Chapter 691-Choosing Camp
Translator: ryangohsf
Editor: Nora
The Battle of Red Cliff could be called a fight for heritage and inheritance in Jingzhou by the Cao, Sun, and Liu families.
Before the battle, Liu Biao basically occupied the entire Jingzhou; Liu Bei occupied the north of Jingzhou and during the end of the 12th year of Jian An, he recruited Zhuge Liang and started to want Liu Biao’s land as well.
Cao Cao had calmed down the situation in the north, and its navy was ready to conquer the south. Sun Quan attacked Huang Zu at the start of the 13th year of Jian An; he killed Huang Zu and opened up the east door of Jingzhou.
All three sides wanted Liu Biao’s land while Liu Biao was sick due to old age and lacked the charisma and flair he possessed during his youth. His heirs ended up splitting up, with Liu Zong being chosen to inherit Jingzhou and Liu Qi requesting to move out to Jiangxia. Under such circumstances, Jingzhou was basically able to defend itself.
In the 7th month of Jian An 13th year, Cao Cao led his troops down south. As Liu Biao had passed away because of his illness, Liu ong intended to surrender to Cao Cao; Liu Bei housed in Fan City did not know about this.
After Cao Cao passed Wan City, Liu Bei received the news and immediately fled. At the same time, Guan Yu led the navy and headed toward Jiangling; Cao Cao smoothly entered Xiangyang and accepted the surrender of Liu Zong before sending troops to attack Liu Bei.
Along the road, Liu Bei accepted many of the tribesmen of Liu Zong; this group quickly rolled and snowballed into hundreds of thousands in number. At this point, they moved extremely slowly and could only cover 10 miles a day.
Cao Cao knew that Jiangling had vast quantities of resources and was afraid that Liu Bei would reach them first. Hence, he made the army leave all the heavy items while he led five thousand elite cavalries to hurry 300 odd miles in just one night. At Changban, he caught up with Liu Bei’s forces, the captured soldiers and the refugees.
In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the Battle of Changban was greatly exaggerated. It described how Zhang Fei hollered three times and scared away 100 thousand Cao troops, and Zhao Yun charging solo into the Cao camp and killing as he wished.
During the battle described in the story, Zhang Fei exceeded a god and Zhao Yun was god-like.
However, in history, it naturally was not as exaggerated as that. Only five thousand elite Cao cavalry chased Liu Bei.
In history, Zhao Yun could not be considered a war god; he was more like a high-level body guard.
After the Battle of Changban ended, Liu Bei led tens of people over to the Hanshui crossing and coincidentally met Guan Yu’s navy. He did not have time to take up the resources at Jiangling and directly proceeded to Jiangxia to meet up with Liu Qi.
Cao Cao chased him all the way and smoothly occupied Jiangling.
The most crucial turning point of the war appeared at Jiangling. Cao Cao listened to the advice of Advisor Jia Xu, moving into Jiangling. He started to calm the people down and stabilize his rule over Jingzhou.
This stop lasted a full two months.
And in these short two months, Liu Bei successfully formed an alliance with Sun Quan to face off against Cao. This changed the situation at the ending years of the East Han, resulting in there being the Battle of Red Cliff and the formation of the Three Kingdoms.
If Cao Cao had decided to continue chasing, the three kingdoms would not exist. Even if Liu Bei managed to fortunately escape, he would not be able to amass power.
Similarly, if he did not rush it and waited till winter passed, the Cao army would be more prepared; they would not suffer from illnesses, and the east win. They would not have lost at the Battle of Red Cliff either.
Hence, Pei Song wrote as such in the records of the Three Kingdoms: During the Battle of Red Cliff, the loss of the Cao army was fated; it was not something man could change.
10th month of the 13th year of Jian An, the Sun Liu alliance army went up from the Jiangxia River and were ready to fight the Cao Cao army. Both sides engaged near Red Cliff and fought a huge naval battle on the Changjiang.
During the first encounter, the Cao army was defeated.
First, there was an illness spreading in the camp, which affected their fighting strength. Secondly, their troops were mainly northern warriors who were not proficient at naval warfare.
Thirdly, Changjiang had limited space and was unsuited for large scale battle. Cao Cao had a massive army but was unable to use it, resulting in his defeat.
After the defeat, the Cao army just decided to camp at the northern shore of Wulin. At the same time, Zhou Yu’s army camped at the south shore of Red Cliff, both sides in a stand-off.
Hence, the true fire engulfing the Red Cliff story happened in Wulin and not Red Cliff.
However, due to the fame of Red Cliff, it continued to spread that way.
The Cao army ships were connected to one another, so the moment one caught fire, it was difficult to stop. The Zhou Yu counter attack followed, with Huang Gai leading his ships to make a fake surrender, getting close to start more fires.
Using the east wind that really should not have appeared during winter, a huge fire burned away at Cao Cao’s ambition to rule the world. After the battle, Cao Cao knew that he did not have the strength to occupy the Changjiang region and decided to just destroy his remaining warships to prevent it from falling into enemy hands.
From this battle, Cao Cao lost a portion of the forces that went to Jiangling and the navy he took from Liu Biao was basically finished.
After the battle, Cao Cao escaped from the land and headed back to Jiangling, where he left Cao Ren to defend. He himself backed off to the north.
A year after Zhou Yu and Cao Ren fought, Cao Ren was chased away, and they took control of the south prefecture. Hence, Cao Cao lost this portion of the Changjiang waterway.
After which, Cao Cao and his forces stabilized at Xiangyang Fan City and controlled that portion of the Han waterway. Although they lost a battle and lost Jingnan and a portion of the Jianghan plains, he still managed to keep the south of Jingzhou.
During this period of time, Guan Yu led troops to disturb the reinforcements of Cao Cao, causing Cao Cao’s army to be unable to contact Cao Ren. As Jingnan was cut off from Cao Cao, Liu Bei took the chance to occupy it.
At this point, the fight for inheritance between Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan had come to an end. As for the conflict between Liu Bei and Sun Quan, it was another matter. All three sides had gained something while the unluckiest one was Liu Biao.
With that, from the 7th month of the 13th year till the 14th year of Jian An, the series of battles caused by the Cao Army heading down south culminated into the Battle of Red Cliff.
Fire engulfing Red Cliff, and this could be called the turning point of the battle. This turning point could split the entire battle into start, middle, and end.
Who knows what Gaia was going to do with this battle map. No matter what, no matter which camp the player chose, it was going to be a fair battle.
This was Gaia’s strength.
After the system notification finished, players with the ability to join immediately started to prepare.
Some of them had been looking forward to this battle map for a long time. For example, Di Chen and Chun Shenjun wanted to use this battle to rise to 1st class Marquis and upgrade to Grade 3 Prefecture.
Apart from that, the Battle of the Three Kingdoms had a different feeling to some Lords. Being influenced by the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the generals, advisors, and others of this period had many fans.
For example, Zhao Yun and Zhuge Ling were really popular.
Although Ouyang Shuo was not influenced by the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and already had the advisors and generals he needed, he still wanted to recruit them. One could foresee that in the following battle, the main battlefield was only one aspect. In the fight to recruit the historical talents, the Lords would have to do all they could to stand out.
The first choice in front of them was the choice of camp, either Cao Cao or Sun Liu camp.
Ouyang Shuo did not hesitate and directly chose Cao Cao’s camp.
First, Animal Husbandry Director Xiahou Ying was the ancestor of Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan, strictly speaking, he was even the ancestor of Cao Cao.
Why so?
The Cao and Xiahou families were both huge families in the Pei State Qiao County. Ever since Cao Teng, the Cao family had been exceedingly prosperous, and many became officials in the imperial court and the county.
In history, Cao Cao was supposed to be surnamed Xiahou, but since his father became the adopted son of Cao Teng, he followed the surname Cao.
Although the Xiahou Family was powerful, none of them became officials. Their power could not compare to the Cao family.
To develop and progress at a faster rate, the Xiahou Family got close to the Cao Family. Although the Cao family had many officials and grew more and more powerful, they were an arrogant group.
Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan, these two brothers, paid attention to Cao Cao, who had some reputation. At that time, he had resigned and was at home, so Xiahou Yuan and Xiahou Dun went to befriend him.
Cao Cao had once broken the law and Xiahou Yuan helped him take the blame and went to jail for it. Cao Cao saved him and broke him out of jail. With that, the two families grew closer, and Xiahou Yuan even married Cao Cao’s small wife.
Hence, when Cao Cao gathered troops in Chenliu, Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan were the first to come over.
For them to be able to gain a high position in Cao Cao’s camp was not just due to their blood relations. They were also extremely talented.
Xiahou Dun was not only good at war but also ruling. He helped Cao Cao settle the backlines, leading the army to block rivers, build irrigation channels, and help the people. He was also a humble person, and he would reward the soldiers.
To say that he was the most important person in Cao Cao’s camp was not an exaggeration. For his whole life, Cao Cao relied on and trusted him.
Xiahou Yuan was an exceptional general; Cao Cao called him a mystical talent.
Xiahou Yuan had joined Cao Cao in many battles and was sent to help settle various rebellions.
The most exceptional battle was when he attacked Han Zuo in the Battle of Xingu. He performed a long-distance assault, attacking the enemy backlines. When Han Zuo came over to defend, Xiahou Yuan made the decision to use the tired and non-advantageous troops to defeat them in one swoop.
Han Zuo lost everything from that battle.
Apart from that, compared to Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan was more violent, and he once wiped out a city.
The two could be considered the pillars of Cao Cao’s camp. With that layer of relationship, anyone would know what kind of speaking rights he would have in front of them.
Ouyang Shuo also had another reason – Cao Cao’s navy was weaker. If Shanhai City’s navy was placed then, they would be basically invincible.
Both of them could assist one another, and they would basically be at an undefeatable position.
