If your enemies believe you are an easy target to be pushed around, flip the script with a sudden, shocking move design to scare them. Find something they value and use it against them.
If doing so infuriates them and causes them to attempt to attack you, back off temporarily, then hit them when they do not expect it. Show them you are not afraid and are capable of being ruthless.
You need not go too far, just let them experience a little pain. As Robert the Bruce did, make the message short, sweet, and, above all, clear.
Robert the Bruce Takes On The English
The thirteenth century warrior-king of England, Edward I, was determined to bring all of the British Isles to heel. First, he turned his attention westwards to Wales and successfully conquered it.
Then he looked north, towards Scotland. Once there, he laid siege to towns, tore down castles and all those who dared to resist him. He was particularly brutal with rebellious Scots, such as the famous Sir William Wallace, who was publicly tortured, hung, castrated, disembowelled, beheaded, and then (as though he had not been punished enough) quartered.
Yet, one lord still eluded him: Robert the Bruce, Earl of Carrick. The earl had fled north, where he had himself crowned king of Scotland. In the meantime, Edward rounded up his family, killed the men and locked the women up in cages.
Defiant, Robert the Bruce swore to revenge himself upon him and rid Scotland of the cancer that was the English. Hearing this, Edward became even more determined.
Unfortunately, however, he caught a small case of death before he could do so. Soon, his son, Edward II, was on throne.
The new king did not share his father’s love of war. The former king had left the kingdom with secure built on the back of a formidable, resourceful, and well-paid army.
There was little to fear from the primitive Scottish, and should the need arise, he could always send a large army against them. It did not take too long for him to be tested.
Not too long into Edwards’s reign, Bruce managed to take a couple Scottish castles from the English and had them razed to the ground. An army was sent to counter him, but Bruce simply fled into the forests and refused to give battle.
Edward sent more soldiers to secure the remaining strongholds, but word began to reach him telling of some unfortunate news. Highly mobile Scottish horsemen had suddenly raided northern England, devastated the countryside, and destroyed crops and livestock alike.
This latest English campaign into Scotland was suddenly become quite costly, so it was called off. But Edward would try again in a few years.
This time the English fared better as they managed to penetrate deeper than ever before into Scottish territory. But just as before, the Scottish raiders moved into northern England and laid waste.
Meanwhile, Robert the Bruce was again retreating and refusing to give battle. Exhausted and worn out, the English gave up the chase and decided to go home.
As they moved into northern England, they got to see what was left of their homes, crops, and livestock. Morale sank. No-one wanted to fight the Scottish again.
Slowly, the hard-won castles were lost and taken back into Scottish hands.
In the year 1314, the Scots would engage the English at Bannockburn, where they inflicted a humiliating defeat. But Edward II swore vengeance yet again and launched another campaign.
This time, the campaign was more vigorous than ever before (one might even call it a campaign worthy of his father), but history was to repeat. The Scots first scorched their own land in order to deny Edward’s army supplies, which lead to starvation and dysentery.
This forced the English into retreat, and once again, they moved back into northern England where they found it razed more thoroughly than before. While hunger and disease finished of the rest of the army, Edward’s lords decided that enough was enough and deposed him in favour of his son.
The next year, Edward III signed a peace treaty with the Scots, granting them independence and the acknowledgement of Robert the Bruce as their rightful king.
Analysis
When the English moved into Scotland, they suffered from a disease many before them have experienced – overconfidence. That being said, it was not entirely their fault.
Scotland was indeed poor, ill-equipped, and bitterly divided. There should have been no reason preventing the English from taking control both quickly and easily.
This was the genius behind Robert the Bruce’s strategy – he understood Scotland’s relative weakness, so he did not try to fight head-on. Instead, he hit them where he knew it would hurt.
Whenever the English launched an incursion, he made it clear they would suffer in some way. Attack Scotland, and you will lose valuable farmland, you will be harassed, you will starve, and you will lose your lives.
At first the English did not get this message. Nor did they get it the second time. But by the third, their thirst for war was quickly draining. And eventually they gave up.
The principle behind this deterrence strategy is when someone attacks or threatens you, they will suffer likewise. They may be stronger than you, and may win some battles, but it will come at such a cost that they will end up with a bloody nose – it is a Pyrrhic victory of sorts.
There is no need to attack directly. It is about presenting a choice: life will be painful if you continue attacking me, so either you can stop, or I’ll hurt something you value.
You are like a wasp. Despite being small, people avoid wasps for a reason.
Footnotes & Further Reading
Greene, Robert. The 33 Strategies of War. Millionaire, 2006
