What is the relationship between Cao Cao and Jingzhou?

The battle of Jingzhou was the cause of the war.

This war was originally triggered by the capture of Jingzhou, which was the continuation and development of the all-round battle between Cao Cao, Liu and Sun.

The first year of Zhong Ping at the end of Han Dynasty? The Yellow Scarf Uprising took place on 184, and chaos began. In A.D. 189, Emperor Han Ling died, Xian Di ascended the throne, and Dong Zhuo became the autocratic regime of North Korea. Since then, it has entered a period of warlord melee and national division. At that time, the warlord melee was mainly concentrated in the north, Yangzhou between Jianghuai? Today's Shouxian county is the base camp of the great warlord Yuan Shu, and there are frequent wars. By the beginning of 208 AD, Cao Cao had basically pacified the north after years of fighting and became the biggest political force at that time. Because Cao Cao commanded the princes with the help of the emperor, he had an absolute advantage both militarily and politically. With the pacification of the north, Cao Cao's campaign will inevitably turn to the south, and Jingzhou is his first choice.

At that time, the separatist forces in the south mainly included Jingzhou Liu Biao, Soochow Sun Quan and Zhang. Yuan Shu, which originally occupied Yangzhou, has been destroyed, and Sun Ce, who fought in Jiangdong, has risen between Jianghuai. After Sun Ce was assassinated in 200 AD, Sun Quan succeeded to the throne and then expanded the territory of Jiangdong. According to reports, there are six counties, and their influence has been extended from today's Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai and Anhui to today's Nanchang and Jiujiang in Jiangxi. Liu Zhang, a native of Yizhou, inherited the inheritance of Ada. According to the present Sichuan-Chongqing-Yunnan-Guizhou region, it is actually stronger than Dongwu, but Liu Zhang is not as cowardly as Sun Quan. Liu Biao was appointed as the secretariat of Jingzhou by the imperial court in 189, and it has been 19 years since then. After quelling the civil strife and stabilizing the people's hearts, it has the powerful strength of "a thousand miles in place, more than 100 thousand armour" and has become the largest separatist force in the south. Liu Biao has always been based on protecting the environment and people. Although Jingzhou has a vast territory, a large number of soldiers, abundant military assets, rich products and a very important strategic position, he has no ambition, and ambitious Cao, Liu and Sun all covet Jingzhou. Cao Cao wants to dominate the world, Liu Bei wants to be based on development, and Sun Quan wants to rely entirely on the Yangtze River, all of which regard Jingzhou as the goal of hegemony. This can be seen in the "secret discussion" between Cao Su and Sun Quan, and the "Longzhong Dui" between Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei. Cao Cao originally wanted to go south to Jingzhou, and he also went south after the battle of Guandu. On the way, Yuan Shao's two sons tried to take advantage of this opportunity to completely destroy Yuan's power, so they diverted to the north and continued to pacify the north.

In July of the lunar calendar in 208 AD, Cao Cao made an expedition to Wuwan, and when the north was basically settled, he led a great army to levy Liu Biao in the south. In August, Liu Biao died. In September, the army entered Xinye, and Liu Cong, the new owner of Jingzhou, sent messengers to Xinye to surrender. When Liu Bei was stationed in Fancheng, after learning this letter, he quickly withdrew to Jiangling via Xiangyang. Cao Cao was afraid that Liu Bei would get Jiangling, so he abandoned the trench from Xinye and chased Xiangyang, personally leading 5,000 people. So the famous battle of Nagsaka took place. Liu Bei inclined Han to go to Xiakou, and then sent Kong Ming to see Sun Quan for help. It was Cao Cao Nan who took Jingzhou that prompted Sun Quan to form an alliance with Liu Bei and * * * resisted Cao.

At that time, the dominant face of the Sun-Liu Alliance was Dongwu. Because Cao Cao invaded Jingzhou quietly according to Yu Xun's words, Wu Dong failed to find out at the moment, only knowing that Liu Biao was dead and worried that Jingzhou would be seized by Cao Cao, Lu Su recommended himself to Jingzhou to observe the movement in the name of mourning, with the main purpose of building good relations with Liu Bei and defending Cao Cao's attack on Jingzhou. When Lu Su arrived in Xiakou, he realized that Cao Bing had gone to Jingzhou, and when he arrived in Jiangling, Liu Cong had surrendered to Cao, so he rushed to Changban in Dangyang to see Liu Bei and persuaded Liu Bei to give up his plan of going to Xiakou to jointly resist Cao Cao with Sun Quan. Lu Su knew that Cao Cao would attack after he got Jingzhou, and advised Liu Bei to unite with Wu to resist Cao, mainly for the sake of safety, but he didn't want Cao to get Jingzhou. As Jingzhou is the gateway to Wu Dong, he secretly discussed with Sun Quan and proposed to establish an imperial inheritance with Jingzhou as the capital.

Cao Cao's southward expedition broke the established strategy of Liu Bei and Sun Quan looking forward to Jingzhou, and promoted Sun and Liu Lianhe's resistance to Cao Cao. Only in this way did his later grandson Liu Lianjun confront Cao Jun, and Battle of Red Cliffs was formed.

From Cao Cao Nan's taking Jingzhou to Lu Su and Zhuge Liang's lobbying Sun Liulian to unite against Cao Cao, it was the prelude of Battle of Red Cliffs. Every sound made by this overture is closely related to the battle between Cao, Liu and Sun Jingzhou. Battle of Red Cliffs is actually the continuation and development of Cao, Liu and Sun competing for Jingzhou, which is a historical fact, not groundless.

Burning Wulin is the key to war.

Traditionally, the name of a battle should depend on the location of the strategic decisive battle. For example, when Cao Yuan played Guandu, he was in Baima. Today, a war broke out in hua county and other places in Henan Province, and Yuan Shao's general Yan Liang was killed because the two armies fought in Guandu? Today, in the northeast of Zhongye County, Henan Province, it was named the Battle of Guandu. So, where is the decisive battle with Sun and Liu?

According to historical records, Cao Cao entered Jiangling after defeating Liu Bei in Changban, and "ordered Jingzhou officials to join in and start over." In other words, after Cao Cao occupied Jiangling, he issued a notice telling Jingzhou officials that Jingzhou had been owned by him and was governed by him from then on. Jiangling is a strategic place in Jingzhou. Liu Biao's thousands of warships, 80,000 water troops and a large number of munitions are gathered here. According to Jiangling, Jingzhou is the real possession. Cao Cao was captured by Jingzhou water army, and his momentum was greatly improved. He immediately got off Jiangling and headed for the gorge. Today, the joint forces of Sun and Liu in Hankou set out for the base camp. Cao Jun to Baqiu? Today, the ancient city of Baling in Chenglingji, Hunan Province, which is also called Chenglingji, is usually called Yueyang Mountain, which is also called Cuba Mountain. Then, from Baqiu to Chibi, there was an opportunity with the allies, so a war broke out between Chibi and Wulin.

About this war, The History of the Three Kingdoms mentioned Chibi many times, often using "Encountering Chibi"? Such as Biography of Master Wu and Biography of Zhou Yu. "Historical Records of Wei Shuwu" wrote that "going to Chibi is not conducive to preparing for war." The Biography of Ancient Shu recorded "Battle of Red Cliffs". In Zhao Wei's "Wu Shu" and "Biography of the River Table", both called this war Battle of Red Cliffs. In Biography of Huang Gai, Pei Songzhi quoted Zhao Wei and Wu Shu as saying: "Battle of Red Cliffs? Huang Gai fell into the river and was rescued by Han Dang. In Biography of Zhou Yu, Pei Songzhi quoted Biography of Jiang Biao and wrote: Cao Cao wrote to Sun Quan afterwards: "Battle of Red Cliffs was worthy of illness, and the boat burned out alone, which made Zhou so famous. "

Because this war happened at the time of the battle between the two armies in Chibi, it is ok to call it Battle of Red Cliffs. It should be noted that in Chibi, located on the south bank of the great river, there was actually no war between the two armies. The battle between the two armies is on the river of Chibi and Wulin, and Wulin on the north bank is the real strategic decisive battle place.

The Three Kingdoms mentions Wulin, which is directly related to Cao Cao's defeat. It is clearly stated in Biography of Cheng Pu, Biography of Gan Ning and Biography of Ling Tong that Cao Gong was defeated by Wulin. Because Wulin is the base camp, when Huang Gai offered a fire attack, Cao's boat caught fire, and the southeast wind was fierce. The fire suddenly spread from the boat in the river to the camp on the shore, completely losing its position and the ability to rescue and resist, so it had to retreat to Baqiu. Therefore, burning Wulin is the key to this war. This is why some historians think that Battle of Red Cliffs should be the Battle of Wulin. Prior to this, the first confrontation between Cao Jun and the Allies also took place in Pukou, under the Wulin. About this war, Zhou Yuchuan's record in the reflection is more detailed:

At that time, Zhou Yu, Cheng Pu and Liu Bei conspired against Cao Cao, "encountering Chibi. At that time, Cao's army was already riddled with diseases and the plague was prevalent. On the first day of the war, the army retreated and led to Jiangbei. Yu Jun is on the south bank. " Zhou Yu's department saw that Huang Gai was connected with the iron chain of the Cao Jun warship. In view of the fact that the enemy was strong and we were weak, it was difficult to stalemate, and it was suggested to attack quickly by fire. So Huang Gai pretended to surrender and launched a fire attack. "At that time, the wind was very strong, and I noticed that the onshore camp was delayed. In an instant, fireworks were flying, people were burning and people were drowning. Cao Jun was defeated and saved the South Army. "

Biography of the River Table describes that when the fire spread to the shore and fell, "? Zhou Yu and others lightly pursued the enemy, thunder and drums advanced, the northern army lost its soldiers and defeated Cao Gong. " This means that Zhou Yu and others attacked immediately after setting fire to Wulin, forcing Cao Jun to be defeated, and then we can see that the strategic decisive battle of this war is in Wulin, not in Chibi.

Defeating Huarong Road is the end of the war.

Cao Cao defeated Huarong Road, which is contained in the "Three Yang Gong Zai Ji" cited by Pei Songzhi, the emperor of the Three Kingdoms. Its text is as follows:

"? What is Cao Gong's boat? Liu Bei burned it and led the army back from Huarong Road. Muddy, impassable roads, windy, just know the winning soldiers to fill with grass, but can ride. The victorious soldiers were beaten and upset, got stuck in the mud and died a lot. "

This record was copied by Sima Guang's Zi Tongzhi Jian and written into this war. In addition, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms makes a literary rendering of Guan Yu's interpretation of Cao Cao through Huarong Road. People are familiar with this historical story. They believe that Cao Cao's defeat of Huarong Road is true, and Guan Yu's release of Cao Cao is the creation of the romance of the Three Kingdoms. Judging from the situation at that time, it was inevitable for Cao Cao to retreat to Nanjun and "lead the army back from Huarong Road".

Here, we must first find out where Chu Huarong is. Huarong county, Hunan province, the eighteenth year of Emperor Kai of Sui Dynasty? It was only set in 598 AD, which had nothing to do with Cao Cao's defeat of Huarong Road. Today, Huarong Town, Huarong District, Ezhou City existed in the Han Dynasty. Some people think that Cao Cao was defeated by Huarong Road because he retreated to Xiakou from Huarong Road in Ezhou. The premise of this paper is to incorporate Huangzhou Chibi into Huangzhou Chibi to Tuanfeng. Wulin area is regarded as Battle of Red Cliffs along the red bank of the river. This obviously can't stand scrutiny. Cao Xiu's Huarong Road is only in Jianli County today. Today, Jianli County was Huarong County in Han Dynasty, and a county was established in the early Han Dynasty, belonging to Nanjun County. Jianli county was the first year of Wu in the Three Kingdoms period? In 222 AD, it was located in Huarong County. Because its "land is rich in fish and rice, so that officials can supervise", it is named Jianli. In 208 AD, Huarong Road taken by Cao Cao was undoubtedly in Huarong County, Nanjun County.

So, where is Huarong Road? Is it a direct route from Wulin to Nanjun? As we know, Honghu Lake is located in the west of Wulin. In ancient times, it was a school of Zeguo in Wang Yang. It was impossible for Cao Cao to enter Nanjun from Wulin. Today, there is still a lake barrier. Cao Cao's Wulin was defeated, so he could not directly go west to Nanjun. He had to go north along the highland of the river bank, retreat from Wulin to Bailuo on the east bank of Jianli County, then go to Huarong City from Bailuo to the northwest and go to Nanjun via Huarong City.

Cao Jun retreated northward along the river bank, hand in hand with land and water. There are both troops evacuated along the river bank and ships evacuated to Baqiu in the middle of the river. The fire attack did not burn all Cao Cao's warships, and Cao Cao still had some warships. Due to the pursuit of Sun and Liu, they were very flustered when retreating, so that the ship mistakenly entered Baqiu Lake. Cuba's Qiuhu Lake or Baling Lake, that is, Dayun Mengze, is connected with Dongting Lake, and it is a vast expanse of white. If you don't know where it breathes, it is entirely possible to go astray. After a mistake, you can always find an exit and return to Nanjun. Jun previously went down from Jiangling East and also passed the mouth of Baqiu Lake. Why did Cao Cao go ashore and take Huarong Road? The key here is that there is a serious epidemic in the army.

The epidemic in Cao Jun existed in the first battle with the allied forces? See Zhou Yuchuan. This may be an important reason for Cao Jun's defeat in the first battle. Later, the epidemic spread and became more and more serious. Cao Cao had to burn the remaining ships that retreated to Baqiu Lake and evacuate ashore. Cao Cao and Sun Quanshu said: "If you have a disease, you will burn the ship alone and retreat." This is of course a self-evident boast of the failure of the war, but the spread of the epidemic is a fact, which is described in the Ji of Wu Di and the Biography of Wu Zhu. Some people think that Cao Jun is suffering from schistosomiasis, saying that the northern army is easily infected with this disease when it comes to the southern epidemic area. In fact, Cao Cao's water army is mainly composed of Jingzhou water army, and the northern army is not in the southern epidemic area but in Yecheng in the north. Cao Cao sent troops in July of the lunar calendar and arrived in Battle of Red Cliffs in December of the dead of winter. Weather change, unfamiliar soil and water, long-term fatigue? Cao Jun doesn't have a good rest, so it's natural to catch an epidemic. It's hard to determine what epidemic it is.

Cao Cao burned the remaining ships out of the epidemic and to prevent the remaining ships from falling into the hands of the Coalition forces. And to go to Nanjun via Huarong, the only way is to go to the north shore from the mouth of Baqiu Lake. Geographically, Bachu? On the north shore opposite Chenglingji is Lion Mountain near Bailuo Zhenjiang in Jianli County. Cao Cao's water army probably landed here, joined the troops evacuated from the coast, and went to Huarong City from Bailuo Lion Mountain.