Making a surprise move
During the Warring States Period (B.C. 403-221) in China, there was a general called Le Yi in the state of Yan, who was appointed to invade the state of Qi. As Le was a master of stratagem, he soon seized more than 70 cities of the country in a short period of time, but somehow just left out two cities called Mo Cheng and Lu Cheng.
Tian Shan was a brilliant commander in the state of Qi, who was determined to fight back and retrieved his country`s land. Tian certainly understood the challenge he had faced after all - the state of Yan was a very powerful country and there was only a little chance that Tian and his people could win the victory. However, the patriot was not willing to give up but immediately mobilized his people to fight back when Mo Cheng was overrun with Yan soldiers.
Tian came up with several strategies. He first assigned some folk to spread rumors that General Le in Yan disrespected his emperor. As soon as the rumors were fully circulated and heard by the emperor, Le was dismissed from the court as Tian expected. The commander then took an opportunity to attack Yan.
He assembled thousand cows, tied razor-sharp blades in their horns together with soaked reeds at their tails. One night at the Yan`s military camp, Tian and 5,000 soldiers stood behind the cows and lit a fire on the reeds. The cows sprinted to Yan soldiers and killed most of them. Tian, ultimately, helped Qi to win the victory and got back their lost lands.
Translation:
출기제승(出奇制勝）
출기出奇)：surprise
제(制)：prevail
승(勝)：victory
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