Zhuge Liangs "Borrowing Arrows with Grass Boats": Why Didnt Cao Cao Use Fire Arrows?
2024-04-26 17:47:04 中文版

In the ancient history of China, the Three Kingdoms period was an era full of wars and conflicts. During this period, many famous figures emerged, such as Zhu Geliang, Zhou Yu, and Cao Cao. Among them, Zhu Geliang's "Borrowing Arrows with Grass Boats" is a widely circulated story. However, in this story, why didn't Cao Cao use fire arrows to attack Zhu Geliang's grass boats?

First, we need to understand what "Borrowing Arrows with Grass Boats" is. On the eve of the Battle of Red Cliffs, Zhou Yu of the Eastern Wu requested Zhu Geliang to make one hundred thousand arrows within ten days to test his wisdom. Zhu Geliang cleverly used grass boats and the arrows of the Cao army to complete this task. He ordered his soldiers to place grass figures on the boats, approach the Cao camp in the fog, and lure the Cao army to shoot arrows, thus "borrowing" enough arrows.

For Cao Cao, there may be several reasons why he did not use fire arrows:

1. Weather conditions: It was the middle of winter at that time, and the river was filled with mist, forming a thick fog. Under such weather conditions, the effect of using fire arrows was not ideal because fire arrows needed to be lit before launching, and the thick fog could affect the combustion of the fire source and the range of the fire arrows.

2. Tactical considerations: Cao Cao may have believed that using ordinary arrows was sufficient to repel the enemy and there was no need to use fire arrows. After all, the production cost of fire arrows was higher and their quantity was limited. In addition, if fire arrows were used to attack the grass boats, it might cause excessive losses to the enemy and fail to achieve the goal of "using war to support war".

3. Intelligence judgment: Cao Cao may not have realized that this was a trick. Under the circumstances at that time, the suddenly appearing boats and soldiers may have been considered a small-scale attack by the enemy. Therefore, Cao Cao may have believed that ordinary arrows were sufficient to deal with this situation.

4. Psychological factors: Zhu Geliang's wisdom and reputation may have also influenced Cao Cao's judgment. Under the circumstances at that time, Cao Cao may have believed that this was a trap or deceit and therefore did not adopt more radical attack methods.

Overall, there may be multiple reasons why Cao Cao did not use fire arrows. He may have been influenced by various factors such as weather conditions, tactical considerations, intelligence judgments, and psychological factors. However, it was precisely because of the existence of these reasons that Zhu Geliang successfully completed the feat of "Borrowing Arrows with Grass Boats".

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