关门捉贼　(guān mén zhuō zéi)

Shut the Door to Catch the Thief

When a thief is in your house, you’d better bolt your doors first in order to prevent him from escaping and then catch him. This is of course applicable only when you are sure you can subdue him.

When the ancient Chinese adopted this stratagem, it had more implications.

First, it called for a swift siege of a relatively weak and small enemy army, then resolutely annihilating them. The belief behind this ploy is: if you let the enemy escape, he will always come back to you.

Second, once your enemy succeeds in escaping, you should be wary of giving chase because Chinese still believe it’s often too dangerous to pursue a desperate fugitive.

Here is an example of how ancient Chinese skillfully implemented this stratagem more than 2,000 years ago.

In 260 BC, the armies of the State of Qin and the State of Zhao were fighting a decisive battle in Changping in today’s Shanxi Province in northwest China. The place was defended by Lian Po, a very famous and experienced general of Zhao.(https://www.daowen.com)

After a stalemate that lasted more than two years, Qin successfully sowed discord between the ruler of Zhao and his general Lian Po.

Finally, Lian was replaced by Zhao Kuo, a self-conceited armchair general.

Then, the Qin troops repeatedly attempted to lure the Zhao troops out of their fortified stronghold and to fight them in the open field. To do this, the Qin troops faked a few defeats.

Eventually, the big-headed Zhao Kuo personally led 400,000 men to launch an all-out attack against the Qin troops who had long set up a big trap for their enemy. So, when Zhao and his men reached the barracks of Qin, their retreat and supplies were immediately cut off.

The Zhao troops became isolated into small groups and were tightly encircled by Qin soldiers. For the following 46 days, the Zhao troops could not receive any supplies or assistance. In addition, they could not break the iron-clad encirclement.

In one desperate attempt by the trapped forces to break out, the self-conceited General Zhao Kuo was killed and his troops all surrendered.

But Qin had adopted a “take no prisoners” policy and killed all surrendered enemy troops from the state of Zhao.