Details of Battle of Red Cliffs.

Battle of Red Cliffs refers to the famous battle in which Liu Bei and Sun Quan defeated Cao Cao's army in Chibi of the Yangtze River (now northwest of Chibi, Hubei Province) in the 13th year of Jian 'an during the tripartite confrontation, which laid the foundation for tripartite confrontation among the three countries. This is one of the most famous wars in the history of China, and it is also the most famous one among the "three major battles" in the Three Kingdoms period. It is also the first large-scale battle in the Yangtze River basin in China history, which indicates that China's military and political center is no longer limited to the Yellow River basin. Finally, Cao Jun was defeated by fire, Cao Cao returned to the north, and Sun Liu also took Jingzhou.

In the autumn and July of the thirteenth year of Jian 'an, Cao Cao began to travel south. He asked Yu Xun for advice. Yu Xun said, "Now that you have unified China (the Yellow River Basin), the south has shaken. You should take advantage of the situation to get out of the leaves quickly, so Jing Xiang is afraid and can pacify Jingzhou. " (Note 2)

In August, Liu Biao died. Sure enough, Liu Bei heard that Cao Cao went to Wancheng to abandon Xinye and went to Xiangyang. Liu Cong surrendered to Cao Cao. At this time, everything is so smooth that Cao Cao has basically reached the strategy of going south.

There is only one old enemy left, Liu Bei. At the moment, he is fleeing to Dangyang with "100,000 people" and is about to go to Jiangling, a military town. Therefore, Cao Cao sent his elite troops "Tiger and Leopard Ride" with 5,000 men, "traveling at night for more than 300 miles", chasing Liu Bei in Changsakan, defeating Liu Jun's main force, "seizing the trench of his second daughter and collecting his scattered troops". (Note 3)

Biography of the Three Kingdoms says: "My late master abandoned his wife and rode away with dozens of people, such as Zhuge Liang, Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun, and Cao Gong was highly valued by the people."

"Biography of the Three Kingdoms and Zhang Fei" records: "Cao Gong chased him, one day and one night, in Dangyang, Osaka. When my late Lord heard of Cao Gong's death, he left his wife and made Fei ride twenty horses. Fly to break the bridge according to the water, stare fiercely and say: "I am Zhang Yide, but I can come to * * * to die! "Invincible dare to approach, so avoid it."

Zhao Yunzhuan, the History of the Three Kingdoms, records: "My late master was chased by Tsao Gong in Changban, Dangyang, leaving his wife to go south. The weak son, the Queen Mother, protected Mrs. Gan, the Queen Mother."

In a word, there are many similarities between its form and the description in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, except that Cao Cao did not have 830,000 troops. It should be said that this pursuit war shows the powerful fighting capacity of Cao Jun elite cavalry, and also shows Liu Bei's military career all his life. Judging from the strength comparison, the two sides can be said to be invincible.

The water army led by Guan Yu met Liu Bei in the Han and Jin Dynasties, so that he did not suffer from extinction, and Liu Bei fled to Xiakou. The attempt to occupy Jiangling against Cao Cao failed.

Cao Cao led the troops to occupy Jiangling and obtained a large number of strategic materials for warships, which made Cao Cao decide to go further south and completely destroy Liu Bei and Sun Quan.

As early as Cao Cao's southern expedition, Sun Quan dispatched troops to Chaisang and sent Lu Su to Jingzhou to explore the reality (Note 4). As a result, Liu Biao died and met Liu Bei. The two sides decided to form an alliance, and Liu Bei sent Zhuge Liang as a special envoy to Soochow.

After Cao Cao occupied Jiangling, he crossed the river to destroy Liu Bei. At the same time, Liu Zhang, with 300 soldiers and miscellaneous things, sent a letter to Tso who worshipped Su as the satrap of Guanghan.

During this period, Liu Bei's strength can refer to Zhuge Liang's words recorded in the History of the Three Kingdoms: "Today, Guan Yu has 10,000 troops in the water army, and Liu Qibing has no less than 10,000 troops under the river."

But this statement is obviously put forward for the sake of improving the status of the alliance and getting equal treatment, so there is a lot of water.

A

Lu Su's Biography of the Three Kingdoms (which should be a joint biography of Zhou Yu, Lu Su, Monroe and others, the same below) quotes Lu Su's language from Wu Shu: at first, the people in Yuzhou were not the same.

Even the "one school" soldiers were not enough, which shows that Liu Bei was really at the end of his tether.

"Biography of Jiangbiao" records: Liu Bei "had 2,000 soldiers with feathers and flies, but Cao Cao had to withdraw his troops in December of the thirteenth year of Jian 'an, and failed to continue south.

So it can be seen that although Battle of Red Cliffs suffered a lot, the overall strength of Cao Jun is still far greater than that of Sun Liu, but it is not enough to continue crossing the river for the time being. You know, two years later, Cao Cao also defeated Xiliang.

Therefore, although Cao Cao burned his navy warship, Cao Cao's army still maintained a considerable number, and the elite troops basically did not lose. Only because of the failure of the navy, Cao Cao could not cross the river, and with the plague, Cao Cao had to give up his attempt to land at Chibi.

Most of these lost warships were left by the former Jingzhou, and their water army was also a local soldier in Jingzhou. This is where Battle of Red Cliffs Cao Cao's direct losses came from, and although the troops indirectly lost due to the plague were not small (note 10), they were not too many compared with Jingzhou Water Army, which shows that it has always been a "clique"!

B

During this period, Liu Beijun's strength began to increase. According to Biography of the River Table, Zhou Yu was the prefect of Nanjun and was assigned to the South Bank as a backup. Beibie camped in Youjiangkou and changed its name to Public Security. When Liu Biao's officials saw that they belonged to the North Army, they rebelled and prepared.

It can be seen that Liu Bei has not been idle in Jingzhou these years.

Then Liu Bei took over the counties in Jingnan to further strengthen his own strength. Only two years later, Liu Bei can fight on two fronts. Biography of the Three Kingdoms: "The ancestors left Zhuge Liang, Guan Yu and others in Jingzhou and sent tens of thousands of people into Yizhou. ..... The late leader joined the army with more than 30,000 people, and his armored equipment was very rich. "

Liu Bei is really not simple, but he succeeded a little late. According to the biography of the reflection of Lu Su, the reserve army wanted to see the influence of Beijing, asked the governor of Jingzhou, and Sue persuaded him to borrow it, but * * * refused Tso. Cao Gong heard the right to prepare the land industry before writing a book.

C

As for Wu Jun's strength, there has been little change. Although we collected some northern soldiers and gained a lot of horses when we attacked Coss (note 1 1), we also suffered casualties, so we should still have only the original strength.

Editing this battle situation in Cao Cao's deployment, Cao Cao obtained Jiangling from Cao Cao before October of the thirteenth year of Jian 'an, with hundreds of thousands of people. At the same time, he appointed Wen Pin as a general, and "formulated the northern army code" to guard the Jiangxia border. At the same time, the army continued to go south to Wulin, ready to land in Chibi.

So did Cao Cao arrange an absolute main force on the Wulin line? The answer is yes.

The Biography of the Three Kingdoms Cao Incheon records that from Pingjingzhou, he recruited the southern generals with benevolence and stayed in Jiangling, rejecting Zhou Yu, the general of Wu.

"The Story of the Three Kingdoms Cao Chunchuan" records that Liu Bei was chased in Nagano after taking Jingzhou, and his second daughter was dismissed as a trench. Into Jiangling.

According to the biography of the Three Kingdoms and Yue Jin, he left Jingzhou and stayed in Xiangyang.

"The Story of the Three Kingdoms, Huang Xuchuan" records: Starting from Jingzhou, don't be a model.

The biography of the reflection of Man Chong records that in the 13th year of Jian 'an, Jingzhou was collected from Mao. The army came back, leaving a pet for General Wei Fen to bask in the sun.

Zhao Yan's Biography of the Three Kingdoms records: Taizu took Jingzhou as the prefect, moved the commander to protect the army, and protected the seven armies of Ban, Zhang Liao, Zhang He, Li Dian and Feng Jie.

It can be seen that almost all Cao Cao's generals have arrived. Didn't these generals go to Wulin and stay in Jingzhou? The answer is no.

The so-called "staying in the chariot" means that it is not the deployment before the final battle of Wulin, but the deployment after the final battle.

Want to know the reflection is based on wei, Battle of Red Cliffs is the stain of jun, naturally not much to write, there would be no concrete deeds of them. For example, your first physical surname will be banned, and his biography doesn't even have the words "from Pingjingzhou". If he is not mentioned in Biography of Zhao Yan, we have no evidence that he arrived in Jingzhou.

Another example is Zhang Liao, who mentioned in Yu Xin's "Ode to the South of the Yangtze River": "Zhang Liao fought against Chibi and Wang Jun fought against Baqiu".

It can be seen that Cao Cao's main forces have all gone to Chibi. He hoped to take Jingzhou Water Army as the main force, and then take advantage of the absolute strength to cross the river, but he overestimated Jingzhou Water Army and underestimated Wu Jun and the Yangtze River.

In fact, Zhou Yu has made an incisive exposition on Cao Cao's mistakes, and the five points he analyzed should be said to be Cao Cao's fatal wound.

(1) Ma Chao and Han Sui are still in Kansai, which is Cao Cao's future trouble.

The Kansai Army has always been a threat to Cao Cao.

(2) Give up the pommel horse, compete for the boat and compete with wuyue. This is not directed by China;

Cao Cao also understands this truth. He hoped to use Jingzhou Water Army against Wu Jun, but he was wrong. The contact war before Battle of Red Cliffs proved everything. This is why Cao Cao locked the warship, but it was only because of this that he was attacked by the enemy. In the final analysis, it is caused by the poor water army.

(3) It's cold now, and the horse has no grass;

"The Story of the Three Kingdoms, Sun Quanzhuan" records that the soldiers were hungry and most of them died. It can be seen that horses have no forage and people are not much better. Hunger and plague are two major problems that plague Cao Jun. Even if there are many such troops, it is difficult to win.

(4) Driving China scholars to travel far and wide in rivers and lakes, if they are not used to the water and soil, they will be ill.

Biography of the Three Kingdoms and Cao Cao: Going to Chibi is not conducive to preparing for war. So there was a great epidemic, many officials died, and they led the troops back. There are Jingzhou and Jiangnan County.

Biography of Jiangbiao records: (Cao Cao) Hou Shu and Quan Yue said, "Battle of Red Cliffs was ill, and his boat burned out alone, which made Zhou so famous." Plague has become a key factor in war.

(5) Liu Biao's new audience has not returned to their hearts.

Edit this Cao Cao marching route 1. The offensive route "The History of the Three Kingdoms and the Emperor Wu Di Ji" records that in autumn and July, Gongnan levied Liu Biao, and in August he was a pawn, with his sons Cong Dai, Tun Xiangyang and Liu Bei Tun Fan. In September, I surrendered to Xinye and prepared to leave Xiakou. Gong Chang drove straight into Jiangling. ..... From Jiangling, to Baqiu ... From Chibi, it is not good to prepare for it.

"The Story of the Three Kingdoms, Huang Xuchuan" records: Starting from Jingzhou, don't be a model.

"The Story of the Three Kingdoms Cao Chunchuan" records that Liu Bei was chased in Nagano after taking Jingzhou, and his second daughter was dismissed as a trench. Into Jiangling.

Zhao Yan's Biography of the Three Kingdoms records: Taizu took Jingzhou, took it as the prefect, moved the governor to protect the army, and guarded the seven armies of Ban, Zhang Liao, Zhang He, Li Dian and Feng Jie.

It can be seen that Cao Cao attacked from Xuchang on all fronts, basically attacking Jingzhou in a repressive way. It was this situation that frightened Liu Bei and frightened Liu Cong.

And Cao Cao's attack route is basically as follows:

Xuchang-Xinye (Fan)-Xiangyang (guarding Jiangxia)-Dangyang-Jiangling-Baqiu-Chibi.

2. The route of retreat "Zi Tongzhi Jian" records that Cao Cao led the army to take Huarong Road. Muddy, impassable roads, windy, just know soldiers were forced to fill the grass, riding too much. Soldiers were beaten by men and horses, trapped in the mud, and many people died.

Legend of Heroes at the End of Han Dynasty records that Cao Gong suffered a crushing defeat in Chibi and realized osawa's dream. He was lost in the fog.

If the two records are consistent, then "Huarong Road" and "Yunmeng Ozawa" should be one place. Huarong Road in the Three Kingdoms Period was located in Jianghan Plain, south of Qianjiang and north of Jianli. Yunmeng osawa should be understood as vast swamps and sporadic lakes from Dongting Lake in the south to Jiangling in the north.

However, there is a saying in the biography of the Three Kingdoms and Guo Family: "Taizu levied Jingzhou to return, and Baqiu was infected with the epidemic and burned his ship."

So are the records in Zi Tong Zhi Jian and Qun Ying Hui completely wrong?

I think so, too. Cao Cao passed Huarong Road from Wulin. Although the middle road was difficult or even lost, they finally reached Baqiu and retreated to Jiangling.

"Tongdian" records: "There is Cao Youzhou in the Sanjiangkou of Dongting Lake, and Cao Gong was defeated here." "Expanding Geography" records: "There is Cao Youzhou in Baqiu Lake, and Cao Gong was defeated by Sun Quan."

It is worth noting that there are two places in Baqiu: Yueyang today and Chongren in Jiangxi today. Baqiu of Cao Cao's burning ship should be Baqiu of Yueyang; According to the Biography of the Three Kingdoms and Zhou Yu, Baqiu, which is recorded as "Zhang Yu, Luling and Baqiu Town", should be Chongren, Jiangxi.

To sum up, all Cao Cao's trips can be summarized as follows: Xuchang-Xinye (Fan)-Xiangyang-Dangyang (Chasing in Changban)-Jiangling-Baqiu-Chibi (Defeated)-Huarong Road (Yunmeng osawa)-Baqiu (Burning Ships)-Nanjun-Qiaocheng.

Editor Sun Liulian's action line "The Biography of the Three Kingdoms and Liu Bei" records: "Cao Gong has a solid army in Jiangling, fearing that he will rely on it first, so he released the trench and ignored the army to Xiangyang. I heard that my late master passed away ... and it was in Changsaka, Dangyang ... My late master tended to Han Jin, adapted to the badminton club and was freed. When I met my eldest son Jiangxia, the satrap of Zhong Qi, I went to Xiakou with him ... I sent Zhou Yu and other tens of thousands of water troops to fight Tsao Kung in Chibi with my late Lord, breaking it and burning his ship. My ancestors went hand in hand with Wujun and went straight to Nanjun. "

This record is already very detailed:

Xinye-Xiangyang-Dangyang (defeated)-Hanjin-Xiakou (stationed with Zhou Yu)-Chibi (victorious)-Huarong Road-Nanjun.

"Biography of the Three Kingdoms and Zhuge Liang" records: As for Xiakou ... my ancestors supported the army in Chaisang, waiting to see if they could succeed.

According to the Records of the Three Kingdoms and Biography of Zhou Yu, Yu and others were all sent to unite against Tsao Gong. When he met Chibi ... the public army was defeated and led to Jiangbei. Yu and others are on the south bank ... the army was defeated and the Confederate army was protected. Prepare to launch a * * * chase with Yu et al. Tsao Gong left Coss and others to guard Jiangling City and went back to the north.

It is also clear:

Chaisang-Xiakou-Chibi-Wulin-Jiangling.

The two armies should meet at the gorge or near the estuary.

Editor's Note: In July of the 13th year of Jian 'an, Cao Cao began to explore the south and occupied Jiangling in October. So in which month did Battle of Red Cliffs happen?

"The History of the Three Kingdoms" and "The Ji of Emperor Wudi" record: "December ... what the public collected from Jiangling ..."

The Book of the Later Han Dynasty records that the sun will be eroded in the late October of the winter solstice. At noon in December, former general Ma Teng was called Wei Yan. In September, Cao Cao and Zhou Yu fought in Chibi, and Cao Cao's army was defeated.

It seems to have happened in Battle of Red Cliffs in the 13th year of Jian 'an.

However, Zi Jian and Hou both recorded October (note 12).

Otherwise the Romance of the Three Kingdoms said in November:

Zhuge Liang said, "On the 20th, Jia Zi offered sacrifices to the wind, and on the 22nd, Bing Yin cleared the way. How about it? " ..... Kong Ming said, "After November 20th, you can teach Zilong to wait on the south bank by boat." .

In fact, all three statements have some truth. First of all, according to October, Battle of Red Cliffs can actually be said to be an encounter, because Cao Cao only occupied Jiangling in October, and the battle in the same month ended; Secondly, according to 1 1 month, it seems neither too early nor too late, but unfortunately, this view is based on novels, and its credibility naturally cannot be compared with official history; According to the most authoritative statement in the History of the Three Kingdoms, Battle of Red Cliffs broke out in the winter of the 13th year of Jian 'an, but this view is somewhat contradictory to other records.

"The Story of the Three Kingdoms and Jiang Ji" records: "In the thirteenth year of Jian 'an, Sun Quan led a crowd to surround Hefei ... He believed, burned it, surrounded it and used it all. It can be seen that the Battle of Hefei ended in the 13th year of Jian 'an, so if Battle of Red Cliffs happened in December, Cao Cao could still run from Jingzhou to Hefei during this time, and he was too nervous to explain the time at all.

However, there is a record in "Calendar Day 3,500": "Five sons in the thirteenth year of Jian 'an in the Eastern Han Dynasty. In December, the new moon at noon, the slight cold in Shen Bing in the 15th and the great cold in the 31st. Leap in December, Renzi new, fifteen for beginning of spring. "

In other words, the thirteenth year of Jian 'an is a leap in December, so all the tense time is natural.

As for October 1st, it is quite contradictory with other records in the History of the Three Kingdoms.

The History of the Three Kingdoms and Emperor Wudi records that people marched into Jiangling and ordered Jingzhou officials and people to join in and start over. On the merits and demerits of Jingzhou's submission, fifteen people took Wen Pin, the general of Liu Biao, as Jiangxia's satrap, ordered him to unify his troops, and cited Han Song, Yi Deng and other Jingzhou celebrities.

It shows that Cao Cao occupied Jiangling for a long time to stabilize the situation. (Note: It will take a month or two to stabilize the situation, which is too exaggerated. Fighters are fleeting. According to the Records of the Three Kingdoms, Jia Xu suggested that after Cao Cao occupied Jingzhou, he should recuperate and stabilize the newly occupied land. But Cao Cao didn't agree with him, which shows that Cao Cao doesn't want to stay in Jingzhou for too long. Historian Pei Songzhi also believes that Jia Xu made the same mistake that Cao Cao failed to quickly capture Yizhou after capturing Hanzhong. )

The biography of the Three Kingdoms and Zhou Yuchuan records that it is cold now, and the horse has no grass.

"Severe cold" should be interpreted as the dead of winter. October is hardly called the dead of winter, while December is the "great cold on November 31st".

In addition, the October theory is not clearly pointed out in Zi Zhi Tong Jian and The History of the Later Han Dynasty that Battle of Red Cliffs occurred in December, but it is vaguely recorded and has room for manoeuvre. It is estimated that the authors of the two books have doubts about this time, but they have not reached a conclusion.

To sum up,1February should be the most authoritative and reasonable explanation.

In the 13th year of Jian 'an, the whole month of winter and December was from 65438+February 25th in 2008 to 65438+1October 23rd in 2009. Battle of Red Cliffs happened in this period.

When later writers wrote poems, essays and novels on the theme of this war, they often deliberately infiltrated exaggerated and additional elements.

In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Battle of Red Cliffs is the most important, largest and most concentrated war in the book. From the 42nd Liu Yuzhou's defeat in Hanjinkou, Lu Su came to Xiakou to mourn Liu Biao, to the 43rd war of words between Zhuge Liang and Confucian scholars, the 40th Zhuge Liang's wisdom aroused Zhou Yu, the 45th Jiang Gan recruited talents, the 46th borrowed the arrow of Kong Ming's ingenious plan, the 47th Pang Tong skillfully taught a series of tricks, and the 48th locked war.

Battle of Red Cliffs's participation in the war is also exaggerated. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms says that Yi Jun has 830,000 yuan, but there are not so many. Attached is a comparison table of the strength of both sides-

Icy:

West Road Attack Corps: 45,000 people, including 25,000 people in the water army (thousands of people in the newly retired troops and transport fleet have not arrived in Chibi);

North Road Attack Corps: 45,000 people, including Shuijun 1 10,000 people (just retired troops);

Jingzhou defense and logistics forces: 20,000 people;

Contain the offensive troops on the Eastern Front: 65,438+500,000 troops in three directions;

(Jingzhou New Surrender Army: 35,000. There was no sign of participating in the war during the reorganization, and its army general Kuai Yue was not in any army, but was promoted by Cao Cao and transferred to North Korea. )

Sun Liu Lianjun:

Zhou Yu Legion-claims to be 30,000 people, including more than 65,438+5,000 elite water forces, but the total strength of 30,000 may be insufficient, because Zhou Yu surrendered only 4,000 troops when he died. Even if there is one Zhou Jiasong among 30,000 people, the sum of the other generals will not exceed 20,000;

Liu Bingtuan10.5 million to 20,000, of which Shuijun is close to10.0 million;

Sun Quan's support strength is 1 10,000 or more;

The Eastern Defence Forces 10000 (respectively resisting the three-way offensive forces in Cao Jun).

In Battle of Red Cliffs, Cao Jun's combat troops are 45,000 from the West Road Offensive Corps, including 20,000 from the newly surrendered Jingzhou Water Army. Sun and Liu joined forces with 30,000 people, while Liu Beijun did not take part in the war (only when retreating).

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms vividly describes that Zhou Yu's camp is in Xishan, Ezhou, and Sun and Cao Bing are in Sanjiangkou.

Until modern times, Battle of Red Cliffs is still a landmark event in the Three Kingdoms period, which is the most well known. In 2008, his deeds were adapted into the film Red Cliff.