If All Else Fails Retreat
故事全文
When the news reached Emperor Wei Tai that the famous Song general Tan Dao Ji was leading his troops northwards towards Wei, he called on his generals Shu Sun Jian and Gong Sun Dao Sheng to defend Wei and not to take the enemy lightly. When the two armies finally engaged each other at Li Cheng, the Song army had only enough food supply to last another three days. So Tan Dao Ji decided to retreat.
However, some of the Song soldiers who were captured in battle revealed to the Wei side the food shortage problem. Hearing this, Shu Sun Jian thought it was the golden opportunity he was waiting for and gave the order to chase the retreating Song army. But to his surprise, Tan Dao Ji ordered his soldiers to camp on the spot and make dinner. Shu Sun Jian was wary of a trap and so hesitated to attack.
After the dinner was finished, Song officers in charge of food supply ordered a supply count. The soldiers lit up the lamps and counted out loud each sack of rice. Whenever a bag was filled up, the soldiers would call out, "Add another 200 kilograms. That's a total of one hundred thousand kilograms." The rice sacks were piled up as high as a small hill. The soldiers also deliberately spilled the sacks so that the rice was scattered all over the ground. The Wei army saw this and reported to Shu Sun Jian immediately.
The next day, Shu Sun Jian put on full armor watched the Song army. The sound of the battle drums from the Song camp was deafening. Tan Dao Ji dressed casually and sat in his chariot. The battle flags ofSong hung high on the his chariot, and he was followed by the well disciplined Song army. They seemed to take no notice to the surrounding Wei army. Seeing his, Shu Sun Jian dared not underestimate the enemy, so he decided to retreat. The Wei army retreated to as far as ten kilometers away. The crisis was thus resolved, and the Song army returned safely home.
Strategy 36 : If All Else Fails Retreat
If the situation is bad and you have no way of reversing it, the best thing to do is to avoid certain defeat in battle and retreat.
