In Battle of Red Cliffs during the Three Kingdoms period, Sun Liu's allied troops defeated hundreds of thousands of Cao Cao's troops with 50,000 troops, thus opening the prelude to the tripartite confrontation among the three countries. On Battle of Red Cliffs, historians have always had different opinions. As early as 1950s, some historians doubted whether there was a large-scale war in Chibi, but in recent years, historians have discussed it again. This discussion started with Comrade Yin Yungong's "Battle of Red Cliffs" 1. From the time and military point of view, he thinks that Battle of Red Cliffs is not a big war, but a small war, which is an encounter between Cao Cao's 5,000 Qingqi and Sun and Liu's allied forces, which are absolutely superior in number. The proposition of this viewpoint has aroused the re-discussion of Battle of Red Cliffs's problems in the field of history. We believe that although there have been new debates and progress in the study of Battle of Red Cliffs, there are still some problems that can be further studied. This paper wants to put forward some humble opinions, and ask historians to correct me.
First, the time in Battle of Red Cliffs.
The records of Battle of Red Cliffs and Sun Quan in the History of the Three Kingdoms are, Wu Diji (with one citation in each book below) and Wu, but the records of the two are different. In this regard, I think: "According to Wu Zhi, Liu Bei first broke the public (Cao Cao) army, and then (Sun) had the right to attack Hefei. This cloud right first attacked Hefei, and then there was the matter of Chibi. The two are different and Wu Zhiwei is right. " Sun Sheng's statement had a great influence on later generations. Xian Di's Xiao Jing in the Later Han Dynasty recorded Battle of Red Cliffs's time as October in the 13th year of Jian 'an, and it was also recorded as October in the Chronology of Chinese and Foreign History edited by Comrade Jane Bozan. Taking Battle of Red Cliffs in October as the time to examine the problem, it is inevitable to draw the conclusion that Cao Cao led five thousand Qingqi to rush down from Jiangling East. In order to verify whether Sun Sheng's statement is correct, we quoted the relevant records in the Ji of Emperor Wu and the Biography of Wu as follows:
"Emperor Wu Ji" contains: "In December, Sun Quan prepared (Liu) to attack Hefei. Starting from Jiangling, Gong went to Baqiu and sent Zhang Yi to save Hefei. I really wanted to go, but I left anyway. It is not good to go to Chibi and prepare for war. "
"Wu Chuan" says: "(Zhou) is worried, (Cheng) Pu is the left and right governors, each with 10,000 people, who dare not enter. When they met in Chibi, they defeated Cao Gongjun. Gong burned the rest of the ships to retreat, and the foot soldiers were hungry, and most of the dead. Bei, Zhou Yu and so on. Chasing to Nanjun, Tsao Gong returned to the north, leaving Coss, staying in Jiangling and enjoying himself in Xiangyang. When Gan Ning was in Yiling, he was surrounded by the Benevolence Party, so he used it to keep Ling Tong from refusing benevolence. With his half-rescue, the army returned victorious. The power led the crowd around and made Zhang Zhao attack Jiujiang. Zhao Bing is unfavorable, and the right to siege for more than a month cannot be reduced. Cao Gong came back from Jingzhou and sent Zhang Xi (by mistake) to meet him. If it doesn't arrive, it will be retired. "
According to Sun Sheng, Battle of Red Cliffs's time was before Sun Quan attacked Hefei, that is, before December. However, carefully quoting two paragraphs, I have my own opinions on Zhang Yi's saving Hefei. Who is right after all? About Zhang Yi's rescue of Hefei, it is recorded in Biography of Jiang Ji: "In the thirteenth year of Jian 'an, Sun Quan led a crowd to surround Hefei. When the army levied Jingzhou, it encountered an epidemic, and only sent general Zhang Xidan to ride a thousand troops to lead Runan soldiers to clear the way, which was quite complicated. (Jiang) Ji Nai's secret history is a fake book of happiness. He rode forty thousand troops in the cloud and sent his generals to meet him. Three messengers told the garrison commander in the city that one was in the city and the other was from a thief. Believe it, take a walk, the city has everything. Compared with the Ji of Emperor Wudi, "Sun Quan is preparing to attack Hefei in order to cooperate with Battle of Red Cliffs's strategic action and to contain Cao Cao's army. Cao Cao also sent Zhang Yi to attack Hefei, because his "Runan soldiers" were "very ill and the epidemic was very serious", and their fighting capacity weakened, so they could not get to Hefei, which led to Sun Quan's "attacking the city and plundering the moon". He didn't retreat until Jiang Ji bluffed and Sun Quan was convinced that his strategic goal had been achieved. Obviously, Sun Quan's cooperation with Battle of Red Cliffs's strategic action will never be after Battle of Red Cliffs, but before Battle of Red Cliffs. As we all know, The History of the Three Kingdoms was written according to Wang Shen's official revision of Wei Shu and the privately compiled Wei Lue. Therefore, Zhang Yi's record of saving Hefei should be based on the discipline of Emperor Wudi.
Can it be concluded that Battle of Red Cliffs came first and Hefei came last because Sun Quan attacked Hefei in Battle of Red Cliffs in Biography of Mr. Wu? A careful study of the Biography of Mr. Wu will reveal that this conclusion is too arbitrary. The Biography of Mr. Wu quoted earlier, from "Chongqing and the left and right governors" to "the army returned in triumph", describes the whole process of Battle of Red Cliffs's triumphant expedition. The following is the story of Sun Quan's attack on Hehai. The way to ponder in the author's notes is that these two events are closely related and influenced each other, with Battle of Red Cliffs as the main event and Hefei as the auxiliary. The author narrates according to the master-slave relationship of events, which is a parallel narrative method, and the order of narration does not mean the order of events themselves. Therefore, it is wrong for Sun Sheng to say that "Wu Zhi is right".
In July of the thirteenth year of Jian 'an, Cao Cao took Liu Biao south, entered Jingzhou in September, and drove straight into Jiangling. After Cao Cao arrived in Jiangling, in order to consolidate the rear area and further expand his power, he did a series of work, that is, caring for the people and surrendering the rebels. He "ordered Jingzhou officials to start over. As for Jingzhou's obedience, there are fifteen people, including Wen Pin, the general of Liu Biao, as the prefect of Jiangxia, and Han Song, Yi Deng and other Jingzhou celebrities. " He sent Liu Ba to recruit Changsha, Lingling and Guiyang counties. He "added General (Liu) and his brother General (Liu) Ping Kou" 5 to appease the separatist forces in Yizhou, so as to eliminate his worries about coming from the west when he moved east. And Runa Wang Jun, who befriended Cao Cao in his early years, persuaded Liu Biao to give Cao Cao wings, but Liu Biao refused. Wang Jun later died in Wuling, and Cao Cao "mourned" 6. "Being at peace with Jingzhou and being buried in Jiangling is regarded as a saint." . All these activities need time. The purpose of Cao Cao's activities, on the one hand, is of course a political need, on the other hand, he can also use this time to make military preparations. The northern army was good at riding. Once the pommel horse was abandoned and the boat was fought, its military superiority suddenly weakened. For the new war situation, it is necessary to make new preparations and training for the army. In his letter to Sun Quan, Cao Cao boasted that "the water conservancy army is 800,000", which shows that he is doing this work. It also takes time. Cao Cao could not have defeated Liu Bei in Changban, occupied Jiangling, and then sailed eastward. He was an outstanding strategist in the Three Kingdoms period. How can he drive a group of Han people on the land who are absolutely inferior in number to be hostile to the frolicters? From a military point of view, this is impossible.
According to the Records of Emperor Wudi and Biography of Jiang Ji, when Sun Quan besieged Hefei, Cao Cao had already left Jiangling and was ready to launch a war to conquer Jiangdong. This is December in the 13th year of Jian 'an, so the time in Battle of Red Cliffs must be in December. On the question of time, Zhou Yu once said, "It's cold now, and the horse has no draft." 8. This clearly shows that Battle of Red Cliffs's time is indeed December 13th year of Jian 'an. From the time point of view, Cao Cao stayed for two months after occupying Jiangling, and did not immediately take a boat from Jiangling to the east. Therefore, the argument that Battle of Red Cliffs was only engaged in a small-scale encounter is untenable.
Second, the location of Battle of Red Cliffs
The location of Battle of Red Cliffs has always been a controversial issue. Recently, Comrade Wan pointed out in the article "Battle of Red Cliffs Should Be the Battle of Wulin" that "Wulin is in Puxi County and Chibi Mountain is in Wuchang County", "The two are up and down, not across the river", and "it is advisable to burn a boat upstream rather than across the river". If Wulin and Chibi are on the other side, it is difficult to explain them by southeast wind.
Where the hell is Chibi? This statement stems from Zhu's understanding of it. "Water Classic Note" said: "The river flows to the south of Bairen Mountain and the north of Chibi Mountain." Where the Hundred People Mountain is is related to the determination of the position of Chibi. According to the fact that Hundred People Mountain is in Wuchang County, Comrade Wan determined that Chibi Mountain is in Wuchang County. According to Zhu's Jiang Zuo, he refers to Jiangbei. Therefore, Hundred People Mountain will never be located in Wuchang County, south of the Yangtze River. When introducing the important places where the Yangtze River flows, Zhu said that after "the Youjiang River meets the Xiangjiang River", it flows through Chengling Mountain on the right bank of the river (now Chenglingji in Yueyang County), Bailuo Mountain on the left (now Bailuo Mountain in Jianli County), and the left side of the river passes through Wulin South (now Honghu Wulin). "Jae Moo Oh defeated in the forest, is also this place. Then the Hundred People Mountain and Chibi Mountain are introduced, which shows that the two mountains face each other across the river. At the foot of Chibi Mountain, Junshan and Zhuankou (now Hanyang County) were introduced. Zhu Zai's investigation record is consistent with today's geographical position. Hundred people mountain, that is, Huang Pengshan in the Wulin of Honghu County. It is an open plain, only this mountain stands, facing the Chibi Mountain on the south bank.
It is said that the allied forces of Sun and Liu met Cao Jun in tears at Chibi. "On the first day of the war, the public army was defeated and led troops to Jiangbei. I am waiting on the south bank. " According to Zi Jian, Zhou Yu led an army to "meet Cao Cao at Chibi" and "the rest were on the south bank". These two records show that the two armies face each other across the river. Yang Shoujing said in Notes on Water Classics that Li's notes were based on the Jingzhou Ji written by Sheng Hongzhi in the Southern Song Dynasty: "Puyin County is a hundred miles along the river, and the south bank is called Chibi, where Zhou Yu and Huang Gai took a big boat and defeated Wei in the Wulin. Wulin and Chibi are 160 miles apart. " The record of 10 caused controversy about the location of Chibi, and some people came to the conclusion that Chibi was in Wuchang County. If Chibi is in Wuchang County, why did Cao Cao go back to the Western Heaven after losing the first battle and go to Wulin in the middle of the Yangtze River 160? If Chibi is in Wuchang County, what does Huang Gai mean by "observing and operating warships from beginning to end, and you can burn them" 1 1? It is impossible for Huang Gai to observe Cao Jun's ships from 160 miles away. Battle of Red Cliffs must have a certain length of front, but in any case it will not be as long as 160 miles. We believe that "Wulin and Chibi East-West 160 Li" does not refer to the distance between Wulin and Chibi, but generally refers to the geographical scope under the jurisdiction of Wulin. Chibi, originally a mountain name, is a small geographical concept. Just because there was a famous war here, people later called it Wulin. "History of Di Xianxiao" records that "Cao Cao defeated Sun Quan with a boatman and defeated Zhou Yu with Wulin Chibi", which is an example. Lu Bi's Collection of Records of the Three Kingdoms quotes Notes on Water Classics and Notes on the River: "The left side of the river goes up to Wulin South Village, which is also a place name, and the east goes down to Wulin South. The martial arts master defeated by Wu is also this place. The left side of the river flows to the south of Bairen Mountain and the right side flows to the north of Chibi Mountain. Yesterday Zhou Yu and Huang Gai cheated Wei Wu. " This clearly shows that Wulin is a relatively large area.
Because of the geographical scope of Wulin, it is said that Wulin is opposite to Chibi and cannot be simply understood as facing Sun and Liu Lianjun across the river. If that's the case, Sun and Liu Lianhe, no matter how capable they are, can't stop Cao Jun in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. The actual situation is that in the upstream, Sun and Liu are in the downstream, and the two armies are bounded by Chibi, so-called "one up and one down". Because Chibi Mountain suddenly cut off the center of the river, cut off the river and blocked the Yangtze River. So, Sun and Liu allied forces camped under the village and cut off the waterway to the east.
From Chibi to Cao Ying, we should "go upstream" and cross the river. Huang Gai's boat can cross the river and borrow the southeast wind to "go upstream". Biography of Zhou Yu quoted a phrase from Biography of the River Table, which clearly showed that Huang Gai was crossing the Yangtze River. The water in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River is swift. If you only need to "swim upstream" without crossing the river, why does Huang Gai go to "Zhongjiang" to "sail"? Isn't it more hidden and faster to secretly blow the southeast wind along the river bank? The reason why Huang Gai wants to sail in the river is to cross the river and go to the Wulin on the other side. Because Huang Gai led the water army from Chibi to cheat and surrender, Zhu said that Chibi was "the place where Zhou Yu and Huang Gai cheated"; Because it is stationed along the coast of Wulin, there is a distance from Chibi on the other side, and Cao Cao's base camp in China is at least a few miles away from Chibi. Huang Gai dates back to Chibi, and when he came into contact with Cao Jun, he added fuel to the fire. First, he boiled water for army warships, and then he extended to land camps on the shore. Cao Cao's land and water armies were in chaos, unable to resist the attack of the allied forces, and fled the Wulin after the defeat. Therefore, Zhu said that "Huang Gai was defeated by Wulin".
"Hubei Tongzhi" contains a cloud from Xie Leishan, a poet of the Song Dynasty: "I crossed Puyin from Dongting, Jiangxia, and saw the word' Chibi' in Shiyan, and its northern shore was called Wulin ... Today, the arrow clusters cultivated by the natives have surpassed dragons, or broken guns and halberds. Undoubtedly, Zhou Yu defeated Cao Bing. " Up to now, there are more than a thousand pieces of iron weapons belonging to Battle of Red Cliffs, such as ge, spear, sword, halberd, knife and cluster. In addition to weapons, Wu Dong's coins from the Three Kingdoms period were unearthed in Chibi, and bronze stirrups from the Three Kingdoms period and inkstones printed with "Jian 'an Eight Years" were unearthed in Wulin. From the Song Dynasty to the present, the unearthed data prove conclusively that Puyin Chibi was once the battlefield of the Three Kingdoms period.
Since Battle of Red Cliffs belongs to no doubt, why is it recorded in the biographies of Lv Meng, Cheng Pu, Gan Ning and others as "Breaking Tsao Kung in Wulin"? The reason for this is actually not difficult to study carefully. As mentioned above, Wulin is a large area, and it makes sense to use it to refer to this war. In addition, Cao Jun's troops are stationed in Wulin, with both water villages and land camps, forming a long front. The war began with the defeat of the water army in Chibi and ended with the great defeat of the army in Wulin. Therefore, in the biographies of Monroe, Cheng Pu, Gan Ning and others, Chen Shou wrote "Breaking Cao Gong in Wulin". However, in Wu Zhuan and Zhou Yu Zhuan, it is recorded that Zhou Yu and Cao Jun met at Chibi, and in Huang Gai Zhuan and Zhou Tai Zhuan, it is also recorded that Chibi refused Tsao Gong. This shows that the war really started from Chibi. After winning the first battle in Chibi, Zhou Yu held a brief stalemate with Cao Jun, then sent Huang Gai to attack from Chibi, and finally defeated Cao Jun. This was the whole process of Zhou Yu's Battle of Red Cliffs, which opened the curtain here. Although there are two different versions of Chen Shou in this war, we think it is more appropriate to name its origin "Chibi".
Third, the size of Battle of Red Cliffs.
Battle of Red Cliffs is one of the typical examples of the so-called "more with less, stronger with weakness". How big is this war? How many troops did the two sides mobilize? Both are controversial, so it is also worth discussing.
As for the strength of the combined forces of Sun and Liu, according to records, after Cao Cao captured Jingzhou, the soldiers in Jiangdong were frightened and there was a battle for peace and war. Zhou Yu fought the main battle and said to Sun Quan, "Zhou Yu has invited 30,000 elite soldiers to be stationed at Xiakou to protect the general." When Cao Cao's army besieged the city, Zhou Yu proposed that he could defeat Cao Cao with only 30,000 chosen men, which on the one hand showed that he could fight, and on the other hand showed that he knew that Sun Quan could not mobilize more troops. Sun Quan's answer in Biography of Jiang Biao is: "Fifty thousand soldiers can't be combined. Thirty thousand people were selected, and ships, food and weapons were all available. " These two records show that Zhou Yu only led 30,000 troops to Chibi. Zhuge Liang Biography also said that Sun Quan "sent 30,000 troops to help prepare". The Biography of the Ancestor quoted in Biography of the River Table also said that when Zhou Yu led his army to Fankou, Liu Bei went to see him. "Q:' It's a good plan to refuse Cao Gong today. "How many soldiers are there," Yu said, "thirty thousand". Preparation:' very few'. Yu Yue said, "This is self-sufficient, but it can be broken." . "Obviously, zhou yu, Cheng Pu affirmation rate of thirty thousand.
How strong is Liu Bei? According to the biography of Mr., Liu Bei retired to Dangyang because there were many people accompanying him. The marching speed is extremely slow, and "Guan Yu will not be sent by hundreds of ships, so that he will meet Jiangling." As for how many people Guan Yu led, there is no clear record. Liu Bei was chased by Cao Cao in Nagsaka, "abandoned his wife and rode away with dozens of others, such as Zhuge Liang, Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun", and the whole army was scattered. "Mr. Wang leans towards Hanjin, adapts to the feather boat meeting, and gains a lot. When he met (Liu)' s eldest son, Jiangxia Taishou (Liu), more than 10,000 people followed him to Xiakou. "In addition to the tens of thousands of people in Liu Qi's department, Liu Bei should also have a headquarters led by Guan Yu, which is recorded in ZhuGeLiangChuan. Zhuge Liang lobbied Sun Quan to resist Cao Cao, saying, "Although the Yuzhou army was defeated by Nagano, there are still 10,000 troops in Guan Yu's water army, and there are no fewer than 10,000 troops in Hejiangxia and Liu Qi." Therefore, there are 20,000 people under Liu Bei. Sun and Liu are 50,000 people.
It is really difficult to verify how many troops Cao Cao mobilized, and the historical records have reached each other, so there are many statements. This problem should also be solved.
Wu Zhuzhuan quoted Sun Quanshu from Cao Cao's posthumous biography of Jiang Biao, saying, "Those who are near will be punished, and Liu Cong will abandon them. Today, there are 800 water conservancy troops, and Fang and the generals will hunt in Wu. " When the ancients marched to fight, they often expressed their strength in integers, with the aim of showing their military strength and deterring the enemy. Cao Cao's "eighty people" is not an exact number, there must be exaggerated elements in it. But this exaggeration is based on considerable strength and will never be too far from the truth. If Cao Cao really led only 5,000 people in Jiangling East, how can it be called "800,000"? In addition, Sun Quan, Zhou Yu and others will never be ignorant of the power mobilized by Cao. How does Cao exaggerate at will without being seen? Zhou Yu Biography quoted in Zhou Yu Biography contains Zhou Yu's estimation of Cao Jun's strength: "Today, based on practical learning, he takes only 150,000 to 60,000 people from China" and "the income will be very high, with 70,000 to 80,000 ears". This sentence was said by Zhou Yu to Sun Quan, with the purpose of comforting Sun Quan, dispelling his doubts and enabling him to fully support the resistance against Cao Cao. It is inevitable that Cao Jun's strength will be covered up. But according to Zhou Yu, Cao Cao's total strength is around 250,000.
To investigate Cao Cao's influence, we must contact Liu Biao's influence. According to "Biography of Liu Biao", when Liu Biao first set counties in Jingzhou, there were "more than 100,000 armor". By the thirteenth year of Jian 'an, Liu Biao's army had been greatly expanded. According to Zhou Yu's legend, after Liu Cong surrendered to Cao Cao, Cao Cao got "hundreds of thousands of ship infantry". If we say "hundreds of thousands", it should be at least around 200,000. To defeat such an army, Cao Cao must mobilize more troops, because the purpose of this expedition is not only to capture Jingzhou, but also to pacify Jiangnan with the ever-victorious army. To pacify Jiangnan, Jingzhou must be occupied, and only by concentrating superior forces can it be a shoo-in. Therefore, Cao Cao's troops must be above 200,000. If Cao Jun is only "150,000 to 60,000", as Zhou Yu said, it will be difficult to defeat Liu Biao's army. Even if defeated, it is difficult to incorporate a large number of Liu Biao's water army into his own establishment. It was precisely because Cao Cao had more troops than Liu Biao and it coincided with a good time for Liu Biao to die, so he quickly let Liu Cong surrender. It is precisely because of Cao Cao's huge military strength that Jingzhou can be threatened by its own army without worrying about collapse or rebellion.
To sum up, we think that the total number of Cao Cao's army and Jingzhou's army should be around 400,000. About 400,000 troops, "800 people" are almost unbelievable. Together with the defenders of Xinye, Xiangyang, Dangyang and Jiangling, the water army commanded by Cao Cao in the east should be around 300,000, at least as Zhou Yu said, around 250,000. Therefore, Battle of Red Cliffs is indeed a large-scale war, and it is also a war in which Sun and Liu joined forces to win more with less, and to win the strong with the weak.