Chapter 63: Preparations Against Swarming Assaults (E Fu)
Qinzi bowed twice and said, “May I ask, if the enemy, regardless of their strength, swarms and attaches themselves to our city walls like ants, with the rear troops continuously advancing and the vanguard willing to have their limbs severed without retreating, establishing this as their military law; if they level the ground at the base of the wall to use as a foundation and dig holes underneath for shelter, with the front troops climbing ceaselessly and the rear troops shooting arrows rapidly, what should we do?”
Master Mo said, “Are you asking about defending against ‘E Fu’ (swarming assaults)? E Fu is a tactic born from the anger and impatience of a commander. To defend against it, build auxiliary walls (Xing Lin) to shoot down from above, use mechanical shields to cover the defenders, push the enemy away with long poles, pour boiling water on them, cover them with burning shields (Da), and rain down sand and stones. Thus, the swarming assault will be defeated.
To prepare against E Fu, construct suspended shields (Xuan Pi). Use wooden boards two cun thick, three chi long front to back, five chi wide side to side, and five chi high. Equip the bottom with folding wheels (Mo Che) with a diameter of one chi six cun. Have one man operate a two-zhang-long, four-chi-wide double-edged pole, standing inside the suspended shield, which is hung by iron chains. Install pulley mechanisms on the crossbeams of two shields, operated by four strong men pulling them up and down without leaving their posts. Space the suspended shields generally every twenty bu, and every six bu in the main attack sector.
Construct large shields (Lei Da), two zhang square, with a wooden top crossbeam, densely woven with thick hemp ropes coated in mud, and hung by iron hooks at both ends. When the enemy swarms the wall, lower the burning shields to cover them, using carts and nets to assist. Use two-wheeled carts with a wide space between the axles to ram the enemy. Smear the ends with mud and bind the wheels. Load the cart with elm wood or green branches, and surround it with thorns; this is called ‘Huo Zuo’ (Fire Bundle) or ‘Chuan Tang’ (Boiling Cauldron), used against the main enemy formation. When the enemy climbs, ignite the Chuan Tang, cut the ropes to drop it, and have brave warriors follow to strike. With the warriors in front, repair the damaged walls from above.
Set up sharpened wooden stakes (Chan Yi) at the base of the wall, five chi long, over one and a half wei in circumference, sharpened at the end, arranged in five rows with three chi between rows, buried three chi deep, and firmly planted. Make connected maces (Lian Shu), five chi long and ten chi in circumference. Clubs two chi long and six cun in circumference, with two-chi ropes. Mallets with six-chi handles and one-and-a-half-chi heads. Axes with six-chi handles and sharp blades; keep one of each. Shields one zhang two chi wide and one zhang six chi long, hanging four chi below the front crossbeam, overlapping one chi at the ends, not staggered like fish scales. Attach a two-zhang-six-chi rope to the center of the back. Seal gaps in shield towers with wooden slips, sun-dry them repeatedly, and make them latticed for ventilation. If parapets are damaged, bury ten-chi wooden posts, nail them in, and press thin wooden boards (Lu Bo), eight chi long, seven cun wide, and one cun thick, hammering them into upper and lower mortises.
For each crossbeam, equip hooks, grain towers, and stone nets. Hang shields with posts inside the wall, not outside.
Set up defensive fences (Du Ge), buried four chi deep, up to ten zhang high, with mixed-length wood, sharpened at the top, and thickly plastered inside and out.
Build forward walkways and hang shields. Build corner towers that curve inward. Pile earth every five bu, not exceeding twenty lei. Make shooting holes (Jue Xue) every ten chi, three chi below the parapets, widened outward. Rotate towers, scatter stones, water pools, and leather basins on the wall. If rotated to strike the enemy’s rear, any failure must be punished. Protect carts with leather against fire. …
To kill swarming attackers: Set up a wooden fence (Bo) ten chi outside the wall, ten chi thick. Cut the wood at the base, in ten-chi sections, bury them deep in pits, and ram the earth firmly so they cannot be pulled out. Set up a defensive point (Sha) every twenty bu, ten chi thick, with two gates five bu wide. The gate planks should be shallowly buried for easy removal. Set up pounding mechanisms above these gates.
Hang fire weapons. Place a stand every four chi, a stove every five bu with furnace charcoal. When the enemy is fully inside, use fire carts to burn the gate, followed by hanging fire weapons. Deploy carts standing upright, as wide as the enemy formation, with a fire weapon between every two carts. Wait for the drumbeat to ignite and launch them all at once. When the enemy retreats from the fire and attacks again, lower the hanging fire weapons; the enemy will suffer greatly. When the enemy retreats in distress, order our death-defying soldiers to sally forth from the left and right tunnel gates to strike the remnants. Command the brave warriors and generals to advance and retreat according to the city’s drumbeats. Set up ambushes, and at midnight, beat drums and shout from all four sides of the wall. The enemy will be bewildered, allowing you to break their army and kill their generals. Wear white clothes as uniforms and use signals to identify each other.”
Note
This chapter details defenses against suicidal ant-like swarming assaults. It covers pulley-hung shields, incendiary carts, wall stakes, boiling liquids, plus midnight ambushes and white-cloaked night troops to rout enemy waves.
Qin Guli (禽滑厘 / Qinzi, Qin Huali):
Qin Guli (Qin Huali), Mozi’s chief disciple and the primary questioner in the defensive chapters of the Mozi. His detailed inquiries reflect the highly systematic and practical nature of Mohist military training.
E Fu (蛾傅 / Swarming Assault):
Literally “moth attachment,” this term describes a brutal siege tactic where attackers swarm the walls in dense, suicidal waves, indifferent to casualties. Mozi characterizes this as a tactic born of a commander’s “anger and impatience”, highlighting the Mohist belief that irrational, emotion-driven warfare is fundamentally flawed and can be countered with disciplined engineering.
Suspended Shields & Mechanical Defenses (县脾):
The Mohists utilized advanced mechanical engineering, including pulley systems and suspended wooden shields equipped with double-edged polearms. This allowed defenders to safely engage enemies at close range on the vertical face of the wall without exposing themselves to arrows.
Incendiary & Chemical Warfare (火捽 / 传汤):
The text details the use of “Fire Bundles” (carts loaded with thorns and green wood) and boiling liquids to clear swarming enemies. This represents an early form of area-denial and crowd-control weaponry in ancient siegecraft.
Psychological Warfare & Night Raids:
The chapter concludes with a classic Mohist counter-offensive strategy: using white clothing as night-vision camouflage, coordinating sorties with drumbeats, and launching midnight ambushes to induce panic and rout the enemy. This shows a sophisticated understanding of battlefield psychology.
Xuan Pi (县脾):
Suspended, mobile wooden shields used as armored fighting positions on city walls.
Chuan Tang (传汤):
Literally “passing the boiling soup,” referring to incendiary carts or cauldrons dropped onto attackers.
Sha (杀):
Fortified defensive nodes or killing zones integrated into the outer perimeter defenses.
63章 备蛾傅
禽子再拜再拜曰：“敢问适人强弱，遂以傅城，后上先断，以为法程；斩城为基，掘下为室。前上不止，后射既疾，为之奈何？”
子墨子曰：子问蛾傅之守邪？蛾傅者，将之忿者也。守为行临射之，校机藉之，擢之，太氾迫之，烧荅覆之，沙石雨之，然则蛾傅之攻败矣。
备蛾傅为县脾，以木板厚二寸，前后三尺，旁广五尺，高五尺，百折为下磨车，转径尺六寸，令一人操二丈四方，刃其两端，居县脾中，以铁璅，敷县二脾上衡，为之机，令有力四人下上之，弗离。施县脾，大数二十步一，攻队所在六步一。
为纍荅，广从丈各二尺，以木为上衡，以麻索大遍之，染其索涂中，为铁鏁，钩其两端之县。客则蛾傅城，烧荅以覆之连、抄大皆救之。以车两走，轴间广大，以圉犯之，融其两端以束轮，遍遍涂其上，室中以榆若蒸，以棘为旁，命曰火捽，一曰传汤，以当队。客则乘队，烧传汤，斩维而下之，令勇士随而击之，以为勇士前行，城上辄塞坏城。
城下足为下说镵杙，长五尺，大圉半以上，皆剡其末，为五行，行间广三尺，貍三尺，大耳树之。为连殳，长五尺，大十尺。梃长二尺，大六寸，索长二尺。椎，柄长六尺，首长尺五寸。斧，柄长六尺，刃必利，皆其一后。荅广丈二尺，□□丈六尺，垂前衡四寸，两端接尺相覆，勿令鱼鳞三，著其后行中央木绳一，长二丈六尺。荅楼不会者以牒塞，数暴干，荅为格，令风上下。堞恶疑坏者，先貍木十尺一枚一，节坏，钉植，以押虑卢薄于木，卢薄表八尺，广七寸，经尺一，数施一击而下之，为上下釫而登之。
经一。钧、禾楼、罗石。县荅植内，毋植外。
杜格，貍四尺，高者十丈，木长短相杂，兑其上，而外内厚涂之。
为前行行栈，县荅。隅为楼，楼必曲里。土五步一，毋其二十畾。爵穴十尺一，下堞三尺，广其外。转城上，楼及散与池，革盆。若转，攻卒击其后，煖失，治。车革火。……
凡杀蛾傅而攻者之法，置薄城外，去城十尺，薄厚十尺，伐操之法，大小尽木断之，以十尺为断，离而深貍坚筑之，毋使可拔。二十步一杀，有，厚十尺。杀有两门，门广五步，薄门板梯貍之，勿筑，令易拔。城上希薄门而置捣。
县火。四尺一椅，五步一灶，灶门有炉炭。传令敌人尽入，车火烧门，县火次之，出载而立，其广终队，两载之间一火，皆立而待鼓音而然，即俱发之。敌人辟火而复攻，县火复下，敌人甚病。敌引哭而榆，则令吾死士左右出穴门击遗师，令贲土、主将皆听城鼓之音而出，又听城鼓之音而入。因素出兵将施伏，夜半而城上四面鼓噪，敌人必或，破军杀将。以白衣为服，以号相得。
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