Layered Feint Central Breakthrough / 多路佯动中央突破
Layered feint central breakthrough / 多路佯动中央突破 is the operational pattern Hanji 148-1 extracts from 韩信’s campaign against 章邯. The pattern is not simply “声东击西.” It creates several visible side threats so the enemy believes he has read through the deception, then attacks through the center that the enemy has weakened while guarding against the feints.
In the source case, 灌婴 moves by the Ziwu route, 樊哙 moves by the Qishan route, and 曹参 attacks Xiabian to make the Qishan-side signal stronger. Zhang Han is described as experienced and careful, but that competence becomes part of the trap: he thinks Han Xin’s real aim must be behind the visible side pressure, so he concentrates on the flanks. Han Xin then sends the main force through 陈仓 and converts Zhang Han’s anti-feint judgment into a central opening.
This concept is adjacent to 战场信息控制 and 诱敌离位, but it has a narrower structure: the enemy is not merely pulled forward or fed false information; the enemy is invited to feel superior for detecting the false move, and that second-order confidence becomes the vulnerability.
Key Claims
- A feint can target an opponent’s interpretive confidence, not only his physical position.
- Multiple side threats can make an enemy overcommit to defending against the deception he thinks he has solved.
- The breakthrough must have a prepared center; otherwise side feints only scatter one’s own force.
- Competent opponents can be more vulnerable to layered deception when their experience makes them trust their diagnosis too soon.