During the Warring States period, the Yan army, led by General Yue Yi and allied with several other states, launched a massive invasion against the state of Qi with hundreds of thousands of troops. The Yan forces swept through Qi like a storm, quickly capturing Qi's capital city, Linzi. The King of Qi fled in terror to Shandong. At this time, the state of Chu sent a general named Nao, who claimed he was coming to reinforce Qi. The king believed him and appointed him as chancellor, but he was not truly there to help. Instead, he intended to collude with Yan to divide Qi's territory. Soon, the treacherous Nao murdered the Qi king.
With unstoppable momentum, Yue Yi's Yan army seized 70 cities of Qi, leaving only the two cities of Ju and Jimo still stubbornly resisting. Qi was on the brink of extinction.
With the fall of Linzi and the death of their king, civilians scattered in all directions, fleeing for their lives. Qi's roads were packed with refugees. Among the distant royal relatives of Qi was a man named Tian Dan, who had previously served as a minor official managing the market in Linzi. Forced by circumstances, he too fled the city in a cart. On the road, people, vehicles, and horses were jammed together, barely advancing ten li in half a day. Tian Dan ordered his men to stop the cart, then personally sawed off the cart's axle and fitted a metal cap over the end to protect it. As other carts passed by, many people poked their heads out, watching Tian Dan sweating profusely as he worked, mocking him: "At a time like this, are you still fiddling with your cart? Is it broken?" Tian Dan shook his head: "No, I want it to run faster!" Refugees debated among themselves, some calling him foolish, others calling him clever. Tian Dan said nothing more and continued modifying his cart.
Ahead lay a mountain pass with even narrower roads. With so many people and carts, someone suddenly shouted, "The Yan army is coming!" Panic erupted instantly. Many carts, with long axles, collided with each other, creaking and groaning, moving as slowly as snails. Without protective metal caps, some axles snapped at the slightest bump.
Unable to move, carts faced capture by the Yan army, leading to destruction and death. Only Tian Dan's cart, solid and sturdy with its short axle, rarely collided with others. Soon, it escaped the danger zone and evaded the pursuing forces.
Later, people flocked to Tian Dan for advice, and under his guidance, they modified their own carts as well.
Not long after, the Yan army laid siege to Jimo. Jimo was one of only two remaining cities in Qi. If it fell, Qi would be lost. At this critical moment, the general defending Jimo had already died in battle. A new leader was needed to rally the people of Jimo to fight the Yan army and defend the city—perhaps the only hope for survival.
People looked at each other, and many eyes turned to Tian Dan. Recalling how he had modified the carts during the escape, they all agreed he was intelligent and brave, and unanimously elected him as their commander.
Tian Dan hesitated at first, but then thought: "With our nation destroyed and families lost, what is there to hesitate about?" He declared: "Since you all trust me, I will stand with you to defend Jimo to the death, sharing the fate of this city!" Supported by everyone, Tian Dan assumed command of Jimo's resistance.
For several days, Tian Dan could neither eat nor sleep properly, staying awake all night. He knew that without a clever strategy, there was no way to defeat the powerful Yan army. After much contemplation, he devised a brilliant plan of sowing discord. He learned that King Hui of Yan, who had recently ascended the throne, had once been humiliated by Yue Yi when he was still a crown prince, and that there was lingering resentment between them. Why not use a small trick to weaken Yue Yi's standing in King Hui's eyes? He sent spies overnight to Yan's capital, spreading rumors everywhere: "Why has Yue Yi been unable to capture Jimo? He wants to use this opportunity to build support in Qi and become king himself. He looks down on King Hui of Yan and has no intention of returning to serve him. Since his plan hasn't succeeded yet, he's not seriously attacking Jimo."
King Hui of Yan was already wary of Yue Yi's growing achievements and feared he would look down on him. Upon hearing these rumors, he flew into a rage, immediately issuing an order to recall Yue Yi and replace him with a general named Qi Jie. When Yue Yi received the imperial decree, he stood stunned for a long time, said nothing, muttered a curse, and abandoned his army, leaving.
The success of the disinformation campaign thrilled Tian Dan, who clapped his hands in excitement. Yet he remained calm, realizing that the newly arrived Yan commander, Qi Jie, was an even fiercer opponent who would soon regroup and launch an assault on Jimo. He needed to boost the morale of Jimo's soldiers and civilians to repel the Yan army.
At the time, morale in Jimo was low. Many advocated opening the city gates and welcoming the Yan army, arguing it would be better than being slaughtered when they broke in. Hearing this, Tian Dan remained silent but issued a strange order: everyone in the city, young and old, must perform ancestral rites before every meal. He set the example himself, placing food and dishes in the middle of his courtyard and conducting a solemn prayer ceremony. As soon as people left, flocks of sparrows appeared from nowhere, scrambling for the food. As more people performed the rites and scattered more grains, even more sparrows descended into the city, filling the skies with their chirping. The people of Jimo were puzzled, and even the Yan soldiers outside the city were astonished: why were so many birds flying into the city? Tian Dan, however, calmly told everyone: "This is heaven's will. The heavens are sending divine spirits to aid us! We must defend Jimo and achieve victory!" A young soldier with big eyes jumped out of the crowd, tilting his head and saying: "General, you're wrong..." Before he could continue, Tian Dan covered his mouth, pulled him into his tent, and sternly warned him: "If you keep talking nonsense, I'll tear your mouth open!" Then he burst into laughter. The young soldier was first frightened, but seeing the general laugh, he joined in, unsure what game the general was playing. Tian Dan then confided his true intentions to the soldier. Understanding, the young man immediately volunteered, saying he had a special technique for summoning sparrows, taught to him by his grandfather back home. Overjoyed, Tian Dan appointed him "Divine Master," charging him daily with attracting sparrows on the city walls. Every order Tian Dan issued was proclaimed as the Divine Master's decree, with the spirit said to reside within the young soldier. This tactic worked perfectly, stunning everyone with awe. Even the Yan army heard of it and whispered among themselves in fear: "If this is truly heaven's will, how can we defeat the gods? Let's retreat before the divine spirits punish us!"
Qi Jie, however, refused to fall for Tian Dan's tricks. He worked day and night to reorganize his troops and prepare for an assault.
After careful thought, Tian Dan devised a third strategy: to provoke the Yan army into committing acts that would deepen the hatred of the Qi people. He sent two trusted agents to secretly infiltrate the Yan camp, spreading rumors: "The people of Qi fear nothing in heaven or earth, but they dread flat noses! If you cut off the noses of captured Qi people and force them to lead the assault on Qi, Qi will surely be defeated." Qi Jie, a man of courage but no strategy, believed the idea and actually carried it out. Soldiers on Jimo's walls watched their fellow countrymen being led to the front lines with their noses cut off, their eyes blazing with fury, cursing: "Kill us if you must, but why torture us like this?" Unable to bear the sight, they rushed to find Tian Dan. Seizing the moment, Tian Dan gathered everyone on the city wall and shouted: "Did you all see that? These beasts will stop at nothing! If the city falls, our noses will all be cut off!" His words poured oil on the fire, igniting the soldiers' rage. They roared together: "Defeat the Yan army! Avenge our countrymen!"
The agents hidden in the Yan camp continued spreading rumors on Tian Dan's orders, saying the Qi people feared nothing more than the desecration of ancestral graves. Once graves were dug up, their hearts would break, and with broken hearts, how could they fight? The Yan army believed this too, and promptly sent men to dig up graves outside the city, exposing corpses to the open sky, dousing them with oil, and setting them ablaze. Thick smoke drifted into the city, drawing the Qi people to the walls to watch. They wept bitterly, kneeling before Tian Dan, begging him to open the gates and let them fight the Yan army to the death.
Tian Dan, however, deliberately said: "It's not time yet. Don't be hasty, no need to rush!" One Qi officer could no longer contain himself, actually punching Tian Dan and shouting: "You don't care about your ancestors anyway, so you're not afraid of the burning!" Tian Dan did not retaliate. With tears in his eyes, he looked at the officer and said emotionally: "I too am born of parents, flesh and blood. Do you think my heart isn't aching? But to completely crush the enemy, we must endure, endure a little longer!" Now, Tian Dan felt confident. Once battle began, the Qi army and people would fight with burning hatred, each man equal to ten enemies. Thinking this, his heart stirred with excitement.
Next, he ordered all soldiers to rest in the city, ready at any moment to engage in battle. He had elderly and weak women man the city walls, while sending several representatives out of the city to negotiate surrender terms with the Yan army. This move delighted the Yan soldiers, who believed victory was at hand and they would soon return home to reunite with their families. Who still had the will to fight? Some even hung their swords on walls or stuck their spears into the ground like clotheslines. A few perceptive Yan officers saw through Tian Dan's ruse, refusing to believe Qi would surrender, and urged Qi Jie not to fall for Tian Dan's trick, insisting they press the attack on Jimo. Upon learning this, Tian Dan had a flash of inspiration. He collected gold from the city, sent men out to bribe Yan officers, pleading that after the city fell, they spare their families' property. This convinced even the skeptical Yan officers. One officer, after accepting the gold, even gave the messenger advice: "You'd better plant a small flag at the door of the house giving the gold. We won't cross that threshold!" The Yan officers now firmly believed Tian Dan's surrender was genuine. Convinced of imminent victory, they became increasingly complacent.
Meanwhile, Tian Dan was quietly preparing a major operation: gathering large numbers of plow oxen. Within a month, he collected over a thousand. He disguised them, dressing them in silk robes painted with colorful dragon patterns, binding sharp knives to their horns, and tying bundles of oil-soaked straw to their tails.
A stunning "Fiery Bull Formation" attack was silently ready.
On a dark, moonless night, Tian Dan organized the oxen into formations and drove them into dozens of tunnels previously dug beneath the city walls. Behind each ox followed five strong soldiers, totaling over five thousand men.
The moment of attack arrived. At Tian Dan's command, soldiers lit the straw bundles on the oxen's tails. The bundles burst into torches, setting the tails ablaze. In pain, the oxen smashed through the wooden barriers blocking the tunnels and charged wildly outside the city.
Over a thousand fiery oxen surged forward like a tidal wave, trampling the Yan army's camp. It was still dark, and the Yan soldiers were asleep. Hearing the chaos, they scrambled up, only to see flames lighting the sky and countless dragon-patterned beasts descending from heaven. They recalled the sparrows that had flown into the city and became even more convinced this was divine intervention. Brave soldiers who rushed out bare-chested to resist found the knives bound to the oxen's horns terrifyingly sharp—anyone struck was either killed or wounded. Many soldiers had their bellies sliced open, spilling their entrails.
The crackling of fire, clashing of weapons, cries for help, and the bellowing of oxen merged into a cacophony. The entire Yan camp was like an overturned sea, in utter chaos. Qi Jie leapt onto his horse, shouting himself hoarse, but no one listened. Yan soldiers fled for their lives, with no one willing to fight.
"Clang, clang, clang! Dong, dong, dong!" Suddenly, the city walls of Jimo rang with gongs and drums, beaten by the women and elderly left behind under Tian Dan's orders. With insufficient instruments, they brought out pots and pans from their homes, creating a deafening roar that spurred the five thousand warriors below to charge wildly through the enemy ranks. Qi Jie suddenly collided with a half-burned old ox. The ox let out a furious bellow, lowered its head, and charged with all its might. The two knives on its horns pierced Qi Jie's ribs, lifting him into the air before hurling him violently to the ground. Qi Jie died instantly.
By dawn, the Yan army of hundreds of thousands had collapsed.
The people in Qi territories occupied by Yan, seeing the Qi army from Jimo defeat the Yan forces, erupted like a volcano. They raised banners against Yan, blocking the Yan army's retreat. With their help, Tian Dan quickly reclaimed all the land seized by Yan.
Qi was revived. Tian Dan led his forces to Shandong to welcome the crown prince, who had been in exile, back to the throne. He became King Xiang of Qi. After returning to Linzi, King Xiang conferred on Tian Dan the title of "Prince of Anping," granting him the land of Anping to honor his achievements. Tian Dan laughed and said: "This is no merit of mine. It should be credited to the divine spirits, who sent down the fiery bulls to aid me!" King Xiang stood stunned for a long time, then finally understood, bursting into hearty laughter.
Category