A strange stratagem has Zhuge Liang borrow arrows;
A hidden design is offered, and Huang Gai receives punishment.

Afterwards, Lu Su, whose courtesy name was Zijing, had finished his business for Zhou Yu and went directly to meet Zhuge Liang by boat, and Zhuge Liang, whose courtesy name was Kongming, stepped into a small craft to sit facing him.

“You have been all these days occupied with military duties and have failed to relay my instructions,” Lu Su said.

“That is also why I have not gone to congratulate the Commander-in-Chief,” said Zhuge Liang.

“What is there to celebrate?”

“That Gongjin has sent you to test whether I know this matter or not. That itself is something to celebrate.”

Startled, Lu Su’s face drained of color. “How did you know this?”

“This plan can only be carried through by Jiang Gan. Cao Cao was deceived for a moment, and he will surely awaken to it soon, though he will not admit he was wrong. Now that Cai Mao and Zhang are both dead, Jiangdong has no danger. Why should this not be cause for rejoicing? I hear that Cao Cao has made Mao Jie and Yu Jin commanders of the river forces; at any rate these two are now the ones to pay with their naval lives.”

Lu Su, unable to find words, stammered for a while before leaving and returning by himself. Zhuge Liang told him:

“Do not tell Gongjin before him that I already knew of this. I fear he will become jealous and look for ways to harm me.”

Lu Su agreed and then reported the whole affair faithfully to Zhou Yu.

Zhou Yu was startled. “This man can never be kept! I have decided to behead him.”

Lu Su urged, “If you execute Zhuge Liang, Cao Cao will laugh.”

Zhou Yu replied, “I will put him to death by right, and he will die without grievance.”

“By what right?”

“Do not ask. You will see tomorrow.”

The next day he gathered the gathered commanders beneath his tent and ordered Zhuge Liang to discuss strategy.

Zhuge Liang came gladly. Once seated, Zhou Yu asked, “When we fight Cao’s army across the river tomorrow, what weapon should be used first?”

“On the Yangtze, bows and arrows should go first,” Zhuge Liang answered.

“Your idea suits my dull mind exactly. Yet our troops are running short of arrows. I ask you to oversee the making of one hundred thousand arrows for use in battle. This is official business; I hope you will not refuse.”

“As the Commander-in-Chief commands, I will do my best,” Zhuge Liang said. “May I ask when these arrows are required?”

“How soon can we have them? Within ten days, can you finish?”

“Cao Cao’s army arrives today. If we wait ten days, we will miss the hour.”

“Then how many days do you need?”

“In three days at most, I can deliver the full one hundred thousand.”

“This is no place for idle words.”

“How dare I jest with the Commander! I will post the formal order: if I fail in three days, I will accept severe punishment.”

Joyful, Zhou Yu had the military clerk read out the document in front of him and raised a cup. “After the military business is done, there will be your reward.”

“It is already too late today,” Zhuge Liang said. “Work begins tomorrow. By the third day send five hundred light soldiers to the riverbank to carry off the arrows.” He drank several cups and withdrew.

Lu Su asked, “Could this man be an impostor?”

Zhou Yu said, “He sends himself to death; I am not forcing him. Today he obtained the order openly before everyone. He cannot flee now, even with both wings spread. I will tell the engineers to delay the work on purpose and leave all materials unfinished. Then, when the deadline passes, he will be at fault. We can then be sure the charge.”

Lu Su, taking his leave, went to see Zhuge Liang.

Zhuge Liang said, “I told you not to tell Gongjin because he would surely try to destroy me. Yet Zijing would not keep silent for me; now another trouble is made. How am I to make one hundred thousand arrows in three days? Zijing alone can save me from this peril.”

“If you have invited this fate yourself, how can I rescue you?” Lu Su replied.

“Please ask if he can lend me twenty ships, each with thirty soldiers. Each ship should have blue cloth canopies and a little over a thousand bundles of straw placed along both sides. I have a use for it. By the third day I will surely have one hundred thousand arrows. Just do not let Gongjin know this; if he learns it, my plan fails.”

Lu Su agreed, though he still did not understand his intent. He reported to Zhou Yu and did not mention the ships at all. He only said, “Zhuge Liang needs no arrow-shafts, feathers, or glue and varnish. He has his own method.” Zhou Yu was deeply doubtful: “Let us see how he answers me in three days.”

Lu Su secretly prepared twenty light, fast boats in advance, with thirty men on each ship, along with canopies and bundles of straw, all fully ready and waiting for Zhuge Liang to deploy them. The first day, there was no movement; the second day too passed in stillness.

At the fourth watch of the third day, Zhuge Liang quietly summoned Lu Su to the boat.

“Why have you called for me?” Lu Su asked.

“Zijing, come with me to take the arrows.”

“To where?”

“Ask no question; when we arrive, you will see.”

Zhuge Liang ordered the twenty boats linked by long ropes and set off straight for the north bank. That night the fog was thick over the river, denser than usual in midstream, and neither bank could see the other.

Zhuge Liang urged the boats onward. As it happened, it was indeed a great fog. A prose poem on that immense fog called “Great Fog over the Yangtze” says:

The Yangtze is vast; it joins Min and E in the west, controls the Three Wu in the south, and bears the Nine Rivers in the north.
It gathers a hundred streams into the sea and through ten thousand years tosses its waves high.
There appear Dragon-Lord, Sea-Lord, River-Maiden, Water Mother, whales of a thousand zhang, nine-headed sky-serpents, weird demons, all in attendance.
These are precisely the abodes of spirits and the ground where heroes fight and guard.
When yin and yang are in disorder, day and dawn lose their difference;
all at once the sky turns one color and great fog thickens in all quarters.
Though one may move cartloads of brushwood and still not see, only drum and gong can be heard.
At first the mountains to the south are only dim spots, like a leopard hidden;
then the dark mass swells and seems ready to blind the black water fowl of the North Sea.
At last heaven and earth join, the upper reaches sink, and thick vapor hangs down like earth.
Vastly dim, boundless and immeasurable.
Whale-beasts leap from the water and raise billowing waves;
coiled dragons sink and exhale steam from the deep.
Then it is as if damp rain settles, spring cold ferments;
mist thick as ink, flood-like and endless.
The bank near Chaisang vanishes, and no mountain of Xia-kou is seen.
Thousands of warships sink into ravines like boulders;
a fisherman’s small skiff only appears and disappears in the surging swells.
Again and again, the vault of heaven is lightless, and dawn loses its hue;
white noon turns dusk, and red hills become water-blue.
Even Yu the Great himself could not measure its depth;
could the moon of Li Lou distinguish what was near in a span’s breadth?
Then the Fenglies calmed their waves, and the sun and moon withdrew;
fish and turtles hid their tracks, birds and beasts withdrew their paths.
Cloud-islands in the distance were severed and sealed,
and the offices of Changhe were darkly enclosed.
Sudden, it surged and raced, as if rain were about to fall;
confused and crowded, like cold clouds ready to mass.
Then hidden vipers formed within, turning to miasma and pestilence.
Within lie monsters, and by clinging to them we cause harm.
They bring illness and misfortune to mankind, and raise storms and dust on the frontier.

Common people lose themselves when they meet this; the great men lament when they see it.
It is as if primeval qi is returning to the chaos, mixing heaven and earth into one vast mass.

At the fifth watch of that same night, the ships were near Cao Cao’s river encampment. Zhuge Liang ordered them arranged with their bows west and sterns east in one line, then to beat drums and shout. Lu Su said anxiously, “If Cao’s troops all come out, what are we to do?”

Zhuge Liang laughed. “I expect that in such thick fog, Cao Cao will not dare to move. We will keep drinking and cheering until the fog lifts and then return.”

In Cao Cao’s camp, hearing the drums and cries, Mao Jie and Yu Jin rushed to report.

Cao Cao gave the order: “The river is veiled by heavy fog. If their army has come suddenly, they must have an ambush. Do not move lightly. Dispatch river crossbowmen and shoot in disorder.”

He also sent for Zhang Liao and Xu Huang from the dry camp, each with three thousand crossbowmen, to come at once to the riverbank to assist the shooting.

By the time the orders arrived, Mao Jie and Yu Jin, fearing the southern force might break into the river camp, already had crossbowmen firing from in front.

Soon the archers and crossbowmen from the dry camp arrived, over ten thousand in all, all shooting into the river. Arrows fell like rain.

Zhuge Liang ordered the boats turned around, bows east and sterns west, and brought them close to the camp to receive arrows while drums and shouts continued. When the day rose and the fog broke, he ordered the boats pulled back at speed.

The two rows of boats, each packed with bundles of grass on both sides and loaded with arrow shafts, soon withdrew fifty li downstream; each had gathered five to six thousand arrows. They shouted together:

“Praise the Chancellor’s arrows!”

By the time Cao Cao heard the news from the camp, these boats had already slipped away quickly downstream more than twenty li; he could not pursue, and he regretted bitterly.

Back aboard, Zhuge Liang told Lu Su, “Each ship has about five or six thousand arrows. Without Jiangdong spending a single string, we have over one hundred thousand already. Tomorrow we can come and shoot at Cao’s troops. It should be convenient, is it not?”

Lu Su said, “You truly are a divine man! How did you know the fog would be this great?”

Zhuge Liang replied, “A commander who does not understand astronomy, terrain, the odd gates, yin and yang, battle charts, and army strength is a mediocre man. Three days ago I had calculated that today would bring a great fog, so I dared to accept a three-day limit. Gongjin gave me ten days; in my plan I knew the craftsmen and supplies would not come together in time. He was clearly seeking a fault that would make my death obvious. I have tied my life to Heaven; how can Gongjin harm me?”

Lu Su bowing acknowledged it.

When the boats reached shore, Zhou Yu had already sent five hundred soldiers to receive the arrows at the riverbank. Zhuge Liang told those aboard to disembark; more than one hundred thousand were taken and carried to the central command tent to be reported.

Lu Su entered and explained Zhuge Liang’s method to Zhou Yu.

Zhou Yu was astonished. “Zhuge Liang’s uncanny calculations surpass mine!” he exclaimed. “I cannot match it.” Later, one poem praised the feat:

One day of thick fog filled the Yangtze so that near and far were lost in a dim sea.
In sudden rain, locusts flew toward the warships—today Zhuge Liang conceals himself before Lord Zhou.

After a short while, Zhuge Liang came to camp to see Zhou Yu. Zhou Yu rose from his tent to receive him and said admiringly, “Master, your divination and calculation make all men revere you.”

Zhuge Liang answered, “A crooked little scheme is no miracle.”

Zhou Yu invited him in and shared more wine. “Yesterday I inspected Cao Cao's waterside camp. It is extremely disciplined and well ordered, no ordinary position to attack. I have thought of a plan but do not know whether it will work; please decide it for me.”

“Kongming is but a commonplace, clumsy man; where could such genius as yours be in me?”

“I saw Cao Cao’s river camp yesterday—rigorously ordered and impossible to break easily. If I could find a strategy, could you do something?” Zhou Yu asked.

“Do not speak of this now, Commander. Let us each write one character and compare. If they are not the same, I withdraw.”

Zhou Yu, delighted, brought out pen and ink and first wrote in secret, then passed it to Zhuge Liang.

Zhuge Liang also wrote in secret. The two drew close to the bed and each showed the character in his palm, then both laughed loudly.

It turned out that Zhou Yu had written the character 火 and Zhuge Liang had written the same.

Zhou Yu said, “Now that what we both saw is the same, there can be no doubt. Keep this from leaking.”

“This is no private matter between two states,” Zhuge Liang said. “Cao Cao has already suffered two rounds of this sort of plan, and he will not prepare for it again. Let the Commander carry it out.”

After they drank, they parted; the other generals did not know of any of it.

Cao Cao, having lost one hundred and fifty to one hundred sixty thousand arrows for nothing, was choked with rage. Xun Yu offered counsel: “In East Wu there are Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang, who can set a ruse beyond breaking. We must send agents to feign surrender so that they become inside informers and pass news back. Only then can we plan a response.”

Cao Cao said, “Your words are exactly as I thought. Who in your army can do this?”

Xun Yu replied, “Cai Mao has been executed, and the whole Cai clan is in your army. Cai Mao’s brothers, Cai Zhong and Cai He, are now deputy commanders. The Chancellor can win them with favors and send them to feign surrender. Eastern Wu will not suspect them.”

Cao Cao approved, summoned the two at night, and charged them:

“You two may bring a few soldiers, sail downriver and feign surrender to Eastern Wu. If anything stirs, report to me secretly. If this succeeds, your rewards will be great. Let there be no divided heart.”

“Our wives and children are all in Jing Province,” they answered. “How could we dare to keep a double mind? Do not mistrust us. We two swear to seize Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang and present them under your banner.”

Cao Cao rewarded them richly. The next day they came with five hundred soldiers in several boats, and with a favorable wind rowed toward the south bank.

At that moment Zhou Yu was discussing the advance when he was told that ships from the north had reached the river mouth, claiming to be Cai He and Cai Zhong, Cai Mao’s brothers, come to surrender. He summoned them.

The two fell and knelt in tears: “My elder brother was innocent. Killed by the villainous Cao. We two have come to avenge him by surrendering. Grant us acceptance, and we ask to serve at the vanguard.”

Zhou Yu rejoiced greatly and rewarded them, then ordered Gan Ning to lead troops as the vanguard. The two bowed in thanks and, while accepting, became what they were meant to be.

Zhou Yu privately summoned Gan Ning and instructed him: “These two came without families aboard and are no true defectors. They are sent by Cao Cao as double agents. I intend to let them run this counter-plan and let them report our situation. Guard the rear and be cordial; on the day of action, first kill those two as a sacrifice to the standards.”

Gan Ning bowed and took his orders.

Lu Su then came to see Zhou Yu: “Cai Zhong and Cai He’s surrender is likely feigned. They should not be accepted.”

Zhou Yu snapped, “Their brother was killed by Cao Cao. They come to repay that blood debt. How could this be trickery? If you remain so suspicious, how can you house men from all under heaven?”

Lu Su withdrew silently, then went to Zhuge Liang, who only smiled.

Lu Su asked, “Why do you laugh, Master?”

“I laughed that Zijing does not realize Gongjin’s use of devices,” Zhuge Liang said. “The river between us is broad; spies can scarcely pass. If Cao sends Cai Zhong and Cai He to feign surrender, he seeks to spy on our camp. By letting the scheme run forward, Gongjin will force them to report for us. War does not despise deceit; Gongjin’s design is just this.”

Lu Su came to understand.

Later that night Zhou Yu sat in his tent, and Huang Gai, whose courtesy name was Gongfu, came quietly to meet him.

Zhou Yu asked, “You arrive at night, so there must be good design to share.”

Huang Gai answered, “We are outnumbered. We should not hold on too long. Why not use fire attack?”

“Who taught you this?”

“My own thought, no one taught it.”

Zhou Yu replied, “I intended exactly that. That is why I kept the false deserters to pass messages. Yet I regret I have no one to carry out this feigned surrender.”

“I will carry it out.”

“Why would he accept a man who suffers pain?”

“I have been deeply indebted to the house of Sun. Even if my liver and brain were spilled across the ground, I would still have no regret.”

Zhou Yu bowed in thanks. “If you can carry this suffering-body stratagem, it will be Jiangdong’s fortune.”

Huang Gai answered, “Even if I die, I will not complain,” then withdrew.

The next day Zhou Yu beat drums and assembled the generals, with Zhuge Liang also present.

Zhou Yu said, “Cao has one million troops, linked along over three hundred li. We cannot break them in one day. For this reason every commander shall prepare three months of grain and fodder and ready for defense.”

Not yet done speaking, Huang Gai stepped forward and said, “Do not say three months. Even if we had thirty, it still would not suffice. If we do not break him this month, then by Zhang Zibu’s counsel we should throw down our armor and surrender northward!”

Zhou Yu’s color changed at once and he burned with anger. “By my lord’s command I drive these troops to break Cao. If anyone again dares to speak of surrender, I will execute him. In the face of two opposing armies, you dare to say this? You ruin our morale. If I do not behead you, no one will obey me.”

He ordered Huang Gai immediately executed and sent word.

Huang Gai too cried angrily, “I served the General Who Smashes the Caitiffs and have campaigned across the southeast through three generations of the Sun house. Where were you then, to speak to me like this?”

Gan Ning stepped forward, pleading, “Gongjin, you have long served Eastern Wu. Show mercy.”

Zhou Yu shouted, “How dare you add words and upset my regulations?”

He first shouted at Gan Ning and ordered the guards to drag him out and beat him with cudgels.

The commanders all knelt and begged: “Huang Gai’s crime deserves death, but his death harms the army. In pity, let the Commander show forbearance and set aside his sentence for now. After Cao is broken, your axe can still strike.”

Though his rage had not left him, the commanders begged repeatedly. Zhou Yu said, “If I do not mind the faces before you, I would surely behead him now. For now, I spare him from death.” He ordered the attendants to drag him out and strike him with a hundred rod-blows to set his guilt right.

They begged again. Zhou Yu overturned the table, drove them away, and ordered the beating again.

He stripped Huang Gai and dragged him to the ground, beating him with fifty strokes until he bled.

When the officers again begged for reprieve, Zhou Yu leaped up, pointed at Gai, and said, “You dare to despise me! Add five hundred? No—count this as fifty. If you offend again, both punishments will be counted.” His curse of hatred did not cease as he returned to the tent.

The officers raised Huang Gai, who had skin split and flesh torn, blood spurting in fresh spurts. They carried him to his own camp; he almost collapsed in unconsciousness twice.

Anyone who saw him wept. Lu Su, having gone to ask after him, then returned to Zhuge Liang’s boat.

“Today Gongjin struck Huang Gongfu in fury. We are all under him and dared not offend him with counsel. But you are a guest—why did you sit by in silence and speak no word?”

Zhuge Liang smiled. “Zijing, you have deceived me.”

“Since we crossed the river, Lu Su and you have never deceived each other in anything. Why this now?”

Zhuge Liang said, “Does Zijing not know that Gongjin’s harsh beating of Huang Gongfu is his plan? Why would I ask him to stop?”

Zijing only then understood.

“Do not say that I know this first,” Zhuge Liang continued. “Now Huang Gongfu must go on feigning surrender, so Cai Zhong and Cai He are now told to report the matter. When you see Gongjin, do not say that Master Kongming knew from the start. Say only that Kongming too grumbled at the Commander.”

Lu Su took leave, entered Zhou Yu’s tent, and was received.

“Why did you so harshly punish Huang Gongfu today?” Zhou Yu asked.

“Many are uneasy in their hearts,” Lu Su answered.

“What does Zhuge Liang think?”

“He too says the Commander is cold in feeling.”

Zhou Yu laughed. “Today I need to deceive him.”

“How?”

“This beating was a design. I want him to feign surrender; first he must employ a suffering-body plan, deceive Cao Cao, then strike by fire and win.”

Lu Su thought privately of Zhuge Liang’s high wisdom, but did not speak.

Huang Gai lay in his tent as all the commanders came asking after him. He made no words, only long sighs.

Suddenly Han Ze arrived to inquire. Huang Gai had him brought into the sick-chamber and sent others away.

Han Ze asked, “General, do you bear a private grudge against the Commander?”

“No,” Huang Gai replied.

“Then this punishment is surely a suffering-body scheme?”

“How did you know?”

“By watching Gongjin’s actions, I have understood nine-tenths of it.”

Huang Gai said, “I have received three generations of heavy kindness from the Prince of Wu and have no way to repay it. For that reason I present this scheme to break Cao Cao. Though I suffer, I have no resentment. I have looked over the army and found no one I can call my heart-man. Only you have long been known for loyalty and righteousness. I dare entrust you.”

Han Ze said, “What you asked me for is plainly the forged surrender letter.”

Huang Gai agreed. “That is so. Whether you will do it?”

Han Ze gladly accepted.

And this is the verse:

The brave are willing to stake their bodies for their lord’s return of duty;
Counsellors of state share one heart for the land.
No one yet knows what Han Ze will say,
How this turned out will be told in the next chapter.