How does the PLA aim to fix the enemy reserve?

• A. Feints, demonstrations, and depth attacks elsewhere to prevent commitment, or force premature commitment; hold its own depth defense group as decisive counter-reserve.
• B. Immediate frontal assault.
• C. Ceasefire.
• D. Restrict all reconnaissance.

Answer: (A)

Fixing the enemy reserve hinges on deception and careful pressure patterns. By employing feints, demonstrations, and depth attacks elsewhere, you create uncertainty about where and when the main effort will strike. The enemy is tempted to either hold back reserves for fear of a deceptive thrust or to commit them prematurely in response to misleading signals. This misleads and ties their reserves to non-primary sectors, preventing timely commitment to the real attack.

Meanwhile, keeping a depth defense group ready as a decisive counter-reserve ensures that, once the enemy’s forces are fixed or misallocated, you can unleash a concentrated counter-stroke at the decisive moment to shatter their effort. This use of a prepared reserve in depth is what makes the deception effective and turns the fixed position into a controllable opportunity for your main attack.

In contrast, a direct frontal assault would reveal the main effort and waste resources, a ceasefire halts all action rather than shaping the situation, and restricting reconnaissance reduces information but doesn’t create the strategic constraint on the enemy’s reserve movements.