At one time, the State of Wei sent armies to attack the State of Wu at the Yangtze River. The Wei troops soon advanced to a place very near the State of Wu, where they stopped, set up camp and waited for the opportunity to attack the State of Wu. If they were victorious, the plan was to then conquer the State of Shu.
Since the State of Wei’s army was very powerful with large numbers of soldiers and weapons, the States of Shu and Wu decided to unite to resist the attacker. Zhuge Liang, the military counselor for the State of Shu, went to the State of Wu to plan a military strategy with Zhou Yu, general of the State of Wu, to fight the enemy together.
However, Zhou Yu was very jealous of Zhuge Liang’s skills. While Zhou and Zhuge were discussing strategies, Zhou asked, “What military weapons shall we use when we fight general Cao Cao’s armies on the river?” Zhuge answered, “Bows and arrows would be best.”
Zhou said, “Right, I share your view but we are short of arrows. Can I trust you to make 100,000 arrows? This is really urgent work. I hope you will do me a favor and accept the assignment.”
Zhuge replied, “Fine, I will take your order and do it. May I ask when you need these arrows?” Zhou said, “Can you complete the job in ten days?” Zhuge said, “Well, since the battle is imminent, we shall fail if we take 10 days to make the arrows.” Zhou Yu then asked, “Sir, how long will it take you to make the 100,000 arrows?” Zhuge answered, “I only need three days.”
Zhou was taken aback and said, “We are at the eleventh hour and can’t afford to play games with each other.” Zhuge answered, “No, I dare not joke at this critical moment. I would like to write a pledge: If I can’t make 100,000 arrows within three days, I am willing to be punished.”
Zhou was very happy to hear this. He had Zhuge write the pledge and then entertained him with good wine and food. At the banquet table, Zhuge said, “It is already late today, so three days from tomorrow, send 500 soldiers to the riverside to collect the arrows.” After a few more cups of wine, Zhuge Liang left.
After Zhuge Liang accepted the assignment, he didn’t seem to be worried about fulfilling the order. He told Lu Su, a minister from the State of Wu who showed a friendly attitude toward him, that it would be impossible to make so many arrows in such a short time using a conventional way. He then asked Lu Su to get 20 small boats ready and to assign 30 soldiers to each boat.
The boats were covered with black cloth and straw figures were made and put on each side of each boat. Zhuge begged Lu repatedly to keep his plan a secret. Lu got all the necessary things ready for Zhuge but knew nothing about the plan.
Zhuge Liang said he would have 100,000 arrows ready within three days but on the first day he did not make any arrows and the second day there was still nothing. The third day was approaching and there was still not a single arrow to be seen.
Everybody started to worry about Zhuge. If he could not produce the arrows, he would lose his life. On midnight during the second day, Zhuge invited Lu to get on a small boat and Lu asked why he had been invited there.
Zhuge answered that he wanted Lu to go with him to collect the arrows. Lu Su was totally confused and asked, “Where shall we go to get them?” Zhuge smiled and said, “When the time comes, you will understand.” Then Zhuge gave orders to link the twenty boats together with ropes and started off toward the Wei army camp.
There was a heavy fog that night. The thicker the fog became, the faster the boats advanced on the waters, as ordered by Zhuge Liang. When they approached Wei's army camp, Zhuge gave orders for the boats to be placed in a horizontal line facing the river bank. His soldiers beat the drums heavily and shouted loudly.
Lu Su was scared to death and said to Zhuge, “We only have 20 small boats and about 300 soldiers. If the Wei soldiers attack us, we are sure to be killed.” But Zhuge said with a smile, “I bet that the Wei soldiers dare not attack in this heavy fog. We shall enjoy our drinks here.”
Wei's general Cao Cao heard the drums and shouting and ordered his troops not to attack because the heavy fog made it impossible to see the real situation. Instead, he ordered his bowmen to shoot arrows to stop the enemy from coming too close.
He ordered over 10,000 bowmen to shoot arrows toward the river. Very soon, the straw figures on the boats were filled with arrows. Zhuge Liang ordered the boats to be turned around so the straw figures on the other side of the boats would receive the arrows from the Wei soldiers. Soon all of the straw figures were filled with arrows.
As day started to break, the fog still remained thick. Zhuge Liang told his soldiers to shout loudly “Thank you Prime Minister Cao for giving us so many arrows.” They immediately sailed the boats back to the southern bank. Before Cao Cao realized that he had been duped, the currents pushed the boats up the river and soon they were more than 10 kilometers away—It was too late for Cao Cao to catch them.
When the boats arrived at Wu's base, there were 500 of General Zhou Yu’s soldiers on the river bank waiting to collect the arrows. The number of arrows collected totaled more than 100,000. Zhou Yu said with a long and deep sigh, “Zhuge Liang had god-like foresight and ingenious strategy. I am no match for him.”
Lu Su said to Zhuge Liang, “Sir, you are a spiritual being, not a human being! How did you know that there would be such heavy fog?”
Zhuge answered, “As a general, one should know about astronomy, geography, divination, yin and yang principles, battle formations, as well as the layout of the army, otherwise he is good for nothing. I knew three days in advance that there would be a heavy fog today which is why I dared to agree to the three-day deadline.” Hearing this, Lu Su admired Zhuge Liang’s talents all the more.
