A bold strategy



    by HawaiianPerson

    7 Comments

    1. HawaiianPerson on

      Context: After a failed northern expedition in 228, Zhuge Liang was marching his troops back home, while pursued by an army of 200,000. While the bulk of his forces continued South, Zhuge Liang and a small force took up positions in a small city. Zhuge Liang commanded that his men change into commoner clothing and that the city gates be thrown open. When the enemy arrived, they were surprised to see Zhuge Liang sitting atop the city gate playing his zither calmly. The enemy commander believed this to be a trap and commanded his forces to retreat, giving Zhuge Liang and all his men time to retreat safely.

      Note that this happened in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a novel about the period that is mostly true with events, so there’s a possibility this never happened. The same strategy was used by one of Zhuge Liang’s top generals, Zhao Yun at a different time.

    2. stoicsisyphus91 on

      Question: did the Chinese of this period not do scouting? Like why is it so hard to send a small detachment into the city to scout what’s going on? Nope, pack it all up, we’re leaving.

    Leave A Reply