But at that time, Cao Cao was menacing, and some family members, represented by Zhang Zhao, advocated surrender, thinking that Cao Cao's name was Han Xiang, and it was unreasonable to rely on the emperor to conquer all directions. Cao Cao has occupied the Yangtze River, and there is no natural barrier to defend in Jiangdong. Cao Jun is under water and on land, and his offensive is very strong. Jiangdong was unable to resist, so he advised Sun Quan to see Cao Cao. At this time, Cao Cao sent a letter of surrender, which read: "Today, there are 800,000 water conservancy troops, and Fang and others will hunt in Wu." The intimidation is extremely heavy. Therefore, Zhang Zhao and others surrendered to Cao Cao more firmly, and Sun Quan had a hard time making a choice. Lu Su secretly followed Sun Quan when he went to the toilet, pointing out that Zhang Zhao and others were not qualified. He also said that if he surrendered to Cao Cao, he could be a magistrate, but if Sun Quan, the master of one side, surrendered, Cao Cao would never tolerate it. Sun Quan lamented that Zhang Zhao and others were "very disappointed", so he agreed to Lu Su's suggestion and recalled Zhou Yu stationed in Poyang to discuss countermeasures.
After Zhou Yu came back, he also insisted on resisting Cao. He analyzed Cao Jun's weaknesses one by one, roughly the same as Zhuge Liang's analysis: Cao Jun was exhausted and was bound to get sick; The weather is cold and the horse has no grass; Ma Chao and Han Sui are still in Kansai, which is Cao Cao's future trouble; Soldiers in the Central Plains abandoned the advantages of cavalry, but did not learn how to fight water. Then, the actual strength of Cao Jun was further analyzed, and it was pointed out that Cao Jun from the Central Plains had only150,000 to 60,000 people, but he was tired after a long battle, and the 70,000 to 80,000 people who lost their lives were suspicious. So as long as there are 50 thousand chosen men, they can be defeated. So Sun Quan finally made up his mind, drew his sword in public and cut off the corner of the table, saying, "General, if you dare to speak again, be the one who welcomes the drill, just like this case!" Zhou Yu and Cheng Pu were left and right governors, while Lu Su was a captain of Zanjun, helping to plan strategies, and led 30,000 foot soldiers such as Huang Gai, Han Dang, Lv Meng, Ling Tong, Gan Ning, Zhou Tai and Lv Fan to fight Cao with Liu Bei along the river. Sun Quan, on the other hand, continued to be stationed in Chaisang as a backup, delivering supplies for Zhou Yu, and told Zhou Yu that if the war was unfavorable, "he would still be alone, and he would be alone with Meng De."
At this time, many people in Cao camp thought that Sun Quan would kill Liu Bei if he didn't dare to resist Cao Cao, and then follow in Liu Cong's footsteps. This idea is also revealed in Cao Cao's surrender book, but Cheng Yu thinks that people lack understanding of Sun Quan, which may be a misjudgment of Sun Quan's courage. Liu Bei's reputation is abroad, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are ten thousand enemies, and Sun Quan knows that he can't support himself, so he will definitely support Liu Bei and unite Liu Bei against Cao Cao. Then as Cheng Yu predicted.
12, Zhou Yu led an army to meet Liu Bei at Fankou. The two armies went against the current to Chibi and met Cao Jun who was crossing the river. At that time, Cao Jun had been affected by the plague, but it was difficult for the new water army to run in with the newly attached Jingzhou water army, and the morale was obviously insufficient, so Zhou Yu's water army defeated him in the first battle. Cao Cao had to "lead the water army to the north of the Yangtze River" to meet the army, lean the warships to the Wulin side on the north shore, practice the water army, and wait for the opportunity. Zhou Yu docked the warship at Chibi on the south bank, facing Cao Jun across the river. At that time, Cao Cao was not used to the northern foot soldiers taking a boat, so he connected the boat end to end, and both men and women were on board. Zhou Yu suggested to Huang Gai: "Today, being outnumbered, it is difficult to last. However, the military ship is connected with the ship end to end, and it can burn away. " On the day of the war, Huang Gai had prepared ten light boats, full of firewood and oil, disguised as red curtains and flags. At that time, the southeast wind was urgent, and there were ten ships sailing in front of Zhongjiang. Huang Gai raised the torch and made all the soldiers shout in unison: "What's going on!" " Cao Jun's officers and men were unprepared. "They all waited, watched and pointed at the words." . Two miles from Cao Jun, Huang Gai ordered the firewood to be lit, and at the same time he became very angry. The fire was fierce, and the ship flew like an arrow, burning up the north ship and extending to the camp on the shore. Smoke billowed in an instant, and countless people were burned and drowned. On the other hand, Sun Liujun crossed the Yangtze River and defeated Cao Jun in the chaos. Seeing that the defeat was irreversible, Cao Cao immediately set himself on fire and led his troops to retreat in the direction of Jiangling along Huarong Road (now Jianli North, Hubei Province). Zhou Yu and Liu Bei's troops went hand in hand, always following.