According to historical records, Chen Shou, a historian in the Western Jin Dynasty, wrote in the Biography of the Three Kingdoms, Wu Shu Sun Quan (in the eighteenth year of Jian 'an, 2 14) that he had the right to take a big ship to watch the army, and the minister threw a crossbow at his ship, but the ship was biased. The right belongs to the ship, while the arrow is taken, and the ship is flat. This is a straw boat that borrows arrows.
In the eighteenth year of Jian 'an, Sun Quan came to watch the army by boat. Cao Cao ordered archery. As a result, 10,000 arrows were fired at Sun Quan's ship, and the ship tilted to one side. Sun Quan ordered a U-turn, so that "10,000 arrows were fired in unison" and then returned safely.
"Borrowing an arrow from a straw boat" was invented by Luo Guanzhong, the author of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and Zhuge Liang has never done it in his life. But this story has a prototype, and Luo Guanzhong didn't make it up out of thin air. In the official history, the grass boat borrowed an arrow in the battle between Sun Quan and Cao Cao.
According to the second biography of the reflection of Wu Shu Wu Zhuan Zhu by Pei Songzhi, in the 18th year of Jian 'an (AD 2 13), in the first month, Cao Cao fought with Sun Quan, took a canoe into the front of Cao Jun, and observed the deployment of Cao Jun. When Sun Quan canoed for five or six miles, Cao Cao saw a sweeping trend and sighed, "The son of Liu Jingsheng is like a dolphin. Then ordered crossbowmen to fire at Wuchuan. Soon, Sun Quanwei (now a section of waterway from Chaohu Lake in Chaoxian County, Anhui Province into the Yangtze River). Cao Jun was defeated in the first battle, so he couldn't hold on. One day, Sun Quan's canoe was in danger of capsizing because there were too many arrows on one side. Sun Quan ordered the bow to be turned around, so that the other side was hit by an arrow again. After a while, all the arrows were shot, Sun Jun's drums and music sounded, and he came back safely.
It can be seen that it was not Zhuge Liang who borrowed the straw boat to shoot arrows, but Sun Quan, and it happened five years later in Battle of Red Cliffs (AD 2 13).
A story adapted from the real event of borrowing an arrow by a straw boat recorded in historical materials: Zhuge Liang borrowed an arrow by a straw boat.
During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao led 800,000 troops to conquer Wu Dong. Sun Quan and Liu Bei planned to unite against Wei. There was a general named Zhou Yu under Sun Quan. He was clever and brave, but he was a little narrow-minded and jealous of Zhuge Liang's talent. Because the water war needs arrows, Zhou Yu asked Zhuge Liang to build 100 thousand arrows in ten days, but Zhuge Liang only needed three days, and he was willing to issue a military order, and he was willing to be punished if he failed to complete the task.
Zhou Yu thought it was impossible to build 100,000 arrows in three days, and he just took this opportunity to get rid of Zhuge Liang. So on the one hand, he told military craftsmen not to prepare all the materials for making arrows, and on the other hand, he told minister Lu Su to inquire about Zhuge Liang's reality.
Lu Su met Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang said, "Please help me with this. I hope you can lend me 20 boats, each with 30 soldiers. The ship should be covered with green curtains, and more than 1000 grass targets should be arranged on both sides of the ship. However, this matter must not be known to your governor, otherwise it will not work. "
Lu Su reported to Zhou Yu that there was no need to prepare materials, and he made no mention of Zhuge Liang's plan. Two days passed and nothing happened. Zhou Yu thought: He must not build it well. On the third day, at four o'clock, Zhuge Liang secretly asked Lu Su to board the boat together, saying that they would go to get the arrow together. Zhuge Liang ordered the ropes on the ship to be connected and rushed to the other side.
The river was foggy that day, and there was no one on the other side. When the boat approached the water village in Cao Jun, Zhuge Liang ordered the boat to be set aside and let the soldiers beat drums and shout. Thinking that the other side was coming to attack, Cao Cao was afraid of being ambushed in the fog, so he sent 6 thousand archers from the drought village to shoot arrows into the river, and the arrows rained down on the grass target. After a while, Zhuge Liang ordered the ship to turn around and let the other side get an arrow. When the sun comes out, the fog will disperse. Zhuge Liang ordered the boat to return quickly.
At this time, the wind was smooth, and it was too late for Cao Cao to chase. At this time, the grass targets on both sides of the ship were densely covered with arrows, and there were at least five or six thousand on each ship, a total of 20 ships, with a total of far more than 100 thousand. When Lu Su told Zhou Yu the story of borrowing an arrow, Zhou Yu sighed, "Zhuge Liang has a clever plan, but I am not as good as him."