The Linked Stratagem

Chain the Stratagems When the enemy has many troops and capable commanders, one must not fight him head-on. Instead, one should contrive to make his forces check one another internally and saddle him with burdens, thereby weakening his overall momentum. When a commander directs his army properly and employs stratagems with ingenuity, it is as if he enjoys the protection of Heaven. Allusion:The Battle of Red Cliffs is the most concentrated embodiment of the chain stratagem. Zhou Yu first used a counter-spy stratagem to make Cao Cao mistakenly execute Cai Mao and Zhang Yun, who were skilled in naval warfare, thus depriving Cao’s fleet of capable command. Next, Huang Gai used the bitter-flesh stratagem to feign surrender and win Cao Cao’s trust. Then Pang Tong presented Cao Cao with the “ship-chaining stratagem,” inducing him to link his warships of all sizes with iron chains. It seemed to solve the problem of northern soldiers being unaccustomed to fighting on water, but in fact it bound the entire fleet into a single target that could not be dispersed. Finally, when......