The Battle of Changban occurred in 208 AD during the war between Cao Cao and Liu Bei. Cao Cao's larger army failed to corner and destroy Liu Bei's smaller army and large following of civilians at Changban, with Liu Bei fleeing to Jiangling. While Cao Cao won the field, Liu Bei escaped to Wu, where he allied with Sun Quan.
Background[]
In 208 AD, the young and inexperienced Jing Province governor, Liu Cong was manipulated by his advisor Kuai Yue into surrendering his lands over to the powerful northern warlord, Cao Cao to avert a bloody invasion.
Cao Cao and his 500,000-strong army, which he had prepared for the destruction of his rival, Liu Bei, marched into Xiangyang without opposition and quickly occupied most of Jing Province.
Cao Cao also had Liu Cong and his mother murdered when Liu Cong refused to serve as Inspector of Qing Province, cementing his control of the province, which yielded hundreds of thousands of troops and tens of thousands of ships to his already-massive expeditionary force.
While his general Cao Ren was unable to halt Liu Bei's flight at the Battle of Xinye, Liu Bei's journey towards his ally Liu Qi's ships at Jiangling was hampered by the 100,000 civilian refugees who accompanied Liu Bei on his great trek. Cao Cao decided to send 5,000 elite cavalry to pursue the cavalcade to the Changban slope, where Liu Bei decided to take a stand with his 2,000 troops.
Battle[]
Zhao Yun carrying the infant Adou (Liu Shan).
Cao Cao's 5,000 cavalrymen charged Liu Bei's smaller force of 2,000 guards, who fought desperately until Zhang Fei rescued his brother and persuaded the turncoat general Wen Ping to retreat with his troops, who had attempted to block Liu Bei's path.
The rest of the army was also harried as it attempted to retreat, and Zhao Yun went missing and lost track of Liu Bei's wives and his son Adou, while Mi Fang was injured in the face by an arrow and claimed that Zhao Yun had gone over to Cao Cao. Zhang Fei made a stand at the Changban Bridge to keep watch against Cao Cao's advancing forces.
Meanwhile, with help from Jian Yong, Zhao Yun rescued Lady Gan and discovered that Lady Mi had been separated with Adou. 1,000 of Cao Cao's troops under Chunyu Dao arrived, having just captured Mi Zhu, so Zhao Yun slew the captor and rescued Mi Zhu, taking him and Lady Gan with him away from the Changban Bridge. After delivering Mi Zhu and Lady Gan to Zhang Fei and reassuring him of his allegiance, Zhao Yun then rode back to find Lady Mi, and he slew Cao Cao's sword-bearer Xiahou En before finding Lady Mi cradling Adou near a burning house. Lady Mi, who was unable to move, handed Adou to Zhao Yun before throwing herself down a well, and Zhao Yun rode off with Adou in his arms.
He then slew Cao Hong's general Yan Ming and outran Zhang He. Ma Yan, Zhang Zi, Jiao Chu, and Zhang Neng attempted to halt him, but he warded off all four generals using the swords he looted from Xiahou En. He slew the brothers Zhong Jin and Zhong Shen when they attempted to stop his advance, and he then reached Zhang Fei with the child.
Fighting retreat[]
The fire attack
Cao Ren, Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Li Dian, Yue Jin, Zhang Liao, Xu Chu, Zhang He, and other generals in Cao Cao's army were held back at the Changban Bridge by the fierce Zhang Fei, whose very shout terrified Xiahou Jie to death. Many of Cao Cao's troops dropped their spears and fled, but Cao Cao sent Zhang Liao and Xu Chu to the bridge to reconnoiter.
By the time they returned, the bridge had been destroyed and Zhang Fei had left, and Cao Cao set 10,000 men to work to build pontoon bridges to ford the river. The combined Liu Bei army proceeded to continue its retreat, covered by the strategist Zhuge Liang's tactics. He used a fire attack to hold off Cao Cao's advancing forces, and Liu Bei continued to retreat as his generals held off Cao Cao's army. As Zhao Yun held off Cao Cao's reinforcements, Guan Yu and a fleet of ships arrived to transport Liu Bei to safety, and Liu Qi later arrived with reinforcements for Liu Bei's army.
Shortly after, Jia Xu arrived with reinforcements for Cao Cao, this time emerging from the southeast, right behind Liu Bei's army. Zhao Yun rushed south and routed Jia Xu's force, while also capturing an attack base that Jia Xu's men had created.
Shortly after, Cao Cao himself arrived on the battlefield with the main army. However, he was too late to stop Liu Bei's escape to Guan Yu's ships, and Liu Bei was able to escape and flee to Jiangxia.
Aftermath[]
After the battle, Cao Cao entered Jingzhou and received the submission of the late Liu Cong's generals, Deng Yi and Liu Xin. However, he feared that Liu Bei's flight to Jiangxia would allow for him to ally with Sun Quan, so Cao Cao raised an army of 830,000 troops to launch a land and naval attack on Liu Bei's forces.
Zhuge Liang met with Sun Quan's strategist Lu Su in Jiangdong shortly afterward to arrange a hasty alliance between the two lords; Zhuge Liang convinced Sun Quan that Cao Cao would seek to conquer the rest of southern China with his armada, and that only through a Liu-Sun alliance could the Southlands resist his tyranny.
Zhang Zhao advised Sun Quan against the alliance, but Zhou Yu advised him that an alliance with Liu Bei was the only way to keep Wu alive, and Sun Quan decided to go to war, splitting a table with his sword and declaring that Wu would ally with Liu Bei, setting the stage for the Battle of Chibi.
