36 Strategies To Combine Arts Of War (Part II)

36 Strategies Part II To Combine Arts Of War

The 36 strategies to combine art of war are collected from all strategies that were used for 1,645 years (from Spring & Autumn Period to 5 Dynasties period). This includes Sun Tzu’s art of war and other 21 military books that were recorded through 99 battles (S&A and Warring State period 19 battles, Qin and Han 33 battles, 3 Kindoms 10 battles, Wui, Jin, and North-South dynasty 19 battles, and Sui-Tang 18 battles), which is considered “Part II” of 36 Strategies to win all battle fields that was presented before.

1st Strategy : Know Yourself, Know Enemy

•Planning is the most important task before entering the war. Fail to plan is plan to fail.

•We must know the strengths and weaknesses of both side well by comparing the commanders, number of soldiers, grounds,Purveyance (weapons, foods, budgets), and timing.

Sun Tzu

Zhuge Liang presented his plan to Liu Bei and after a long discussion, Zhuge Liang was touched by Liu Bei's sincerity as well as Liu Bei's adoption of his plan for setting up a kingdom in the west and allying with the state of East Wu at the same time .

2nd Strategy : Destroy The Enemy’s Plan

•To destroy the enemy’s plan at the appropriate time before entering the battle is the best option in term that we know their plan clearly.

•This will minimize our losses and investments such as attacking them with water if they use fire strategy to fight with us. This is off to bad start for the enemy side.

Sun Pin

Before the final battle, Sun Bin gave the impression of "frailty and retreat, " inducing his rival Pang Juan to pursue and attack.

“ Thus one who is skillful at keeping the enemy on the move maintains

deceitful appearances, according to which the enemy will act --- ."Sun Tzu

Upon the arrival at a locale called Maling (Horse Trout Way), Pang Juan fell into an ambush laid by the army of Qi . The army of Wei was completely annihilated and Pang Juan committed suicide by cutting his throat.

The Redemption of Sun Bin

3rd Strategy : Know the battle location

•To send the spy to find out the secret information from the enemy. To use local people and learn the traffic road from them. To send the soldier to patrol and survey the battle location first.

•This will ease us in entering the battle field and in defining the appropriate strategies to fight with the enemy.

Wei Liao

Wei Liao Tsu suggested to Qin Shi that he should use the spy to offer all benefits to bribe those lords of 6 states, weaken their relationship and launch the fast attack with all states by Qin’s powerful army.

4rd Strategy : Use the Best Soldiers to Fight

•To select the best soldiers to be the front army.

•This will raise the morale of the army and ensure that we will bring success to our side.

Cao Cao

Zhang Liao was assigned by Cao Cao and most noted for his pivotal role in the Battle of Hefei in 208, where he successfully defended the city of Hefei against the advances of Sun Quan's massive army .

5th Strategy : The Preparation is A Must

•To select the best option for our army to fight with the enemy.

•This will use our resources in appropriate ways and we will have more chance to win the battle.

Jiang Siya

Jiang Siya or Jiang Taigong assisted Ji Chang . The Western Zhou army became more flourishing, so the people of other states came over and pledged allegiance one after another . Jiang trained the army himself, set the reward & punishment system.

6th Strategy : More Soldiers, Fight at PlainLess Soldiers, Fight in Forest

•To select the best field to be used after we compare number of our soldiers with the enemy’s.

•When the enemy attacks with higher number of soldiers, it’s time for us to fight in the dangerous and obvious area.

•When they come with less number of soldiers, we must fight at the plain and ensure not bring army to dangerous area.Zhuge Liang

Cao Ren

Zhuge Liang set up the small army to fight with Cao Ren. At that place they faced with the nightmare such as, the rocks rolled down from the mountain, the arrows shot by Zhou Yun’s army, the flood prepared by Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. Finally, only Cao Ren and few soldiers were left and could escape from that town.

7th Strategy : Fight Daytime, Increase Flags Fight at Night, Add Sound of

Drums and Bonfire

•To select the ways to confuse the enemy and make them believe that we have more soldiers at all times.

•The enemy will be confused and use wrong strategy to fight with us. This leads to our success finally.

Zhang Fei

Zhang Fei used the dust to deceive Cao Cao army that he had more soldiers waiting for fighting with them.

8th Strategy : Stronger Army, Pretend to be

Weaker Weaker Army, Pretend to be

Stronger• Don’t reveal our real power to the enemy and make use of their confusion in conquering them. • We will minimize our losses in term that we wait for them to enter our setup dangerous area or just retreat from them when we are weaker.Zhuge Liang

Sun Pin

In order to mislead his enemy, Sun Bin ordered his soldiers to make less stoves day by day. On the first day, Qi had enough stoves for 100,000 people; on the second day, there were stoves for only 50,000 people . On the third day, there were only stoves for an army of 20,000 . As Pang Juan saw this, he judged that the soldiers of Qi were deserting their army and decided to pursue the Qi army with a small elite cavalry. Finally Pang and Wei army were killed there.

stove

stove

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stove

Day 1 : 100,000 people Day 3 : 20,000 peopleDay 2 : 50,000 people

Missing Stoves strategy

Zhuge Liang ordered Yangyi to retreat and increase the stoves everyday!

Yangyi questioned why Zhuge Liang did not follow Sun Bin’s Missing Stoves strategy. Zhuge Liang explained,

“Sun Bin would like to deceive Pang Juan that they had less soldiers, but this time I would like to deceive Sima Yi that we had more soldiers, but pretended to retreat.”

Sima Yi thought that this might be Zhuge Liang’s strategy, so he ordered his soldiers not to chase. Later he knew the fact that Zhuge Liang had less soldiers, and laughed at Zhuge Liang’s cleverness.

9th Strategy : The Cavalry Army Must Fight At PlainThe Infantry Must Fight At Dangerous

Place.

• The Infantry must fight at the dangerous place like forest and valley. If they are attacked, they must stand in a circle and turn to face with the enemy. The cavalry army must fight at the plain without any obstacles.

Sun Tzu

Fighting in the forest, the infantries will have more chance to attack because the cavalries find difficulties in control their horses.

10th Strategy : Fight at Homeland, Save People Destroy Enemy’s

PurveyanceFight at Enemy’s Land, Fast

Attack• We must know our strengths and weaknesses in fighting with our enemy at our homeland or enemy’s land • We must save our people first, try to destroy enemy’s purveyance and delay in fighting when they fight with us at our homeland and we must use fast attack when we fight with the enemy in their land. The war must be end fast.

Zhang Liang

Knowing The Enemy. “ The key to using the army is to first know the enemy's situation. Look into his granaries and armories, make an esti

mation of his food stocks, make a judgement call on his army's strengt h, seek out his natural advantages. We do all these to seek out and att

ack his weaknesses.”

11th Strategy : Make Alliances

• We must have relationship with the surrounded states or enemies of our enemy.

• We will have more power in the area and can help together to fight with the enemy.

Zhuge Liang

Sun Quan asked if Liu Bei did not surrender to Cao Cao. Zhuge Liang explained that Liu Bei was highly respected by his people, so it was unacceptable for him to do that. Sun Quan confirmed to resist Cao Cao and make alliance with Liu Bei.

Following the death of Duke Huan of Qi in 643 BC, the state of Chu steadily extended its influence northward, absorbing half a dozen smaller states as its satellites . In 636 BC,Ji Chong'er, a ducal prince of Jin, after spending fifteen years in exile traveling throughout numerous states, came to power as Duke Wen of Jin with the help of Duke Mu Of Qin. Duke Wen assumed a position of leadership among the states and instituted numerous domestic reforms.

Duke Wen of Jin Duke Mu of Qin

12th Strategy : Grab The Stronghold First

•If the enemy can grab the stronghold first, we must not immediately fight with them.

•The one who can get the good location will have more advantage than they get good timing.

In 294 BC Qin, under General Bai Qi, attacked Han and took an important fortress . Wei and Han realized the might of Qin, and joined forces to stop Qin from further conquests .Bai Qi defeated Wei positions one by one and then turned his attack against the Han forces . Eventually Han troops were trapped by Qin forces and they tried to escape .However the Qin cavalry ensured that no one made it back .

General Bai Qi of QinKing Zhaoxiang of Qin

13th Strategy : Have Chance To Win :

OffendNo Chance To Win :

Defend• If we have a chance to win, we must immediately decide to offend. If we have no chance to win, we must wait for a good time and plan to defend our enemy.

Sima Rangju

In 257 BC, the Qin invaded the Han . Responding to the Han call for help, the Zhao king decided to send Lian Po to deal with the threat . The two armies met at Changping, situated in the Northern part of the Han lands . On one side was the Qin army, led by renowned General Bai Qi, on the other was the Zhao army led by Lian Po . Lian Po, after looking over the Qin formations, decided that the only way to stop their attack was to wait it out . Thus he built several fortresses and camped there, waiting for the opposing army to go away or a peace treaty to be concluded by the Han and the Qin .

General Bai Qi of QinGeneral Lian Po of Zhao

14th Strategy : When they are broken :

AttackWhen they are formed :

Wait• When the enemy’s army are broken, we must decide to attack, because our army have full of confidence and our enemy’s morale are declined.

• When they are formed, we must decide to wait for a good time, until their morale are declined.Three Brothers fought with Lu Bu.

Liu Bei, Guan yu, and Zhang Fei fought with Lu Bu, but they asked the troops to protect the city as best as they could.

15th Strategy : When Surrounding City Wall, Fast

AttackWhen Are Surrounded, Build Morale

of People in City

• Surrounding the city that has the wall is the poorest strategy. It is used when there is no choice. If the enemy have high wall, more soldiers, but lack of purveyances and lack of outside communication, we will gain advantage, when we fight with them longer.

•When we are surrounded, we must build morale of people in city.

The Battle of Jimo

General Tian Dan was cunning . He wanted the people of Ji Mo to burn with hatred in their hearts . He sent his spies to spread rumors in the camp of Yan soldiers, saying that : "cutting off the noses of Qi soldiers will make them tremble with fear . Digging out the dead ancestors from the grave will make them surrender ." The stupid general of Yan army believed all these nonsense . He ordered his soldiers to do just so . The people of Ji Mo filled with hatred, and burned with the desire of revenge.

16th Strategy : When Surrounding Enemy, Fast

Attack

• When we surround the enemy, we must attack the enemy as fast as we can if they have less soldiers,full of purveyances, and can ask outside for help.

Sima Yi

With the army deployed elsewhere and left with only a handful of civilian offic ers i n t he ci t y, Zhuge Liang ordered all the gates to be opened and had

civilians sweeping the roads while he sat high up on the gates calmly playing his zither with two children beside him . When the Wei commander and strategist Sima Yi approached the fort with the Wei army,he was puzzled by the scenery and ordered his troops to retreat .

Sima Yi lost his chance to win, when he order his army to retreat.

17th Strategy : Immediate Attack, See Their Weak

PointFront Attack, When Having No

Choice• Immediate attack is used when we want to fight at the time and place that our enemy don’t think before. We have to fight at the weak point first.

•Front attack is used when we have no choice after the logistics are destroyed. If we don’t fight, we cannot go on.

Sima Rangju

The famous Battle of Red Cliffs Huang Gai use front attack strategy by setting his own ships on fire and rammed them into Cao Cao's ships before jumping into the river . Many of Cao Cao's ships were destroyed and Cao Cao was forced to flee back to Xuchang.

18th Strategy : Fast Attack When Having High

Confident of WinningRetreat When it is Opposite

• Fast Attack is used when we have high confident of winning, because this may be only one chance that we can defeat our enemy.

• Retreat is used when we have less soldiers and no way to win. It can either retreat for fighting back or retreat to our state.Li Jing

In 630, Emperor Taizong sent his general Li Jing against Eastern Tujue (proto Turks -- ) to which Tang had once submitted—defeating and capturing its Jiali Khan Ashina Duobi and destroying Eastern Tujue power .

19th Strategy : Normal Time is To Wait

Dangerous Time is To Fight

•To select the best time for our army to fight with the enemy.

•When the enemy come to attack with higher morale, it’s time for us to wait. When we are in dangerous situation, we must urge our army to fight.

Jiang Siya

The battle of Muye presented the fundamental strategic maxim of Jiang Siya’s wisdom in patience as in the phrase that :“The enemy will present t

he opportunity and the circumstances that favor you”

20th Strategy : Come to The Battle Late :

AvoidCome to The Battle Early :

Fight• If we come to the battle late, we must avoid fighting with strong enemy and have enough time for our army to have a rest.

• If we come to the battle early, we must order the army to fight with our enemy. The high morale of the army will bring to success finally.

Guan Yu

Liu Bei was defeated to Lu Xun due to his attempt to avenge for Guan Yu, but had no planning to fight.

21st Strategy : Rob the Enemy’s Purveyance

Fight When They Have No Purveyance

• When we enter the enemy’s land, and are lack of purveyances, we must plan to rob the enemy’s purveyances for the army.

• When our enemy come to our homeland and we are lack of purveyances, we must wait for a good time for our readiness and fight them back when they have no purveyances.

Zhuge Liang

Zhuge Liang planed to rob the food stock of Wei army many times during Northern Expeditions.

22nd Strategy : Use Benefits To Deceive

Enemy

• We use benefits to offer someone to do something to achieve the accomplished goal.

• We use small cavalry to deceive the enemy. When the enemy decide to arrest them, we, then, use the main army to surround the enemy again.

Lu Bu

The conflict between Dong Zhou and Lu Bu regarding Diao Chan led to the death of Dong Zhou finally.

23rd Strategy : Be Alert And Ready To

Fight

• Be alert all the time after winning the battle, because our enemy will try to defend stronger. The more we close to the success, the more we must be aware of.

• We must be tenacious for the success as if we had not got it. We must be ready for the next fight.

Wei Liao

Wei Liao Tzu had good relationship with Wang Jian, a Military leader, who led the Qin army in seizing Handan, the capital city of the State of Zhao; Defeated state of Yan, Zhao, and Chu.

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24th Strategy : Fight From Far, Pretend To Be

CloseFight From Close, Pretend To Be

Far• When facing with the enemy near the river side, we must deceive them by releasing few ships to that area and the main army can land at the place that has less protection.

•When fighting with the enemy at the opposite side of the river, send few soldiers to cross the river, and order the main army to attack them from the nearest place.

Zhuge Liang

Zhuge Liang used this strategy to fight with Meng Huo when he ordered his troops to go across the river.

25th Strategy : Shout At The East, Fight At The

West

• To confuse the enemy that we will attack them at the west, but we actually attack them at the east side, while our enemy push all their efforts at the west side.

Sun Bin

The state of Wei sent an army to attack the state of Zhao under the leadership of Pang

Juan. The ruler of Zhao immediately asked the ruler of the Qi state for military assistance. Sun Bin used “B esiege Wei to rescue Zhao.” strategy to

confuse Wei army and defeated them.

26th Strategy : Fight on Mountain, Be Aware of

FireFight in the Valley : Be Aware of

Rocks• Fighting on the mountain, we must select the higher level to setup the army camp, because the attack from the higher level is more effective, but we must consider our water supply and fire from the enemy at the lower level.

• Fighting in the valley, we must find out the source of water and be aware of enemy’s lock from the upper level. If we can seize for the source of water, our enemy will be lack of water and cannot survive.

In the battle of Jieting, Ma Su's forces encountered Zhang He's forces .He had camped on top of a hill, believing the height offered by the hill would provide him with a more advantageous position in terms of observation and a place of attack . Zhang He took advantage of Ma Su's mistake by striking at the Shu camp's water supply . The parched soldiers of Shu were easily defeated. Later Ma Su was sentenced to death by Zhuge Liang.

27th Strategy : Naval Fighting : Be Aware Of

Wind

• In naval fighting, we must locate at the head of the wind, the power of water flow provided by the strong wind will help our army in attacking the enemy faster and stronger.

• Fire strategy is also needed if the wind is so strong enough.

Zhou Yu

Zhuge Liang

With Zhuge Liang’s help, the southeast wind can help Shu army to defeat Cao Cao’s army.

28th Strategy : Use The Environment To Be Our Friend (Fire, Wind,Water, Rock

/Snow)

• Use the fire, wind, water, rock/snow to help destroying the enemy’s army before attacking them. They will be confused and lost if they don’t know what are happened to them. The one who know the environments of the location will gain more advantage.

Zhou Yu

Zhuge Liang

The famous Battle of Red Cliffs ensued . Contrary to popular belief, Zhou Yu was the supreme commander of the united forces against Cao Cao . In this battle, a series of stratagems were employed by Zhou Yu to destroy Cao Cao's giant fleet . Huang Gai proposed a plan in which he pretended to surrender to Cao Cao and infiltrated Cao Cao's camp .

29th Strategy : Avoid Good Formed

EnemyFight Bad Formed Enemy

• Avoid fighting with the good formed enemy, because they come here with high morale and strong army.

• Start fighting back when we can distract and confuse them

Sima Rangju

Good formed troop will have high morale and are willing to fight, so if we don’t avoid this situation, we will be defeated.

30th Strategy : Chase Enemy With Full

Awareness

• During chasing the enemy, we need to know if it is enemy’s strategy or not. If we notice the sound of drum and enemy’s flags are still settled there, the enemy might retreat, but are not defeated. Don’t chase the enemy if they retreat unreasonably.

Zhang Liang

Lui Bang army decided not to chase Xiang Yu army after they won the flight, because Xiang Yu army retreated without good reason.

31st Strategy : Enemy’s High Morale : Distract

& Offer Benefits

• Try to lower the enemy’s morale by distracting or offering benefits to one of them. When their army are lack of unity, it is a good time to attack.

Cao Cao

After executing Ma Chao's family in Ye for his rebellion, Cao Cao used Jia Xu's ploy to drive Han Sui and Ma Chao apart and instigated them to be suspicious of each other . Thus, their forces were annihilated and Ma Chao escaped to the west and lived among the tribes . Finally he joined Liu Bei.

32nd Strategy : Fight At The Easiest Point

• To avoid enemy’s strong point, and conquer the easiest point first, so that our soldiers have higher morale and we eat up step by step until the last.

Cao Cao

Cao Cao planed to conquer Yuan Shao. After Yuan Shao’s death, Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang, the elder brother and the youngest brother, fought each other. Yuan Tan asked Cao Cao to help him fight with Yuan Shang, but Cao Cao finally took all the 4 cities that Yuan Shao’s sons possessed.

33rd Strategy : Choose Not To

Fight

• If our army is less than our enemy, and they come from their state far away. It is clever not to fight with them and wait for their situation become worse such as no purveyance or the soldier’s morale is low.

Zhang Liang

In 202 B.C., Xiang Yu was besieged by Liu Bang's army at Gai Xia, with few soldiers and little food left. At night, he heard the Chu songs created by Zhang Liang and sung by the Han army from all sides in his tent, knowing that it was useless to fight any more. He committed suicide at Wu River.

34th Strategy : Choose To Retreat

If it becomes obvious that your current course of action will lead to defeat, then retreat and regroup .When your side is losing, there are only three choices remaining :surrender, compromise, or escape . Surrender is complete defeat, compromise is half defeat, but escape is not defeat .As long as you are not defeated, you still have a chance.Zhuge Liang

Zhuge Liang escaped from Zhou Yu after the Battle of Red Cliffs.

35th Strategy : Choose Not To Retreat

• If we have less soldiers and are surrounded by the strong enemy, do not retreat, because we might be attacked from the back. To fight like a dog that has no way to go.

General Tian Dan of Qi

General Tian Dan led his five thousands soldiers to attack the Yan army .Numerous Yan soldiers perished in the battle . General Tian Dan won the battle of Ji Mo . He went on to lead the Qi army to restore all the seventy cities that the State of Yan had captured.

36th Strategy : Flexible & Adaptable All The

Time

• The Strategies must be flexible and adaptable all the time because the situations are changed all the time due to various factors such as places, time, environments, etc.

Zhuge Liang

Throughout his life, Zhuge Liang vowed to resist the Wei (the kingdom founded by his antagonist Cao Cao ) and maintain the independence of the Shu, though the state of Wei had several times more land and people than that of the Shu . He developed and appliedAll strategies to use in many different situations and did not adhere to one strategy.

Thank You Very Much Sompong Yusoontorn