In 208, Cao Cao marched south with his army hoping to quickly
unify the empire. Liu Biao's son Liu Cong surrendered the province
of Jing and Cao was able to capture a sizeable fleet at Jiangling.
Sun Quan, the successor to Sun Ce in the Lower Yangzi, continued to
resist however. His advisor Lu Su secured an alliance with Liu Bei,
himself a recent refugee from the north, and Sun Ce's sworn brother
Zhou Yu was placed in command of Sun Quan's navy, along with a
veteran officer of the Sun family, Cheng Pu. Their combined armies
of 50,000 met Cao Cao's fleet and 200,000]strong force at Red
Cliffs (also known as Chi Bi) that winter. After an initial
skirmish, an attack beginning with a plan to set fire to Cao Cao's
fleet was set in motion to lead to a decisive defeat on Cao Cao,
forcing him to retreat in disarray back to the north. The allied
victory at Red Cliffs ensured the survival of Liu Bei and Sun Quan,
and provided the basis for the states of Shu and Wu.
