Borrowing Arrows With Straw Boats

In chapter 46 of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhou Yu asks Zhuge Liang for 100,000 arrows. Zhuge Liang promises: “In just three days, I can deliver one hundred thousand arrows. If I fail in three days, I accept severe punishment.”

On the third night, “a heavy fog filled the sky.” His boats sail toward Cao Cao’s fleet, and Cao Cao’s archers shoot into the fog. As the boats turn back, full of arrows, the men call out: “Thank you, Chancellor, for the arrows!”

The historical record gives a similar trick with arrows to Sun Quan, not to Zhuge Liang.

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