To Borrow Arrows with Thatched Boats

This is an episode¹ from the Three Kingdoms. Zhou Yu ordered Zhuge Liang to manufacture 100，000 arrows within ten days. Zhuge said， “Give me three days.” He also signed a pledge² placing himself liable³ for punishment should he fail to complete the order. Zhou Yu ridiculed⁴ that Zhuge Liang was looking for self-destruction. On the one hand， Zhou Yu ordered his troops not to provide Zhuge Liang with materials to make the arrows. He also sent Lu Su to spy on him to find out what was going on. In fact， Zhuge Liang had already realized that this was a plot by room， Zhuge said to Lu Su， “Save me please.” He asked Lu Su to lend him 20boats， each lined with straw-made scarecrows and manned by 30 soldiers. He requested that Lu Su not tell Zhou Yu what was happening.

When Lu Su came again to see Zhuge Liang， he did not find anything unusual. Nothing happened on the second day either. In the small hours of the third day， Zhuge Liang invited Lu Su for a boat ride. The 20 boats were tied together with strong ropes. Zhuge's fleet sailed toward the camp of Cao Cao. A thick mist had spread over the surface of the river. People could hardly see each other on the river. When Zhuge's fleet got close to the Cao camp before dawn， Zhuge Liang ordered his soldiers to shout and beat drums to fake⁵ an attack. Zhuge and Lu Su simply sat inside one of the boats and drank wines to enjoy themselves.

As soon as the Cao camp heard the shouting and drum beating， they mistook it for a surprise attack by the Zhou Yu camp. Since they could see nobody on the river， they gathered 3，000 bow men and ordered them to shoot arrows towards where the shouting and drum beating came. The front of the scarecrows was quickly shot full of arrows. After a while， Zhuge Liang had his fleet turned around to expose the other side of the scarecrows. When this side was also shot full of arrows， the day broke. Zhuge Liang ordered his soldiers to return to their base port. The soldiers shouted， “Thank you， Cao Cao， for your arrows.” After they got back to their camp， they collected more than 100，000 arrows from the scarecrows.

草船借箭

东吴与刘备联合抗曹，东吴大都督周瑜命诸葛亮十日内制作十万支箭。诸葛亮说：“ 只击需三日。”并立下军令状。周瑜笑诸葛亮是自取灭亡。周瑜一边吩咐士兵不给诸葛亮准备制作箭的材料，一面让谋士鲁肃偷偷借给他二十条船，每船三十个军士，两边扎上稻草人，听候调用。又叮嘱鲁肃千万别告诉周瑜。鲁肃又来见诸葛亮，第一天不见动静，第二天也不动。第三天四更时分，诸葛亮密请鲁肃到船上。同时，把二十条船用绳索连好，向曹营进发。此时，江上大雾迷漫，对面看不见人。五更时分，船只接近曹营。诸葛亮让军士们在船上擂鼓呐喊，装作周瑜来偷袭。无奈江上雾大看不清楚，曹操只好调三千弓箭手向船上射箭。待草人身上密密地插满了箭，天已放亮，诸葛亮下令收船。军士们高喊着：“谢谢曹丞相的箭。”高高兴兴地往回走了。回营后，把箭取下，十万有余。