The Three Kingdoms period was still relatively chaotic, and there were many wars at that time, but among these many wars, the "Battle of Chibi" can be called a relatively famous war, whether in terms of scale or from the impact brought about after the outbreak of the war, it is a strong stroke of this period.
Although compared with the Battle of Xincheng that broke out during this period, the number of troops was not particularly large, but this war brought about a huge change for Cao Cao, Sun Quan and Liu Bei. After experiencing this war, Cao Cao changed the initial preparation for the offensive to the trend of defending the town.
Immediately after that, the powerful alliance between Sun Quan and Liu Bei was once again preserved, and it also developed to a small extent in the follow-up. However, for a generation of tyrants Cao Cao, he also changed the position of war, although he gained a lot of inheritance in the north, but it seems impossible to directly eliminate the Jiangdong clique in a short period of time.
First, the situation after the Battle of Chibi
1. Cao Cao's meticulous calculations
After the Battle of Chibi, Cao Cao's attitude toward Sun Quan's side had undergone a significant change, and there was no particularly large-scale war with Sun Quan, and there were no particularly many deadly conflicts. At this time, what he did was to take care of a lot of behind-the-scenes instructions, for example, in various areas of Yangzhou Jiangbei, he installed his own eyeliner and sent some people he trusted to various regions.
He then went to dig up fertile land and planned the number of people to move to huainan, in addition to the relatively small cases that were constantly being eliminated. The purpose of this is to make the Huainan region more firmly in his own hands, and after this careful calculation, he can complete his long-cherished wish to unify the world as soon as possible.
2. The situation in the fourteen years of Jian'an
In the fourteenth year of Jian'an (209 AD), the Three Kingdoms at the end of the Han Dynasty were full of turmoil and uneasiness in various regions, more or less, showing a situation of smoke and smoke. Because the victory or defeat of the Battle of Chibi has an extremely important impact on the changes of several major forces.
At that time, Sun Quan and Liu Bei's common purpose was to besiege Jingzhou Nan County. As long as you take some of the surrounding areas, or the counties around Gangneung, you can successfully enter the river. As long as they entered the river, they could continue along the blood road they had worked hard to continue up the north and reach Xiangyang City.
If you reach Xiangyang City, you can give Cao Cao a deep knife, if this situation is presented, there will be a blank in the hinterland of Yuzhou, and Cao Cao will be like an ant on a hot pot. In order to increase the odds of victory, Liu Bei made a decisive decision at that time, asking Guan Yu to stay and let Zhang Fei assist, and then attack Jingzhou Nan County, thus making himself the biggest victor of the war.
Just after the End of the Battle of Chibi, the war against Nan County can be called a relatively important battle. Because after sun quan and Liu Bei's alliance, the major achievements in the Battle of Chibi were constantly expanding their influence by virtue of the residual heat of this war.
However, after the outbreak of war, there was no Cao Cao on the battlefield of Jiang Han. It can be seen from here that at that time, Cao Cao completely focused on the Huainan region, that is, the focus was on the confrontation and confrontation between Sun Quan and did not focus on Liu Bei at all.
3. Cao Cao's aftermath
Although Sun Quan at that time, in order to expand his territory and realize his ambitions, he also took the initiative to launch a war against the land of Hefei, in fact, this is what posterity called the "Battle of Hefei".
However, in this war, in the end, Sun Quan did end with the defeated side, although the war failed, but Cao Cao was also alerted, so Cao Cao's desire to control the Huainan region was even stronger.
After this incident, the wars between Cao Cao and Eastern Wu would become more frequent, and the pattern would also change. The general sent by the Eastern Wu side was Zhou Yu, who led this road and launched a fierce attack on the army led by Cao Ren. At that time, Cao Cao, faced with this situation, did not personally lead his troops to reinforcements, but instead led a group of men and horses to the Huainan region.
Through such a move, it can be preliminarily determined that Cao Cao has now abandoned the four counties in the south of Jingzhou, and at the same time, Cao Cao's combat direction has also undergone a huge change, and he has set his sights on the Huainan region, in order to make Huainan one of his jurisdictional territories.
In order to make his ambitions manifest, Cao Cao reorganized the large army of the water army, and in July he set out for Hefei, but withdrew again in December. This also shows that the purpose of Cao Cao's visit was not to target Sun Quan, but to be able to do a good job in the aftermath.
2. Cao Cao's troops left Hefei
1. Personally tour the Huainan area
There were not many places where Cao Cao could personally go out to inspect, just after Cao Cao had taken charge of the water army, he set out from the vast land of Hefei.
However, the purpose of this time was not to attack Sun Quan or give Sun Quan a dismount, but to change the personnel arrangement in Yangzhou. Through this, it can be seen that Cao Cao played a full chess game, and the reason why he mobilized manpower and replaced some officials was to make the military heart in Huainan more stable.
In order to increase his prestige, Cao Cao also made it clear at the time that for those soldiers who died in battle, if there were any family members alive, they would be raised by the government. If, among these dead soldiers, their relatives were completely incapacitated, they were also supported by the government.
It is through these kinds of actions to stabilize the hearts of the army, and let the soldiers see that although the Battle of Chibi was lost, it was not a slump after the defeat. In these small details, let your reputation be highlighted, eliminate the negative impact, but also be able to win the hearts of the military, and gain the support and praise of the people in this area. At the same time, Cao Cao's practice is just right, and it can match the idea that those who win the hearts and minds of the people will win the world.
Cao Cao had a large number of Tuntian troops in this area of Huainan, in order to lay a good foundation for a long war with Sun Quan. The thing that I have to admire is that Cao Cao's mind is still relatively calm, and with a keen eye, he has continuously taken root and sprouted in the Huainan region, and has achieved steady and steady fighting.
2. Large-scale migration of the population
If you want to make your development more stable, an indispensable factor is the population. Whether it is the grain and grass needed in the process of marching and fighting, or the soldiers who rush to the front line to walk on the battlefield, this is the need for labor. In order to be able to fill this abacus, Cao Cao tilted a large number of people from the north to the south, and this was not the first time that something like this had happened.
More representative is that before the Battle of Guandu broke out, a relatively small battle occurred, which was called the Battle of the White Horse. Just after the Battle of Baima came to an end, Cao Cao moved a large number of people to Yanjin at that time.
This time, the same approach was taken for Cao Cao in the Jianghuai region, that is, to relocate a large number of people to this place. Although Jiang Ji, who served as a member of yangzhou' other family, made corresponding suggestions to Cao Cao.
I hope that Cao Cao will not carry out large-scale population migration, after all, the people's attachment to their hometown is still relatively deep, not to mention that all their belongings are in their hometown, and after suddenly leaving, they will not only face the test of survival and other aspects, but also not conducive to long-term development. For this series of suggestions, Cao Cao did not listen to them at all, but instead became more determined to relocate the population.
Under such stubbornness, there were 100,000 people in the Jianghuai region, and gradually they had already escaped cao Cao's control, and then they came to the Jiangdong region and became the common people in the Jiangdong region. From this point of view, it is also a big loss for Cao Cao, which is not developed according to his concept.
3. Sweep away some local heroes
What must be done in order to truly control the Huainan region is to make the powerful and powerful in this place able to obey their own arrangements. For example, Mei Qian and Mei Cheng, these forces, have a relatively large influence in the Huainan region.
It is precisely because their sphere of influence is particularly wide, and after forming a gathering of forces, it will have a greater impact on the Huainan region, and this is an unstable factor in Cao Cao's eyes.
If you can't stabilize these giants, it is naturally not conducive to your own development. Once they leaned toward Sun Quan and went to defect to Sun Quan, they were simply helping each other prepare for the future. So Cao Cao decisively eliminated these people.
epilogue:
Cao Cao's trip to huainan, and all the military activities carried out, was purposeful. Although there are also failures in this, such as the migration of the population to the end did not reach the ideal state, but all went to the Jiangdong region, supporting Sun Quan's rule, more and more powerful. But there are also particularly successful aspects, such as sweeping away some local powers, making his rule over the Huainan region more stable and peaceful.
Just like cao cao and Sun Quan in the process of fighting, they once instigated some local forces to help them contain Sun Quan and thus win the war for themselves. After this kind of action, the center of development was also shifted from the north to the Huainan region.
And after this incident occurred, the impact on the direction of later battles was also relatively large, just like after Cao Cao's death, Cao Pi could not wait to establish Cao Wei. But the struggle with Sun Quan has never slowed down.
bibliography
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Book of Jin