Strategy and competition
Su Yu
Outnumbered
Su Yu (China · 1907–1984) — Outnumbered.
What actually happened?
Eastern Henan, the summer of 1948. Rather than look for the enemy's main force, he took Kaifeng, a provincial capital they could not afford to leave in his hands. The relief columns had to come, and they had to come along roads he had already chosen. He let go of the city and turned on the column, and the operation ended with over ninety thousand enemy casualties. Nothing about it was a stronger army beating a weaker one. It was a choice of target that removed the other side's options.
Besiege what they must relieve
Attack the point the other side cannot afford to lose, and then fight the relief force on ground you picked. It puts them in a position where coming costs them and not coming costs them, and it converts a defensive advantage into an engagement on your terms.
Do not attack a larger rival's flagship head on. Press something they are obliged to defend and fight where they have to come to you.
Destroy force, do not take ground
Territory taken has to be held, and holding disperses you. The unit of account he used was enemy strength removed, not places occupied. It is an unglamorous scoreboard and it compounds, because every unit gone is one that does not come back next month.
Chasing a market share number can leave a rival's core team and core customers intact. Those are what actually decide the following year.
Fight when you can win, leave when you cannot
The line usually quoted as if it were about running away is about refusing an unfavourable field. Withdrawing intact from a fight you would lose preserves the force that wins a later one. The decision is made on the terms of the engagement, not on pride.
Declining to compete in a segment where your economics cannot work is not retreat. It is keeping the budget for the segment where they can.
Dissent with the execution already finished
Twice in 1948 he argued against a plan settled above him, while the preparations for that plan carried on at full speed. The second telegram did not repeat the first; it brought a finer set of numbers. When the recommendation was taken, he accepted a stated result in his own name.
Oppose a settled direction only after its preparation is genuinely done, come back with better arithmetic rather than more conviction, and sign for the new route.
How do I use it today?
Facing something much larger, stop looking at its strongest product. Find the thing it is obliged to defend, apply steady pressure there, and concentrate somewhere else while its attention is committed. Count what you have removed from the other side, not what you have occupied.
Deep read
Read alongside
Further
Lines to keep
Fight when you can win; withdraw when you cannot.
Attack what they must relieve; destroy them as they withdraw.
When the situation is clear, the decision can be bold.