The opposite of action is the intention

 Feint is classical war manoeuvre in the history. Alexander the Great was facing Darius III in a crucial battle where his army was outnumbered by 2 to 1. Alexander drew enemy troops toward one flank, waited for a momentary gap to open up in the centre of the Persian line of defence to clobber Darius army by merciless cavalry charge.

When Alexander rode through the centre of Persian army he had one more plus point with him: the terrain. Darius III chose a narrow strip of land between a ridge and the sea as the battle location. The Persians had only two choices: either face the marauding cavalry or fall into the sea. It was a Hobson’s choice and finally the Persians were decimated.

In Chinese 36 stratagem, this type of action is often celebrated. The gist of this manoeuvre is illustrated in the sixth stratagem of “Make sound in the East and strike West”. What it means is the action in one place is just a fake as the real intention is to attack another crucial point that is never indicated.

Following the Lao Tzu principle “If you want to possess, then let it go”, Chinese Generals practice opposite of action is the intention in several ways. Chiefly amongst are three well-known mechanisms:

1. Liquidate a front, withdraw troops, remove garrison load these onto caravans and move out of sight for the time being. As the opponent slackens his guard, surprise him with a sudden attack with such speed that he won’t be able to collect himself to fight back

2. Feign a skirmish as enemy responds with barrage of fire move out to yet another space and so on that his forces are engaged in fighting dummies. Choose the vital point of attack which is by this time undefended and walk through undefended

3. Send false signals of an intended attack in one or two fronts that appear and perceived so by opponent as more likely location for an offensive.  Adversary deploys most of his forces in these fronts which see periodical action by you. The troops are nagged continuously and lose either interest or morale or both. Then decide to open absolutely new front away from these locations and march into enemy territory unopposed.

 

Cheers!

 

Muthu Ashraff Rajulu

Business Strategist

Mobile: + 94 777 265677

E-mail:   cosmicgems@gmail.com

Blog:   Business Strategist