The Chain Stratagem

Chìbì duìzhì zhī shí, Cáo Cāo běifāng jiàngshì bù xí shuǐ zhàn, jiāng shàng fēnglàng yì lái biàn yùnchuán ǒutù, kǔ bù kān yán.

While the two armies faced off at Red Cliffs, Cao Cao's northern soldiers were unused to fighting on water; the moment the river swelled they grew seasick and retched, in a misery beyond words.

Móushì Páng Tǒng yáng tóu Cáo yíng, xiàn shàng yí jì: jiāng zhànchuán yòng tiěsuǒ shǒuwěi xiānglián, pū shàng kuò bǎn, zé rénmǎ rú lǚ píngdì.

The strategist Pang Tong feigned defection to Cao Cao and offered a plan: link the warships head to tail with iron chains, lay broad planks across them, and men and horses could move as if on flat ground.

Cáo Cāo dà yuè yī jì ér xíng, guǒrán shìzú rú xíng lùdì, zài bù diānbǒ; rán'ér zhè què shì Liánhuán-jì de dì yì huán.

Delighted, Cao Cao did as advised, and sure enough his men now moved as if on dry land, never pitching again — yet this was only the first link of the Chain Stratagem.

Cǐ jì yǔ Huáng Gài de “Kǔròu-jì” hù wéi biǎolǐ —— chuán kě lián, huǒ kě shāo, ruò wú nèiyìng diǎn huǒ, liánhuán biàn zhǐ shì kōng jià.

This plan and Huang Gai's “Self-Injury Trick” were two faces of the same design: ships could be chained and fire could burn, but without an inside agent to light it, the chain would be an empty shell.

Páng Tǒng xiān yǐ “liánhuán” shǐ Cáo jūn zhànchuán dòngtan bù dé, zài qù jīfā Huáng Gài zhàxiáng, yí jì kòu yí jì, huán huán suǒ sǐ.

First Pang Tong used the “chain” to lock the enemy's fleet in place, then set Huang Gai's feigned surrender in motion — one trap snapping into the next, every link clamped shut.

Cáo Cāo zhǐ kànjiàn dì yì huán de biànlì, què kàn bú jiàn dì èr huán, dì sān huán zhèng qiǎorán hélǒng.

Cao Cao saw only the convenience of that first link; he could not see the second and third links quietly closing around him.

Dài dào dōngfēng zhòu qǐ, Huáng Gài huǒchuán shǐ rù liányíng, huǒ jiè fēngshì, fēng zhù huǒ wēi, tiěsuǒ suǒ zhù de chuánduì wú yì néng táo.

When the east wind suddenly rose, Huang Gai's fire-ships sailed into the chained camp; fire rode the wind and wind fed the fire, and not one ship locked in iron chains could escape.

Cáo Cāo yǎnzhēngzhēng kàn zhe bǎiwàn xióngshī huà wéi huījìn, fāng cái xǐngwù: zìjǐ jìng zhòng le huán huán xiāng kòu de yì zhěng tào liánhuán zhī jì.

Cao Cao watched helplessly as his million-strong host turned to ash, and only then awoke: he had walked into a whole, tightly-linked Chain Stratagem.

Yí zhàn zhī xià, Cáo Cāo yuánqì dà shāng, tuì huí běifāng zài wúlì nán xià, Sān Guó dǐnglì zhī jú yóu cǐ diàndìng.

In a single battle Cao Cao was gravely weakened; he limped back north and never marched south again, and so the three-way balance of the realm was set.

Zhè biàn shì “Liánhuán-jì” —— shǐ dírén pí yú yìngfù yí jì, zé xià yí jì biàn wú kě táotuō, huán huán xiāng kòu, wú kě pòjiě.

This is the “Chain Stratagem”: wear the enemy out dealing with one trap, so the next becomes inescapable — link upon link, with no way to break free.

Zài xiàndài shāngyè jìngzhēng zhōng, cōngming de qǐyè bú huì zhǐ shè yí dào guānkǎ, ér shì jiāng chǎnpǐn, qúdào, pǐnpái céng céng chuànlián, ràng duìshǒu gùcǐ-shībǐ.

In modern business, a clever company sets not just one hurdle but strings product, channel and brand together, layer upon layer, so that rivals cannot defend one without losing another.

Tā de zhìhuì zàiyú: dānyī de zhāoshù zài miào yě yǒu pòjiě zhī dào, wéi yǒu ràng duìshǒu xiànrù “yí jì jiē yí jì” de liánsuǒ, cái néng lìng qí shùshǒu-jiùqín.

Its wisdom: however clever a single move may be, it can always be answered; only by trapping a rival in a chain of “one scheme after another” can you make him surrender with his hands tied.