Cao Cao holds a feast on a great ship and watches the moon over the river with his generals. Holding his lance across his body, he composes a song. One line says that the moon is bright and the stars are few, and the crows fly south and circle the tree three times but find no branch to rest on. When Liu Fu, Inspector of Yangzhou, says these are ill-omened words on the eve of battle, the drunken Cao Cao runs him through with his lance, and the next day, sober, he regrets it.
The ships are all chained together. When Cao Cao takes the navy out, the ships stay as steady as level ground even in the wind, and the northern troops wield spears and blades on deck. Cheng Yu says, With the ships all chained they are steady, but if the enemy attacks with fire there will be no escape. Cao Cao laughs. A fire attack needs the help of the wind. It is deep winter now, with only west and north winds. How could there be an east or south wind? We are in the north-west and they are on the south bank. If they set fires, they will only burn their own troops.
On a hilltop across the river, Zhou Yu is watching Cao Cao’s water camp when the wind snaps the yellow banner in Cao Cao’s camp and drops it into the river, and he laughs aloud. Then a fierce wind suddenly rises and the tip of a banner brushes Zhou Yu’s face. Something comes to him. He gives a great cry, falls backwards and coughs up blood. When the generals hurry to lift him, he has already lost consciousness.