Zhou Yu invited Zhuge Liang over. He was wary of Zhuge Liang's talent and intelligence and had been wanting to get rid of him. He told Zhuge Liang that the army was short of 100,000 arrows and asked if Zhuge Liang could supply these arrows in 10 days.
Zhuge Liang immediately pointed out that Cao Cao would attack before then. Instead, he asked for just 3 days to fulfill Zhou Yu's request.
For 3 consecutive days, Zhuge Liang did nothing. On the third night, there was a thick fog. He got his men to fasten 20 boats together with long metal chains. 1000 straw bundles were also lashed to the side of each boat. The boats moved towards Cao Cao's naval camp in a single file. He also gave orders for the men on the boats to beat the drums and shout.
When Cao Cao got word of a night attack, he quickly prepared for a counter attack. Arrows from Cao Cao's army fell like rain onto the boats. It wasn't long before the straw bundles on the boats were bristled with arrows.
It was then that Zhuge Liang ordered the boats to turn around so that the straws would also hit the opposite side. Before retreating, his men publicly 'thanked' the Prime Minister for the arrows.
Zhuge Liang returned to Zhou Yu with his task accomplished, much to Zhou Yu's astonishment.
Zhou Yu then revealed that he had a plan to break into Cao Cao's naval camp, but wanted Zhuge Liang's opinion. Zhuge Liang suggested that they both write their ideas on their own palms and compare it against each others, and Zhou Yu agreed.
After writing their idea on their own palms, both men opened their palms and saw the word 'fire'. They were both delighted that they were on the same page.
- Compiled from the Three Kingdoms
