At the beginning of the war, Cao Cao's army first went down the river from Jiangling to the east and joined forces with Sun Liu in Chibi. In the first battle, Cao Jun lost and had to retreat to the north bank of the Yangtze River, while the allies led by Zhou Yu were stationed in the south bank.

At this time, it is already cold winter and the north wind is cold. There is an epidemic in Cao Cao's army. Soldiers are not good at water warfare, and it is even more difficult to adapt to the surging river after illness. There are cries everywhere. In order to solve this problem, Cao Cao didn't know what he was thinking, but he listened to other people's suggestions and ordered that all large and small ships be chained together in an attempt to build an aircraft carrier on the river.

Zhou Yu saw that Huang Gai had an opportunity and proposed a fire attack. In the middle of the week, Huang Gai pretended to surrender to Cao Cao and led the ship 10, riding a strong southeast wind. Less than two miles away from Cao Cao, Huang Gai and others suddenly lit the firewood on the boat and rushed into Cao Cao's fleet.

For a time, Cao Cao's camp was in flames, and Cao Cao's warships were too late to escape because they were connected together, and they were reduced to ashes in this raging fire. Then, Zhou Yu took the opportunity to lead the troops into Cao Cao's camp. Cao Jun was burned to death, drowned, killed and collapsed.

Extended data:

Battle of Red Cliffs's failure made Cao Cao lose the possibility of unifying the whole country in a short time, while Sun and Liu started the development of their respective forces through Battle of Red Cliffs's victory. After Liu Bei borrowed Jingzhou from Sun Quan, his strength grew rapidly and he made a profit. Sun Quan led the army to attack Hefei many times, which was unfavorable in several wars.

After returning to the north, Cao Cao spent five years recuperating and pacifying Guanzhong before conquering Sun Quan on a large scale. This war formed the embryonic form of the third part of the world and laid the foundation for the tripartite confrontation among the three countries.

Battle of Red Cliffs is one of the famous examples in the history of China listed by Mao Zedong in the article "Strategic Issues of Revolutionary War in China" that "the strength of both sides is different, and the weak gives way to the first step, and then attacks the enemy to win". The outcome of the war depends on the political, military and economic conditions of both sides, but first of all, it is the contest of military strength of both sides.

In the battle of Guandu, Cao Cao's strength was obviously inferior to Yuan Shao's, and both manpower and material resources occupied an absolute advantage. But he attacked more with less, took advantage of it, and finally won a great victory. The way to win is worth pondering.

References:

Baidu Encyclopedia-Battle of Red Cliffs