⚔️ Story 30: Zhang Fei Pretends to Be Drunk

1. Zhang Fei Feigns Drunkenness to Lure the Enemy into a Trap

 

Furthermore: Liu Dai knew his general Wang Zhong had been captured by Zhang Fei, so he held his camp tightly, afraid to venture out.

 

Zhang Fei cursed loudly in front of the camp every day, and Liu Dai, knowing it was Zhang Fei, dared not come out even more. After several days of guarding the camp and seeing Liu Dai's refusal to engage, Zhang Fei devised a plan:

 

He issued an order to launch a surprise attack on Liu Dai's camp at around 10 PM that night. During the day, however, he drank in his tent, pretending to be drunk. Then, he found fault with a soldier, beat him severely, tied him up, and shouted, "When I march out tonight, I'll use you as a sacrifice to the battle flag (to pray for victory)!"

 

But he secretly ordered someone nearby to release the soldier. The soldier escaped and secretly ran to Liu Dai's camp, reporting Zhang Fei's planned attack that night. Seeing the severely wounded surrendered soldier, Liu Dai believed him and emptied his camp, hiding all his soldiers outside in ambush.

 

2. Zhang Fei's Three-Pronged Attack Captures Liu Dai

 

At the second watch of the night, General Zhang Fei divided his forces into three groups. The middle group, consisting of only thirty-odd men, was tasked with raiding the camp and setting it on fire; the other two groups circled around to the rear of Liu Dai's camp, and upon seeing the fire, they would all rush out to attack.

At ten o'clock that night, Zhang Fei himself led his elite troops, first cutting off Liu Dai's retreat. The middle group of thirty-odd men rushed into the camp and set it ablaze.

Just as Liu Dai's ambushing soldiers were preparing to storm the empty camp, Zhang Fei's other two groups of troops simultaneously charged out. Liu Dai's soldiers, unsure of Zhang Fei's exact numbers, were thrown into chaos and fled in all directions.

 

Liu Dai, with a small remaining squad of soldiers, desperately searched for a way to escape, only to run right into Zhang Fei! On the narrow path, there was no time to hide. In the ensuing battle, after less than a single exchange, Liu Dai was captured alive by Zhang Fei! The remaining soldiers all surrendered.

 

030 

Zhang Fei wanted to defeat Cao Cao's subordinate, Wang Zhong. Wang Zhong knew Zhang Fei was very powerful and dared not fight him. Zhang Fei deliberately found a soldier in the camp, pretended to be drunk, and intentionally beat the soldier severely. This soldier, feeling unjustly beaten, was angry and decided to rebel. During the rebellion, he brought some information to Wang Zhong. Seeing how badly he had been beaten, Wang Zhong thought the information was credible and made arrangements accordingly. As a result, Zhang Fei, using a counter-strategy, followed Wang Zhong's plan and set a trap in reverse, completely defeating Wang Zhong.