hold a wooden gag in mouth (ancient military stealth tactic)
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 3 examplesverb
(in ancient military operations) to hold a wooden stick in the mouth to prevent making noise during secret movements
archaicA specific ancient Chinese military tactic used during night raids or stealth operations. The '枚' was a small wooden stick or rod placed crosswise in the mouth, tied behind the neck, to prevent soldiers from talking or making noise.
Gǔ古
dài代
jūn军
duì队
xián衔
méi枚
jí疾
zǒu走
，
wú无
shēng声
wú无
xī息
de地
jiē接
jìn近
dí敌
yíng营
。
Ancient armies ran swiftly with wooden gags in their mouths, approaching the enemy camp silently.
Wèi为
le了
bì避
miǎn免
jīng惊
dòng动
dí敌
jūn军
，
jiāng将
jūn军
mìng命
lìng令
shì士
bīng兵
men们
xián衔
méi枚
yè夜
xíng行
。
To avoid alerting the enemy troops, the general ordered the soldiers to march at night with gags in their mouths.
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Xián衔
méi枚
shì是
gǔ古
dài代
jūn军
shì事
xíng行
dòng动
zhōng中
bǎo保
chí持
yǐn隐
bì蔽
de的
zhòng重
yào要
fāng方
fǎ法
zhī之
yī一
。
Holding wooden gags was one of the important methods for maintaining stealth in ancient military operations.