The classic Chinese story "To Borrow Arrows with Thatche d Boats" in English

This is an episode from the Thr ee Kingdoms. Zhou Yu ordered Zhu ge Liang to manufacture 100, 000 arrows within ten days. Zhou Yu ordered Zhu ge Liang to manufacture 100,000 arrows within ten days. Zhuge said, "Give me three days." He also sig ned a pledge placing himself liable f or punishment should he fail to com plete the order. He also sig ned a pledge placing himself liable f or punishment should he fail to com plete the order. Zhou Yu ridiculed th at Zhuge Liang was looking for self-destruction. On the one hand, Zho u Yu ordered his troops not to provi de Zhuge Liang with materials to m ake the order. On the one hand, Zho u Yu ordered his troops not to provi de Zhuge Liang with materials to m ake the arrows. He also sent Lu Su t o spy on him to find out what was g oing on. In fact, Zhuge Liang had a lready realized that this was a plot b y room, Zhuge said. In fact, Zhuge Liang had a lready realized that this was a plot b y room, Zhuge said to Lu Su, "Sa ve me please." He asked Lu Su to le nd him 20boats, each lined with raw-made scarecrows and manned by 30 soldiers. He asked Lu Su to le nd him 20boats, each lined with st raw-made scarecrows and manned by 30 soldiers. He requested that Lu Su not tell Zhou Yu what was happe ning.

When Lu Su came again to see Zhuge Liang, he did not find anythi ng unusual. Nothing happened on t he second day either. In the small h ours 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 th e camp of Cao Cao. A thick mist had spread over the surface of 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 fake an attack. Zhuge and Lu Su simply sat i nside one of the boats and drank wi nes to enjoy themselves.

As soon as the Cao camp heard the shouting and drum beating, th ey mistook it for a surprise attack b y the Zhou Yu camp. Since they cou ld see nobody on the river, they ga thered 3,000 bow men and ordere d them to shoot arrows toward wh ere the shouting and drumming was done. Toward wh ere the shouting and drum beating c ame. The front of the scarecrows w as quickly shot full of arrows. After a while Zhuge Liang had his fleet turned around to expose the other si de of the scarecrows. When this sid e was also shot full of arrows, the day broke. Zhuge Liang ordered his soldiers to retur