Cao Cao orders Cai Zhong and Cai He to surrender to Zhou Yu. In reality they are going to find out about Zhou Yu’s military strength. They use a kind of strategy called “fake surrender”. Zhou Yu accepts the surrender of the two men, but understands that this is a “fake surrender”, and plans to take advantage of Cao Cao’s scheme, to fool him in return. Zhou Yu and Huang Gai agree on a scheme called “the ruse of self-injury”, in which Huang Gai is going to surrender to Cao Cao. Huang Gai agrees with Zhou Yu’s suggestions, as he is willing to repay his master.
曹操共損失十七萬七千多支箭，諸葛亮回到南屏山下，把箭過數共得十二萬七千多支箭，爲何差五萬支，因不得每支箭都射到船上，有一部分射入江中。諸葛亮見周瑜繳令。周瑜真心佩服諸葛亮，把先生請到後帳，商議破曹計策。周瑜、諸葛亮兩人掌心都寫了一個“火”字，兩人大笑。