Examination of Strategy

Jin, Volume II

An official asked: "Your Majesty does not worry about Fu Deng, who is only sixty li A traditional Chinese unit of distance, roughly 500 meters or 0.3 miles away, yet you worry about Wei Jiefei, who is six hundred li away. Why is this?"

Yao Chang The founding emperor of the Later Qin dynasty, known for his cautious and cunning military tactics replied: "Fu Deng cannot be destroyed in an instant, nor can our city be seized by him in a single stroke. However, Lei Edi’s resourcefulness and strategy are extraordinary. If he leads Wei Jiefei from the south, joins forces with Dong Cheng in the east, and occupies the fortifications at Xingcheng and Lirun, the lands to the northeast of Chang’an The capital city and strategic heart of the Guanzhong region will no longer be ours."

Chang then secretly led sixteen hundred elite troops to the area. Wei Jiefei and Lei Edi commanded a force of tens of thousands, with the Di and Hu Ethnic groups from the northern and western frontier who played a major role in the military conflicts of the Sixteen Kingdoms period joining them in a continuous, unending stream.

Seeing that the Later Qin forces were few in number, the rebels launched a full-scale assault. Yao Chang fortified his defenses and refused to engage in battle, deliberately feigning weakness to embolden the enemy.

He then secretly dispatched cavalry to maneuver behind them. When the cavalry struck, Wei Jiefei’s troops fell into chaos. Chang then unleashed his main army to strike. He beheaded Wei Jiefei and over ten thousand of his officers and soldiers. Following the defeat, Lei Edi requested to surrender. Yao Chang accepted and treated him with the same favor as before.