36 Ji – Les 36 stratagèmes

« L'avancée secrète vers Chencang »

Détruit l'adversaire en menant une fausse attaque
dans une direction alors que c'est ailleurs,
là où il ne se défend pas, que porte la véritable offensive.

Faire une manœuvre de diversion pour fixer la force principale de l'adversaire. Il est profitable d'adopter une disposition conforme à la situation.

Cette maxime fait référence à la stratégie utilisée par Lin Bang, fondateur de la dynastie Han, quand il mena une campagne contre son rival pour le contrôle de l'empire, Xiang Yu. Il donna l'illusion de se préparer à venir par le chemin normal mais pendant ce temps expédia son armée par une voie détournée à Chencang, prenant ainsi l'ennemi par surprise et gagnant un large territoire pour un faible coût.

Ce stratagème insiste sur la mise en œuvre d'un mouvement de diversion, usuellement une attaque frontale, pour dissimuler la manœuvre secrète qui doit déborder l'ennemi. Ceci est fondamentalement en accord avec la stratégie de Sun Zi visant à combattre l'ennemi avec des forces ordinaires et à le défaire avec des forces spéciales, mais seulement dans le cas où cet ennemi est maintenu en respect non par la présence de la puissance principale, mais par un mouvement de diversion, qui requiert néanmoins quelques actions concrètes pour en établir la crédibilité.

Cf Sun Zi Bingfa V (Qi/Zhen)

Doc Mac Jr

Openly Repair The Walkway, Secretly March to Chencang

Attack the enemy with two convergent forces. The first is the direct attack, one that is obvious and for which the enemy prepares his defense. The second is the indirect, the attack sinister, that the enemy does not expect and which causes him to divide his forces at the last minute leading to confusion and disaster.

Muromachi Period Japan

In 1560 one of Japan's greatest warlords, Oda Nobunaga, then still a minor commander, marched his force of 2,000 men to stop the incursion of a rival warlord Imagawa Yoshimoto. Even though Nobunaga was outnumbered twelve to one he set out humming a tune. Nobunaga's scouts reported that Imagawa was resting his troops at a village that was nestled near a narrow gorge that Nobunaga knew would be ideal for a surprise attack.

The scouts further reported that Imagawa's troops were celebrating and viewing the heads taken in a previous battle. Nobunaga devised the following ploy. He made camp some distance away from the village. He placed numerous flags and had straw dummies made to give the impression that a large host had arrived. Imagawa's forces thus expected an attack to come from the direction the enemy camp. Meanwhile Nobunaga's troops secretly made a forced march in a wide circle in order to come up from behind the Imagawa encampment. Weather favored Nobunaga's scheme for late in the day there was a heavy downpour. Taking advantage of the foul weather, Nobunaga's troops launched a sudden attack from the rear. So unexpected was this attack that Imagawa a first thought that a brawl had broken out among his own troops. Only when he saw two enemy Samurai charging towards him did he realize he was under attack. The realization came too late and Imagawa was beheaded and his troops scattered. The battle lasted only a few minutes but it made Oda Nobunaga's reputation and he quickly rouse in power until he became one of Japan's greatest warlords.

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