Sun Tzu's art of war has clouds: "A soldier who submits to others without fighting, and a good one who is good." This famous saying reveals an important strategic means in ancient warfare - siege without attack, siege without fighting. This strategy focused on besieging the enemy, depriving them of food and grass, weakening morale, and ultimately winning without a fight. Next, we will analyze the subtlety of this strategy through some famous examples from history.
In 206 BC, the Chu-Han dispute was in full swing. At that time, the Han general Han Xin led troops to attack the state of Zhao, and Zhao Wang Xie and Chen Yu led an army of 200,000 to garrison Jingxiankou. Han Xin was well aware of the huge disparity in the strength of the two sides and the difficulty of winning by attacking, so he decided to adopt a strategy of encircling but not attacking. He ordered his troops to station by the river to lure the Zhao army to attack. Zhao Jun mistakenly thought that the Han army lacked courage and relaxed his vigilance. One night, Han Xin sent a force to sneak behind the Zhao camp and cut off the Zhao army's grain route in one fell swoop. The Zhao army fell into the encirclement of the Han army, and the army was in great turmoil, and finally routed. Han Xin successfully turned the tide of the war and laid the foundation for the establishment of the Han Dynasty.
In 200, the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao fought a decisive battle at Guandu. At that time, Yuan Shao had a strong army, with hundreds of thousands of troops. Cao Cao was at a disadvantage, with only tens of thousands of troops. Faced with a strong enemy, Cao Cao decided to adopt a strategy of siege rather than attack. He ordered his troops to hold the camp and avoid a head-on confrontation with Yuan Shao. At the same time, he sent people to attack Yuan Shao's grain and grass supply line, causing Yuan Shao's army to gradually fall into trouble. In the end, Yuan Shao's army was cut off from food and grass, and morale was low, and Cao Cao seized the opportunity to launch an attack and won the Battle of Guandu.
These two examples fully demonstrate the clever use of the strategy of encircling without attacking and encircling without fighting in war. This strategy avoided the heavy casualties that could result from a forced assault, and at the same time was able to weaken the morale of the enemy forces by sieges and cutting off food and grass, so as to win without a fight. Of course, the successful implementation of this strategy requires a clear understanding of the situation on both sides and a deep insight into the overall situation of the war. Only by fully understanding the weaknesses of the enemy army can we force the enemy army to submit by means of siege, so as to win the war.