Hello again gentle readers, my apologies for no update last week. I was not feeling well at the time.
Anyway for this week’s topic I thought to continue to focus on East Asia for another week before heading back to Europe. What I intend to cover is the historical background for the Chinese idiom “Besieging Wei to save Zhao”. This is a classic example of indirect warfare in action, attacking a enemy stronger then you are in the place he will least expect.
In 354 BC, during China’s tumultuous Warring States Era, the State of Zhao launched a mass invasion of the State of Minor-Wei (so called for it shares the same Romanization with a greater state), forcing it to pay homage. Minor-Wei’s nominal feudal overlord, Wei, was angered by this action. King Hui ordered a single, great, surgical strike directly at the Zhao capital of Handan aiming for a short war that would greatly empower the state.
The other feudal states of China reacted badly to this move, wishing to prevent Wei from being able to re-assert the power that its predecessor, the State of Jin, had been able to assert. The State of Chu, a great southern power, struck Wei at Sui and Hui counties. The State of Qin made their own strike by attempting to humiliate Wei by taking their original homelands in Shaoliang and Anyi counties. But King Hui had been building up a large military machine for Wei, one able to deal with three wars at once.
After a year of siege a beleaguered Zhao sent a desperate plea for aid to its primary ally, the State of Qi. King Wei of Qi was undecided about what to do, and allowed his retainers to argue it out. However in the end it was the advice of General Duan Ganpeng that persuaded the king to act. Duan pointed out that Qi would damage its own reputation by refusing to aid Zhao, and that any Wei success in battle would put Qi a great disadvantage. To remedy this he advanced a three point plan:
1. Attack Sui County, as Chu had done, to fool the Wei forces into thinking that Qi intended to attack their supply lines and primary staging area.
2. Send a dispatch to Handan to let Zhao know that help was on the way.
3. Actually allow Handan to fall and Zhao to teeter on collapse before actually moving.
This allowed Qi to appear as fulfilling its obligations but also to take advantage of the situation. Qi forces were mobilized and a small, but highly skilled, force was sent in to Sui County. After Handan fell the next phase began.
The forces sent for this task was commanded by Prince Tian Ji and his military advisor, Sun Bin (a Wei expatriate and great-grandson of Sunzi). Not long after departing, Sun Bin advanced his plan to rescue Zhao:
1. Peal off a small army led by incompetent commanders to attack Wei at the fortified center of Pingling. This would lure Wei, and its military commander Pang Juan (a classmate of Sun Bin’s), into a false sense of superiority over a ‘blundering’ enemy.
2. Dispatch the light troops and chariots to attack the Wei capital at Daliang directly, thus forcing King Hui to re-call Pang Juan and his forces immediately from Zhao.
3. Post a significant force in hiding to Guiling, which Pan Juan would have to pass through to get back to Daliang, and ambush the Wei forces as they attempted to pass.
Prince Ji took Sun Bin’s advice and set his men into action. At the strategist’s further advice the Prince kept the majority his army in Qi itself, as a mobile reserve. Wei reacted much as Sun Bin predicted, with an already rattled King Hui desperately calling for aid from Pang Juan. Pang, confident in an easy victory, departed for Daliang with only his light troops and mobile elite with him. While the Wei forces marched south Sun Bin took the time to plan out his ambush with care and motivate his men.
As a result when the Wei forces finally did arrive at Guiling they were taken completely by surprise. Suffering both from the after-effects of siege warfare and the quick march south the forces of Pang Juan crumbled under the press of the Qi assault. Sun Bin’s own forces were well-rested and supremely motivated, and effectively rolled over their opponents.
In the chaos the Wei commander was captured and Prince Ji allowed Sun Bin to decide his fate. For the strategist this was opportunity for revenge. Pang Juan and Sun Bin had once been competitors for King Hui’s favor, and Pang won the contest by mutilating and exiling Sun. But strangely Sun Bin allowed Pang Juan to live and sent him back to Wei in disgrace. The campaign had ended in smashing victory for Qi, allowing Zhao to recover and dealing Wei a significant set-back to its military ambitions.
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