Whose plan was it to burn Red Cliff
Burning Red Cliff was a plan proposed by Huang Gai, a general of Soochow during the Three Kingdoms period. Since Cao Cao's soldiers were not used to water battles, Cao Cao connected the bows and sterns of the ships. In response to this situation, Huang Gai proposed to Zhou Yu the strategy of "burning Red Cliff." The Burning of Chibi took place during the Battle of Chibi, which refers to a large-scale battle between the coalition forces of Cao Cao and Sun Liu in the late Eastern Han Dynasty.
Introduction to the Battle of Chibi
The Battle of Chibi is one of the famous battles in history where a small number of people defeated a large number and the weak defeated the strong. Cao Cao led 200,000 people down the river. The combined forces of Soochow and Shu Han only had more than 50,000 people. Finally, Huang Gai proposed a plan to attack enemy ships with fire. The coalition forces of Sun and Liu defeated Cao's army and burned a large number of Cao's ships. Cao's army burned all the remaining boats of Cao's army, and then retreated. Most of the soldiers died due to hunger and disease.
The defeat in the Battle of Chibi made Cao Cao lose the possibility of unifying the country in a short period of time. Sun and Liu took advantage of this victory to begin to develop and strengthen their respective forces. Liu Bei grew rapidly after borrowing Jingzhou from Sun Quan. , and then sought to capture Yizhou, Sun Quan personally led the army to attack Hefei many times, but failed in several battles and lost troops and generals.
After Cao Cao returned to the north, he rested for two years. Two years later, Cao Cao marched westward and defeated Ma Chao, Han Sui and others in Guanzhong, and then launched a large-scale southward campaign against Sun Quan. This battle formed the prototype of the three divisions of the world and laid the foundation for the establishment of the Three Kingdoms.
Who set the fire in the Battle of Red Cliff?
The Battle of Chibi took place in the thirteenth year of Jian'an at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The coalition forces of Sun Quan and Liu Bei defeated Cao Cao's army in the Chibi area of ??the Yangtze River. This is one of the famous battles in Chinese history where a small number defeated a large number and the weak defeated the strong. Influenced by the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, everyone in our country knows the Battle of Chibi.
In the autumn of 208 AD, Cao Cao was unifying the north and personally led a so-called 800,000-strong army south along the Yangtze River in an attempt to eliminate Liu Bei and Sun Quan. Sun Quan and Liu Bei formed an alliance to fight against Cao's army. The two armies met at Chibi, located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. Under the command of Zhou Yu, the allied forces of Sun and Liu cleverly devised a plan of false surrender and fire attack to defeat Cao Cao's army. Cao Cao's army suffered numerous casualties and heavy losses. After this battle, Cao Cao lost the power to unify the world. Liu Bei took the opportunity to seize Yizhou and Jingzhou, forming a tripartite confrontation with Wei and Wu.
Zhou Yu
Su Shi's poem "Going to the east of the river, the waves are washed away, and the romantic figures of the ages. To the west of the fort, the humane way is: Zhou Lang of the Three Kingdoms at Red Cliff." From the side, it reflects Zhou Yu's role in The role played in the Battle of Chibi was that Zhou Yu took the lead in designing the plan of deceiving Cao to surrender and attack with fire to defeat Cao Cao.
However, "Three Kingdoms: Biography of Zhou Yu" quoted "Jiang Biao Biography" as saying: "Cao Gong and Sun Quan wrote: 'In the battle of Chibi, there was a disease, and the lonely ship retreated, causing Zhou Yu to gain nothing. This name'."
The implication is that during the Battle of Chibi, Cao Cao's soldiers fell ill, and Cao Cao had no choice but to withdraw his troops, so he burned the warships and retreated, which made Zhou Yu famous. In fact, according to relevant historical records, the Chibi area has dense forests and many insects and ants, and Cao Jun did encounter a plague. "Three Kingdoms Wei Zhi" records: "When the Duke arrived at Chibi, it was not good for him to prepare for war. As a result, there was a great epidemic and many officials and soldiers died, so he led the army to retreat." It only mentions that Cao Cao's army withdrew due to the plague, but it does not mention that Cao Cao burned his warships. "Three Kingdoms: Biography of Guo Jia": "Taizu conquered Jingzhou and returned to Baqiu. When he encountered an epidemic, he burned the boat. He sighed and said, 'Guo Fengxiao is here, so he won't be alone here.'" It is mentioned here that Cao Cao did burn the boat himself.
Cao Cao
So did Cao Cao burn his warships to retreat? The editor thinks not. Because in this letter written by Cao Cao to Sun Quan, Cao Cao himself said that he burned the warships to retreat. In fact, Cao Cao was just making excuses for his failure.
Many biographies in "Three Kingdoms" clearly record that Zhou Yu led the navy to burn Cao's army. "Zhou Yu of the Three Kingdoms" records that "the ships were set on fire at the same time. The wind was strong and burned the camps on the shore. In a moment, the smoke spread across the sky, and many people and horses were burned and drowned. The army was defeated and returned to Baonan County." This paragraph clearly states that Huang Gai pretended to surrender and took the opportunity to set fire to the ship. Cao Cao was defeated and retreated. It can be seen that Huang Gai was the one who actually set the fire.
Who set the fire in the Battle of Red Cliff? Cao Cao said he set the fire himself. Do you believe it?
However, in the Battle of Chibi, it was impossible for all Cao Cao’s warships to be burned down. Otherwise, wouldn’t Cao Cao be buried in a sea of ??fire? It can be judged from this that most of Cao's warships were burned by Zhou Yu, and a few warships retreated to the river. Since the warships could not be taken away, Cao Cao was unwilling to leave the warships to Zhou Yu in order to delay Zhou Yu's pursuit. , Cao Cao burned the remaining warships after landing ashore.
So, it is true that Cao Cao burned his warships, but only a small number of ships were burned, and the reason for retreat was indeed because Zhou Yu and Huang Gai burned Red Cliff, and Cao Cao suffered a defeat.
Who is the protagonist of "Burning Red Cliff"
The protagonist of "Burning Red Cliff" in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms is Zhuge Liang. The main characters are: Kong Ming, Lu Su, Zhou Yu, Cheng Pu, Han Dang, Huang Gai, Cao Cao , Cai Mao, Zhang Yun.
Extended information
The Battle of Chibi refers to the late Eastern Han Dynasty, when Sun Quan and Liu Bei's coalition forces defeated Cao Cao's army in the Chibi area of ??the Yangtze River in the 13th year of Jian'an, laying the foundation for the establishment of the Three Kingdoms. Many, the famous battle in which the weak defeated the strong. This is one of the famous wars in Chinese history where a small number of people defeated a large number. It is also the most famous of the "three major battles" during the Three Kingdoms period.
It is also the first large-scale river battle in the Yangtze River Basin in Chinese history, marking that China's military and political center is no longer limited to the Yellow River Basin. The combined forces of Sun and Liu finally defeated Cao's army with a fire attack. Cao Cao returned north, and Sun and Liu each captured part of Jingzhou.
Everything is ready, all we need is the east wind. The bitter meat plan and the chain plan were all prepared, but it was winter in Jiangdong, and the northeast wind blew all day and night. This is the most fatal weakness for fire attacks. This is when Zhuge Liang stepped forward and said that he had a way to borrow the east wind. Therefore, there is a scene where Zhuge Liang took advantage of the east wind and burned Red Cliff. Of course, this also paved the way for Guan Yu's Huarong Dao incident.
Baidu Encyclopedia_Burning Red Cliff