Battle of Maling
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| Battle of Maling | |||||||
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| Combatants | |||||||
| State of Qi | State of Wei | ||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| Tian Ji | Pang Juan | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| unknown | 100,000 cavalry and infantry | ||||||
| Casualties | |||||||
| unknown | 100,000 dead | ||||||
The Battle of Maling (馬陵之戰) was conducted in Maling, currently Dazhangjia Town (大张家镇), Shen County (莘县), Henan Province, in 342 BC during the Warring States Period. The combatants were the state of Qi, who fought on behalf of state of Han, and the state of Wei. This battle is well recorded in history texts and is famous for the tactics of Sun Bin, known as the Tactic of Missing Stoves, in which the enemy is led to underestimate the enemy by creating an illusion of a soldiers running away from the army.
Pang Juan, commander of Wei, was lured to a narrow pass at night, where his army was ambushed by 10,000 archers of Qi. Pang Juan committed suicide, and Wei was defeated. The power of Wei was decreased significantly, making it unable to compete for Kingship of the Zhou Dynasty.
In 342 BC, the state of Wei attacked the state of Han, and Han turned to Qi for help. Sun Bin advised King Wei of Qi to provide military aid for Han, but only send out troops when the army of Wei has been depleted after prolonged fighting in order to preserve their own strength while garnering respect from Han.
Han was mislead to believe that they could rely on the army of their ally, Qi, and thus fought without reserve. After a year of resistance, Han was no longer able to resist, and asked for help from Qi a second time. This time, King Wei decided that both Han and Wei were exhausted, and appointed Tian Ji as chief commander and Sun Bin as military advisor of the Qi army to save Han. Instead of sending troops to save Han directly, Sun Bin suggested to aim for the capital of Wei, Daliang.
When King Hui of Wei learned of the attack, he had to order Pang Juan, general of Wei, to retreat in order to defend against the oncoming army of Qi. Pang Juan was incensed at the news, because he was only days away from taking the capital of Han. King Hui of Wei appointed Prince Shen of Wei as Chief commander and Pang Juan as commander, and ordered an army of 100,000 to mobilize against Qi.
In order to mislead his enemy, Sun Bin ordered his soldiers to make less stoves day by day. On the first day, Qi had stoves enough for 100,000 people; on the second day, there were only stoves for 50,000 people. On the third day, there were only stoves for an army of 20,000. As Pang Juan saw this, he judged that the soldiers of Qi were deserting their army and decided to pursue the Qi army with an elite cavalry. As Qi retreated into their own territory, Sun Bin ordered his troops to abandan some of their heavy artillery. This further gave the impression of a state of confusion amongst the Qi army. As Qi arrived at Maling, Sun Bin noticed a heavily wooded and narrow pass that could be used for ambush. Estimating the arrival of Pang Juan around nightfall, he ordered to have a tree cut down, its bark removed, and the words "Pang Juan shall die under this tree" carved. He then ordered his archers to hide close to the tree, and told them to aim for a torch at night. When Pang Juan arrived in Maling, he noticed words carved on the tree, and lit a torch to read it. Suddenly, the archers fired and the Wei army was decimated. Seeing his army defeated under the Qi arrows, Pang Juan committed suicide.
After the death of Pang Juan, Prince Shen was captured by Qi. The power of the state of Wei decreased considerably after this battle.
