The Battle of Red Cliff 7(Three Kingdoms 51)
History of China
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Catalog of Three Kingdoms’ history
After Liu Bei came to Xiakou夏口, he immediately sent Zhuge Liang to follow Lu Su鲁肃 to Chaisang柴桑 to meet Sun Quan.
As soon as they met, Zhuge Liang said to Sun Quan, "You and my lord Liu Bei used to fight against Cao Cao, but now Cao Cao has basically stabilised the north and captured Jingzhou荆州, so I hope that you, General, can think about it, and make up your mind soon if you think you can beat Cao Cao, if not, you should give up your military power and bow down to Cao Cao as soon as possible. Now you are so hesitant, I fear that great trouble is not far off."
Sun Quan replied: “in that case, why didn't Liu Bei surrender? "
Sun Quan's question is a funny one, because Liu Bei really did have surrendered to Cao Cao before for not only one time.
12 years ago in Xiaopei小沛, Liu Bei was defeated by Lu Bu吕布 and went to Xuchang to join Cao Cao for the first time,then Cao Cao appointed Liu Bei as the Provincial Governor of Yuzhou and send him back to Xiaopei, when Sun Quan was just a 14 year old kid.
Two years later Xiaopei was again defeated by Lu Bu’s generals Gao Shun高顺 and Zhang Liao张辽, and Liu Bei fled alone, once again surrendered to Cao Cao.
Then Liu Bei soon betrayed Cao Cao by attacking and occupying Cao Cao’s Xuzhou徐州 and killed the Provincial Governor, Che Zhou车胄. This time, Cao Cao was very angry and wished he could tear Liu Bei apart.
Moreover, later on, the “Clothes-Belt-Edict” Incident leaked out, and Cao Cao discovered that Liu Bei was also involved.
Therefore, Cao Cao hated Liu Bei deeply, and Liu Bei always regarded resisting Cao Cao as his political banner. Anyone in the world could surrender to Cao Cao, but only Liu Bei could not.
But Zhuge Liang, of course, would not say so, he replied: "Tian Heng田横 was only a nobleman of State Qi齐（1046-221BC）, and he still held his honour and loyalty（Helping Qi to restore the state）. What's more, my lord is a descendant of the Han Emperors, with great talent, if the great cause of restoring the Han Empire fails, it is just the will of God, how can he surrender to Cao Cao?!"
Sun Quan was stoked by Zhuge Liang and said, "I will also never cede the land and troops in east of Yangtze River to others! But Liu Bei has just been defeated, how could he fight with the enemy?"
Zhuge Liang replied, "Now Guan Yu still has ten thousands of sailors and Liu Qi刘琦 has no less than ten thousand soldiers, and Cao's army has travelled a long way to get here and is exhausted. Moreover, the soldiers in the north are not adapted to fight in the water, Jingzhou has just surrendered, and the people's hearts are not stable. Now, if you can send a mighty general to lead tens of thousands of soldiers to join forces with my lord, we will definitely be able to defeat Cao's army! The timing of success or failure lies in your choice today!"
It was a very successful mission. When Zhuge Liang mentioned Cao Cao, he respected the objective facts, acknowledged the strength of Cao Cao's army, and pointed out the reasons why Cao Cao could be defeated. When mentioning Liu Bei, he not only elevated the significance of his fight against Cao Cao, but was also tell the truth about Liu’s military strength without being humble or overbearing, without exaggeration or concealment.
Sun Quan was very happy to hear Zhuge Liang’s words, and soon he summoned his civil and military officials in a hurry to discuss.
However,this deliberation is simply a reenactment of previous Jingzhou surrender conference. If Liu Cong was here, he would definitely have a sense of familiarity.
The meeting was full of war-weary voices, Zhang Zhao张昭, Qin Song秦松, the leaders of the Civil officials, released pessimistic arguments, only Lu Su sat silently, did not say a word. At this point, Sun Quan took out the threatening letter that Cao Cao had written to him and showed it to the people, upon seeing it, these people either sighed longingly or whispered, and the less courageous ones even turned pale. Zhang Zhao said: "Cao Cao is a devil, holding the emperor as hostage and ordering his vassals, while we are not justified with our name. Now he has taken over the Jingzhou navy, and if he goes east down the river, our natural stronghold of the Yangtze River will become a shared water area, won't it? Moreover, the gap in strength is so large, in my opinion we are best to surrender!"
When Lu Su saw Sun Quan get up to go to the bathroom, he chased after Sun Quan. Seeing Lu Su, Sun Quan held his hand tightly.
Lu Su said, "I could surrender ,and Cao Cao would appoint me as a junior official anyway, but if you surrender, where position will Cao Cao give you?"
Sun Quan sighed and said, "These people disappoint me too much! Only your ideas agree with mine, sir you are a great gift that the god gave to me!"
Lu Su then suggested Sun Quan to recall Zhou Yu周瑜 who was doing business at Poyang鄱阳.
Soon Zhou Yu was back,at the meeting Zhou Yu said, "Cao Cao pretends to be a vassal of Han Empire, but in reality he is a traitor of Han Empire! My Lord, you're a great warrior, and you've inherited your father and brother's legacies, ruling the land east of the Yangtze River. Now that Cao Cao is here to die himself, how can we possibly surrender to him instead of doing the Han Empire a favour? Now Ma Chao马超 and Han Sui韩遂 are stationed Within the Passes,they are threats at Cao Cao's rear. Moreover, the soldiers from the north are unfamiliar with water warfare, and now that it's bitterly cold, there's a shortage of food and supplies, Cao’s Soldiers who have travelled a long way and are not acclimated to the weather will soon fall ill, this is great military disasters! I would like to lead tens of thousands of elite soldiers into Xiakou. I'm sure we can defeat Cao Cao!"
Zhou Yu's resolute attitude in supporting the war finally made up Sun Quan's decision. He told the crowd: "The bastard Cao Cao wants to abolish the Han Empire and establish himself to be the Emperor for a long time, but he was only concerned about Yuan Shao袁绍, Yuan Shu袁术, Lu Bu吕布, Liu Biao刘表 and me. Now that these heroes have been wiped out and I am the only one left, I am absolutely irreconcilable with the bastard!"
After saying this, Sun Quan pulled out his sword and chopped down the table, "Anyone who dares to say surrender again will be treated the same as this table!"
That night Zhou Yu went to meet Sun Quan again and said, "Cao Cao claimed to have an army of 800,000 is pure bluff. Cao Cao only had 150,000 to 160,000 soldiers original, and Jingzhou's troops were only 70,000 to 80,000, so Cao Cao's army was only just over 200,000 men. Moreover, these people were either tired of fighting or had just joined. There's nothing to be afraid of with more troops like that. All I need is 50,000 elite soldiers, and that's enough to defeat the enemy, so you should stop worrying!"
Sun Quan patted Zhou Yu on the back and said, " Gong Jin公瑾（Zhou Yu’s courtesy name）! Zhang Zhao and Qin Song, these guys, who only care their wives and children, they disappointed me too much! Only you and Lu Su give me deep comfort, you are all generous gifts from heaven to me! Let's do it this way,it's a bit hard for me to get 50000 elite soldiers together for a while, but I've already prepared 30,000 for you, and the warships,provisions and weapons are all ready, so you, Lu Su and General Cheng Pu程普 will lead the troops first, and I'll continue to mobilise the men to act as your back-up. Don't feel pressured, if you feel you can overcome, make the decision on the spot. If you can't, retreat back and I'll fight the bastard myself!"
This night talk gave Sun Quan no more worries, but his claiming that 50,000 soldiers could not be gathered together in a short time was clearly a pretext. Zhou Yu has been in charge of the army for many years, how can he not know how many soldiers in Eastern Wu? Since he spoke up, it means that Sun Quan must have 50,000 men.
However, it was impossible for Sun Quan to hand them all over to Zhou Yu. It’s not because that he didn't trust Zhou Yu, but for another reason.
Firstly, every powerful family in Eastern Wu had their own troops, and most of the Eastern Wu generals also commanded their troops separately. Both Sun Ce and Sun Quan used to reward their generals with soldiers. If the war in the front doesn't be good, individual members of the Surrenderist faction would go desperate for Cao Cao's favour, and Sun Quan would be too late to cry if he did not have any soldiers by his side.
Secondly, there is the problem of Local barbarian armed forces, all Sun Quan’s lifetime has not been able to completely solve it . These forces distributed in various places, they are very likely to rebel under the instigation of Cao Cao., Sun Quan needs to have enough troops to stabilise the rear defence.
However, Sun Quan would not say this ,even to Zhou Yu. At this time, Sun Quan was only 27 years old, but he had such a deep and meticulous thinking, who is really worth calling a young hero.
Wu's debate about war or surrender was settled by this point. Sun Quan was lucky to have 8 years more time to consolidate his rule and establish his personal authority than Liu Cong刘琮. The former members of his father and brother, such as Cheng Pu, Huang Gai黄盖 and Zhou Yu, and the members of his own lineage, such as Lu Su, Gan Ning甘宁 and Lu Xun陆逊, were all willing to consider issues from Sun Quan's interest, instead of only counting their own gains and losses.
Back then, when Sun Ce conquered the land east of Yangtze River by force, he used forceful tactics to treat the local scholars and magnates, kicking these people far away from the decision-making circles. Even representatives of the Surrender faction like Zhang Zhao and Qin Song were not local.
It is hard to imagine, at this time, if the former Governors in this area such as Wang Lang王朗, Hua Xin华歆, Xu Gong许贡, who favoured Cao Cao or the nominal Han Empire, are still in the bureaucratic system of the Eastern Wu, then what kind of situation will be? I'm afraid even Zhou Yu and Lu Su cannot stop them from wanting to surrender or defect.
By that time, the rolling Yangtze River will surely have a few less billows, and the most popular, exciting, dramatic, and possibly ruthless era that followed will no longer exist.
To be Continud !
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