One Hundred Unorthodox Strategies – 12. Small Numbers (Gua 寡)

In warfare, if you oppose a numerous army with only a few, you must do so when the sun is setting, through ambushes concealed by deep vegetation or by intercepting them on a confined road. Under such circumstances you will invariably prove victorious. A tactical principle from the Wu Tzu states: “When employing a few, concentrate upon narrows.”

(Translation by Ralph D. Sawyer)

Notes:

· The title “Small Numbers” (gua 寡) means “few,” “deficient,” “lacking in.”

· The quote from Wu Tzu (吳子) is from Chapter 5, “Responding to Change“ (Ying Bian 應變).

Original Text:

凡戰，若以寡敵眾，必以日暮，或伏於深草，或邀於隘路，戰則必勝。法曰：「用少者務隘。」

 

Historical Example:

The historical anecdote tells of an operation in the year 537 CE, in the war between general Gao Huan of Eastern Wei and general Yuwen Tai of Western Wei. General Gao Huan 高歡 (496-547 CE) led the more numerous Eastern Wei army forth to meet the enemy. General Yuwen Tai 宇文泰 (507-556 CE), who commanded only a few troops, ordered his generals and officers to conceal themselves and their weapons amid the new growth and arise when they heard the sound of the drums. The Eastern Wei army arrived as the sun was setting. From afar they observed only a small force and so their soldiers competed with each other to rush into battle, their troops becoming disordered and their formations disrupted. Just when the soldiers were about to clash, General Yuwen Tai called for the drums, and his officers and troops all rose up. The Eastern Wei army broke into two, and Yuwen Tai went on to destroy it.