Feigning Defeat

The year was A.D. 219, in the period of the Three Kingdoms (Sānguó 三国, period 07). The armies of CÁO Cāo 曹操 of the northern state of Greater Wèi 魏 and LIÚ Bèi 刘备 of the western state of Shǔ 蜀 were contending for the town of Hànzhòng 汉中, a region of Shǔ protruding like a peninsula northward into the territory of Wèi.

The armies were camped on the two sides of the Hàn river (Hànshuǐ 汉水), Cáo’s army to the north, Liú’s to the south. Liu’s military strategist ZHŪGĚ Liàng 诸葛亮 went out to reconnoiter the landscape. Slightly upstream to the west he found an earthen hill, large enough to hide a great many men. One of the lead generals in Liú’s army was Zhào Yún 赵云, and Zhūgě Liàng told him to take 500 men and drums and encamp behind the hill and prepare to make noise at all hours of the day and night.

The next day Cáo Cāo’s soldiers came forth to fight, but Liú’s did not appear, and Cáo’s forces returned to camp. As they went to sleep that night, they were awakened by the terrible racket created by Zhào Yún’s troops, who beat drums and shouted and set off firecrackers. Cáo’s soldiers immediately jumped out of bed, dressed, and rushed to see if Liú’s forces were attacking them. But suddenly everything was still again. After a while there was nothing to do but go back to bed. But when they did so, once again Zhào’s hidden soldiers woke them up in fright.

Cáo Cāo and his advisers feared a sneak attack from across the river, so the next day he pulled his forces back about 30 lǐ 里, even though this brought them from the cover of the river foliage to the exposure of a broad plain below Wǔjiè Mountain (Wǔjiè Shān 五界山).

Seeing Cáo Cāo’s retreat, Zhūgě Liàng had the Shǔ soldiers cross the Hàn river and make camp on the north side. The next day the two armies engaged. But to Cáo Cāo’s astonishment, Liú’s forces suddenly fled, leaving their entire camp, even their horses, for the enemy. Cāo’s soldiers immediately began seizing all they could as they raided the abandoned camp. Cáo was suddenly suspicious, and ordered an immediate retreat. But even his immediate generals could see no reason for this. Spoils were spoils, and the men deserved some reward after a truly horrible night’s sleep.

By the time Cáo Cāo had won over his own generals to transmit the command to retreat, it was already evening and his forces were already in full chaos as they looted the abandoned Shǔ camp.

Suddenly Zhūgě Liàng sent the Shǔ soldiers back to attack Cáo Cāo’s men, catching them by surprise and slaughtering many of them.

Cáo Cāo’s suspicious nature had caused him to draw back from the river, leaving the Shǔ forces an opening to entrap him. But he fell into the trap because he hadn’t been suspicious enough to avoid engaging in combat.