36 Strategies Vernacular Full Translation

Chapter 4 Surrounding Wei and Rescue Zhao
It is better to share the enemy than to divide the enemy, and the enemy is not as good as the enemy.

Translation To march against a concentrated and powerful enemy army, it is better to disperse and weaken such an enemy army before attacking.Instead of attacking the enemy's strong position from the front, it is more effective to attack from a relatively weak part of the defense.

Interpretation of this strategy is applicable to battles where the strength of the enemy and the enemy are disparate. For an enemy whose military strength is several times or dozens of times that of one's own, if you use a reckless and tough way to compete with it, you will definitely suffer bloodshed and heavy casualties.When one's own side is at a disadvantage in military power, the best way is to divert and guide the flow, pinpoint the enemy's weak links and key parts, avoid the real situation, attack with all its strength, or go around the enemy's rear to attack it unprepared, and inflict damage on it. Threat and containment, with the least cost to achieve the greatest victory.This is a devious strategy that can well switch the military status of the enemy and ourselves.

The application of "surrounding Wei and saving Zhao" focuses on implementing a strategy of avoiding its edge against a powerful opponent. While avoiding a frontal conflict with it, it is inevitable to bypass it or attack it skillfully from the side to take advantage of the vacancy.However, the application of this timing must strictly distinguish between cause and effect and purpose, "surrounding Wei" is the cause, and "saving Zhao" is the effect. "Siege of Wei" is to make the enemy give up the original target "Zhao" and turn around to save his "Wei" country from danger, so that "Zhao" can be saved.No matter what method is adopted, if the result of "saving Zhao" cannot be achieved, "surrounding Wei" is meaningless.

"Besieging Wei and saving Zhao" is widely used in military, political, economic, workplace, life and other fields, providing practical and convenient guidelines for people to solve many problems, and the effect is remarkable.In order to fully tap the potential wisdom of this plan and use it for us, we need to pay attention to the following issues.

The first is the choice of breakthrough.A breakthrough that is easier to attack than "Zhao" can not only boost morale, but also form a momentum of victory.If there are multiple breakthroughs with equal difficulty, you should choose the one that has the greatest impact on the overall situation to start with, which can often get twice the result with half the effort.Of course, it must be determined that "Wei" must be the place where the enemy must save, otherwise it will be futile and it will be impossible to save "Zhao".Secondly, it is very important to adopt a roundabout attack strategy.Not everything can be done in one step. Adding some intermediate links or turning some corners can resolve or avoid difficulties.In the end, we must bypass the enemy's strong points and hit the vital points directly.Rampage against a powerful enemy will often end in disastrous defeat. It is better to attack the weak link of the enemy skillfully. Not only can you deal a heavy blow to the enemy, but you can also protect yourself from heavy damage and preserve your strength.

On the contrary, when the enemy uses this timing, how should we respond?First, it is necessary to quickly occupy the identified targets without being affected by other factors.Hesitating or changing strategies midway is often easy to fall into the enemy's careful calculations and delay major events.Second, we must assess the situation, clarify priorities, accurately grasp the primary and important things, and not be confused or delayed by secondary and unimportant things.Grasp the key points, clarify the goal, and don't be swayed by the enemy's tricks.

Examples of Wisdom
The U.S. military "strangled the logistics"

In the autumn of 1943, in order to win the Second World War, the Americans set their strategic focus on how to effectively restrain Japan's aggression.MacArthur, the commander of the Pacific Fleet who carried out this task, pointed out that the United States is far away from Japan, and it is difficult to win a large-scale attack.Blindly launching a war will cost the United States a lot, and more practical methods must be adopted.After some discussion and detailed research, Maxer realized that Japan is a coastal country, and the resources to maintain the war are not rich.To continue fighting, the Japanese army is bound to find ways to plunder the resources of other countries and provide them to the front line through sea transportation. At the same time, Japan's military sources are also sent to all parts of the world through sea transportation.From this point of view, Japan's main artery is at sea, and if its sea transportation lines are cut off, it will easily kill Japan.So MacArthur formulated a meticulous "Strangling Logistics Strategy" plan, and later used this strategy as the primary strategy for attacking Japan.

General MacArthur
Truk Island is the main naval base and logistics supply base of the Japanese army in the Pacific Ocean. However, the Japanese army’s guard on this important island is not strict. There is only one base force serving as ground security, and 6 anti-aircraft gunners are serving as air security. Land, sea and air command The schema is crude and confusing.After the U.S. military learned of this situation, it quickly suggested to Lieutenant General Pruance, commander of the Fifth Fleet, to use planes to bomb the docks, ports, transport ships and warehouses of Truk Island, so that Japanese naval warships could not dock for supplies. It is also difficult for army transportation to take advantage of it, so the island can be captured in one fell swoop.Pruance took this advice. In the early morning of February 1944, 2, Major General Hoover, the air force commander of the US Pacific Advance Base, commanded more than 18 planes to fly over Truk, aimed at more than 100 ships and 20 transport ships parked in the port, and dropped hundreds of tons of bombs.All the ships and ships of the Japanese army sank to the bottom of the sea in an instant.Without supplies, the Japanese army stationed on Truk Island ran out of ammunition and food, and the entire army was wiped out.

Later, when dealing with the Japanese troops stationed in the Philippines, MacArthur adopted the same logistical strategy.A strong attack requires at least 25 to 28 divisions and about 50 troops.Adopting the "logistics strategy" not only halved the troop dispatch, but also halved the casualties. One day in September 1944, when MacArthur learned that the Japanese army would send all the aircraft stationed at the Cebu Port base in the Philippines to participate in the Wright Battle, and the rear defense must be weak, he immediately ordered the aircraft carrier of the Third Fleet to make a full-scale attack on the Cebu Port. The base is bombed.At this time, the Japanese army was resting beautifully on the ship in the morning. When more than 9 U.S. planes arrived, many Japanese troops mistook them for the triumphant return of the Japanese planes that participated in the Wright Battle.Before they had time to cheer for victory, bullets and bombs from the US military had poured down.In an instant, the Cebu Port base was in flames, screaming, and blood flowing like rivers.All 200 Japanese warships and 13 large transport ships in Hong Kong sank to the bottom of the sea.The attack on the Port of Cebu dealt a fatal blow to Japan's logistical supply capability. The Japanese army organized two transport fleets on the second day, each escorted by 11 aircraft, carrying the necessary combat supplies to the base of the Port of Cebu. Come here.However, this time all the rescue troops and supplies were destroyed in one fell swoop by 30 fighter planes commanded by MacArthur.So far, the Japanese army's sea transportation lines have been destroyed by the US military.

Since then, in order to comprehensively implement the strategy of "strangling logistics" and completely cut off the Japanese army's logistical supplies, the No. 20 Air Force of the U.S. Army began the "Aerial Mining Operation" for four and a half months, trying to carry out a more thorough all-round logistical strangulation of the Japanese army.The No. 4 Air Force of the United States successively dispatched 20 fighter planes to carry out bombing operations, dropped more than 1 sea mines, and sank and damaged more than 800 Japanese transport ships and warships.Lieutenant General Ushido, the commander of the Japanese army guarding the island, and 1.2 officers and soldiers were helpless, and finally died on the deserted island.

There is a saying in the military that "the food and grass go first before the soldiers and horses are moved", which shows the "throat" status of logistics equipment in military operations.MacArthur recognized the "logistics strategy", cleverly avoided confrontation with the enemy, and replaced the storm with "cutting off military resources", which not only choked the enemy's "throat" and prevented it from moving, but also successfully avoided many unnecessary sacrifices. Preserving strength and using it to fight again can be said to have won the essence of the strategy of "encircling Wei and saving Zhao".

Nice took the opportunity to attack

In 2000, Zhejiang Nice Group achieved sales of 25 billion yuan and a total profit and tax of 5 million yuan.Its laundry soap is thriving, the sales volume of the newly launched Diaopai toothpaste is expected to exceed [-] million units, laundry detergent has reached the top of the sales list in just one year, and the sales volume of Diaopai dishwashing liquid is also far ahead in the industry.How does an enterprise that uses the most original method to open up the sales market achieve such remarkable results?How can a laundry detergent company with little profit in the eyes of many people achieve sustainable and stable development?

On June 1993, 6, the registered trademark of "Diao" brand appeared in front of the public for the first time.On this day, "Zhejiang Daily" published a commercial advertisement of Diaopai Super Energy Soap. Readers only need to cut out the advertisement coupon next to it, and they can get a piece of Super Energy Soap for free, and have the chance to win a free trip to Hong Kong and Macau.Soon, many consumers who received free soap discovered its many benefits when using this soap, word of mouth spread, and more and more people began to know and buy this soap.Immediately afterwards, Diaopai transparent soap was launched quickly, and according to the needs of consumers, the shape changed from large to small, and with a light fragrance, and the price was in the middle, the transparent soap was sold out as soon as it was put on the shelves.

After successfully dominating the soap market, Nice announced its entry into the laundry detergent market in 1999.At that time, the washing powder market was mainly occupied by foreign brands, and the "four big families" Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Henkel and Kao firmly controlled the high-end; the national brand Qiqiang worked hard for 4 years, relying on the strategy of "surrounding the city from the countryside" Difficult to compete with foreign brands.Diao Pai started to declare war on the outside world at this time, and it did a detailed market research and made full preparations.At that time, foreign products focused on brand promotion and lacked execution in sales; while domestic brands emphasized sales and neglected brand building.At the same time, with the continuous decline in consumption levels in recent years, the high-end concentrated powder in the early years is no longer favored, and the price of compound powder of foreign brands has also exceeded the acceptance level of most consumers. Diaopai has thus found It filled the gap in the washing powder market, and locked in the strategy of "producing mid-range price products and using brand building to capture the market".

Seizing this opportunity, Diaopai immediately purchased the only 4 sets of fully automatic powder spraying equipment in the world and began to vigorously produce them.At the same time, the people of Naaisi calculated an account: in the second and third phases of washing powder technical transformation projects, the cost of transportation of raw materials and finished products is 600 yuan more per ton compared with areas with convenient transportation. Throw away 3 million profits.However, the method of entrusted processing only needs to pay a processing fee of 200 yuan per ton, and the income is greatly increased.Therefore, Nice not only makes full use of its own production capacity, but also implements external processing all over the country.At present, the production lines of 4 enterprises in 2 provinces across the country, including 19 detergent production plants of Henkel in China and 30 plants of Procter & Gamble, are producing Nice products every day.As production costs are lowered, there is more room for lower sales prices.In order to compete for the market, Diaopai lowered the price of washing powder to 29 yuan per box. The ultra-low price made colleagues at a loss.After winning the price war, Diaopai began to build its brand with warm "family affection" as the main theme. "Mom, I can help you wash your clothes", this functional slogan of washing powder breaks the routine and sends strong family affection to thousands of households.If the advertisement of Diaopai Laundry Soap has improved the popularity, then the advertisement of Laundry Powder has completed the shaping of the brand.Opportunity means market. Diaopai opened up the washing powder market with low cost, and established its brand image with powerful advertisements. In 2000, Diaopai washing powder broke through the strong offensive of other brands, and ranked first in the middle and low-end products in the same market.

In the shopping mall, only by grasping the needs of users can we grasp the market and control the fate of the enterprise.As we all know, what McDonald's grasps is people's needs to speed up the pace of life, Carrefour satisfies people's desire for low prices every day, and Nice takes the opportunity to attack and occupy the market skillfully, with low-cost expansion, fair and low prices, strong The publicity offensive has won successful transformations again and again for the company. "Surround Wei and rescue Zhao", instead of attacking the saturated areas of the market, digging out potential vacancies, and pursuing the victory while taking advantage of the victory, it is often easy to achieve the desired effect.

department manager
A foreign company selected star promoters at the end of the year, and as a result, something unexpected happened: the outstanding candidates selected by Yu's manager team were unanimously recognized at the headquarters and notified throughout the company.Unexpectedly, at this time, a female manager in charge of training from the HR department suddenly stood up and sent an email to the relevant selection staff, reporting to the management team that the promoter had cheated in the recent SMS test and was not eligible to be selected as a star employee.As soon as the email was sent out, the manager in charge of national retail sales and the head of the promoter management office immediately became nervous and ordered Manager Yu to investigate the matter immediately and reconsider the selection of other employees.The head of the personnel department also quickly stated that if the promoters have integrity issues, they will not be able to participate in the selection.

The matter happened very suddenly. Manager Yu was on vacation at the time, and his subordinates urgently called for help.When Manager Yu heard this, he also felt that the matter was tricky: First, although those tests were just insignificant matters, foreign-funded companies attached great importance to the integrity of employees, and it was almost impossible to argue when it came to integrity issues; second, the protagonist of this incident was just a small No one would go to great lengths because they cared about whether or not she would stay as a promoter, and under normal circumstances they would sacrifice her without hesitation.After careful analysis, Manager Yu felt that the matter was not that simple. He had an intuition that the female manager who made the whistleblower actually wanted to take advantage of this incident to hit his team and achieve the purpose of arrogance, so that his subordinates would no longer dare to underestimate her. Her work and usefulness.In addition, if Manager Yu admits defeat at this time, the departure of the star promoter will also make other subordinates feel useless and their morale will be greatly reduced.Facing the difficult problem with little hope, if Manager Yu put down his face and pleaded with the female manager and other executives to let them be lenient and not revoke the promotion qualification of this salesman, then even if he succeeds, he will be dying and his dignity will be lost. .Manager Yu thought hard, and finally decided to use the strategy of "surrounding Wei and saving Zhao" to solve it.If the initiator of this matter stops, she must attack its loopholes or weaknesses, otherwise she will not give up.What is her must-save?That is to prove that her behavior is adding chaos to the personnel department.So, after discussing with his subordinates, Manager Yu decided to push the personnel department into an awkward situation by sending emails.First of all, manager Yu sent a mass email to propose that if the promoters in their department have integrity issues, they will no longer recommend her as a star employee, and those who have similar behaviors like her should be fired immediately!In fact, many promoters across the country have cheated in order to deal with the boring mobile phone test, so the scope of attack has been expanded at once.Manager Yu's subordinates acted according to the plan, and they responded to the emails aggrieved, "crying" that if such promoters were fired, it would be difficult for the company to recruit suitable candidates immediately, and newcomers would often be difficult to do the job.At this time, Manager Yu took advantage of the situation to analyze: "Recruitment is a problem of the HR department, you don't have to worry; newcomers are not familiar with product knowledge, that is a problem of the HR training department!" Turning from passive to active, all the problems were left to the personnel department. If they continued to entangle, they would slap themselves in the mouth.As a result, the subordinates recommended by the manager were successfully elected as star promoters.

"Besieging Wei and saving Zhao" is also an excellent strategy in the workplace. When someone maliciously puts you in a dilemma, try to avoid confrontation with the other party as much as possible, jump out of the whole incident, analyze the opponent's weakness that is easy to attack, and let the other party The trick was self-defeating and achieved miraculous results.

(End of this chapter)