After Battle of Red Cliffs, Cao Cao's strength dropped greatly, but in fact he could only protect himself, and then he was unable to go south, which was also the fundamental reason for the formation of the Three Kingdoms. Later, Cao Cao died, Cao Pi and Li were formed, Liu Bei proclaimed himself emperor, Shu was established (claiming to be Han), and finally Sun Quan and Li formally formed the tripartite confrontation between Wu and the Three Kingdoms.
However, at this time, the national strength of the three countries has actually changed significantly. After the battle of Yiling, Liu Bei lost 100,000 troops, only fled to Baidicheng, and finally died there. Therefore, Shu, the weakest country among the three countries, has existed in name only after this war. Not only Guan Yu and Zhang Fei died, but also Fazheng and Pang Tong died long ago. Even Liu Bei himself drove a crane to the west, leaving Zhuge Liang alone. In the Northern Wei Dynasty, after the death of Cao Cao, Xelloss also drove his father away a few years later, and the throne went to Cao Rui. Although nominally the leader of the Three Kingdoms, the form is greater than the substance. On the one hand, a large group of counsellors and military commanders who once reached the sky are old and dead, leaving only Sima Yi and others. Cao Rui's talent is not the same as that of Cao Cao and Xelloss. Therefore, the regime of Cao Wei has begun to show signs. In contrast, the strength of Wu, which occupies Jiangdong, is relatively stable, Sun Quan is still alive and his prestige is still there. After the Battle of Battle of Red Cliffs and Yiling, the situation was stable, and Jingzhou was finally recovered. Shu was rushed to the Sichuan Basin, and a large number of veteran ministers were alive, among which Lu Xun, Quan Cong were the most famous generals, especially with sufficient economic development. It can be said that Wu was actually in its heyday at this time. Therefore, compared with Wei in the north, the strength of Wu at this time is neck and neck. If we make good use of this opportunity, Wu actually has the possibility of unifying the world, and this opportunity appeared in 228 AD.
According to the Records of the Three Kingdoms, in May of the seventh year of Huang Wu (228), Wu Poyang was the prefect of the Zhou government.
He sent a personal letter to Cao Xiu, a shepherd in Yangzhou, falsely claiming that he was censured by the King of Wu, and intended to abandon Wu and demote Wei, requesting troops to meet him. Cao Xiu didn't know the truth, so he went to Anhui City (now Anhui Buried Hill) to meet 100,000 cavalry. Cao Rui, Wei Mingdi
(governing Jinyang, now southwest of Taiyuan) ordered general Sima Yi to lead the army to Jiangling (now Jiangling, Hubei); Jianwei General Jia Kui led his troops to Dongguan (now southwest of Hanshan, Anhui) to meet Cao Xiu Ce. In August, Sun Quan entered the mouth of Anhui Province (now the place where the Huaining River in Anhui Province enters the river), and Lu Xun was appointed as the viceroy, and Zhu Heng, the general of Fenwu, and Quan Cong, the general of Suinan, were appointed as the left and right governors. Thirty thousand troops attacked Cao Xiu. Cao Xiu discovered it early, but he was ashamed of being cheated and relied on many military forces to fight against Wu Jun.
At this time, Zhu Heng, the general of Fenwu, saw the best opportunity to defeat Cao Wei in an all-round way. He offered advice to Sun Quan: "Cao Xiu was appointed because he is a relative of the country, but he is not a brave and resourceful star. Today, if you are fighting a battle, you will undoubtedly lose. When you lose, you run. When you run away, you will definitely pass rocks and trailers. These two roads are dangerous and narrow. If ten thousand soldiers can open the way with firewood, then all his troops can be captured alive, even Cao Xiu can be captured alive. Request to cut off the road with my troops. If the great power is greatly enhanced and Cao Xiu surrenders voluntarily, we can capture Shouchun and divide it into Xuchang and Luoyang. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Don't miss it! "
If Sun Quan's party is Zhou Yu and Lv Meng at this time, Zhu Heng's idea may be fully considered, and the feats of Battle of Red Cliffs and Guan Yu will reappear, because if this plan really goes ahead as envisaged by Zhu Heng, the Cao Wei regime will at least flee from Luoyang, the capital, and it is not without the idea of moving the capital. Guan Yu went north, and Cao Cao was afraid that Guan Yu would hit him, so he moved the capital to Hebei. Thus, after Battle of Red Cliffs, the situation of Cao Wei regime has been bad. Even Cao Cao is afraid of the attack from the south. If Sima Yi hadn't insisted, Cao Wei's regime might have declined in Cao Cao's hands long ago, what's more, the present Cao Wei's regime is already unbearable.
Unfortunately, facing the golden opportunity, Sun Quan didn't have the courage to ask Lu Xun. As the actual military and political core figure of Wu at that time, coupled with the influence of the Yiling War, he thought the risk was too great to take risks. In fact, the fundamental reason why Lu Xun did not dare to take risks was that Lu Xun did not have the idea of unifying the world in his mind. The biggest idea still comes from Lu Su's advocacy of joining Shu in the west, united front and resisting Wei with all one's strength. Therefore, the reason why the battle of Yiling did not destroy Shu in the end was to scare Shu and force Shu alliance. Because Wu's think tank has basically formed the invincible thought of Wei, we can only find ways to protect ourselves in order to generalize. It was Lu Xun's denial that made Sun Quan lose the only chance to unify the whole country.
What happened afterwards? Sure enough, as Zhu Heng expected, the two sides finally fought in Shi Ting (now northeast of Anhui Buried Hill), with Lu Xun in the middle, Huan Zhu and Quan Cong around, and defeated Wei Jun and Wei Jun, and Lu Xun and other overseers pursued them, reaching Jiashi (now north of Tongcheng, Anhui), capturing more than 10,000 people in Wei Jun, 10,000 horses, cattle, mules and donkeys, and numerous weapons. Thanks to Jia Kui's help, the remnants of Cao Xiu survived, but soon died of anger. This is the famous Battle of Shi Ting, a classic battle between Wu and Wei, which could have continued to expand the fruits of victory, at least wiped out Cao Xiu's 100,000 troops and completely changed the pattern between Wu and Wei. Although Wu won a great victory and didn't hurt Wei, he still appeared in front of Wu as a monster. In fact, before that, Wei almost didn't win the war between Wu and Wei. Unfortunately, Lu Xun didn't have Zhou Yu's boldness of vision, and he didn't dare to grasp the opportunity when it came. As the supreme commander, without the support of Lu Xun, he can only lose the best opportunity to unify the world and go down in history.
For Sun Quan, there is no strong desire to unify the world. He has been promoted by his generals to get to where he is today. For example, when Cao Cao ordered him to take his son hostage, Sun Quan might have surrendered to Cao Cao if Zhou Yu had not resolutely stopped him. In those days, if Battle of Red Cliffs hadn't insisted on World War I by Zhou Yu and Lu Su, the world would have been won by Cao Cao. Unfortunately, Zhou Yu died early, Lu Su followed Zhou Yu, and Monroe, who was brave and resourceful, also died. Although Lu Xun has the talent from heaven, he doesn't have the courage from heaven, which eventually leads him to dare not take risks and lose his strongest support. Sun Quan also lost his courage in the face of this historic opportunity and dared not grasp it.