Instead of attacking headlong a powerful, concentrated enemy, break it up into smaller, vulnerable groups. Instead of striking first, bide your time and strike only after the enemy has struck.

This strategy advises one to relieve the besieged by besieging the base of the besiegers. When the enemy deploys its main force to attack a neighboring state but meets with stubborn resistance, the best way to aid that neighbor is to launch an invasion into the enemy territory. The main force of the enemy will have no choice but to return at double speed; and ambush can then be effectively conducted to score a decisive victory.

In a broader sense, the strategy points to concentrating one’s strength to attach at the enemy’s week point. In Chinese military literature, flighting the enemy is often compared to regulating rivers. When the enemy is as ferocious and overpowering as a big flood, one should avoid head-on confrontation and wait until it has lost its initial momentum, just like leading a flood into a dredged river to calm it down and make it controllable. As for a minor enemy, one can construct a “dike” to halt its movement and attach its vulnerable point to wipe it out.