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36 War Strategies of Ancient China
Strategy 8
Openly Repair the Walkway, Secretly March to Chencang
Attack the enemy with two convergent forces. The
first is the direct attack, one that is obvious and for which the enemy prepares
his defense. The second is the indirect, the attack sinister, that the enemy
does not expect and which causes him to divide his forces at the last minute
leading to confusion and disaster.
Muromachi Period Japan
In 1560 one of Japan's greatest warlords, Oda Nobunaga,
then still a minor commander, marched his force of 2,000 men to stop the
incursion of a rival warlord Imagawa Yoshimoto. Even though Nobunaga was
outnumbered twelve to one he set out humming a tune. Nobunaga's scouts reported
that Imagawa was resting his troops at a village that was nestled near a narrow
gorge that Nobunaga knew would be ideal for a surprise attack.
The scouts further reported that Imagawa's troops were
celebrating and viewing the heads taken in a previous battle. Nobunaga devised
the following ploy. He made camp some distance away from the village. He placed
numerous flags and had straw dummies made to give the impression that a large
host had arrived. Imagawa's forces thus expected an attack to come from the
direction the enemy camp. Meanwhile Nobunaga's troops secretly made a forced
march in a wide circle in order to come up from behind the Imagawa encampment.
Weather favored Nobunaga's scheme for late in the day there was a heavy
downpour. Taking advantage of the foul weather, Nobunaga's troops launched a
sudden attack from the rear. So unexpected was this attack that Imagawa a first
thought that a brawl had broken out among his own troops. Only when he saw two
enemy Samurai charging towards him did he realize he was under attack. The
realization came too late and Imagawa was beheaded and his troops scattered. The
battle lasted only a few minutes but it made Oda Nobunaga's reputation and he
quickly rouse in power until he became one of Japan's greatest warlords.
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