Besiege Wèi to rescue Zhào
When the enemy is too strong to be attacked directly, then attack something he holds dear. Know that he cannot be superior in all things. Somewhere there is a gap in the armour, a weakness that can be attacked instead.
The origins of this
proverb is from the Warring States Period. The state of Wèi attacked Zhao and laid siege to its capital Handan. Zhào turned to Qí for help, but the Qí general Sun Bin determined it would be
unwise to meet the army of Wèi head on, so he instead attacked their capital at Daliang. The army of Wèi retreated in haste, and the tired troops were ambushed and defeated at the Battle of Guiling, with the Wèi general Pang Juan slain on the field. Note that this
campaign is also described explicitly in the Art of War of Master Sun Bin the younger.
The idea here is to avoid a head on battle with a strong enemy, and instead strike at his weakness elsewhere. This will force the strong enemy to retreat in order to support his weakness. Battling against the now tired and low-morale enemy will give a much higher chance of success.
围魏救赵
公元前354年,赵国进攻卫国,迫使卫国屈服于它。卫国原来是入朝魏国的,现在改向亲附赵国,魏惠王不由十分恼火,于是决定派庞涓讨伐赵国。不到一年时间,庞涓便攻到了赵国的国都邯郸。邯郸危在旦夕。赵国国君赵成侯一面竭力固守,一面派人火速奔往齐国求救(此时,赵国与齐国结盟)。齐威王任命田忌为主将,以孙膑为军师,率军救赵。孙膑出计,要军中最不会打仗的齐城、高唐佯攻魏国的军事要地--襄陵,以麻痹魏军。而大军却绕到直插大梁。庞涓得到魏惠王的命令只得火速反国救援。魏军为疲惫之师,怎能打过齐国以逸待劳的精锐之师。所以大败。
所谓围魏救赵,是指当敌人实力强大时,要避免和强敌正面决战,应该采取迂回战术,迫使敌人分散兵力,然后抓住敌人的薄弱环节发动攻击,致敌于死地。
本指围攻魏国的都城以解救赵国。现借指用包超敌人的后方来迫使它撤兵的战术。
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