"The Battle of Chibi" is the largest and most classic water war in ancient Chinese history. Because Luo Guanzhong's "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" has made "The Battle of Chibi" a household name and spread throughout the ages. But it is precisely because of the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" that many people are confused by the romance and regard fictional stories such as "borrowing east wind" and "borrowing arrows from a straw boat" as real history. Thus ignoring the true historical truth, today we come to understand the three truths of the "War of Chibi".
The first truth: Zhuge Liang did not take advantage of the east wind. Regardless of whether there is east wind or not, Zhou Yu can burn even the camp
"East wind is not the same as Zhou Lang, Tong Que "Chun Shen locks Er Qiao", this is the famous line of the great poet Du Mu of the Tang Dynasty. He attributed the success or failure of "The Battle of Chibi" to the Dongfeng at that time. People throughout the ages believed that the Dongfeng was the decisive factor in the Battle of Chibi, and Zhou Yu and Huang Gai were able to burn Cao Cao's company camp. It was Dongfeng's credit. Besides, it is impossible for Zhuge Liang to borrow Dongfeng. If Zhuge Liang had this ability, he would not even be unable to get out of Qishan.
Anyone who has stayed in Jiangnan knows that in the middle of winter, the northerly wind blows in the east of the Yangtze River. When the weather becomes warmer after the severe winter, the wind direction will change drastically and the wind will turn into the southeast wind. Cao Cao was from the north and didn't understand the local climate. Zhou Yu knew all this well, so he agreed to Huang Gai's suggestion.
If the east wind or no wind was blowing on the day of Zhou Yu's battle, would there be a fire burning Chibi?
The answer is yes. Regardless of whether there is wind or no wind, in any direction, Chibi has been burned by Zhou Yu. A commander like Zhou Yu will not rely on the ever-changing weather to win the war. Huang Gai’s strategy is like this: "Cao Cao connects ships end to end, and can be burned away." There is no mention of Dongfeng. Actually, when Zhou Yu and Huang Gai made plans, they had already prepared. The secret weapon, no matter what the wind, can ensure that the fire ship rushes into Cao Ying without error.
This secret weapon is the sail. At that time, there was a description in "The Record of Foreign Objects in Nanzhou" written by Wan Zhen, the prefect of the Eastern Wu Danyang: "Foreigners follow the size of a boat, or make four sails, and carry it back and forth. There are lutou woods, and the leaves are like a scorpion. For a long time, weaving for sails.” It can be seen that the shipbuilding craftsmanship of Soochow at that time was developed. So regardless of whether there is wind or what direction the wind is blowing, the sail can control the direction of the boat. It is not that Zhou Yu is famous for the east wind, but the east wind hugs Zhou Yu's thigh and raises his face.
The second truth: Huang Gai’s fire is not Chibi, but Wulin, and Cao Cao’s company is not for fighting, but for the soldiers’ incompetence.
Chibi fighting is just one The small-scale encounter was an accidental encounter between Cao Jun and Sun Liu Lianjun. Therefore, many people think that the burning of the ship also took place in Chibi, mixing the Chibi Encounter with the burning battle.
In fact, after the defeat in Jiangnan, Cao Cao quickly broke away from the Chibi battlefield in Jiangnan and retreated to the Wulin Rehabilitation Army in Jiangbei. Wulin is on the Yangtze River to the south of Chibi, across the river from Chibi. The situation at this time is: Cao Cao has many generals and sufficient food. As long as long-term consumption, he can be defeated without fighting. Sun and Liu's joint army can not compare with Cao Cao's army and horse, and even the grain and grass can't compare with Cao Cao. Only if you can fight quickly can you win, and it will definitely fail in the long run.
After careful consideration, Cao Cao settled for a long-term confrontation. After the rear waterway army arrived on the battlefield one after another, Cao Cao ordered to be stationed along the river bank, and land and water became horns. It can be seen from this that Cao Cao didn't even think about fighting in the short term. In this winter, take a good rest, wait for the flowers to bloom in the coming year, and then rush over to eliminate Sun Quan, and the world can be determined.
Cao Cao is a northerner, ignoring that northern soldiers are not familiar with water. So when the north wind was blowing, all Cao Cao's sergeants turned their backs on their horses, bumping back and forth, let alone fighting, they couldn't even stand firmly and couldn't hold their weapons. No way, in order to alleviate the sergeant's situation, Cao Cao ordered all the warships to be chained to prevent the warships from shaking back and forth, so as to alleviate the soldiers' unsuitability.
However, Cao Cao didn’t expect that his chain of boats gave Zhou Yu and Huang Gai a chance. Seeing Cao Jun’s situation, Huang Gai gave Zhou Yu a plan to make Cao Cao feel in the freezing winter. A moment of blazing heat from the south of the Yangtze River, and then Huang Gai surrendered, bringing blazing warmth to Cao Cao.
In this battle, Huang Gai set off from Chibi on the south bank of the Yangtze River to burn Cao Cao's army in Wulin on the north bank. If it were the same as recorded in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms": the fire burned Chibi, then Zhou Yu would burn his own door, how could Cao Cao escape? Cao Cao is not bad if he doesn't laugh to death.
The third truth: Cao Cao’s true military strength is not the so-called 800,000, and the military strength between Sun Liu’s United Army and Cao Cao is not so great.
The Battle of Chibi has been seen since ancient times. It is certain that Cao Cao has more troops than Sun and Liu's in the classic battle of defeating more with less and defeating the strong with the weak. However, is the profound difference between the two sides really that big?
Before the war, Cao Cao wrote a letter to Sun Quan, in which he wrote: "Those who are near will be resigned to be guilty of resignation. Fang and the general will hunt at Wu." After Sun Quan read the letter, he showed the letter to the ministers below. Everyone was scared to death. They were all frightened by Cao Cao's 800,000 army.
However, there is a person in Soochow who does not believe that this person is Zhou Yu, who is "a feather fan with a turban and a majestic hair." Zhou Yu carefully calculated it, and then said to Sun Quan: He said that there were only 150,000 to 60,000 Chinese, and they have been tired for a long time." According to Zhou Yu's analysis, the number of soldiers and horses Cao Cao brought from the Central Plains was about 150,000. These sergeants were exhausted, while the number of sergeants Cao Cao collected in Jingzhou was about 70 or 80, which is only about 240,000.
According to relevant historical records: Cao Cao’s army horses are no more than 800,000, less than the 240,000 horses estimated by Zhou Yu. Cao Cao brought a total of 150,000 army horses. Before the "War of Guandu", Yuan Shao could be described as "the land is wide and the army is strong." The richest of the princes, at this time Yuan Shao had 100,000 soldiers and horses. Even if Cao Cao before the "War of Chibi" was strong, his army would not be strong. so much.
Summary: Through these three truths, we can see that the "War of Chibi" that made the Three Kingdoms stand apart due to "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" has been concealed a lot of historical truth. When we are studying history, we have to look at these illusions from a dialectical perspective and remove the three-pointed illusion, so that we can truly discover the truth of history.
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