Chapter 49 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms – titled “Zhuge Liang Borrows the Eastern Wind; Zhou Yu Launches the Fire Attack” – marks the dramatic climax of the Battle of Red Cliffs, where meteorology, mysticism, and military genius converge to shatter Cao Cao’s dream of unification.
In the autumn of 208 CE, as Cao Cao’s massive army marched southward to unify China under his rule, the fate of the realm hung in the balance.
In the popular imagination shaped by Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Pang Tong – the “Young Phoenix” – is forever linked to one of the most iconic ruses in Chinese military history: the Chain Stratagem.