The Battle of Red Cliff 2(Three Kingdoms 46)

History of Three Kingdoms

Previous Chapter ：The Battle of Red Cliff 1 (Three Kingdoms 45)

Catalog of Three Kingdoms’ history

In July 208 A.D., when Liu Biao刘表, the Provincial Governor of Jingzhou荆州, fell critically ill, Cao Cao heard about it and then quickly assembled a mighty army for a Southward expedition.

Liu Biao was a native of Shanyang山阳 Commandery in Yanzhou兖州, and a descendant of the Western Han（202BC-8AD） Royal family. At a young Age, he became one of the leading scholars at the Late Han period because of his handsome appearance and profound knowledge, and was one of the representative members of the group of clean and honest bureaucrats, and his life experience was quite similar to that of another leader of the scholars, Yuan Shao.

In 190 AD, the sensational Dong Zhuo crusade kicked off, and Sun Jian孙坚, the Commanderial Governor of Changsha长沙, rose in response. During his journey north, he also forced the death of Wang Rui王睿, the then Provincial Governor of Jingzhou, with whom he had previously feuded. Subsequently, I don't know what method Liu Biao used, but he was recommended by Dong Zhuo to be the Provincial Governor of Jingzhou. Liu Biao, who was already 49 years old at that time, ushered in the most important turning point in his life.

So Liu Biao came to Xiangyang襄阳 alone to take up his post only with the appointment letter. With the support of local famous scholars from powerful families, such as Kuai Yue蒯越, Kuai Liang蒯良and Cai Mao蔡瑁, Liu Biao lured and killed thieves and suppressed the powerful forces against him, quickly gaining a firm foothold in Jingzhou.

When Dong Zhuo was killed two years later, Liu Biao was again appointed as the General of Guarding the South and the Provincial Governor of Jingzhou, and Marquis of Chengwu成武（county） by the court under the control of Li Jue李傕. Liu Biao, who had always been reluctant to get involved in the struggles in the Central Plains and only wanted to protect the people, became the object of competition among various forces.

Liu Biao was able to control Jingzhou mainly by relying on the support of the local scholars’ group. Because he had neither the experience of commanding troops into battle nor the ambition to open up new territories. He did neither have the personal troops that Liu Bei had, nor a group of loyal generals form the same clan that Cao Cao had. Therefore, for his subordinate generals, such as Cai Mao, Zhang Yun张允, Huang Zu黄祖, Zhang Xiu张绣, etc., Liu Biao mainly focused on pulling them together but could not control them strongly. This also determined that he could only pursue a conservative ruling strategy.

Liu Biao had 3 sons, the eldest son Liu Qi刘琦, the second son Liu Cong刘琮, and the youngest son Liu Xiu刘修. The heir struggle was mainly between Liu Qi and Liu Cong. Because Liu Cong was born by Liu Biao’s Primary Wife,Lady Cai, Lady Cai is Cai Mao’s sister, Liu Cong received the full support of his uncle Cai Mao and his cousin Zhang Yun. Lady Cai also often took the opportunity to discredit Liu Qi. Liu Biao, who was getting old, could not stand his wife's soft words and gradually thought of abolishing the elder and setting up the younger one.

At the beginning of 208 AD, Liu Qi, who had fallen out of favour, went to visit Zhuge Liang at Liu Bei's battalion to ask for advice on countermeasures. Zhuge Liang then advised him to leave Xiangyang temporarily and go out to avoid trouble. It so happened that Huang Zu, the Commanderial governor of Jiangxia江夏,was defeated and killed in the war with Sun Quan, so Liu Qi volunteered to request for the post of Commanderial Governor of Jiangxia, and was then approved. By agreeing to Liu Qi's departure from Xiangyang at this time, it meant that Liu Biao had already acquiesced to Liu Cong's status as the successor.

In August 208 A.D., at the age of 67, Liu Biao died in Xiangyang of illness, and Liu Cong then formally inherited the post of Provincial Governor of Jingzhou under the support of Cai Mao and others. At this time, Cao's army was already pressing in, so the first thing Liu Cong did after taking over the post was to gather Jingzhou's civil and military officials to discuss how to fight against the enemy.

What Liu Cong didn't expect was that at the meeting, all the people were so unanimous in urging Liu Cong to surrender. As far as he could see, all of the ministers that his father had left behind for Liu Cong were all like Cao Cao. Don’t even mention people like Zhang Xian张羡 and Huan Jie桓阶, who had previously risen up in rebellion in order to show solidarity with Cao Cao.

Liu Biao has been managing Jingzhou for 18 years, and none of the officials under his command, are even willing to fight against Cao's army for the foundation of Liu's father and son. These officials are basically natives of Jingzhou , and all they can think about now is that if war breaks out, they will definitely lose their property and their families' lives will be in danger. If Cao Cao wins, they will never have a good time, and even if Liu Cong is lucky enough to win, they will not be able to rise much higher in their already high ranking positions, so surrendering will give them more room for advancement and protect their family's interests. As for whether Jingzhou's owner is Liu or Cao, what has it got to do with them?

In the selection of the heir, Liu Biao and Yuan Shao have a lot of similarities, for example, both could not stand the instigation of their wife, and started to abolish the elder and set up the younger one, and both sent the elder son to garrison while leaving the younger son with them. However, there is an essential difference, which is that Yuan's group did lose because of the infighting caused by the dispute over the heir， but If Yuan Shao had dealt with the issue of the heir well, Cao Cao might not have been able to annex the northern lands in a short period of time. Because the team Yuan Shao left behind ,Shen Pei审配, Xin Ping辛评, Pang Ji逄纪, Guo Tu郭图 and so on, whatever their abilities are good or not , at least they had followed Yuan Shao for many years,and they had suffered the hard and shared the victory together, they all had the basic loyalty.

But Liu Biao's situation is completely different, no matter if he chooses Liu Qi or Liu Cong, neither of them has the ability to control the whole situation of Jingzhou. Moreover, Liu Qi’s health is not good, so choosing Liu Cong was actually the best choice. Taking a step back, even if Liu Biao was still alive at this time, I'm afraid it would be very difficult for him to unite the forces from all factions in Jingzhou and fight Cao Cao to the end.

It can be said that the Yuan's family messed up on their own, giving Cao Cao a chance to take advantage of the situation. The fate of Liu's father and son, however, was already sealed at the moment Cao Cao unified the north and moved south in a mighty way.

So in order to flatter Cao Cao, this group of people surrounded Liu Cong, who took charge on the first day，persuaded him that : how powerful that Cao Cao's army or he is representing the imperial court. They had uesd all method they could, coaxing and laughing, crying and screaming, just whatever they could do.

Liu Cong initially did not want to surrender and was counting on Liu Bei to hold off Cao's army for a while. An official Fu Xun傅巽 saw what was on Liu Cong's mind and asked: “What do you think your ability compares with Liu Bei's? "Liu Cong replied that he was not as good as Liu Bei. Fu Xun said, "If Liu Bei cannot resist Cao Cao, then Jingzhou will still be lost, and if Liu Bei defeats Cao Cao, then can you still manage him? Won't Jingzhou be lost sooner or later? Instead of making Liu Bei favours, why not surrender to the imperial court? So don't think about it, just surrender quickly."

When things came to this point, it was no longer up to Liu Cong, and if he persisted in fighting, he would probably face what happened to Lu Bu back then, being tied up and handed over to Cao Cao by this group. So Liu Cong dispatched an official with a surrender form and headed north to meet Cao Cao's army.

In September 208 AD, Cao Cao arrived in Xinye新野. At this time, Liu Bei, who was still training his army at Fancheng樊城, who was still unaware of this, and when he realised that the situation was not right and sent his men across he Han river汉水 to ask about Liu Cong, he just learnt that Cao Cao's army was so close by and that Liu Cong had surrendered with his province. Liu Bei's heart at this time in addition to anger, I'm afraid that more is horror. "How is it that an outpost like me has instantly become a lone army deep in the enemy's rear?!"

At this time, Liu Bei could no longer care to go to Liu Cong for argument, there was only one thought in his mind: "Run!!!"

To be Continued.

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