Battle of Jiangling (208)
The Battle of Jiangling was fought by the allied forces of Sun Quan and Liu Bei against Cao Cao during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. The battle was an integral part of the Red Cliffs campaign, and was fought immediately after the Battle of Yiling in 208, and the preceding engagement at Wulin (烏林; in present-day Honghu, Hubei) on land and the marine Battle of Red Cliffs where Cao Cao's navy was destroyed. Note that the battle at Wulin was a byproduct of the Battle of Red Cliffs, and they were not the same battle.
| Battle of Jiangling | |||||||
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| Part of the Red Cliffs campaign | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
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Sun Quan Liu Bei | Cao Cao | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Zhou Yu Cheng Pu Han Dang Lü Meng Ling Tong Zhou Tai Gan Ning Liu Bei Guan Yu Zhang Fei Lei Xu |
Cao Ren Xu Huang Niu Jin Chen Jiao Yue Jin Li Tong Wen Ping | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 40,000+ | 120,000+ (the troops Cao Ren had prior to the battle was more than that of Zhou Yu, and he received reinforcements from Yi Province, Xiangyang, Runan, Jiangxia, Dangyang, and numerous other cities controlled by Cao Cao.) | ||||||
| Battle of Jiangling | |||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 江陵之戰 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 江陵之战 | ||||||
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While the fighting around Jiangling County was vigorous, there were less fierce battles taking place in southern Jing Province. Unable to isolate Jiangling from its supporting cities (except those in Yi Province, see Battle of Yiling (208) for details), the campaign became a war of attrition, which resulted in enormous casualties for Cao Cao's side. After a year or so, Cao Cao could no longer afford the continuous losses in personnel and materiel, so he ordered Cao Ren to withdraw from Jiangling.