The Battle of Red Cliffs was fought in the winter of AD 208–9. It was fought between the allied forces of the southern warlords Sun Quan, Liu Bei and Liu Qi. Cao Cao was trying to conquer the land south of the Yangtze River. The allied victory ensured the survival of Sun Quan and Liu Bei. It also provided a line of defence that was the basis for the later creation of the two southern states of Shu Han and Eastern Wu.
About Battle of Red Cliffs in brief
The Battle of Red Cliffs was fought in the winter of AD 208–9. It was fought between the allied forces of the southern warlords Sun Quan, Liu Bei and Liu Qi against the numerically superior forces of Cao Cao. Cao Cao was trying to conquer the land south of the Yangtze River and reunite the territory of the Eastern Han dynasty. The allied victory ensured the survival of Sun Quan and Liu Bei. It also provided a line of defence that was the basis for the later creation of the two southern states of Shu Han and Eastern Wu. The battle has been called the largest naval battle in history in terms of numbers involved. The site of the battle is fiercely debated. Although its location remains uncertain, the majority of academic conjectures place it on the south bank of theyangtze. River, southwest of present-day Wuhan and northeast of Baqiu. By the early third century, the Han dynasty, which had ruled China for almost four centuries, was crumbling. Emperor Xian had been a political figurehead since 189, with no control over the actions of the various warlords controlling their respective territories. One of the most powerful warlords in China was Cao Cao, who, by 207, had unified northern China and retained total control of the North China Plain. He then completed a successful campaign against the Wuhuan in theWinter of the same year, thus securing his northern frontier. Shortly afterwards, in the autumn of 208, his army began a southern campaign in the area of Jing Province.
Liu Bei was living in refuge with Liu Biao at the garrison in Fancheng, having fled from the northeast to Jing Province following a failed plot to assassinate Cao Cao and restore power to the imperial dynasty. He fled south, accompanied by a refugee population of civilians and soldiers. This disorganised exodus was pursued by Cao Cao’s elite cavalry, and was surrounded and decisively beaten at the Battle of Changban. Liu Bei escaped, however, and fled further east to Xiakou, where he liaised with Sun Quan’s emissary Lu Su. In either case, he was later joined by Liu Qi and other levies east from Jiangankou to negotiate forming a mutual front against Cao Cao with the Sun Quan. Liu Qi’s main advisor, Zhuge Liang, sent to Chaisang to negotiate with Cao Cao to form a mutual alliance against the northerners. Sun Quan finally decided to agree to a war alliance and cut Cao Cao off, chopping off a corner of his northern army. This provided him with a key strategic military depot and forward base to harbour his ships. When Cao Cao thus captured a sizeable fleet and secured the naval base at Jiangling. He was appointed Chancellor, a position that granted him absolute authority over the entire imperial government. The campaign was key to the success of this strategy, and Cao Cao had to achieve naval control of the middle Yangtse and command the strategic naval base as a means of access to the southern region.
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This page is based on the article Battle of Red Cliffs published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 08, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
