What is the plan behind a Central Cannon attack?
These answers restate the rules implemented by our open-source engine, which follows the WXF laws and is regression-tested against the official 110-diagram repetition casebook. Where an answer refers to a specific position, that position lives on the linked reference page, where the build verifies it against the engine before publishing.
Direct answer
Build three attackers pointed at the same square before you strike. A Central Cannon opening (炮二平五) starts the process by aiming at the enemy's central soldier, but the real plan is to bring a horse and a chariot into the attack behind it, so that by the time you commit, you already outnumber the defence at the point you are hitting.
The usual build-up
A typical continuation runs cannon to the centre, then a horse developing to support the central file, then a chariot swinging onto the file the horse vacated. None of these moves is forcing on its own; together they put three pieces on or near the file the enemy general sits behind. See what the Central Cannon actually threatens for the piece-by-piece breakdown.
Choosing the target
The usual targets are the central soldier, the horse defending it, or later an advisor. Which one you aim at depends on how the opponent develops: a Screen Horses defence removes the soldier as a target almost immediately, so the plan shifts to pressuring the horse itself or preparing a cannon on the other wing.
Related questions
Do I need to memorise a long line to play this?
No. The three-piece build-up is the whole idea; specific move orders follow from what the opponent does.
What if the opponent just develops solidly?
Then there is no immediate breakthrough. Keep developing and look for the moment their structure has a gap, usually around the fifteenth move.
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