Borrow Arrows with Thatched Boats
Liu Bang (256-195BC) Rebel chief who toppled Qin and founded Han rule
Xu Heng - Confucianist and Educator of the Yuan Dynasty
Li Hongzhang (1823-1901) Powerful official invites controversy |
The Wu Kingdom and Liu Bei formed alliance to fight against Cao Cao. Zhou Yu, the commander-in-chief of Wu, ordered Zhuge Liang to make 100,000 arrows within ten days. Zhuge Liang replied, "Give me three days." He then signed a pledge placing him liable for punishment should he fail to complete the order. However, Zhou Yu instructed soldiers not to prepare arrow materials for Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang borrowed 20 boats from Lu Su secretly. He assigned 30 soldiers on each boat and put scarecrows along the two sides for use. In the small hours of the third day, Zhuge Liang had the 20 boats tied together by strong ropes and sailed toward the camp of Cao Cao. When Zhuge's fleet got close to the Cao camp before dawn, Zhuge Liang ordered his soldiers to shout and beat drums to fake an attack. By this time there was thick fog on the river. Since Cao Cao could not see anybody on the river, he gathered 3,000 bow men and ordered them to shoot arrows towards the direction where the shouting and drum beating came. When scarecrows were shot thickly with arrows, Zhuge Liang instructed his soldiers to return to their base port with fruitful results. |






















