Zhou Yu set fire to Chibi: Cao Cao's defeat caused a three-point pattern in the world

After Cao Cao pacified the north, in 208 AD, he led a great army south and attacked Liu Biao. Before his troops arrived in Jingzhou, Liu Biao had died of illness. Liu Cong, his son, was very scared when he heard that Cao Jun was very big. He sent someone to surrender first.

At this time, Liu Bei was stationed in Fancheng (now Xiangfan City, Hubei Province). He heard that Cao Cao's army was going south and decided to retreat to Jiangling (now Jiangling, Hubei). People in Jingzhou heard that Liu Bei was kind to others and would rather retire with him.

Cao Cao rushed to Xiangyang, heard that Liu Bei was retreating to Jiangling, and learned that Liu Biao had hoarded a large amount of rations in Jiangling, fearing that Liu Bei would take it, and personally led five thousand light cavalry to chase Liu Bei. Liu Bei's men brought weapons and equipment, and hundreds of thousands of people followed him, and they could only March for more than ten miles every day. Cao Cao's cavalry drove more than 300 Li a day and night, and soon caught up with Liu Bei in Changbanpo, Dangyang (now northeast of Dangyang County, Hubei Province).

Liu Bei's men were killed by Cao Cao's cavalry, but Zhang Fei resisted for a while in Changbanpo. Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang took several troops to get rid of the pursuers. However, the road to Jiangling has been cut off by Cao Jun, and we have to divert to Xiakou (now Wuhan, Hubei).

Cao Cao occupied Jiangling, continued eastward along the river, and soon reached Xiakou. Zhuge Liang said to Liu Bei: The situation was urgent, so he had to ask Sun Quan for help.

Just as Sun Quan was afraid that Jingzhou would be occupied by Cao Cao, he sent Lu Su to Liu Bei to persuade him and Sun Quan to jointly resist Cao Jun. Zhuge Liang went to Chai Sang (now southwest of Jiujiang, Jiangxi) with Lu Su to see Sun Quan.

Zhuge Liang saw Sun Quan and said that Cao Cao had captured Jingzhou and was about to attack Soochow. If the general is determined to resist, he will break off relations with Cao Cao as soon as possible and resist with us; Otherwise, simply surrender to them, and if you hesitate again, the disaster will be too late.

Sun Quan asked: Then, why didn't General Liu surrender to Cao Cao?

Zhuge Liang solemnly said: General Liu is a descendant of the royal family, so he can conquer the world. How could he surrender to Cao Cao?

Hearing Zhuge Liang's words, Sun Quan also said excitedly: I can't give away the land of Jiangdong and a hundred thousand troops for nothing. However, General Liu just lost the battle. How could he refuse Cao Jun?

Zhuge Liang said: Don't worry. General Liu was defeated for a while, but the water army still has 20 thousand. Although Cao Cao had many military forces, the soldiers came from far away and were exhausted. Besides, northerners are not used to water warfare, and Jingzhou people are not satisfied. As long as we work together in Qi Xin, we will surely defeat Jun.

Sun Quan was very happy after hearing Zhuge Liang's analysis, so he immediately called his generals to discuss ways to resist Cao Cao.

Just then, Cao Cao sent soldiers to pick up the gauntlet. The letter said: I was ordered by Emperor Xian of Han Dynasty to lead troops south. Now I have prepared 80 Wan Shuijun, and I am willing to compete with the general.

Sun Quan handed the letter to his men, and everyone was pale and speechless.

Zhang Zhao is the oldest official in Wu Dong. He said: Cao Cao conquered in the name of the son of heaven. We have to resist him. Theoretically, we have already lost. Besides, we wanted to rely on the Yangtze River natural barrier, but now we can't rely on it. Cao Jun occupied Jingzhou with thousands of warships. They came down by land and water, and we couldn't resist them. I think we have to surrender.

After Mr. Zhang said this, many people immediately echoed it. Only Lu Su looked on coldly and said nothing.

Hearing this, Sun Quan felt that it was not a taste, so he walked out of the house, followed by Lu Su.

Sun Quan took Lu Su by the hand and said, Tell me, what should we do?

Lu Su said, I can't listen to what Zhang Zhao and others said just now. Speaking of surrender, I, Lu Su, can surrender, but the general can't. Because I surrendered, I can't go back to my hometown, I still associate with celebrities, and I can be a county magistrate if I have the opportunity. If the general surrenders, all six counties in Jiangdong will fall into the hands of Cao Cao. Where are you going?

Sun Quan said with a sigh, what everyone said just now really disappointed me. Only what you said suits me.

After the meeting, Lu Su advised Sun Quan to recall Zhou Yu, a general in Poyang, to discuss.

As soon as Zhou Yu arrived in Chai Sang, Sun Quan summoned officials from civil and military departments to discuss. Zhou Yu said emotionally at the meeting: Cao Cao was called the prime minister of the Han Dynasty, but he was actually a traitor of the Han Dynasty. He came to his own death this time, and there is no reason to surrender to him. He analyzed many disadvantages of Cao Cao, and thought that the northern soldiers would not have a water war. If they went far to this strange place, they would definitely get sick. It's useless to have more soldiers and horses.

Sun Quan was encouraged by Zhou Yu's words. He stood up, pulled out his sword and cut off a corner of the watch case with a bang. He said sternly, whoever wants to surrender to Cao Cao again is just like this table.

That evening, Zhou Yu went to see Sun Quan alone and said, I found it. Cao Cao's military forces claim to be 800 thousand, which is a bluff. In fact, it is only 200 thousand, and many of them are Jingzhou soldiers, so they may not really fight for him. You just give me 50 thousand soldiers, and I'll take care of them and beat him.

The next day, Sun Quan appointed Zhou Yu as the commander-in-chief and allocated him 30,000 water troops to fight against Cao Cao with Liu Bei.

Zhou Yu led his troops and met Cao Jun's outpost at Chibi (now Xiji Mountain, Wuchang County, Hubei Province). Sure enough, as Zhou Yu expected, many Cao Jun soldiers were acclimatized and had contracted an epidemic. When the two sides confronted each other, Cao Jun was defeated and forced to retreat to the north bank of the Yangtze River. Zhou Yu led the water army to the south bank, facing Cao Jun across the river.

Sure enough, as Zhou Yu expected, the soldiers from Cao Cao could not get water. When they are on a warship, they can't stand bumps. Later, they tied the warships together with iron ropes, and the ships were quite stable.

Seeing this situation, Zhou Yu presented a plan to Zhou Yu, saying: The enemy forces are numerous, so it is difficult for us to drag on in the serenade. Now that Cao Jun has connected all the warships together, I think we can defeat them by fire attack.

Zhou Yu thought Huang Gai's idea was good, and they also discussed it and asked Huang Gai to send a letter to Cao Cao, saying that he would leave Soochow and surrender to Cao Cao. Cao Cao thought that Wu Dong's generals were afraid of him and had no doubt about Huang Gai's fake surrender.

Huang Gai told the soldiers to secretly prepare ten big ships, each of which was loaded with dead branches, filled with oil, hung with curtains and flags, and prepared a number of light boats tied to the stern of the big ship, ready to move when it caught fire.

1 1 In the middle of winter, the weather suddenly turned warm and a southeast wind blew. That night, Huang Gai led a group of soldiers to sail in front of ten big ships, followed by a group of ships. The fleet reached the middle of the river, full of sails and headed for Jiangbei.

When the soldiers in Cao Jun Shuizhai heard that Wu Dong would surrender in the future, they all ran to the bow to watch the fun. Unexpectedly, the Wu Dong fleet left the north shore about two miles, and ten big ships in front suddenly caught fire at the same time. Fire borrows wind, and wind helps fire. Ten fireboats, like ten fire dragons, broke into the water town of Cao Jun. The boats there, all crowded together, couldn't hide, and soon they all burned. Blink of an eye, it has burned into a sea of fire. The water village burned, the camp on the shore caught fire, and a large number of soldiers in Cao Jun were burned to death. Many people were pushed into the river, unable to swim, and drowned immediately.

As soon as Zhou Yu saw the flames on the north shore, he immediately led the elite soldiers to cross the river to attack. They drummed the drums into the sky. Jun on the north shore didn't know how many people and horses were attacking behind him, and all of them were paralyzed with fear.

Cao Cao dragged the beaten army to Huarong Road (southwest of Qianjiang County, Hubei Province). The path is full of puddles and mud pits, and the cavalry can't pass through. Cao Cao quickly ordered the old and weak soldiers to find some straw to pave the way. He tried to get through to the cavalry, but many soldiers who filled straw were trampled to death.

Liu Bei and Zhou Yu chased each other by land and water until Nanjun (now Jiangling, Hubei). Hundreds of thousands of Cao Cao's troops died in battle and suffered from epidemic diseases, losing more than half. Cao Cao had to send Coss, Huang Xu and Lejin to stay in Jiangling and Xiangyang respectively, and led his troops back to the north.

After Battle of Red Cliffs, the separation of the three countries was basically formed.