The Battle of Chi Bi could be seen as a battle for the inheritance of Jingzhou among the Cao, Liu and Sun families.
Before the war, Liu Biao basically occupied Jingzhou. Liu Bei squatted in Xinye and occupied the north gate of Jingzhou. At the end of the 12th year of Jian 'an, he recruited Zhuge Liang and began to covet Liu Biao's territory.
After pacifying the north, Cao Cao returned to rest and reorganize his navy in preparation for a southern expedition. Over the years, Sun Quan traveled up the river to attack Huang Zu. At the beginning of the 13th year of Jian 'an, he finally killed Huang Zu and knocked on the eastern gate of Jingzhou.
The three parties were eyeing Liu Biao's territory like tigers eyeing tigers. The Jingzhou magistrate, Liu Biao, was old and seriously ill. He no longer had the elegance of riding alone to take up his post. Liu Cong was chosen as the successor to Jingzhou, while Liu Qi was required to leave Zhenjiang and Xia. Under these circumstances, Jingzhou was basically lost.
In the seventh month of the thirteenth year of Jian 'an, Cao Cao led his army on an expedition to the south. Soon after, Liu Biao died of illness. Liu Cong intended to surrender to Cao Cao, but Liu Bei, who was stationed at Fancheng, did not know about it.
After Cao Cao's army passed Wancheng, Liu Bei heard the news and immediately fled. At the same time, Guan Yu led the navy to Jiangling along the Han River. Cao Cao successfully marched into Xiangyang and accepted Liu Cong's surrender. After that, he pursued Liu Bei.
Along the way, Liu Bei took in some of Liu Cong's former clansmen, troops, and retainers. Soon, the number of refugees reached over 100,000. They moved very slowly, only five li a day.
Cao Cao knew that there was a large amount of supplies in Jiangling. He was afraid that Liu Bei would seize these supplies first. Therefore, he left his army behind and led 5,000 elite cavalrymen to pursue Liu Bei's troops for a day and a night. They caught up with Liu Bei's troops at Dangyang and Changban, capturing the soldiers and refugees.
In the novel, the Battle of Changban Slope could be said to be heavily colored and extremely exaggerated. There was Zhang Fei who roared three times and scared off hundreds of thousands of Cao soldiers. There was also Zhao Yun who charged into Cao's camp alone.
In this battle, Zhang Fei became a God, and Zhao Yun became a God.
Naturally, the real history did not have such an exaggerated plot. Back then, only five thousand elite Cao cavalrymen were pursuing Liu Bei.
In history, Zhao Yun could not be called a God of War. He was more like a high-class bodyguard.
After the Battle of Changban ended, Liu Bei led several dozen men to the ferry crossing of the Han River. Coincidentally, he ran into Guan Yu's navy. He could not be bothered to occupy the supplies in Jiangling anymore. Instead, he headed straight for Jiangxia to meet up with Liu Qi.
Cao Cao pursued Liu Bei all the way and successfully occupied Jiangling.
The greatest turning point of the war appeared in Jiangling. Cao Cao followed the advice of his advisor, Jia Xu, and stationed himself in Jiangling. He began to appease the people of Jing Province and stabilize his rule.
This pause lasted for two whole months.
Within these two short months, Liu Bei and Sun Quan successfully formed an allied army to fight against Cao Cao. As a result, the situation at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty was completely changed, resulting in the subsequent Battle of Red Cliffs and even the establishment of the Three Kingdoms.
If Cao Cao had chosen to continue his pursuit, the Three Kingdoms War would have been over. Even if Liu Bei was lucky enough to escape, he would have no place to stand.
Similarly, if Cao Cao had not been in such a hurry and waited until winter, his army would have been more prepared to avoid the plague and the east wind. Then, the defeat at the Red Cliffs would not have happened.
Therefore, Pei Songzhi would sigh with emotion in the "Records of the Three Kingdoms – Wu Zhi – Zhou Yu's Biography": The defeat of Cao Cao's army at the Battle of Red Cliffs was, in fact, fate, and not something that could be reversed by human strength.
In the tenth month of the thirteenth year of Jian 'an, the allied army of Sun and Liu sailed up the river from Jiangxia, preparing to meet Cao Cao's army. Both sides encountered each other near the Red Cliffs and a battle broke out on the Yangtze River.
In the first battle, the Cao army suffered a crushing defeat.
First, there was an epidemic of diseases in the Cao army's camp, and the soldiers' combat power was greatly reduced. Secondly, the Cao army was mainly made up of soldiers from the north and was not good at fighting on the water.
Thirdly, the territory on the Yangtze River was limited, and it was not suitable for an army to spread out. Cao Cao's army had a large army, but they were unable to deploy it. In the end, they lost the battle on the water.
After the defeat, the Cao army set up camp on the north bank, at the Wulin Forest. At the same time, Zhou Yu's army set up camp at the Red Cliffs on the south bank. Both sides faced each other across the river.
Therefore, the real battle of the Red Cliffs should have happened at the Wulin Forest and not at the Red Cliffs.
It was only because the Red Cliffs was too famous that it was called that way.
Next up was the most exciting part of the Battle of Red Cliffs — the burning of the Red Cliffs.
Cao Cao's warships were connected from head to tail. Once they caught fire, it would be very difficult to evacuate them. Next up was Zhou Yu's counterattack. Huang Gai led his fleet to pretend to surrender and approached Cao Cao's camp. When he got close, he used the wind to set fire.
Using the east wind that should not have appeared in winter, the fire destroyed Cao Cao's ambition to conquer the world. After the battle, Cao Cao knew that he could no longer occupy the Yangtze River. Therefore, he burned the remaining warships to prevent them from supporting the enemy.
After this battle, part of the main force that Cao Cao brought to Jiangling and Liu Biao's navy were basically finished. Although there were casualties from the battle due to the plague, it was not to the extent that they were seriously injured.
After the battle, Cao Cao escaped by land and returned to Jiangling. He left Cao Ren behind to defend while he returned to the north.
A year after Zhou Yu and Cao Ren fought, Zhou Yu defeated Cao Ren and occupied Nanjun. This meant that Cao Cao's forces lost this section of the Yangtze River.
After that, Cao Cao's forces stabilized at Fancheng, Xiangyang, and controlled this section of the Hanshui River. Although they lost a battle and lost the occupied Jingnan and part of the Jianghan plains, they still managed to protect Jingzhou in the north.
During this period, Guan Yu's forces worked together with Zhou Yu's forces to harass Cao Cao's reinforcements. This made it difficult for Cao Cao's forces to contact Cao Ren. Because the counties in Jingnan were isolated from Cao Cao's forces, Liu Bei took the opportunity to occupy them.
At this point, Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan divided Liu Biao's inheritance. As for the conflict between Liu Bei and Sun Quan, that was a story for another time. In any case, all three sides gained something. The most unlucky one was Liu Biao.
In this way, from July of the 13th year of Jian 'an to the 14th year of Jian' an, a series of wars triggered by Cao Cao's forces heading south formed the historical Battle of Red Cliffs.
The burning of Red Cliffs could be said to be the turning point of the entire battle. With this as a node, the entire Battle of Red Cliffs could be divided into the early, middle, and late stages.
Currently, no one knew how far Gaia had progressed in this battle. No matter what, no matter which faction the lords chose, it would be an evenly matched battle.
This was Gaia's highest principle.
After the system announcement ended, the territories qualified to participate in the battle immediately began their preparations.
Some of them had been looking forward to this battle for a long time. For example, Di Chen, Lord Chunshen, and the others had long wanted to use this battle to be promoted to a first-rank Marquis and then upgrade their territory to a third-rank county.
Apart from that, the battle of the three kingdoms had a different meaning to some of the lords. Influenced by the 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms', the generals and strategists in it had many fans.
For example, Zhao Yun, Zhuge Liang, and Guo Jia were all super popular 'players'.
Although Ouyang Shuo was not affected by the 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms', he also had admirable strategists and generals that he wanted to take under his command. It could be foreseen that in the upcoming Battle of Red Cliffs, the battle on the battlefield was only one aspect. In the battle for historical talents, the lords would probably give it their all.
The first choice placed in front of the lords was to choose a faction: Cao Cao's or Sun Liu's.
Ouyang Shuo did not hesitate and immediately chose Cao Cao's faction.
Firstly, Xiahou Ying, the head of the General Administration of Military Affairs, was the ancestor of Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan in Cao Cao's faction. Strictly speaking, he was even Cao Cao's ancestor.
Why?
The Cao family and the Xiahou family were both large clans in Pei County's Qiao County. Since Cao Teng, the Cao family had prospered and many of them had become high-ranking officials in the imperial court and counties.
In history, Cao Cao's surname should have been Xiahou, but his father became Cao Teng's adopted son, so he changed his surname to Cao.
Although the Xiahou family was large, none of their ancestors had ever been an official. They could only be considered a local landlord, not an official. They could not compare to the Cao family's influence in the imperial court.
In order to develop their influence, the Xiahou family gradually moved closer to the Cao family. Although the Cao family relied on Cao Teng as a eunuch to rise to power, they had a good reputation among the scholarly officials and were not arrogant in their hometown.
The two brothers, Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan, took a fancy to Cao Cao, who had a good reputation among the scholarly officials. At that time, Cao Cao resigned and stayed at home, so Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan became friends with him.
Cao Cao had violated the law, so Xiahou Yuan was imprisoned in his place. Cao Cao actively rescued Xiahou Yuan. From then on, the relationship between the two families grew closer. Xiahou Yuan even married Cao Cao's sister-in-law and the two of them became brothers-in-law.
Therefore, when Cao Cao raised his troops in Chenliu, Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan were the first to join him.
The two brothers were able to obtain high positions in Cao Cao's faction not only because of their blood relationship with Cao Cao, but also because of their talents.
Although Xiahou Dun was not good at war, he was outstanding in politics. He had guarded Cao Cao's rear many times and led the army to block the Taishou River. He built a small pond to irrigate the fields, benefiting the common people. Moreover, Xiahou Dun was a frugal person, so all the rewards he received were distributed to the soldiers. He did not own any property his entire life, so he died without any wealth.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that Xiahou Dun was Cao Cao's number one subordinate. Throughout his life, Cao Cao had placed him in an important position and trusted him greatly.
Compared to Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan was an outstanding military commander. Cao Cao once praised him as a 'genius' who excelled in mobile warfare.
Xiahou Yuan had participated in all of Cao Cao's campaigns and was often sent to quell rebellions.
His most outstanding campaign was against Han Sui. Han Sui's subordinates were mostly from the Di and Qiang tribes, and they were very elite. Xiahou Yuan had traveled a long distance and ambushed Han Sui's rear. When Han Sui came to his rescue, Xiahou Yuan decisively defeated Han Sui with a fatigued army that did not have an advantage in quality or quantity.
From then on, Han Sui suffered a crushing defeat and could only wait to be destroyed.
Moreover, compared to Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan was more tyrannical and had once massacred a city.
The two brothers could be considered the pillars of Cao Cao's faction, and their status was much higher than the Five Generals. With this relationship, it was easy to imagine how much authority Ouyang Shuo had in front of Cao Cao.
The second reason Ouyang Shuo chose Cao Cao's faction was because Cao Cao's navy was relatively weak. If Shanhai City's navy was placed in the era of the Three Kingdoms, it would be an invincible existence.
The two complemented each other, and Shanhai City was practically invincible.
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