34
BEFORE 1000 CE
1
END IN FLAMES
Cao Cao ordered his ships to be chained together to compensate for
his inexperienced sailors’ inability to maneuver them. As a result, they were easy targets
for the rebel admiral Huang Gai’s reships, and ames rapidly took hold of Cao Cao’s eet.
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35
RED CLIFFS
◼
208 CE
The authority of the Han emperors of
China was shattered by a peasant uprising in
184
CE—then the generals who suppressed the
uprising turned against each other, and China
became a patchwork of warring states. The
emperor, Xian, became a pawn in the hands
of rival military strongmen, until Cao Cao, a
former garrison commander, took control of the imperial household
in 196
CE. Gradually, he secured the north of China, then he set out
to conquer the south in 208
CE. First, he had to gain control of the
Yangzi River, which was defended by warlords Liu Bei and Sun Quan.
Initially, things went Cao Cao’s way. He seized Lui Bei’s naval base—
and the eet that came with it—at Jiangling. Then he sailed east to
seize Sun Quan’s power base at Chaisang. Meanwhile, Sun’s general
Zhou Yu sailed 50,000 soldiers west to meet Cao Cao, whose forces
numbered 220,000. The eets met at Red Clis, and the ghting
was inconclusive. Pretending to seek peace, rebel admiral Huang Gai
sailed to Cao Cao, leading a eet lled with dry reeds and inammable
wax. Cao Cao had bound his ships together for stability and was
unable to maneuver when the blazing eet of reships came his
way. Panic gripped the Han forces, and Cao Cao ordered a retreat.
Thousands died as they ed overland, where the road turned into
a swamp. Eventually, Cao Cao reversed his territorial losses, but
the chance to unify China under a single ruler had been lost.
A junior Han army ocer, Cao Cao rose
to prominence during the suppression of
a peasant uprising known as the Yellow
Turban Revolt. Although later disgraced,
he rescued Emperor Xian in 196
CE after
the declaration of a rival emperor, securing
him the allegiance of Han loyalists. Shortly
after being declared imperial chancellor in
208
CE, he launched the abortive campaign
to conquer the middle Yangzi. After Red
Clis, he retained control of the north as de
facto emperor, although it was only after his
death in 220
CE that his son, Cao Pi, formally
became the rst ruler of the Wei dynasty.
CAO CAO (C.150–220 CE)
4 Cao Cao contemplates his approaching fate
on the eve of the battle of Red Clis.
Red Cliffs
208 CE
◼
EASTERN CHINA
◼
HAN LOYALISTS VS. REBEL ALLIANCE
LATE HAN CIVIL WAR
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