{"id":61743,"date":"2022-03-09T17:29:13","date_gmt":"2022-03-09T21:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=61743"},"modified":"2022-03-22T19:32:47","modified_gmt":"2022-03-22T23:32:47","slug":"attack-by-stratagem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/attack-by-stratagem\/","title":{"rendered":"Sun Tzu: Attack by Stratagem, Rather Than Force"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What is &#8220;attack by strategem&#8221;? Why is it best to attack by strategem rather than force? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sun <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/tzu-tao-heart\/\">Tzu<\/a> said that the best outcome in a war is to take your opponent whole and intact instead of obliterating it completely\u2014that&#8217;s the premise of attack by stratagem. If the battle is won, but the opponent\u2019s forces and country are obliterated, that&#8217;s a lesser victory than if you are able to overcome them and force a surrender.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep reading to learn about the attack by stratagem tactic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Strike Preemptively to Avoid Battle<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The best time to strike an enemy is when they are involved in preparations.<\/strong> Strike before the enemy is fully mobilized, and they will be unable to fight back. This may prevent a battle. This strategy involves using intelligence, rather than brawn, to win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If intelligent strategies don\u2019t work, the next strategy is to win through intimidation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Form alliances to increase your strength to a point where fighting would be ill-advised for your opponent.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Form alliances with the enemy\u2019s allies to disrupt the enemy\u2019s power.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Ultimate victory is when battle has been thwarted through attack by strategem, there has been no destruction, no cities have been seized, and no blood has been shed.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Prepare Adequately<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>However, if strategic, psychological warfare does not lead to an early solution, then you may be called upon to physically attack enemy forces. <strong>Attacks should be on enemy forces only<\/strong>, not territories, cities, or civilians<strong>.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prepare ahead of time to avoid catastrophe in the field. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/sun-tzu-art-of-war-quotes\/\">Sun Tzu says<\/a> six months are required to prepare the materials for an attack, including weapons and shelters, to avoid malfunctions and casualties. Don\u2019t rush into battle without first ensuring that you\u2019re adequately prepared. If you fight from a place of anger and don\u2019t take time to prepare, you will be sending your troops to their deaths.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A strategic siege is one where your forces are still strong, your resources still ample, and your casualties are nil.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-historical-example-ending-conflict-before-it-begins\"><strong>Historical Example: Ending Conflict Before It Begins<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>During the Spring and Autumn Era (722 to 481 B.C.E.), when the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-zhou-dynasty-its-lessons-on-strategies-and-spies\/\">Zhou dynasty<\/a> was beginning to collapse, the state of Jin wanted to overtake the state of Qi, a much smaller state. The Jin sent an emissary to scope out the Qi. The emissary, feigning drunk aggression, insulted the Qi\u2019s ruler and tried to force the Qi to disregard etiquette. When the Qi did not react to the insult and did not abide the aggressive demand, the emissary returned home and told the Jin leadership that the Qi were alert, cautious, and prepared. Therefore, they should not be attacked at this time. The Qi were able to thwart armed battle through intelligence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is &#8220;attack by strategem&#8221;? Why is it best to attack by strategem rather than force? Sun Tzu said that the best outcome in a war is to take your opponent whole and intact instead of obliterating it completely\u2014that&#8217;s the premise of attack by stratagem. If the battle is won, but the opponent\u2019s forces and country are obliterated, that&#8217;s a lesser victory than if you are able to overcome them and force a surrender.\u00a0 Keep reading to learn about the attack by stratagem tactic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":20556,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,21],"tags":[58],"class_list":["post-61743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","category-philosophy","tag-art-of-war","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Sun Tzu: Attack by Stratagem, Rather Than Force - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The best outcome in a war is to take your opponent intact instead of obliterating it. That&#039;s the premise of attack by stratagem. Learn more.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/attack-by-stratagem\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sun Tzu: Attack by Stratagem, Rather Than Force\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The best outcome in a war is to take your opponent intact instead of obliterating it. That&#039;s the premise of attack by stratagem. Learn more.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/attack-by-stratagem\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-03-09T21:29:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-03-22T23:32:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/chess-king-power.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1220\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/attack-by-stratagem\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/attack-by-stratagem\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\"},\"headline\":\"Sun Tzu: Attack by Stratagem, Rather Than Force\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-03-09T21:29:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-03-22T23:32:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/attack-by-stratagem\/\"},\"wordCount\":471,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/attack-by-stratagem\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/chess-king-power.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"The Art of War\"],\"articleSection\":[\"History\",\"Philosophy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/attack-by-stratagem\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/attack-by-stratagem\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/attack-by-stratagem\/\",\"name\":\"Sun Tzu: Attack by Stratagem, Rather Than Force - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/attack-by-stratagem\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/attack-by-stratagem\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/chess-king-power.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-03-09T21:29:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-03-22T23:32:47+00:00\",\"description\":\"The best outcome in a war is to take your opponent intact instead of obliterating it. 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