to deceive the enemy, first deceive your allies
Proverb meaning that to successfully deceive an opponent, you must first deceive your own side so that the deception appears genuine. Often used in strategy, politics, or business contexts.
As the saying goes, 'to deceive the enemy, first deceive your allies,' and for the operation to succeed, it was necessary to keep even our own side from knowing the real plan.
A Japanese proverb of uncertain origin, possibly derived from military strategy concepts. The exact historical derivation is uncertain.