Which battle was the Battle of Xiaoting during the Three Kingdoms period?

The Battle of Xiaoting is generally called the Battle of Yiling.

In 221 AD, Liu Bei proclaimed himself emperor, the country was named Han, the history was called Shu Han, and the reign name was Zhang Wu. Afterwards, Liu Bei ignored the dissuasion of Zhuge Liang and others and attacked Wu in a large-scale attack, hoping to avenge Guan Yu and recapture Jingzhou at the same time.

In July of the same year, Liu Bei personally led more than 100,000 Shu Han troops and launched a large-scale war against Soochow. Liu Bei sent generals Wu Ban and Feng Xi as the vanguard to lead more than 40,000 people to capture the gorge. They defeated Wu generals Li Yi and Liu Abe at Wudi (now Badong, Hubei) and captured Zigui. Liu Bei also sent General Huang Quan to garrison the north bank of the Yangtze River, and sent Ma Liang to Wuling to win the support of the local tribal leader Samoko.

Facing the Shu Han army's pressure, Sun Quan made Lu Xun the commander-in-chief and took control of Zhu Ran, Pan Zhang, Han Dang, Xu Sheng, Sun Huan and other troops. 50,000 people marched to the front to meet the Shu Han army. .

At the same time, Soochow avoided being attacked from both sides and reconciled with Cao Wei. Lu Xun correctly analyzed the situation, avoided the fierceness of the Shu Han army, and retreated decisively to the areas of Yidao (today's Yidu, Hubei) and Xiaoting (today's north of Yidu, Hubei). Then switch to defense there, occupy favorable terrain, and concentrate your forces to wait for an opportunity for a decisive battle.

In 222 AD, the Shu Han generals Wu Ban and Chen Shi led the navy to invade the Yiling area and stationed troops on both sides of the Yangtze River. Liu Bei personally led the main force to Xiaoting and set up camp. At this time, the Shu Han army had penetrated deep into the territory of Wu State, and the Wu army was holding on to the key areas. The Shu Han army had no choice but to build camps along the line from Wuxia, Jianping (today's north of Wushan, Sichuan) to Yiling.

In order to force Lu Xun to fight, Liu Bei sent people to besiege Yidao. Lu Xun resisted all opinions and refused to save him. The two armies were at odds for six months. In order to achieve a quick victory, Liu Bei sent troops to challenge many times, but Lu Xun ignored them.

The officers and soldiers of the Shu army gradually lost their fighting spirit. The weather was hot, so Liu Bei had no choice but to move his military camp to the mountains to rest and rest near a stream. The Shu Han army went deep into enemy territory and faced difficulties in providing logistical support. Moreover, when Liu Bei was setting up camp, his troops were very dispersed, which gave Lu Xun an opportunity to take advantage of him.

Seeing the low morale of the Shu army, Lu Xun first sent a small force to conduct a tentative attack. Although the attack was ineffective, it gave Lu Xun the idea of ??using fire to defeat the enemy.

Lu Xun ordered the soldiers of the Wu army to carry thatch, raid at night, and light fires in the wind. The weather was hot, the fire was fierce, and the Shu army was in chaos. Lu Xun took advantage of the situation to counterattack, forcing the Shu army to retreat westward.

Wu general Zhu Ran led 5,000 elite troops to defeat the Shu army's forward and cut off the Shu army's retreat. Pan Zhang led his troops to attack the Shu Han army led by Feng Xi and defeated it. Zhuge Jin, Luo Tong, and Zhou Yin all cooperated with the main force to counterattack at Xiaoting.

Sun Huan's troops stationed in Yidao also took the initiative to counterattack. The Wu army quickly defeated more than 40 camps of the Shu army and cut off the connection between the two sides of the Yangtze River. The Shu army generals Zhang Nan, Feng Xi, and Wuling tribe leaders were killed, and Du Lu, Liu Ning and others surrendered.

Liu Bei was defeated and fled to Ma'anshan northwest of Yiling. Lu Xun concentrated his troops and annihilated tens of thousands of Shu troops. At this time, the Shu army had been defeated across the board, with most of the dead and wounded fleeing. Liu Bei fled into Yong'an City (also known as Baidi City, east of Fengjie, Sichuan today) at night and could not afford to fall ill.

Extended information:

The Battle of Yiling was a turning point for the Shu Han Dynasty from prosperity to decline. After the war, Soochow defended Jingzhou, but Shu Han suffered heavy losses and was severely weakened.

The death of Liu Bei the following year after this war made the Shu Han even worse. The country was on the verge of collapse and domestic rebellions broke out.

It is reported that in the nearly forty years since the Battle of Yiling, the territories between the three countries have basically remained unchanged. The alliance restored by Wu and Han has never wavered again, and the situation in the three countries has stabilized. The confrontation between the two countries, and the Battle of Yiling is therefore considered to be one of the dividing points between the three kingdoms.

Baidu Encyclopedia - Battle of Yiling