I will launch a surprise attack when the enemy crosses the river. (半渡而擊)
The name of the founding king of the Han
Dynasty in Chinese history was (Liu Bang). And the name of the most important
general who assisted him in founding the Han Dynasty was (Han Xin).
The story of (Han Xin)'s life is very
wonderful, and one of his stories is recorded in history.
He was the commander-in-chief of the Han
Kingdom's army.
In 204 BC, the Kingdom of Chu sent an army
to support the Kingdom of Qi. The Kingdom of Chu was the most powerful kingdom
at that time, and the name of the general who led this army was named (Longqi).
After the troops of the Kingdom of Chu
arrived in the territory of the Kingdom of Qi, they camped on both sides of a
river separated from the troops of the Kingdom of Han.
At the military meeting of the Kingdom of
Chu, the military staff of the Kingdom of Chu said to (Long Qi).
The morale of the army of the Kingdom of
Han is currently high. We should take a defensive position and deplete the
opponent's food reserves.
When the Han Kingdom's army runs out of
food, they will take the initiative to launch an attack, and we will counterattack
at that time.
(Long Qi) answer.
You are all afraid of (Han Xin), but I am
not afraid of him.
He used to be a low-ranking officer in the
army of the Chu Dynasty, and I know his details very well. I think his current
success is all accidental.
We should take the initiative and I think
we can win this easily.
(Han Xin) also knows (Long Qi).
After Han Xin knew that (Long Qi) was the
general leading the army, he already had a plan.
He stationed his army by a river.
He ordered the soldiers of the Han Dynasty
to build a temporary dam on the upper reaches of the river, and the flow of the
lower reaches of the river became only half of the original.
On the night when the army of the Kingdom
of Chu was stationed on the other side of the river, he led the army across the
river to attack the army of the Kingdom of Chu.
Then pretending he was wounded, he ordered
the Han army to cross the river quickly and return to their camp.
(Long Qi) already despised him in his
heart, so (Long Qi) didn't realize that this was his trick.
(Long Qi) thought this was a good
opportunity, so he ordered all the soldiers of the Chu Kingdom to mobilize
urgently, and all the soldiers immediately crossed the river to chase (Han Xin)
and attack the troops of the Han Kingdom.
When the army of the Kingdom of Chu led by
(Long Qi) marched to the middle of the river, Han Xin ordered the soldiers
standing by the dam to dig open the temporary dam.
Huge amounts of water rushed downstream.
(Long Qi) successfully landed on the other
side with one-third of the soldiers of the Kingdom of Chu, but they were all
wiped out by the army of the Kingdom of Han.
One-third of the soldiers of the Chu
Kingdom's army did not have time to land, and these soldiers died of drowning.
Another third of the soldiers of Chu
Kingdom who had not yet crossed the river all scattered and fled when they saw
the general who led them die in battle.
In this battle, the Kingdom of Chu lost
200,000 elite soldiers.
After this battle, the military strength of
the Han Kingdom and the Chu Kingdom reversed, and the military strength of the
Han Kingdom began to surpass that of the Chu Kingdom.
This idiom means that I will launch a
surprise attack when the enemy crosses the river.
Dear friend, what are your feelings or
thoughts after hearing this story?
Have you ever looked down on others? Have
you ever suffered a loss by looking down on others?
I hope this story can give you some new
harvest.
半渡而擊(I will launch a surprise attack when
the enemy crosses the river.)
中國歷史上的漢王朝開國國王的名字叫做(劉邦)。而協助他創建漢王朝的最重要的將軍的名字是(韓信)。
(韓信)一生的故事非常的精采，歷史上記載了一個他的故事。
他是漢王國的軍隊的總指揮官。
西元前204年，楚王國派遣了軍隊來支援齊王國，楚王國當時最強大的王國，率領這支軍隊的將軍的名字叫做(龍且)。
楚王國的軍隊抵達齊王國的境內後，與漢王國的軍隊隔著一條河的兩岸各自紮營。
楚王國的軍事會議上，楚王國的軍事參謀對(龍且)說。
漢王國的軍隊目前的士氣正旺，我們應該採取採取守勢，耗損對方的存糧。
等漢王國的軍隊存糧不足後，他們就會主動發動攻擊，我們屆時再予以反擊。
(龍且)回答。
你們都懼怕(韓信)，但是我並不怕他。
他以前曾經是楚王朝的軍隊中的低階軍官，他的底細我非常的清楚。我認為他現在的成功都是偶然的。
我們應該主動出擊，我認為我們可以輕鬆地贏得這場勝利。
(韓信)也認識(龍且)。
韓信知道(龍且)是領導這支軍隊的將軍後，他已經有了計策。
他就把軍隊駐守在一條河邊。
他命令漢王朝的士兵在這條河的上游蓋了一個臨時的水壩，這條河下游的流量變成只有原先的二分之一。
楚王國的軍隊駐紮在河對岸的當晚，他帶領著軍隊主動過河攻擊楚王國的軍隊。
接著他假裝自己受了傷，他命令漢王朝的軍隊快速渡過河回到自已的陣營。
(龍且)的心中本來就藐視他所以(龍且)沒有發覺到這是他的詭計。
(龍且)認為這是一個很好的機會，所以就命令所有的楚王國的士兵們緊急動員，所有的士兵們立刻渡河追殺(韓信)並且攻擊漢王國的部隊。
當(龍且)所率領的楚王國的軍隊行進到這條河的中間的時候，韓信下令在水壩旁待命的士兵們把這個臨時的水壩鑿開。
大量的水沖向下游。
(龍且)與三分之一的楚王國的士兵順利登到對岸，但他們全部被漢王國的軍隊所殲滅。
三分之一的楚王國的軍隊的士兵來不及登陸，這些士兵們死於溺水。
另外三分之一的尚未渡河的楚王國的士兵，看見帶領他們的將軍戰死後全部四散奔逃。
這一場戰役，楚王國損失了20萬個精銳的士兵。
從這一場戰役後，漢王國與楚王國的軍事力量逆轉，漢王國的軍事力量開始勝過楚王國。
這一句成語的意思是我會在敵人渡河時發動奇襲。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有怎樣的感受或有怎樣的想法呢。
你是否曾經藐視別人呢?你是否曾經因為藐視他人而遭受損失呢?
我希望這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為史記-淮陰侯列傳