Treatise on Military Preparedness, Volume 14

...of the Northern Wei, both the master and his horse were startled. He called for skilled archers to shoot and kill the attackers, and only then did he manage to escape.

The Qi general Lu Kangzuo invaded the Wei territory at Taicang-kou. Wang Su, the Northern Wei Regional Governor of Yuzhou, dispatched his Chief Administrator, Fu Yong, to lead three thousand armored soldiers to counter-attack.

The Qi and Wei armies established camps on opposite sides of the Huai River, separated by a distance of about ten li A traditional unit of distance; ten li is approximately 5 kilometers or 3 miles.. Fu Yong observed: "The Southerners are fond of night raids on camps. They will certainly place torches in the Huai River to mark the shallow crossings."

That night . he divided . his troops . into . two . units . and set an ambush . outside . the camp . Furthermore . he used . dried gourds . to store . fire . and secretly . sent . men . to place . them . in the . deep . parts of the river . He instructed . them: "When . you see . the enemy's . fires . rise . then . you must . also . light . these ."

That night, Lu Kangzuo and his men indeed led their forces to raid Fu Yong’s camp. The ambushing troops struck from both flanks. Lu Kangzuo and his men fled back toward the Huai River. Because the fires rose up simultaneously from various points across the water, the retreating soldiers could not tell which way to go The decoy fires in the deep water confused the retreating soldiers, who mistook the deep areas for the shallow crossings they had marked earlier.. Several thousand were either drowned or decapitated.

Later, Pei Shuye A prominent general who eventually defected between the Southern and Northern dynasties. invaded the Northern Wei city of Chuwangcheng. Wang Su once again ordered Fu Yong to strike him. Fu Yong, taking only one trusted companion, galloped...