Military deception

Additional examples include misusing protected signs and symbols, such as the red cross, crescent, and crystal, to conceal weapons and ammunition by making them appear to be a medical facility.

In an example of valid information being dismissed as a windfall, early in World War II a plane carrying German officers to Cologne became lost in bad weather and landed in Belgium.

The information the Allies conveyed to the target to create the perception included the false radio traffic, dummy equipment displays, and deceptive command messages of the fictional First United States Army Group ("See").

Rushing to attack what they believed to be an inferior army, the Wei forces assaulted Qi's troops at a narrow gorge, not knowing Sun Bin's soldiers had prepared it as an ambush site.

This work, which contains embellished tales of actual Chinese history from 169 to 280 AD, includes the story of general Zhuge Liang of Shu Han employing the Empty Fort Strategy.

Zhuge Liang instructed the few troops he had on hand to pretend to be townspeople and told them to perform tasks which would make them visible to Sima Yi, including sweeping the town's streets.

[49] When confronting numerically superior forces, the Mongols often sent troops behind their own lines to raise dust with branches tied to their horses' tails, which created the impression that reinforcements were en route.

[54][55] Used to control commerce in slaves, as well as raw materials including gold and ivory, the site changed hands several times between Denmark–Norway, Portugal, and Sweden, sometimes by force, sometimes by purchase.

Disguising himself as a cook and interpreter, he obtained work at the fort, where over the next year he became proficient in the Danish language and conducted reconnaissance to learn about the activities of the facility's occupants and the people with whom they traded.

[54] After gaining familiarity with Fort Christiansborg's occupants and operations, in 1693 Asamani informed the Danish traders who occupied it about a group of Akwamu who desired to purchase weapons and ammunition, and suggested they were so anxious to buy that the Danes should inflate their prices.

[63] That night, Washington again resorted to the same deceptive tactics he had used in Brooklyn, including muffling the wheels of wagons and gun carriages to reduce noise, and leaving a rear guard to keep campfires burning.

[66] In January 1781, as a British force commanded by Banastre Tarleton closed in on Morgan near Cowpens, South Carolina on the Broad River, he opted to fight rather than risk being attacked while attempting to cross the water.

[71] In July 1812, the British warship HMS Belvidera captured the American brig Nerina, which had sailed for New York City from Newry, Ireland without knowing that war had been declared in June.

[73] In a notable deception that occurred during the War of 1812's Siege of Detroit, British Major General Isaac Brock and Native American chief Tecumseh used a variety of tricks, including letters they allowed to be intercepted which exaggerated the size of their forces, disguising Brock's militia contingent as more fearsome regular army soldiers, and repeatedly marching the same body of Native Americans past U.S. observers to make it appear they were more numerous than they were.

[77][78][79] In July 1813, Benjamin Forsyth, one of the company commanders in the American Regiment of Riflemen wanted to enlist the aid of Seneca warriors during planned military operations against the British near Newark, Ontario (now Niagara-on-the-Lake).

[104] When Black Terror ran aground and was inspected by Confederates, local newspapers roundly criticized military and naval commanders for being unable to tell the difference between a real warship and a fake.

[107] As early as mid-November, artillery and sniper activity went silent for periods of time, giving the impression that the Anzacs were preparing to remain in the defense with limited resupply of ammunition during the upcoming winter.

[110] With Germany unable to conduct an offensive because of personnel losses earlier in the war, commanders intended for unrestricted submarine warfare and strategic bombing to weaken the British and French, giving the German army time to recuperate.

[110] The German withdrawal included numerous efforts to deceive the Allies, among them night movements and skeleton crews who remained behind to provide screening fire from machine guns, rifles, and mortars.

[113] In an effort to gain an advantage near Saint-Mihiel, U.S. planners including Arthur L. Conger attempted to deceive the Germans into believing the American attack would come at Belfort, 180 miles to the south.

[126] The overall intent was to make German commanders believe the Soviets would only defend in the center of the front (Belorussia), while launching a major offensive to the south in Ukraine and Crimea and a feint to the north in Finland.

[129][132] By using old railroad sleeper cars, a wooden frame, nailed and welded beams, and metal tubing, Maskalyne's unit succeeded in creating a prototype that British ship commanders unaware of the deception plan nearly sank when they observed it near the Suez Canal.

[134] British and American troops used dummy equipment, false radio traffic and double agents (see Double-Cross System) to deceive German intelligence on the location and timing of the invasion.

[134] Japan continued diplomatic engagement with the U.S. on several issues of concern throughout late November and into early December 1941 even though attacking ships had sailed from their base in the remote Kuril Islands.

[148][149] As part of Operation El Paso, which took place from May to July 1966, the U.S. 1st Infantry Division deliberately exposed information about a planned resupply and engineer equipment convoy from Minh Than north to An Lộc.

In addition, several months before the start of the war, Egypt created the false impression of an imminent attack, which caused Israel to announce an emergency military reserve call up.

[154] After the hijacking of an Air France plane in late June 1976, the perpetrators had the aircraft diverted to Entebbe Airport in Uganda, where they threatened to kill all the Jewish and Israeli passengers if their demands were not met.

When the raid was launched, IDF commandos secretly landed at an old unused area of the airport, where they offloaded decoy vehicles resembling Ugandan president Idi Amin's motorcade.

Prior to the start of the Coalition offensive in February 1991, its ground forces successfully moved multiple divisions west to the largely undefended border between Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

[174] In the 2018 video game We Happy Few, "Arthur's Story" depicts an alternate version of World War II that includes the German military threatening the village of Wellington Wells with dummy tanks made of papier-mâché.

Spectrum of deception types, including: disinformation , concealment, camouflage , demonstrations, and feints.
Dummy airbase and mock aircraft
British "sunshields" were used to create displays during World War II
Plaque memorializing Reginald Victor Jones at his former home in Aberdeen , Scotland
An early example of military deception was Thutmose III's capture of the Sinai city of Yapu
General Sun Bin of Qi successfully used deception in his kingdom's military operations
The Mongols, including Chinggis Khan, frequently employed deception in their military conquests
Deception enabled the Akwamu to seize Fort Christiansborg from its European owners, then sell it back at a profit
Diagram depicting British in red and French in blue as they were arrayed after the British used deception to gain an advantage prior to the Battle on the Plains of Abraham
Deception played a key role in Washington's success at the Battle of Trenton in 1776
Schematic of the Battle of Cowpens, which shows Daniel Morgan's deceptive employment of the Patriot militia under his command
Lord Cawdor, whose successful bluff caused the French to surrender during the War of the First Coalition
William Hull, the target of successful British deception during the War of 1812
Schematic of the Battle of Fort Stephenson. Position B on the north side of the fort shows the position of the cannon George Croghan concealed to catch the British attackers by surprise
John B. Magruder, Confederate general whose deceptions prevented a Union attack early in the war
Dummy Long Tom artillery position deployed during the Second Boer War
World War I Australian troops carrying a dummy Mark IV tank that was intended to deceive German forces during the following day's assault on part of the Hindenburg Line (September 1918)
Richard Meinertzhagen, credited with several British deceptions in Palestine during World War I.
British magician Jasper Maskelyne, credited with numerous deception activities during World War II
Beach Jumpers monument at Ocracoke Island, North Carolina
The Soviet ship Poltava , bound for Cuba in September 1962 with disguised medium range ballistic missiles as cargo.
Robin Olds, who led the Operation Bolo deception, is celebrated after completing his 100th aerial combat mission in September 1967
The five patrol boats the Israeli Defense Forces employed deception to sail from Cherbourg.
Map depicting the deceptive British landing at San Carlos during the Falklands War. The Argentinians occupying East Falkland island planned for a British attack at Port Stanley on the other side of the island.
Map depicting placement of Coalition units prior to attacking Iraqi forces in early 1991. The Coalition employed deception to move the XVIII Airborne Corps and VII Armored Corps from positions in eastern Saudi Arabia to positions further west without being detected by Iraq.
Soldiers setting up smoke screen to camouflage ships of Russia's Northern Fleet
In the 2003 film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World , the ship Surprise escapes pursuers by creating a decoy raft for nighttime use which mimics the lanterns visible on the ship's stern.