36+stratagems,+attacking+stratagems

Attacking stratagems
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13. Startle the snake by hitting the grass around it
 * **Quote:** ||
 * Do something unaimed, but spectacular ("hitting the grass") to provoke a response of the enemy ("startle the snake"), thereby giving away his plans or position, or just taunt him. Do something unusual, strange, and unexpected as this will arouse the enemy's suspicion and disrupt his thinking. More widely used as "[Do not] startle the snake by hitting the grass". An imprudent act will give your position or intentions away to the enemy. ||

14. Borrow a corpse to resurrect the soul
 * **Quote:** ||
 * Take an institution, a technology, or a method that has been forgotten or discarded and appropriate it for your own purpose. Revive something from the past by giving it a new purpose or bring to life old ideas, customs, or traditions and reinterpret them to fit your purposes. ||

The Olympic Games, rather than being used to foster brotherhood among Greeks, now is used to foster amity between nations.

At the end of the Medieval period when nation-states would field conscripted armies armed with firearms, personal body armour fell out of fashion for field infantry. The 1800s saw the early development of the ballistic vest but it did not become standard issue for modern armies until the 1990s.

15. Entice the tiger to leave its mountain lair
 * **Quote:** ||
 * Never directly attack an opponent whose advantage is derived from its position. Instead lure him away from his position thus separating him from his source of strength. ||

At the Battle of Hastings the Normans were initially unable to break the Saxon shield wall placed at the top of a hill, however by feigning retreat they were able to entice some of the Saxons to break ranks and opened a gap that allowed them to scatter the Saxon army.

16. In order to capture, one must let loose
 * **Quote:** ||
 * Cornered prey will often mount a final desperate attack. To prevent this you let the enemy believe he still has a chance for freedom. His will to fight is thus dampened by his desire to escape. When in the end the freedom is proven a falsehood the enemy's morale will be defeated and he will surrender without a fight. ||

17. Tossing out a brick to get a jade gem
 * **Quote:** ||
 * Bait someone by making him believe he gains something or just make him react to it ("toss out a brick") and obtain something valuable from him in return ("get a jade gem"). ||

This proverb is based on a story involving two famous poets of the Tang Dynasty. There was a great poet named Zhao Gu and another lesser poet by the name of Chang Jian. While Chang Jian was traveling in Suzhou, he heard news that Zhao Gu would be visiting a temple in the area. Chang Jian wished to learn from the master poet, so he devised a plan and went to the temple in advance, then wrote a poem on the temple walls with only two of the four lines completed, hoping Zhao Gu would see it and finish the poem. Zhao Gu acted as Chang Jian foresaw, and from this story came the proverb.

Advance fee fraud targets this belief in the victims: They are made believe they will make sizable gains ("get a jade gem"), but first must make down payments ("toss a brick"). As the initiators did "Create something from Nothing" (strategem no. 7), the victims lose their payments.

18. Defeat the enemy by capturing their chief
 * **Quote:** ||
 * If the enemy's army is strong but is allied to the commander only by money or threats, then take aim at the leader. If the commander falls the rest of the army will disperse or come over to your side. If, however, they are allied to the leader through loyalty then beware, the army can continue to fight on after his death out of vengeance. ||