Doctrine

The Art of Shaping Conditions at the Battle of Changping: Plan Before Acting, Shape the Situation to Break the Deadlock

长平之战的谋势之道：谋定而后动塑势以破局

PLA Daily (解放军报) 7 May 2026

Summary

PLA Daily authors Che Dongwei and Yang Fei use the 260 BC Battle of Changping as a doctrinal frame to articulate four operational concepts — 示形惑敌 (feigning dispositions to deceive), 战术诱敌 (tactical luring), 分割围敌 (splitting and encircling), and 断链瘫敌 (severing the chain to paralyze) — and map each directly onto informatized and intelligentized warfare, including cognitive domain operations, AI-generated deepfakes, electromagnetic severing, and precision strikes on logistics nodes. The article documents how PLA professional military education media translates classical Chinese strategic thought into concrete multi-domain operational prescriptions, a pattern that extends a well-established genre but here places unusual explicit emphasis on cognitive domain manipulation — social media disinformation, cyberattack-enabled data tampering, and AI deepfakes — as the opening phase of any campaign to break a strategic stalemate. What remains unknown is whether this framing reflects an authoritative doctrinal update or represents the authors' own synthesis.

Translation

Plan Before Acting, Shape the Situation to Break the Deadlock

— The Art of Shaping Conditions (谋势之道) at the Battle of Changping

■ Che Dongwei, Yang Fei

In 260 BC, the Battle of Changping saw the full national power of Qin and Zhao clash, with armies numbering in the hundreds of thousands massing near Changping (present-day Gaoping, Shanxi). Qin was commanded by the Lord of Wu'an, Bai Qi; Zhao initially fielded Lian Po, who was later replaced by Zhao Kuo. As the largest-scale strategic decisive engagement and encirclement-and-annihilation operation in the history of ancient Chinese warfare, the Battle of Changping lasted three years and ended in the catastrophic defeat of the Zhao army, with more than 400,000 troops buried alive. The battle devastated Zhao, laid the cornerstone for Qin's unification of the six states, and profoundly altered the course of history in the late Warring States period.

Planning before acting and shaping the situation to break the deadlock (谋定而后动，塑势以破局) is the key principle for defeating the enemy during a phase of strategic stalemate. At Changping, facing the dilemma of Zhao forces entrenching behind fortifications that exploited favorable terrain and Qin's own overextended supply lines, the Qin army transformed a passive stalemate into an overwhelming advantage through masterful strategic deception and flexible tactical maneuver, ultimately achieving strategic victory. The wisdom demonstrated at Changping — feigning dispositions to deceive the enemy (示形惑敌), tactically luring the enemy (战术诱敌), splitting and encircling the enemy (分割围敌), and severing the chain to paralyze the enemy (断链瘫敌) — retains instructive significance for winning informatized and intelligentized warfare (信息化智能化战争).

Feigning Dispositions to Deceive the Enemy (示形惑敌): Attacking the Mind, Shattering the Enemy's Will to Command. In the early phase of the Battle of Changping, Lian Po held firm against Qin forces behind solid walls and deep trenches. Unable to take the position by direct assault, Qin resorted to a counter-intelligence stratagem (反间之计). Exploiting the Zhao king's dissatisfaction with Lian Po's protracted defensive posture and his desire for a quick victory, Qin dispatched spies with large sums of money into Zhao to spread the rumor that "Qin fears only Zhao Kuo; Lian Po is easy to deal with and is about to surrender." The Zhao king fell for the ruse, changed commanders on the eve of battle, and replaced the seasoned and steady Lian Po with Zhao Kuo, a man who could only talk about the art of war in the abstract. This move not only destroyed the stable command core of the Zhao army but also induced the Zhao forces to abandon their solid defensive posture and shift to a reckless offensive, creating ideal conditions for the Qin army to set an ambush.

Under conditions of informatized and intelligentized warfare, concealing the true and displaying the false (隐真示假) and cognitive attacks on the mind (认知攻心) have assumed unprecedented prominence in the information domain and cognitive domain. It is necessary to comprehensively employ means such as online media, opinion shaping, psychological penetration, and intelligence deception to conduct cognitive domain operations (认知域作战) across all domains and dimensions. Precisely execute cognitive interference against the enemy's command and decision-making echelon, inducing it to make cascading errors in strategic judgment, operational planning, and tactical action. Social media can be used to spread disinformation, cyberattacks launched to tamper with enemy situational data, and artificial intelligence employed to generate deepfake content, creating cognitive confusion and a crisis of trust within the enemy and shaking its military morale. The key lies in shaping a battlefield public opinion posture and psychological advantage favorable to us, imperceptibly eroding the enemy's will to fight and creating favorable opportunities for military action.

Tactical Luring of the Enemy (战术诱敌): Moving the Enemy with Advantage, Creating the Decisive Opportunity. "Warfare is the art of deception (兵者，诡道也)." Facing Zhao Kuo's all-out assault, Bai Qi did not rush to seek a decisive engagement; instead, he adopted the strategy of "advancing by retreating (以退为进)." The Qin army first engaged with a portion of its forces, feigning defeat and withdrawal to inflate Zhao Kuo's arrogance and underestimation of the enemy, luring his main force away from prepared positions and favorable terrain, drawing it ever deeper. Although this tactic entailed localized troop losses, it won the overall strategic initiative, successfully drawing the Zhao army into a pre-designated bag-shaped encirclement zone. The Qin army then immediately exploited favorable terrain and prepared positions to complete the encirclement of the Zhao main force, driving it into a desperate situation.

The informatized and intelligentized battlefield changes moment to moment, with forces that are diverse and complex, demanding that commanders possess extraordinary tactical flexibility and battlefield mobility. Big data analysis, artificial intelligence algorithms, and full-domain real-time situational awareness capabilities should be fully employed to assist commanders in rapidly grasping the complete battlefield picture, precisely anticipating enemy intentions, and dramatically compressing the "observe–orient–decide–act" (观察—判断—决策—行动) operational cycle. Strengthen commanders' capacity for on-the-spot decision-making (临机决断) in complex and fluid environments, with the boldness to deliberately appear weak at the tactical level and to make localized concessions in exchange for strategic initiative across the whole situation and the creation of decisive opportunities. Establish distributed, adaptive, and highly resilient command-and-control systems and cross-domain coordination mechanisms, ensuring that each operational unit can deeply understand intent, act autonomously and flexibly, and coordinate closely and efficiently — seizing fleeting opportunities in dynamic confrontation to achieve maximum results at minimum cost.

Splitting and Encircling the Enemy (分割围敌): Fracturing the Formation, Dismembering the Enemy's Operational System. Targeting Zhao Kuo's psychology of eagerness for quick victory, Bai Qi implemented the strategy of "luring the enemy deep, then splitting and annihilating (诱敌深入、分割围歼)." After successfully luring the enemy deep, he immediately committed two elite cavalry forces in rapid penetration, severing the Zhao army's line of retreat in a single stroke. Simultaneously, another 5,000 elite cavalry surged into the Zhao army's depth, cutting its main force in two and isolating the segments, leaving it unable to attend to both front and rear. This precise splitting allowed the Qin army to achieve absolute numerical superiority at critical local points. The Qin main force then used favorable terrain to construct a tight encirclement, trapping the Zhao army in the Changping valley, ultimately forcing it to exhaustion of food and relief, resulting in the annihilation of the entire force.

The "splitting and encircling" of modern warfare has expanded from traditional physical space into multiple full-domain dimensions including the electromagnetic spectrum, cyberspace, and the cognitive domain. "Splitting" is not merely geographic isolation; it is also the "severing of the chain (断链)" among the enemy's command system, operational networks, key nodes, and the links between operational units. Through jamming and suppression, cyberattacks, and cognitive deception, sever the enemy's command links to render it "deaf" and "blind," paralyze its communications networks to plunge it into "information islands (信息孤岛)," and destroy its data fusion to strip it of "system-wide linkage (体系联动)." Employ unmanned combat swarms, intelligent munitions, and advanced command information systems to conduct precise, acupuncture-point strikes (精准点穴式打击) and systemic severing against the enemy's vital nodes. Use space-based reconnaissance, electronic detection, and cyberspace surveillance to achieve real-time awareness and effectively interdict enemy reinforcement forces. Conduct multi-domain joint coordinated operations, constructing an integrated three-dimensional blockade and control system spanning land, sea, air, space, the electromagnetic spectrum, and cyberspace, trapping the enemy in a situation where "even with wings it cannot fly (插翅难飞)." The key lies in precisely identifying the "vital seven inches (七寸)" of the enemy's operational chain from a system-of-systems confrontation perspective, using full-domain coordinated forces to sever the chain and break the network, dismembering the enemy's complete system into mutually disconnected fragments, achieving defeat in detail.

Severing the Chain to Paralyze the Enemy (断链瘫敌): Pulling Out the Firewood from Under the Cauldron (釜底抽薪), Destroying the Enemy's Sustained Combat Power. "An army without logistical support will perish (军无辎重则亡)." In the later phase of the Battle of Changping, after completing the splitting encirclement, the Qin army immediately focused on paralyzing the Zhao army's lifeline. It not only completely severed the link between the encircled Zhao main force and its rear camps, but also used terrain to construct multiple defensive lines, tightly blockading the Zhao army's food routes and supply corridors. This lethal blow of "cutting off the enemy's route of return and severing its grain supply (断敌归路、绝其粮道)" left more than 400,000 Zhao troops completely isolated and without relief — morale collapsed, fighting spirit disintegrated, and after many days without food they were forced to surrender.

Modern logistical support systems are highly complex, encompassing material supply, equipment maintenance, energy supply, medical support, and information support; they are the lifeline sustaining the operation of the combat system and are also the center of gravity that both sides strike in wartime. It is imperative to accelerate the intelligentized transformation of logistical support, employing technologies such as the Internet of Things, big data, and artificial intelligence to enhance our logistical system's precise situational awareness, real-time responsiveness, dynamic optimization, and intelligent decision-making, building a modern support system that is efficient, highly resilient, and highly adaptive. At the same time, we must be adept at employing advanced means such as reconnaissance satellites, unmanned aerial vehicle swarms, and long-range precision-guided weapons to conduct full-time-domain surveillance and full-chain strikes against the enemy's logistical support system. Focus on blockading and destroying key nodes such as the enemy's transportation corridors, supply hubs, energy facilities, and maintenance bases, precisely paralyzing its support chain. By pulling out the firewood from under the cauldron (釜底抽薪), cause the enemy's combat forces to rapidly wither once they lose sustained support, destroy its capacity for prolonged operations, and create decisive conditions for ultimate victory.

The smoke of the Battle of Changping has long since dissipated, but the wisdom of "shaping conditions to achieve victory (谋势制胜)" it embodies shines brilliantly across time and space. We must profoundly grasp the warfighting philosophy of "plan before acting, shape the situation to break the deadlock (谋定而后动、塑势以破局)," integrate traditional strategic wisdom with the characteristics and laws of informatized and intelligentized warfare, continuously innovate operational methods and training methods (战法训法), temper the art of command, enhance joint full-domain operational capabilities, and ensure that on the future battlefield we can devise strategies from within the command tent (运筹帷幄) and achieve victory through superior situation-shaping (谋势制胜).

Original Chinese

谋定而后动塑势以破局 ——长平之战的谋势之道 ■车东伟杨斐公元前260年的长平之战，秦赵两国倾国相争，百万大军云集长平（今山西高平）附近。秦以武安君白起为帅，赵初以廉颇统军，后改赵括为将。作为中国古代战争史上规模空前的战略决战和围歼典范，长平之战历时三年，终以赵军惨败、四十余万众被坑杀告终。此战重创赵国，为秦统一六国奠定基石，深刻改变了战国后期历史走向。谋定而后动，塑势以破局，是战争僵持阶段克敌制胜的关键法则。长平之战，秦军面对赵军依托地利筑垒固守、自身补给线漫长的困境，通过高明的战略欺骗与灵活的战术机动，将被动相持转化为压倒性优势，最终达成战略决胜。长平之战所展现的示形惑敌、战术诱敌、分割围敌、断链瘫敌等智慧，对打赢信息化智能化战争仍具有启示意义。示形惑敌：攻心夺志，瓦解敌指挥意志。长平之战初期，廉颇依托坚壁深沟与秦军相持。秦强攻难下，遂行反间之计。利用赵王对廉颇持久防御的不满与速胜渴望，秦遣间谍携重金入赵，散布“秦军唯惧赵括，廉颇易与且将降”的谣言。赵王中计，临阵易帅，以空谈兵法的赵括替代老成持重的廉颇。此举不仅摧毁了赵军稳定的指挥核心，更诱使赵军放弃稳固防御，转取冒进攻势，为秦军设伏创造了绝佳条件。信息化智能化战争条件下，隐真示假、认知攻心在信息域、认知域作用空前凸显。须综合运用网络媒体、舆论造势、心理渗透、情报欺骗等手段，全域全维开展认知域作战。精准对敌指挥决策层实施认知干扰，诱使其在战略判断、战役筹划、战术行动上连环失误。可运用社交媒体散布虚假信息，发动网络攻击篡改敌情数据，利用人工智能生成深度伪造内容，制造敌内部认知混乱与信任危机，动摇其军心士气。关键在于塑造于我有利的战场舆论态势和心理优势，于无形中削弱敌作战意志，为军事行动创造有利战机。战术诱敌：以利动敌，创造决胜战机。“兵者，诡道也”。面对赵括的倾力出击，白起未急于决战，而是采取“以退为进”之策。秦军先以部分兵力接战，佯装不敌败退，骄纵赵括轻敌之心，诱使其主力脱离预设阵地和有利地形，不断深入。此战术虽付出局部兵力损失，却赢得全局战略主动，成功将赵军引入预设的袋形包围地域。秦军随即依托有利地形和预设阵地，完成对赵军主力的合围，使其陷入绝境。信息化智能化战场态势瞬息万变，力量多元复杂，要求指挥员具备超常的战术灵活性与战场机动力。应充分运用大数据分析、人工智能算法和全域实时感知能力，辅助指挥员快速洞悉战场全貌，精准预判敌行动意图，大幅缩短“观察—判断—决策—行动”作战周期。强化指挥员在复杂多变环境中的临机决断能力，敢于在战术层面主动示弱、局部放弃，以换取战略全局的主动与决定性战机的创造。建立分布式、自适应、强韧性的指挥控制体系与跨域协同机制，确保各作战单元能深刻理解意图、自主灵活行动、紧密高效协同，在动态对抗中捕捉稍纵即逝的战机，以最小代价达成最大战果。分割围敌：裂阵破势，肢解敌作战体系。针对赵括急于求胜的心理，白起实施“诱敌深入、分割围歼”方略。在成功诱敌深入后，迅即投入两支精锐骑兵快速穿插，一举切断赵军退路。同时，另遣五千精骑迅猛突入赵军纵深，将其主力拦腰斩断、分割孤立，致其首尾难顾。这种精准的分割，使秦军得以在关键局部形成绝对优势兵力。随后，秦军主力依托有利地形构筑严密包围圈，将赵军合围于长平谷地，最终迫使其粮尽援绝，全军覆没。现代战争的“分割围歼”，已从传统物理空间拓展至电磁频谱、网络空间、认知领域等多维全域。“分割”不仅是地理隔绝，更是对敌指挥体系、作战网络、关键节点和作战单元间联系的“断链”。通过干扰压制、网络攻击、认知欺骗等手段，断敌指挥链路使其成为“聋子”“瞎子”，瘫敌通信网络使其陷入“信息孤岛”，毁敌数据融合使其失去“体系联动”。运用无人作战集群、智能弹药与先进指挥信息系统，对敌要害节点实施精准点穴式打击与体系性割裂。利用天基侦察、电子侦测与网空监控，实时感知并有效拦阻敌增援力量。实施多域联合协同作战，构建陆海空天电网一体化的立体封锁控扼体系，陷敌于“插翅难飞”之境。关键在于从体系对抗视角精准识别敌作战链条的“七寸”，以全域联动力量实施断链破网，将敌完整体系肢解为互不关联的碎片，实现分而歼之。断链瘫敌：釜底抽薪，摧毁敌持续战力。“军无辎重则亡”。长平之战后期，秦军在完成分割合围后，迅即聚焦于瘫痪赵军生命线。不仅彻底切断被围赵军主力与后方营垒的联系，更依托地形构筑多重防线，严密封锁赵军粮道和补给通道。这种“断敌归路、绝其粮道”的致命一击，使四十余万赵军彻底陷入孤立无援之境，军心瓦解，士气崩溃，在断粮多日后被迫投降。现代后勤保障体系高度复杂，涵盖物资补给、装备维修、能源供应、卫勤救护、信息支撑等，是维系作战体系运转的生命线，亦是战时双方打击的重心。必须加速推进后勤保障智能化转型，运用物联网、大数据、人工智能等技术，提升我后勤体系的精确感知、实时响应、动态优化和智能决策水平，构建高效、韧性强、适应性好的现代化保障体系。同时，要善于运用侦察卫星、无人机蜂群、远程精确制导武器等先进手段，全时域监控、全链路打击敌后勤保障体系。重点封锁摧毁敌运输通道、补给枢纽、能源设施、维修基地等关键节点，精确瘫痪其保障链条。通过釜底抽薪，使敌作战力量在丧失持续保障后迅速衰竭，摧毁其长期作战能力，为最终决胜创造决定性条件。长平之战的硝烟虽已散去，但其蕴含的“谋势制胜”智慧穿越时空，熠熠生辉。我们更需深刻领悟“谋定而后动、塑势以破局”的战争哲学，将传统谋略智慧与信息化智能化战争特点规律相结合，不断创新战法训法，锤炼指挥艺术，提升联合全域作战能力，确保在未来战场上能够运筹帷幄、谋势制胜。