After Cao Cao unified the north, Liu Bei retreated to Wuchang, Hubei. Zhuge Liang, the strategist, suggested fighting Cao with Sun Quan.

Although Cao Cao has many people, it is mainly the water army, which is the main force in the battle, but they may not really obey Cao Cao.

Zhou Yu led 30,000 soldiers to fight Liu Bei. In order to let the northern soldiers walk on the ship, Cao Cao ordered the warships to be locked together with chains. Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu both decided to attack Cao Cao with fire.

The southeast wind blows at night. Huang Gai pretended to surrender to Cao Cao and took ten warships full of oil and firewood. They lit at the same time, and the fireboat sailed downwind to Cao Cao's warship, which soon became a sea of fire.