暗度陈仓　(àn dù chén cāng)

A Ruse to Divert Your Enemies

The complete version of the stratagem is called “overtly repairing the plank road and secretly marching to Chencang.”

The story behind this stratagem dates back to the late years of the Qin Dynasty (221-207 BC) when Liu Bang, the founder of the Han Dynasty (202 BC-220 AD), was fighting Xiang Yu, a prominent general and popular hero, for control of the country.

In 207 BC, before he retreated to the western region, Liu Bang ordered his troops to burn the 50-kilometer-long plank road built along steep mountainsides to the central region to prevent invasion from the troops of Zhang Han, a military leader under Xiang Yu.

The next year, when some generals of the former Qin Dynasty began to rebel against Xiang, Liu Bang ordered his general Han Xin to prepare to attack Guanzhong, which was under control of Zhang Han in the central region.

First, Han sent some soldiers to repair the burnt plank road leading all the way to the central region.

When Zhang Han learned that, he laughed and said, “With such a small team of soldiers, god knows how long it will take for them to rebuild the plank road.” So, he believed that any possible offensive from Han Xin was anything but imminent.(https://www.daowen.com)

However, while his soldiers labored on the site of the destroyed plank road, Han secretly marched his main forces along a deserted old path to reach Chencang, the only gateway to Guanzhong, and immediately launched a surprise attack against Zhang’s troops.

Zhang was overwhelmed and could not put up a defense. His army was lost in the battle.

This was the beginning of a series of battles between Liu Bang and Xiang Yu, which ended in 202 BC with Liu winning the victory and unifying the country.

This stratagem is a variation of the scheme of “making a feint to the east, but hitting out in the west.” Instead of simply spreading false information, this stratagem employs real actions such as “repairing the plank road” as a bait. It’s usually easier to convince your enemy with an actual move, as most people trust the saying of “seeing is believing.”

However, the baiting act is meant to be seen by your enemy and to divert his attention from a stealthy move used to try to sneak up on him.

The key here is that the baiting act must look so real that it won’t draw any suspicion from your enemy. So, when you attack him from a direction he hardly expects, it’s often too late for him to put up any defense.