Lure Your Enemy Onto The Roof, Then Take Away The Ladder

Explaination: With baits and deceptions lure your enemy and draw the opponent into a trap. Then cut off his lines of communication and avenue of escape. One application of this stratagem was to lure the enemy army into attacking what appears to be your own weakened front line. Once they commit to an attack, half your forces rush their flank or rear, thus enabling you to harass them from two sides.

Luring an antagonistic person into saying too much in front of others, or tricking a boaster into making a claim in front of witnesses that he cannot back up, or getting a commitment from an adversary to do things your way are all methods of removing the ladder after the enemy has ascended your walls. An impatient, overly sensitive, choleric person is prone to say too much, and so the best way to handle such a person is by patience and quietness at the start and then firmness and immoveable resolution at the end.

Related story

After defeating the rebel kingdom of Wei, the famous Han general Han Xin was sent to quell the other two kingdoms that had revolted, Qi and Chu. General Han set out towards Qi but Chu sent its general Long Chu with a force of two hundred thousand men to intercept Han's invasion of Qi. The two armies met on opposite sides of the Wei river. General Han ordered his men to fill over ten thousand sandbags and carry them up-river to dam the flow of water. The next morning General Han led his army across the lowered river and attacked Chu, but after a short engagement pretended defeat and fled back across the river. General Long announced, " See I always knew Han Xin was a coward!" and he led his army across the river in pursuit. Through a prearranged signal, General Han had his men break the dam and free the pent up waters. Only half of the Chu army was across the river when the flood cut the army in half drowning those caught midstream. General Han then wheeled around his retreating forces and attacked the advance guard of Chu killing its general Long Chu. The remaining troops panicked and fled in all directions but were captured by the pursuing Han soldiers.