In 207 AD, Cao Cao launched a northern expedition against Wuhuan and the remnants of Yuan Shao. In the second year, Liu Biao, the herdsman of Jingzhou, suddenly died of illness. Liu Bei, who was sheltered by him, lost his support. Jingzhou fell into the power struggle between Liu Qi and Liu Cong, and Jingzhou suddenly fell into chaos. Zhang Lu in Hanzhong was obsessed with Taoism, and Liu Zhang in Xishu was constantly suppressing opposition political forces. In this year, Cao Cao was granted the title of Marquis by Emperor Xian Liu Xie and became the last prime minister of the Han Dynasty.
Due to Cai's interference in Jingzhou, Liu Cong defeated Liu Qi and officially became the pastor of Jingzhou. After Cao Cao made great efforts in the first half of the year, he led his army to march south. When they reached the border of Xinye, Liu Cong looked at the wind and descended. Liu Bei also fled in panic under Cao Cao's fierce attack. Later, through the efforts of Zhuge Liang and Lu Su, the Sun and Liu families formally formed an alliance.
Cao Cao used the power of the Cai family in Jingzhou to vigorously develop a navy in the north of the Yangtze River. Sun Quan entrusted Zhou Yu with full military power. After many selections, Zhou Yu chose to station troops in Xiakou. In "An Examination of the Battle of Chibi": Cao Cao's claim of "eight hundred thousand" was a bluff. He led 300,000 men southward and about 100,000 Jingzhou soldiers, for a total of 400,000. However, Cao Cao garrisoned the newly acquired Jingzhou and dispersed his troops. Only half of the front-line troops used in the Battle of Chibi. Liu Bei had 20,000 people stationed at Xiakou, and Sun Quan had 100,000 people stationed at Chai Sang. The coalition forces were used as front-line troops. Liu, Guan, and Zhang led 2,000 people to support the battle, and the enemy numbered 32,000.
Since Cao Cao launched his southern expedition, his soldiers have all been working hard, but Sun and Liu just waited for the hard work, and Cao Cao "used tired and sick soldiers (the troops he brought) to defend against the suspicious people (the Jingzhou army that was collected)" "Although there are hundreds of thousands of combat forces, there is a big problem with morale. That's why Zhou Yu lamented that "although the numbers are large, they are not enough to fear." I was particularly fascinated by this battle, so I searched for a lot of information to see this battle, which was called one of the "three major battles" during the Three Kingdoms period. I was also curious about how Sun and Liu's improvised army defeated Cao's army. This battle will remain in history. It became a typical battle of "victory with less". But except for "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", there is not much description of this incident, no thrilling description of the war scenes, and no experience of the battle of wits and courage between Kong Ming and Gong Jin.
In the final analysis, the Battle of Red Cliff does not have many highlights. The battle is famous because of Luo Guanzhong, and the words "victory with less" are also very mysterious. Why? Because Cao Cao will definitely lose in this battle, and Sun Liu will win.
"Three Kingdoms·Wei Shu·Wudi Ji" records: In the autumn and July of the 13th year of Jian'an (208 years), (Cao) Gong went south to conquer Liu Biao. In August, Biao died. His son (Liu) Congdai was stationed in Xiangyang, and Liu Bei was stationed in Fan. In September, when the Duke arrived in Xinye, Cong surrendered and prepared to leave Xiakou. The Duke marched to Jiangling and ordered the officials and people of Jingzhou to reform. In December of that year, the war broke out. During Cao Cao's southern expedition, Jingzhou surrendered without a fight. It was more the decision of Jingzhou's high-level ruling group, but the Jingxiang gentry did not have a unified attitude, and Liu Bei had been resisting, so Cao Cao only got Jingzhou's top leaders did not have enough time to win over people's hearts.
In our impression, Sun Quan controlled Jiangdong as a young man and made Zhou Yu, Zhang Zhao and other uncles and ministers and generals submissive, while Liu Bei established himself in the world with his benevolence, righteousness and force. , actually the opposite is true. Pei Songzhi, a later generation, came to the conclusion based on the situation at that time: The Jing people admired Lord Liu's majesty and feared Sun Quan's military strategy for a long time, and it was really beyond the ability of Cao's generals to resist. Of course, looking at it now, Pei Songzhi was more than 200 years away from the Battle of Chibi. What he said can't help but have a sense of "hindsight". However, before Cao Cao's southern expedition, counselor Jia Xu once advised Cao Cao: "Ming Gong defeated the Yuan family in the past, and now he has conquered Hannan. His prestige is far away, and his military strength is huge. If he can take advantage of the people of the old Chu to feed the officials, pacify the people, and make the land peaceful and prosperous, he can go to the east of the Yangtze without laboring. "I'm convinced." Cao Cao refused to listen, and as a result, "the army was in vain." This scene is very similar to the scene ten years ago when Tian Feng came to admonish Yuan Shao to station troops and raise the people in order to defeat Cao Cao, but Yuan Shao refused to listen and resolutely attacked Cao Cao, and even lost his base in the Battle of Guandu.
With the achievement of unifying the north, Cao Cao's heart became expanded. Cheng Yu, who was praised as "strategic", once reminded Cao Cao: "Sun Quan is new in power and is not feared by the country. Cao Cao is invincible in the world. He first conquered Jingzhou and was so powerful that although he has a plan, he cannot hold power alone. Yes. Liu Bei has a great reputation, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are both enemies of ten thousand people, so he must have the power to defend me.
"In Cao Cao's plan, he planned to attack Liu Bei first and then Sun Quan. He himself also knew the strength of Guan and Zhang, so he chose a more stable strategy. But what he never expected was that under his own coercion, Liu Bei He actually formed an alliance with Sun Quan, thus forming a force that resisted his unification of the world.
Let’s talk about the result first. The Battle of Chibi ended with Cao Cao’s defeat. The specific battle process is recorded in the book. Unknown. In the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty: Chronicles of Emperor Xiaoxian", the description of the Battle of Chibi is concise and concise: In the tenth month of winter, when the sun was eclipsed, Cao Cao attacked Sun Quan with his boat army, and Quan defeated Zhou Yu at Wulin and Chibi. In "Three Kingdoms", from the perspective of Wei, Shu and Wu, this battle is also mentioned in one stroke. "Three Kingdoms·Wei Shu·Wudi Ji" says: "(Cao) Gong went to Chibi to prepare for the war, which was unfavorable"; "Three Kingdoms"; "Book of Shu" says: "(Liu Bei) fought with Duke Cao at Chibi, defeated him, and burned his boats. The First Lord and the Wu army advanced by land and water, and pursued them to Nanjun." "Three Kingdoms·Wu Shu·Biography of Lord Wu" says: "Yu and Pu were the left and right governors, each leading ten thousand people, advancing with preparations, and met at Red Cliff and defeated Cao Gong's army."
There are two strange things here: Is Cao Cao’s navy really the legendary chain of boats? Did Zhuge Liang really borrow the east wind to burn Cao’s warships that day?
It is recorded in "Three Kingdoms·Wu Shu·Biography of Lord Wu" that after Sun and Liu's coalition forces defeated Cao Cao, "(Cao) Gong burned the remaining ships and retreated. The soldiers were hungry and exhausted, and most of them died." You must know that before Cao Cao conquered Sun Quan in the south, he had no water. In the north, they fought more in plains and mountains. What they needed were infantry and cavalry who were good at fighting. It wasn't until Liu Cong surrendered that Cao Cao used the former navy general Cai Mao to train a navy army. >
What is the weapon of the navy?
What happened to Cao Cao that caused him to burn all the warships to block the coalition attack? The coalition forces of Sun and Liu would never dare to pursue them. The war broke out in the Jianghan Plain. As long as Zhou Yu dared to send people ashore, the cavalry brought by Cao Cao from Qingzhou would definitely teach Sun and Liu how to behave. However, Cao Cao did not seem to lure the enemy deep. But he really couldn't defeat the coalition forces, so he actually burned his own ships, thereby blocking the coalition's attack and creating time for himself to escape.
It is mentioned in "Three Kingdoms·Wu Shu·Zhou Yu Biography". I have been there: At that time, many of Cao's troops were ill. On the first day of the battle, his army was defeated and retreated to the north of the Yangtze River. In other words, Cao's army had an infectious disease that was rampant before the war with the coalition forces, which led to a decline in Cao's army's combat effectiveness and was unable to retreat after its defeat in the Battle of Chibi. Do not burn warships to block the coalition's offensive. This point is also mentioned in the paper "A Discussion on the Relationship between Cao Cao's Defeat at Chibi and Schistosomiasis" by modern scholar Li Yousong. I will not excerpt it, but the name speaks for itself. Another point is that if there is an outbreak of schistosomiasis, then the coalition forces should not be able to avoid it. How can there be a situation where less can defeat more? To take a step back, the coalition forces have been prepared for this disease because they have been on the riverside for a long time. Immune, but most of Cao's navy was adapted from Jingzhou's navy. The war broke out at the border between Jingzhou and Yangzhou. It is impossible that the coalition forces were immune but Cao's army was not immune. Therefore, the disease should have been brought by Cao's army from the north. Or the northern soldiers could not get used to the symptoms of acclimatization in the Yangtze River area in winter.
Zhou Yu said that one was willing to fight and the other was willing to suffer. Although it is not consistent with historical facts, it also has a specific source. It is in "Three Kingdoms·". There is a record in the Book of Wu·Huang Gai Zhuan: Huang Gai, a general of the Yu tribe, said: "Now that the invaders are outnumbered and we are few, it will be difficult to survive for a long time. However, if the warships are connected end to end, they can be burned and driven away." "He first reported to Cao Cao that he wanted to surrender... Gai set off all the ships and set fire to them at the same time. The wind was strong and burned the camps on the shore. Here, Huang Gai was indeed pretending to surrender, and he also said that he would burn Cao Cao's battle. The ship, but the result was that the military camp on the shore was burned down...
So let us interview the person involved, Cao Cao. In the "Jiang Biao Biography" annotated in "Three Kingdoms·Wu Shu·Zhou Yu Biography", Cao Cao gave Sun Quan wrote in his letter: "During the Battle of Chibi, Zhou Yu was ill and burned his ship to retreat, which made Zhou Yu gain this name in vain. "Although Cao Cao may write this letter with a dissatisfied attitude, he will not lie in the letter to the enemy. This is also consistent with the records in "Three Kingdoms·Wu Shu·Zhou Yu Biography". In There is a description of this battle in "Collection of Yuefu Poems": After Wei Wu defeated Jingzhou, he went eastward and wanted to fight. Sun Quan ordered Zhou Yu to counterattack at Wulin and break away. , Pull out Liucheng. Taking advantage of the victory, he marched southward. The Liu family was at odds, and the eight counties were shocked. After everyone surrendered, Cao slaughtered the thorns. There are hundreds of thousands of boats and carriages, and the sound of the wind blows. The discussants are doubtful and worry about nothing. Thanks to me, the great emperor, for your enlightenment.
The tiger ministers are heroic, Zhou and Cheng. Break Cao Wulin and show your fame. "Lu Ji, the grandson of Lu Xun, a famous general in the Eastern Wu Dynasty, wrote in "The Theory of Death": The Wei family tried to take advantage of the power of victory, led a million troops, floated Dengsai's boat, and descended to Hanyin with thousands of people. The dragon leaps down the river, rides thousands of troops, the tiger steps forward, the advisers fill the room, the military commander Lian Heng sighs, he has the ambition to swallow the Jiang Margin, and the energy of the universe. But Zhou Yu drove my partial troops, deposed the Red Cliff, and the flags were in chaos. They were only exempted and fled far away. The two later essays did not mention the story of this battle, nor did they mention the story of "Dongfeng", and there was no record of the fire.
< p>When Chen Shou wrote "Three Kingdoms", because he was an official of the Jin Dynasty, and the Jin Dynasty regarded Cao Wei as the orthodox, he had to firm his stance on Cao Wei, but his hometown was Western Shu, so he also had no interest in Shu. Because of this, he used Spring and Autumn style of writing in many places in his history books. He once praised Emperor Wen of Wei Cao Pi for his excellent calligraphy and writing. It seemed that he was praising Cao Pi's literary accomplishment, but he was actually belittling him. As an emperor, Cao Pi had nothing to offer except literature. But there are people who can understand these Spring and Autumn writing styles. For more than a thousand years, only Pei Songzhi can read the Spring and Autumn writing styles in this book, so "Pei's Notes". The value of historical data is extremely high. Regarding the failure of this war, Pei Songzhi said: "The defeat of Chibi was due to luck. In fact, due to the epidemic, the sharp front was damaged, and the glorious wind came from the south, using the power of Fenru. This is done by nature, but it is not a matter of human affairs? However, Wei Wu's march eastward was not a miscalculation. ”After reading this, we still don’t know who started the fire in the Battle of Chibi. If we have to say one, two, three, four, it’s better to give them fifty: Cao Cao let it go Zhou Yu set a fire. There is also the so-called east wind. Except for Pei Songzhi's sentence "Kaifeng comes from the south", there is no record of this strong wind. However, this east wind is not blown by the wind. It may be true. Zhuge Liang borrowed Dongfeng.
As for this defeat, the impact of this battle is not recorded in various historical materials. Most of the materials mention this battle briefly, such as (below). The content is excerpted from Chen Shou's "Three Kingdoms" describing the experience of this war from a personal perspective):
(Cao) Gong went to Chibi to prepare for the war, but it was unfavorable. As a result, there was a great epidemic and many officials died. Then he led the army back. ——"Book of Wei: Chronicles of Emperor Wu"
Taizu (Cao Cao, posthumous name Emperor Wu, temple name Taizu) refused, and the army was in vain. "Book of Wei·Xun Yu Xun Youjia". "Xu Zhuan"
① The First Lord and the Wu army advanced by land and water and pursued them to Nanjun. There was an epidemic and many of the northern troops died. Duke Quan was very happy and sent Zhou Yu, Cheng Pu and Lu Su back. Waiting for thirty thousand naval troops, he followed Liang to attack the former lord and resisted Duke Cao; ② Duke Cao was defeated at Chibi and led his army back to Ye. "Book of Shu: Biography of Zhuge Liang"
Sun Quan sent troops to assist the former lord. Rejecting Cao Gong, Cao Gong led his army back. "Shu Shu·Guan Zhang Ma Huang Zhao Biography"
Cao Gong then returned to the north, leaving Cao Ren and Xu Huang in Jiangling, and sent Yue Jin to guard Xiangyang. "The Biography of the First Lord"
① At that time, he and Zhou Yu, Cheng Pu and others attacked Cao Gong in Wulin from the west, surrounded Cao Ren in Nanjun, and pacified Le'an. Governor, defeated Cao Gong in Wulin, attacked Nanjun, and captured Cao Ren; ② "Book of Wu: Biography of Cheng, Huang, Han, Jiang, Zhou, Chen, Dong, Ganling, Xu Panding"
Cao Gong arrived at Red Cliff, but Zhou Yu and others refused to defeat him. . "Wu Shu Zhu Zhi Zhu Ran Lu Fan Zhu Huan Biography"
This battle was transformed into a myth in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". When we look into it deeply, it is indeed a battle without many highlights. .
Similarly, in the novel, in order to highlight Guan Yu's character of repaying kindness and righteousness, the story of "Zhuge Liang wisely calculated Hua Rong, Guan Yun's long-term explanation for Cao Cao" appeared, but the truth cannot be really that simple.
In fact, the truth is simpler than this. There is only one piece of information about Cao Cao's defeat on Huarong Road. "Shan Yang Gong Zai Ji" says: (Cao)'s official ships were burned for Bei, Leading the troops back from Huarong Road, they encountered mud, impassable roads, and strong winds. They made sure that the winning troops carried grass and filled it up, but the cavalry was able to get through. The winning troops were trapped in the mud, and many of them died. : old and weak. Winning soldiers: soldiers with low or no combat effectiveness)
Guan Yu had never been to Huarong Road, and this place was not developed until the Yuan Dynasty, and Zhuge Liang couldn't think of Cao Cao at that time. Will go from here.