各个击破

各個擊破

gègèjīpò

idiom #39,667

Meanings

1 to defeat them one by one
2 divide and conquer
3 to break through each target separately

Characters

Examples

我们要集中兵力，各个击破。

Wǒmen yào jízhōng bīnglì, gègèjīpò.

We must concentrate our forces and defeat them one by one.

面对多道难题，他决定各个击破。

Miànduì duō dào nántí, tā juédìng gègèjīpò.

Facing multiple hard problems, he decided to tackle them one at a time.

Tips

history

Used by Mao Zedong in 《中国的红色政权为什么能够存在》: 集中红军…避免被敌人各个击破 — 'concentrate the Red Army…avoid being picked off one by one'.

usage

Now widely used beyond military contexts: studying, debugging, marketing. Classic military-strategy metaphor in modern business speech.

Stroke Order

各 gè

个 gè

击 jī

破 pò