too scared to engage the Ci army in battle. He thought a third attack would surely break through and then the Lu army would collapse completely. So he ordered a third charge.
  But this time, when Cao Suei heard the third drumming of the Ci army, he said to the king of Lu, "Now is the time to beat our drums and fight back!" The Lu army attacked as soon as they heard their own battle drums, and the Ci army's lines soon collapsed under the charge. Subsequently, when the king of Lu wanted to pursue the fleeing enemy, once again Cao Suei advised the king to wait until he checked the prints of the horses and the chariots and observed the directions where the Ci army had fled. Then he gave the green light for the Lu army to pursue. Afterwards, the king asked Cao Suei, "Why wait until their third attack? And why not pursue the retreating Ci army right away? "Cao Suei replied, "After the third drumming, the morale of the enemy was not as high as in the first drumming. Instead, the morale of our soldiers was just at its peak because we were beating our drums for the first time. Also, we took the enemy by surprise because after what had happened after their first two charges, they expected us to just stand our ground instead of charge back at them, and this element of surprise is what guaranteed us a victory. Afterwards, since the risk of being deceived by the enemy always exists, we must check the wheel prints of the horses and the chariots in order to make sure that the enemy had indeed fled in panic before we could safely pursue the enemy."

Strategy 4: Wait for the Exhausted Enemy at Your Ease
   When the battle begins, it is not necessary to fight a more powerful opponent immediately. Sometimes you could weaken your opponent by your inaction or by avoiding him in direct battle. Wait and conserve your strength while your opponent tires and becomes exhausted. This will allow you to equalize your relative strengths when you finally engage him in battle.