Besiege Wei to Rescue Zhao

Zhànguó shíhou, Zhōngyuán dàdì shàng yǒu qī ge dà guó, qízhōng Wèiguó, Zhàoguó, Qíguó chángcháng dǎzhàng.

In the Warring States period, seven major states shared the Central Plains; among them Wei, Zhao, and Qi were often at war.

Yǒu yì nián, qiángdà de Wèiguó pàichū dàjūn, bǎ Zhàoguó de dūchéng Hándān wéile ge shuǐxiè-bùtōng.

One year, the powerful state of Wei sent a huge army and completely surrounded Zhao's capital, Handan.

Zhàoguó wēijí, liánmáng pài rén qù xiàng Qíguó qiújiù, xīwàng Qíguó chūbīng bāngmáng.

Zhao was in danger and hurriedly sent messengers to Qi, begging Qi to send troops to help.

Qí wáng dāyìng le, què ràng cōngming de jūnshī Sūn Bìn lái xiǎng zuì hǎo de bànfǎ.

The King of Qi agreed, but asked his clever strategist Sun Bin to find the best way.

Sūn Bìn shuō: “Wèiguó de jīngbīng dōu zài Hándān, Wèiguó guónèi yídìng hěn kōng.”

Sun Bin said: “Wei's best troops are all at Handan, so Wei itself must be nearly empty.”

“Wǒmen bú qù Hándān, zhíjiē qù dǎ Wèiguó de dūchéng Dàliáng, Wèijūn jiù zhǐ néng huílái jiù.”

“Instead of going to Handan, we attack Wei's capital Daliang directly; the Wei army will have to come back to defend it.”

Qí wáng tīng le liánlián diǎntóu, lìkè ràng dàjiàng Tián Jì dàizhe Qíjūn zhíbēn Dàliáng.

The King of Qi nodded again and again, and at once sent General Tian Ji with the Qi army straight to Daliang.

Wèijūn zhǔjiàng yì tīng dūchéng gàojí, guǒrán liányè chèbīng, cōngcōng-mángmáng wǎng huí gǎn.

When the Wei commander heard his capital was in danger, he indeed pulled his troops out overnight and hurried back.

Zhèyàng, Hándān de bāowéi jiù zìjǐ jiěkāi le, Zhàoguó déjiù le.

With that, the siege of Handan lifted itself, and Zhao was saved.

Zhè jiùshì “Wéi Wèi jiù Zhào” —— bú qù yìng pèng yǎnqián de dírén, érshì qù dǎ tā bìxū jiù de dìfang.

This is “besiege Wei to rescue Zhao”: instead of fighting the enemy in front of you, strike the place he has to save.

Bǐrú xiàqí shí, duìshǒu měng gōng nǐ de yí kuài qí, nǐ búbì sǐshǒu, kěyǐ qù chī tā lìng yí kuài gèng zhòngyào de qí.

For example, in a board game, if a rival attacks one of your groups, you don't have to defend it; you can attack another, more important group of his.

Tā de dàolǐ hěn jiǎndān: jiù rén búbì chōng dào huǒ lǐ, zhǐyào diǎnzhe duìshǒu de “jiā”, tā zìrán huì tuìbīng.

The idea is simple: to save someone you don't have to rush into the fire — just light a fire at your opponent's “home,” and he will pull back on his own.