Zhuge Liang , Sleeping Dragon , was a Chinese soldier and strategist of the kingdom of Shu during the period of the Three Kingdoms (Shu , Wei and Wu ) that disputed control of China after the fall of the Han dynasty . In addition to being a great strategist in the disposition of the troops and reconnaissance of the terrain, he knew how to use his meteorological and astronomical knowledge like no other during the battle.
Zhuge Liang
In 228, Wei's forces, led by Sima Yi , managed to reach the city of Jieting before the bulk of Zhuge Liang's troops . He had to defend that strategic point as it was since from here the troops would be supplied in their expeditions towards the North. But the situation could not be more desperate... to defend the city he had about 1,000 soldiers and in front of them Sima Yi's troops with about 100,000 men. So he had to use his ingenuity... he ordered all the soldiers to dress as civilians and start carrying out tasks typical of a city in times of peace, as if nothing was happening there. He ordered the gates to be opened wide so that it could be seen that the city was calm and he, along with two children, climbed the wall and began to play the guqin (a Chinese seven-stringed instrument). Sima Yi's troops approached to a safe distance from where they could see the interior of the city. Amazed, they watched as the city had not flinched at the presence of the enemy troops. But Sima, who had been defeated on several occasions by Zhuge Liang's ingenuity, mistrusted and, thinking that this apparent normality hid a trap, fled without a fight.
Zhuge Liang with the guqin