兵不厭詐　(bīng bú yàn zhà)

Nothing is Too Deceitful in War

There are many Chinese sayings about war and combat strategy. This idiom Bing Bu Yan Zha or “nothing is too deceitful in war” is but one of them.

This expression was first uttered by a general living in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD).

Under the rule of Emperor An, Qiang people in the northwest border region organized a revolt and started to invade the inland provinces. Yu Xu, a general stationed in Wudu, was ordered to suppress the rebellion.

Learning that Yu was heading to today’s Gansu Province with 3,000 soldiers, the rebels decided to ambush the imperial troops in a valley. However, after receiving a tip about the rebels’ plan, the general ordered his troops to stop marching ahead and asked a number of locals to help spread the word that he was requesting the emperor send more troops.

The rebels believed the story and cancelled their plan to ambush Yu.

Soon afterwards, the rebels withdrew from their positions and Yu and his troops quickly passed through the valley and headed to the heartland of Gansu.

While marching ahead at a speed of more than 50 km a day, Yu ordered his men to leave behind more field stoves with each passing night to give the enemy the wrong impression that he was constantly getting reinforcements.

Since the number of rebels totaled nearly 10,000, more than triple the number of Yu’s men, the general first tried to avoid direct confrontation with the rebels and then selected a favorable location for a decisive battle.

He ordered his soldiers to first use weak bows to encourage the enemies to move closer. When they did, Yu’s men switched to strong bows to kill more of the enemy.

Many of Yu’s tactics were quite different from those used by earlier military strategists.

So, when one of Yu’s aides asked about his tactics, the general responded: “In war, nothing is too deceitful.”