AD 208

Battle of Red Cliffs

Sun Quan and Liu Bei's alliance defeats Cao Cao at Red Cliffs

Huang Gai dressed his fire ships in red tent cloths, banners and dragon pennants, so they looked like a surrendering squadron until the crews set them alight.

A province handed over, then a refusal

In 208, after Liu Biao died, his son Liu Cong surrendered Jing Province to Cao Cao. Cao seized the naval base and fleet at Jiangling, pursued Liu Bei and Liu Qi eastward, and called on Sun Quan to surrender as well.

Sun Quan chose resistance and sent Zhou Yu and Cheng Pu with ships and troops. The combined force met Cao Cao on the Yangtze, between present-day Wuhan and Yueyang, late in 208.

Fire ships with a following wind

Cao Cao's first attack was driven back. His northern soldiers were exhausted and sickness was present in the camp.

Zhou Yu's officer Huang Gai feigned surrender and prepared fire ships loaded with dry reeds, bundled wood and fatty oil; their crews escaped in small boats tied to the sterns. A following wind drove the burning vessels into Cao Cao's fleet and camp.

The early accounts cannot agree on how many there were — ten in the Zizhi Tongjian, several tens in the Sanguozhi.

The numbers are rhetoric

Cao Cao's letter to Sun Quan boasted of 800,000 soldiers and sailors. Zhou Yu treated that as propaganda and asked for 30,000 selected troops; Zhuge Liang's claim of 10,000 each for Liu Bei and Liu Qi is probably exaggerated too.

Zhou Yu followed the fire attack with light troops, throwing Cao Cao's army into confusion and forcing it to retreat. Cao Cao burned the ships he could not take with him.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 5 sources not yet audited

How this was checked

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What the sources leave uncertain

The exact day is unknown. The engagement occurred in the winter of Jian’an 13, probably near the end of 208; some summaries express the season as winter 208–209.
The precise battlefield location remains debated. The sources place the campaign on the middle Yangtze, with Wulin and the area between modern Wuhan and Yueyang central to leading reconstructions.
The early accounts differ over whether Huang Gai used ten ships or several tens.
Troop figures are rhetorical and unreliable. Cao Cao’s 800,000 was a boast, while Zhou Yu’s estimates and Zhuge Liang’s allied numbers may also be exaggerated.