Empty Fort Strategy-Zhuge Liang

When you overthink a question on a test and get it wrong

Chinese: The fort looks empty lets retreat.. Western horror movies: The house is empty, lets move into it

When you hit auto resolve and lose against small garrison.

Legends say that nowadays he is still around and is a DJ that helps a blonde girl on Japan

The one who know you best isn't your friends or your family but your nemesis.

Tried it in total war three kingdoms but it didn't work...

He was so feared he won wars without even firing a single arrow. "Those who are skilled in combat do not become angered, those who are skilled at winning do not become afraid. Thus the wise win before they fight, while the ignorant fight to win." Zhuge Liang

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought Sima Yi actually knew it was just a strategy and there was no ambush but he just used this as an excuse in order not to kill Zhuge Liang. Because if he had gotten rid of Zhuge Liang, the Cao Wei would no more have a use for him and could get rid of him afterwards; and he was afraid of this. And Zhuge Liang knew his intentions and didn't think a man like Sima Yi would fall for this strategy, though he knew he would pretend to fall for it. Brilliant strategies by both sides.

Moral of the story is this. NEVER fight someone crazy enough to hire people to sweep his dirt.

Who would win: - A well-trained, supplied, and equipped army - Absolutely no one whatsoever

when you accidentally blast the first 3 seconds of this video in a meeting

Sima yi's morale decreases..... Zhuge liangs moral skyrockets....

This is the best scene of this series. Both sides know this fort is empty and this is just a show. But both sides need this as the excuse to retrieve the troops. They know each other very well even don't need to talk to each other.

There is a theory that Sima Yi knew very well that there was actually no ambush within the city, but he purposefully retreated to keep Zhuge Liang alive. At the time of this Shu invasion, the entire Wei court, including all ruling Cao family were scared and suspicious of Sima Yi. Despite their fear for Sima Yi's incredible skill and hunger for power, they had to employ him to fend off Zhuge Liang because he was the only match for him. Sima Yi, knowing that he only has military power because Zhuge Liang was alive, didnt want to actually kill Zhuge Liang as Wei would not have any need to keep the dangerous Sima Yi around anymore. At that point in the war, it was clear that the Shu forces had already lost. Sima Yi kept Zhuge Liang alive because he knew that Zhuge would come back one day (which he did), thus requiring the Cao family to keep Sima Yi in power.

This is a political mind game instead of a military strategy. Both Sima and Zhuge knew this: As long as Zhuge and Shu Army lives and continue to be a threat to Wei, Sima can keep his status and power and of course keep his head on the shoulders. From Cao Cao to Cao Pi to Cao Rui, the whole Cao's had never fully trusted Sima Yi but they still had to entrust him with military command because of his talents and because he was the only one capable of facing Zhuge. That's in my opinion the real message exchanged between the two in this scene and why Sima insisted on the retreat when they clearly outnumbered the Shu. I really like how this was presented in this scene. Zhuge Liang looks so exhausted yet was still trying everything he can.

This strategy wouldnt work if the enemy was Lu Bu XD edit : it did work on Lu Bu lmao, i dont know much about Chinese kingdoms history so yeah...

From what I heard, Sima retreated so fast his army circled the globe and attacked the other side of the city.

No one : Sima Yi : RETREAT

The last sentence is the most important of why Sima Yi retreated. Zhuge Liang says that Sima Yi knows him well and if he were Sima Yi he would not retreated. Then why Sima Yi retreated? Its because he knows that its not a trap since he understood Zhuge Liang and if he were to attack, it will proof disadvantageous to his "real plan" instead. The real plan is to rise power in Wei Court, if he kills Zhuge Liang now, he would hardly rise in power because of Cao Cao relatives and other generals distrust, in fact they would get rid of Sima once Zhuge dies. He suceeded on gaining the trust of Cao Cao and Cao Pi (They don't trully trust him, but without him they can't fight against Zhuge Liang. Cao Cao knew Sima Yi is an ambitious person, he already warned Cao Pi about the danger of Sima) which he used to establish power for himself in the court, later he feign illness and usurp the Cao family by surprise. Later Sima Yi completely lays path to establish the Jin Dynasty for his descendants.

zhge liang went in and changed his under wear after this.