Since Sun Tzu put forward the strategic saying of "attacking the strong with the weak" in "The Art of War", wise men of all ages have been competing to explore it. By the Three Kingdoms era, great achievements had been made.

In the Three Kingdoms era, attacking the strong with the weak has almost become the mission and duty that strategists must complete, otherwise, they will lose the necessity and value of their existence. In fact, strategists gave satisfactory answers: the Battle of Guandu, the Battle of Chibi, the Battle of Yiling and many other military, political, and diplomatic events. The reversals and changes between strong and weak were shocking. Incessantly. Analyzing the special weapons in the hands of the strategists of the Three Kingdoms - strong and weak strategies, will enable us to gain insight into the wonderful changes between the advantages and disadvantages of quality and quantity.

The progression of things from weak to strong has its own set of laws, such as: it requires a good external environment and internal conditions, it requires gradual evolution over a certain period of time, etc. In the same way, the development and growth of a group or a force is also inseparable from internal and external conditions and time and space. Once two forces that develop independently come into conflict, the comparison of their strengths will be divided into strong and weak, and big and small. Under normal circumstances, the weak will eat the strong. But whenever there is a conflict between two sides, and the weak side has a clever strategist involved in the decision-making, the result will not be that simple, but will be beyond ordinary people's expectations, and a miracle will occur in which the weak defeats the strong.

The first way for Three Kingdoms strategists to dare to attack the strong with the weak is to identify the enemy's fatal weakness. Nothing can be perfect, perfect, impeccable, and seamless. At the end of the Han Dynasty, the Yellow Turban Uprising was in full swing. Bocai's Yellow Turban Army surrounded Huangfu Song in Changshe. Huangfu Song's troops were weak and had different strengths from the Yellow Turban Army. The whole army was in shock and was in imminent danger. But at this time, Huangfu Song discovered the fatal weakness of Bocai's army: they formed a camp based on grass and encountered strong winds. So he ordered the soldiers to prepare bundles of reeds and climb the city, and ordered the warriors to take advantage of the opportunity to break out. They set fire to the outside and shouted loudly. The soldiers on the city also raised fire in response. In this sudden incident, Huangfu Song led his troops to shout out from the city and went straight to Bocai's army. Bocai's army fled in panic. Later, Cao Cao led an army to rescue him and joined forces with Zhu Jun's army to fight against Bocai's army. Bocai's army was defeated and tens of thousands of people were killed. The strength of the army was reversed, and Huangfu Song discovered the key point of Bo Cai's army. Dong Zhuo was killed, Lu Bu was captured, Sun Ce was assassinated, Guan Yu was defeated, Zhuge Ke was plotted, Cao Shuang was killed... all of them had their own fatal weaknesses discovered by their opponents, and as a result, their great power was wiped out; their management was miserable and collapsed. once.

The second way to attack the strong with the weak is to concentrate on one's own overall advantages and attack the enemy's local disadvantages. When the strength and weakness of the enemy and ourselves are clearly revealed, it does not mean that the outcome of victory or defeat is clear. The overall strength of the enemy does not mean that there are no local weaknesses. The Battle of Guandu was when Cao Cao used his overall superiority to attack Yuan's army's disadvantaged situation. After winning, he gradually expanded the results to comprehensively affect the entire war situation. When Liu Bei led his army into Yizhou, he also used his overall advantage to attack Liu Zhang's local disadvantage. He first eliminated the Jiameng defenders and then marched south. Jia Xu suggested that Zhang Xiu attack Cao Jun, Lu Meng take Jingzhou, Sima Yi attack Mengda, Wei counterattack against Wu in Hefei... all fall into this category.

The third way to use the weak to attack the strong is to use the power of heaven to counterattack the strong enemy. Strategists know very well that the most powerful manpower is no match for the force of nature. How to make the powerful enemy's force collide with the force of nature, and our troops can stabilize the country and quell the threat of the enemy without losing a single blow. has become a top priority. Among them, people first think of the natural dangers. Wei Guang, Shu Danger and Wu Zhijiang are also important factors in the establishment of the Three Kingdoms in a sense. Secondly, in the process of attacking the strong with the weak, either flooding it with water or attacking it with fire, using the irresistible force of nature to attack the enemy and win in one fell swoop. In the Battle of Guandu, the Battle of Chibi, and the Battle of Xiaoting, the weak side all used fire attacks and won. Gongsun Zan defeated the Yellow Turbans of Qingzhou, Guan Yu flooded the Seven Ban Army, and the Battle of Chibi all used water attacks to help build prestige and take advantage of the momentum to win. "The Art of War: Fire Attack Chapter" says: "The one who attacks with fire is wise, the one who attacks with water is strong." Not only water and fire, but also natural phenomena such as wind, sand, thunder and lightning, cold and heat, and the power of the universe, are all used by the strategists of the Three Kingdoms. Borrow it and become the best weapon in your hand to fight against powerful enemies.

The fourth way to defeat the strong with the weak is to unite the weak and defeat the strong enemy. The Kwantung Allied Forces jointly fought against Dong Zhuo, Zhang Xiu and Liu Biao jointly fought against Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Sun Quan jointly resisted Cao Cao, etc. These were all alliances of weak forces, which relatively changed the balance of power between the enemy and ourselves. In particular, Liu and Sun were weak and connected, defeating the enemy and winning, becoming a model of the weak defeating the strong. This example shows that in the history of strategy, allied forces and the united front form have great counterattack capabilities.

The fifth way to use the weak to attack the strong is to divide and disintegrate the enemy's camp, so that the opponent can defeat himself without attacking. Wang Yun plotted against Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu, Liu Bei recruited Zhang Song and Fazheng, Cao Cao destroyed the Sun-Liu alliance after the Battle of Chibi, and Lu Xun was forced to remove Wei Jiangxia from office. Remove a major opponent.

All in all, the fundamental way to defeat a strong one with the weak is to be resourceful and strategic. When the enemy is strong, use wisdom, and when the enemy is weak, use strength, that is, use wisdom and strategy to attack the strong enemy, and use force to intimidate the weak. "The strategy for winning the temple does not depend on strength." ("Book of the Later Han·Yuan Shao Biography") Zhuge Liang's "Longzhong" A passage from "Dui" can be regarded as a typical conclusion of using wisdom to defeat the strong:

Since Dong Zhuo came (together with "Yi"), heroes have arisen together, and there are countless people who connect counties across states. Compared to Yuan Shao, Cao Cao was less famous and outnumbered. However, Cao Cao was able to overcome Shao and use the weak to become strong. This was not just due to the timing of the day, but also due to man's plan.

The so-called "people's strategy" refers to people's wisdom and strategies.

The above discussion is all about the situation where the weak hits the strong after the strength is fixed. As for the rest of the strategy of strong and weak Taoism, such as "attack the strong with the strong, separate the relatives with the relatives, disperse the crowd with the masses." ("Six Taoists·Wu Tao·Three Questions") A strong enemy cannot be angered, and a weak enemy cannot be insulted. "The rich country has strong soldiers, and the strong soldiers are victorious." ("Guan Zi·Governing the Country") "If the soldiers are not strong, the enemy cannot be destroyed." ("Shang Jun Shu") Those who gain soldiers are strong, and those who lose soldiers will perish. Use strength to show weakness, use weakness to show strength. The soldiers are not strong or weak, but the generals are capable. If the army is strong, attack its general... There are a large number of cases to be found in the Three Kingdoms era.

The history of the three kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu is a history of growing from weak to strong, and using the weak to defeat the strong. The strategy of strength and weakness in the Three Kingdoms era has a very profound dialectical thought and extremely rich connotation. The summary of this strategy theory and practical experience is a wise tribute to the entire history of China in the Three Kingdoms era, because the strategy of strength and weakness not only stipulates the available The operational principle, and what is more valuable, is that it provides weapons for weak and emerging forces to defeat rape, making people feel that there are mountains beyond the mountains and there is a sky beyond the sky, and enables the public to understand how to exert their own strength.