Many people are deeply impressed by the Battle of Red Cliffs in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, because Cao Cao suffered a thorough defeat in that battle. So, why did Cao Cao fail? There are actually several reasons for this.
- Cao Cao was too proud to underestimate his opponents.
Before the Battle of Red Cliffs, Cao Cao basically unified the entire north without any defeat, and even fought the most famous battle in history, which was the Battle of Guandu. Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao with one tenth of his troops, greatly boosting his morale. Therefore, Cao Cao believed that he was invincible in battle and wanted to unify the world. He took the initiative to go south and launched the Battle of Red Cliffs. When people are too confident, they often become proud, and it was precisely because of this that Cao Cao underestimated the enemy, leading to his own failure. - Cao Cao’s soldiers are not good at water combat.
Cao Cao had been in the north all along, so his troops fought more on land and therefore had less experience in water warfare. However, in the south, there are many rivers, and launching wars often requires fighting on water. Therefore, Cao Cao’s soldiers lacked experience and could not compare with the experienced soldiers of Eastern Wu, leading to failure. - Caught in Zhou Yu’s plot of rebellion.
Before the battle, Cao Cao sent a person to inquire about information in Eastern Wu, but this person was discovered by Zhou Yu. So Zhou Yu took advantage of the situation and forged several documents of Cao Cao’s generals, intentionally allowing this person to see them. So this person went back to report to Cao Cao, who killed the general who was framed by Zhou Yu. By the time Cao Cao realized it was a scheme, it was already too late. - Due to weather conditions.
We all know that Cao Cao was defeated by Zhou Yu with fire. That day, the east wind happened to blow, and Cao Cao’s troops were in the east. So Zhou Yu first used a rocket to shoot at Cao Cao’s ship. Because it was the east wind, the fire quickly spread, catching Cao Cao off guard.
The above are the reasons for Cao Cao’s failure in the Battle of Red Cliffs. If Cao Cao had been more cautious and avoided the mistakes mentioned above, he would have likely defeated Liu Bei and Sun Quan in the Battle of Red Cliffs and unified the world. But things didn’t go as planned, it’s really a pity.