Chibi

The Battle of Chibi (赤壁の戦い, rōmaji: Sekiheki no Tatakai) AKA "Battle of the Red Cliffs" (or literally "Battle of the Red Wall") is a defining battle near the end of the Han Dynasty. On royal orders, Cao Cao led an expedition to the south and conquered a majority of Jing Province. He had Liu Bei on the run at Changban, yet Liu Bei escaped from his foe to the east and arranged a formal alliance with Sun Quan. After some debate, Sun Quan accepted the decision to fight back with Liu Bei. Led by the talented strategist, Zhou Yu, the combined navies clashed with Cao Cao's imposing fleet.

Two famous events for the battle include Huang Gai's ruse to Cao Cao and the damaging fire attack on the invading fleet. Romance of the Three Kingdoms particularly adds it own drama for the conflict, including a one-sided rivalry between Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang, Cao Cao vying for the Two Qiaos, and the act of calling forth the southeastern winds for the fire attack's success.

The allied army scored victory against Cao Cao, who retreated back north with his forces. Again, Romance of the Three Kingdoms imparts a fictional chase for his head as he escaped from Chibi. His weakened grasp on Jing Province sparked Sun Quan's plans for expanding north at Nanjun. When his forces were repulsed by Cao Ren and other capable officers under Cao Cao, Liu Bei took this chance to claim four sections of Jing Province for himself. With each of the three powers continuing to build their forces, the foundations for the Three Kingdoms period began to take shape.

As an easter egg, the real life red-colored engraving of the hanzi/kanji for "Red Wall/Cliffs" (赤壁) from the modern day Chibi City in Hubei will be on one of the cliff-sides, with its location varying between installments. The mark is that of the aforementioned hanzi/kanji colored in a deep red with a white spiraling-flame on the top center position; the hanzi/kanji are rendered from right-to-left through the feudal method of writing Chinese characters (as "壁赤"). However, it should be noted that the carvings were made hundreds of years later after the original battle took place, with the battle site itself being a mere alleged claim which is still being heavily debated to this day. Some claim the cliffs' red colors were formed from being burnt by the fire attack's severity, which gave birth to its name.

Dynasty Warriors
Every iteration of the battle so far in the Dynasty Warriors series stresses the importance of the fire attack over most tactics for the battle. Even the first title presents Chi Bi as a background for Wu characters, one version including a flaming fleet of ships at nightfall. During the majority of the series, Sun Quan is present as the allied leader (Sun Jian acts as the leader in some versions of the stage, in Dynasty Warriors 4, or if the player plays as Sun Jian), but Zhou Yu is the one in charge of the allied forces for the campaign. As the key strategist for the battle, Zhou Yu often has cinematics dedicated to him signaling the fire attack in earlier titles.

In Dynasty Warriors 5, the battle of Chi Bi is sometimes followed or replaced by Cao Cao's escape instead (which debuts in the Xtreme Legends installment of the fourth title). While no game has a scene in which Zhuge Liang persuades Zhou Yu into forming an alliance, the same title hints that the battle is fought over the Two Qiaos during Xiao Qiao's Musou Mode, in which Zhou Yu expresses his hatred for Cao Cao's greed before the battle. The sixth title added ships that could be moved by hitting a gong to transport units across the river, but this feature was removed in the Special version.

For most incarnations of the allied forces version of the battle, Zhuge Liang asks the allied forces to bide him time while he prays for the southern winds to blow. Dynasty Warriors 2 encourages players to have 100 KOs to have the prayers take effect, but every following title has this occur at a set time. While Zhuge Liang prepares the winds, players are often asked to assist Huang Gai with his own plot for the boats. He directs these explosive filled boats to set sail towards Cao Cao's fleet. Both individuals are imperative for the fire attack to succeed, testing the player's patience and endurance against the overwhelming numbers. Dynasty Warriors 4 and each title after it adds Pang Tong as a valuable yet optional element for the fire attack. The strategist infiltrates Cao Cao's ranks to chain the enemy boats together if he is not interfered-with. He instead plots to destroy the bridges connecting the two armies together in the fifth title and acts as Zhuge Liang's backup for the winds in the sixth title.

In the third title however, Zhuge Liang himself does not appear in the stage for both the Wu and Shu forces, and the altar cannot be completely scaled to the top due to a programmed boundary. The third installment also causes the ships to change their formations as soon as the fire attack is done.

The strategy for Wei's forces in each title is purely directed to stopping any element of the fire attack. Players can often achieve this by targeting either Zhou Yu, Huang Gai, and Zhuge Liang in most titles. Zhuge Liang will usually have extra protection at the altar -depending on the game- so these generals may need to be neutralized before heading towards the strategist himself (in the third title, Zhuge Liang does not appear on the stage and Lu Meng must be defeated in order to foil the winds). Once the allied forces fail to carry out their plans, the remaining army will charge in desperation to foil Cao Cao. Dynasty Warriors 6 creates a twist to their version of the battle; even if the player defeats all of the key players for the fire attack, Huang Gai will still bombard Cao Cao's ships. However, the fires will be considerably weaker and may be extinguished shortly within the span of the battle.

The fourth title is the first instance showing Huang Gai's actual ship (unless he himself is being used by the player) sailing across the sea into the central pier. Cao Cao comments on the ship being suspiciously fast, which is a slight carryover from the original novel. It is not until the sixth title the actual polygonal rendering of ships sailing is reused. When the fire attack occurs in the fourth installment, where it spreads depends on if Pang Tong has chained the ships together or not; foiling his linked-ship-plain will only cause the flames to be more closer to the central pier, which will only cause morale reduction/unit-wipeout on the units on the western side of the pier and directly south of Cao Cao's own ship.

Liu Bei's forces in the field varies with each title, but they usually play second fiddle to Wu's strategies. If the ally fire attack succeeds in Dynasty Warriors 3, a small regiment of his officers will reinforce Wu's charge. They can take part in the battle itself in the fourth title. Liu Bei's forces also appear during Cao Cao's escape from Chi Bi in both the Xtreme Legends expansion and Dynasty Warriors 5. Zhuge Liang frequently flees from combat after performing his task on the field, but he and his wife stay to fight during her story in Dynasty Warriors 6: Special.

Extra scenarios surrounding the time frame of the battle have been made throughout the series. Dynasty Warriors 3: Xtreme Legends included a fictional confrontation with Dong Zhuo against his rogue adoptive son Lu Bu as well as a challenge from the latter's Dynasty Tactics counterpart. However, when Li Ru attempts the fire attack in Dong Zhuo's scenario, it instead backfires and the flames begin to engulf Dong Zhuo's southern fleet instead; Lu Bu also chastises Dong Zhuo's attempts out of spite. Zhang Jiao's scenario instead, has his peasants fleeing south once the wind blows so their ships can start moving.

Zhou Yu and Huang Gai's Legend Modes in Dynasty Warriors 4: Xtreme Legends surrounds events involving the battle with influences from the novel. Zhou Yu's story has him chasing his hated rival as he escapes from Chi Bi, wanting to prevent the latter's return to Liu Bei (this battle reuses the Xia Kou map on the left side). Huang Gai's version involves the deceptive plot to infiltrate Cao Cao's fleet, pretending to be discontent with Zhou Yu's beatings moments prior. He needs to stealthily escape from his own comrades to avoid raising alarm, making the scheme seem like a natural defection (this stage uses the right side of the Chi Bi map via the Chang Jiang stage).

In Dynasty Warriors Vol. 2, Chibi appears in four different versions. The first two versions show the battle between Wei and the allied forces in Wei and Wu's respective stories. In Wei's version, Cao Cao will initially order a charge, but Huang Gai's fire attack, and Gan Ning's sudden appearance near the camp force the Wei forces into the defensive. Once reinforcements arrive, Cao Cao orders an attack. Defeating either Zhuge Liang or Sun Quan will end the battle. The treasure trove in Wei's version of the stage is guarded by the Western Han Dynasty's Han Xin. In Wu's version, Huang Gai must be escorted to the task area to set the ships ablaze. Once the ships are on fire, Cao Cao will destroy the central gangway to stall for reinforcements. Defeating Cao Cao or capturing all the altars will end the stage. Wu's version of the stage has a treasure trove guarded by Yu Ji.

The stage appears in Shu's story mode as "Showdown in Chibi" where Shu forces fight the Wu forces instead. Seeing that the river's strong current, Zhuge Liang will request allied troops to take altars scattered around the map. Once an altar is taken, Zhuge Liang will appear in the altar to pray. When his prayer is done, the river's current will die down, giving new access to the Shu army. Once two out of the three altars are taken, Lu Xun will order an ambush near the Shu main camp, but Zhuge Liang replies with his own ambush troops. Defeating Sun Quan ends the battle. The treasure trove of this area is guarded by Water Margin's Qiong Ying.

The last version of the stage is one of Wei's final stages, known as "Retaliation at Chibi". Here, Cao Pi must face both Sun Quan and Liu Bei, and the first defeat in the area is mentioned. Proving his own superiority, Cao Pi orders that three task areas through the map be seized for the engineers. If an engineer reaches a task area, he will set fire to one portion of the map. As the Wei forces begin moving, Liu Bei and Sun Quan order a surprise charge, and the Wei troops need to defeat the enemy officers to proceed. Defeating both Sun Quan and Liu Bei will end with Wei's undisputed rule over the land. The treasure trove for this version of the map is guarded by the Western Han Dynasty's Xiao He.

Lu Bu and his independent army interrupt the battle entirely during his story in Dynasty Warriors 6. Since he sides with neither army for the conflict, he can choose to interrupt the fire attack or allow it to take place to make it easier for his forces. If he targets and defeats the leaders for each army, Zhou Yu and Dian Wei will become enraged with Lu Bu. The Wu and Wei armies will then temporarily ally with one another to bring an end to Lu Bu.

Dynasty Warriors 7 shows the battle from the perspective of all three forces and splits the battle into two parts. Wei's version starts out with the player controlling Xu Zhu moving out from Cao's Cao's flagship to drive off the Wu officers. When the player reaches the central ship Zhou Yu will raise the bridges to buy time for the fire attack. Regardless of how quickly Zhou Yu is beaten, he will temporarily withdraw after he is defeated but the fire attack succeeds and main camp goes up in flames. The bridges on the central will drop and player can head back to the main camp to rescue Cao Cao. Cao Cao will begin retreating west and will need to be protected as allied officers begin to flee due to the fire attack. More Wu forces soon appear led by Taishi Ci block the center and has to be defeated to proceed further. The player has the option to rendezvous with Cao Pi, Zhang He, and Xun You as they will assist in the escape. Cao Cao shall continue west as the southeastern winds spread the flames to engulf the rest of the fleet, and will head towards an escape boat where an enemy ambush awaits him. Once the ambush party is dealt with Cao Cao, Jia Xu, and the player take the boat north to the escape point. Gan Ning will board the ship and Jia Xu will advise taking him out quickly as Zhou Yu leads a unit in front of the escape point to attack Cao Cao but fails.

Part 2 begins at the northern part the map with the player now controlling Cao Cao as he continues his withdrawal with Jia Xu. The duo rescue Li Dian near the first checkpoint but quickly run into an ambush led by Zhao Yun only to be saved by Xiahou Dun who arrives moments afterwards. While Xiahou Dun and Li Dian guard the checkpoint, Cao Cao resumes his march as Yue Jin is saved and accompanies his master to the central checkpoint, however it is closed off and another unit of Liu Bei's army attacks them. Xiahou Yuan moves to assist after taking an alternate path and holds the area down with Yue Jin so Cao Cao can escape. After saving Zhang Liao from Guan Ping's assault, Cao Cao pushes his way towards the northwest only to be ambushed once again. Cao Ren arrives from Nanjun and helps open a path to the escape point where Zhang Fei tries stop party in vain from fleeing. Guan Yu appears before Cao Cao as well only to let him go.

Wu's side of the battle begins with the player using Zhou Yu, who has to do whatever he can to hold off Cao Cao's massive assault until the preparations for the fire attack are complete. In an attempt to slow down the onslaught Gan Ning tries to cut one of the enemy ships loose and will succeed if Zhang Liao is dealt with. While this going on, Xu Huang moves to the alter in the southwest to investigate it and has to be defeated as well. Cao Cao's navy will then launch a second wave attack led by Zhang He. The second half begin with winds and the fire striking in prefect succession. The Player now uses Huang Gai and chases down to defeat Cao Cao as he attempts to flee. The rest of Wu army boards ships to join the veteran and corner Cao Cao in the center of his fleet. However, Cao Pi leads unit to ambush the allied forces by using his father as bait. After breaking through the trap, Huang Gai continues pounding his way west and Cao Cao location will disappear from map once gets to the northern bank. As Huang Gai reaches Xu Zhu, they will duel each other briefly in on whose devotion is greater. Cao Cao's location is revealed once Xu Zhu is defeated and must be dealt with swiftly before Xiahou Dun arrives to bail out his cousin. Cao Cao is nearly finished as Huang Gai is about the finishing blow, but Zhuge Liang stops him as the strategist has laid out plan deal with Cao Cao personally.

Shu's perspective is first seen through the eyes of Zhao Yun as he's ordered to sneak behind Cao Cao's fleet to strike the enemy from behind. With Liu Qi controlling the boat, they set forth to set the plan in motion. A group of patrol boats will block the ship's advance and has to be dealt with quickly. Afterwards the southeastern wind will change the boats direction north as Yue Jin and Li Dian lead boarding parties to take out Liu Qi. Cao Cao will then come within sight and Xu Huang try to attack player as well. Zhao Yun continues chasing after Cao Cao as Xu Zhu stalls the pursuit for a while. The second half is seen from Guan Yu's view as the pursuit of Cao Cao resumes. Together with his son they first encounter Zhang Liao who attempts to weaver Guan Yu's spirit by reminding him of his debt. Pushing onwards, Zhang Fei is spotted and surround by the enemy and needs to be rescued after-which he reveals that Cao Cao is at the central checkpoint. After using the alternate path, Guan Ping decides to head south to keep pressure on Cao Cao attack while Guan Yu heads west. Cao Ren will use a rockslide to delay Guan Ping indefinitely but his father manages to get to Cao Cao. With the Wei ruler at his mercy, Guan Yu lets him go but Zhuge Liang assures the God of War he accounted for that to happen.

In Dynasty Warriors 8, the battle initiates in Wei's side with Cao Cao joining his naval troops, however infiltrators from Wu led by Lu Su suddenly appear and wreak havoc among the Wei ranks. As Cao Cao moves to deal with the spies, Huang Gai suddenly appears and rams into one of Cao Cao's ships, thus initiating the fire attack. Immediately afterwards Cai Mao betrays Wei, blocking their escape path to the south. Taishi Ci, Han Dang, Gan Ning, and Lu Su then appear and block the Wei troop's way as they continue to escape from the fire. As they escape from the ships, the Wei forces are soon ambushed by both Liu Bei and Sun Shangxiang. Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun later join their lord's ambush, but Cao Cao and his generals manage to defeat them. Guan Yu arrives as well, but he decides to let the Cao Cao and his generals leave unscathed.

In the alternate path, Guo Jia, Dian Wei, and Xu Shu all help Cao Cao, and help him overcome what would have resulted in a defeat. Guo Jia and Dian Wei first liquidate the diversionary attack force led by Lu Su before it causes chaos. Soon after Xu Shu alerts the Wei forces to Pang Tong's presence, and this allows the Wei forces to pinpoint which ship would be targeted by the Wu forces for the fire attack. After Pang Tong's defeat, as expected, Huang Gai and Han Dang appear and attack the ship Pang Tong was on, but the Wei forces are prepared for the fire attack, and quickly stop the fire before it can spread. Shortly after defeating the two Wu generals, Cai Mao defects to the Wu forces after being tricked, but due to the failure of the fire attack Guo Jia is able to help Cai Mao realize he was deceived. Cai Mao enables the Wei forces to board the enemy ships and attack the allied encampment, where the Liu Bei-Wu forces are quick to greet Cao Cao and his men. Despite their efforts, Sun Quan is defeated and Wei is given it's final foothold against the Sun family.

Wu's side of the battle starts off with driving off the Wei vanguard from the main camp as well as repelling reinforcements led by Sima Yi. Xiahou Dun will appear leading a raiding party in the southeastern part of the map. Han Dang and Huang Gai deal with the units heading for the fire ship, while Sun Shangxiang and Lu Su head for the altar to protect Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang. Once the area is secure both pairs move out to attack as Sun Shangxing and Lu Su use one of Wei's boats while Huang Gai and Han Dang using the fire ship to carry out the fire attack. All that's left is to take out Cao Cao and the battle will be finished.

Shu's perspective of battle has the altar attacked right away so Liu Bei and Zhao Yun head over there to protect Zhuge Liang. Lu Su and Sun Shangxiang also arrive to help the altar's defense until the prayer is complete. Sima Yi will then personally head to the altar to test himself against Zhuge Liang. Picking up information from Sima Yi, Zhuge Liang decides to go to Pang Tong's assistance with his master and Zhao Yun. Taking a boat to the western bank, the three generals drive off Cao Pi and save Pang Tong from Zhang Liao. They immediately set out to defeat Xu Shu so the fire attack can succeed and go after Cao Cao's flagship to finish the battle. However, after defeating Zhenji, Cao Cao and Xu Zhu manage to slip by Liu Bei and the others to get to the southwest where Han Dang ambushes them. Zhang Liao reappears to help hold off Han Dang while Cao Cao escapes. Defeating Xu Zhu and Zhang Liao will end the battle.

If the player manages to find Xu Shu after the fire attack, he will join Liu Bei once again and play crucial roles at Chengdu and Fan Castle. If the players neglect to look for him, Xu Shu will kill himself in the fire.

The battle also serves as the final battle in Jin's what-if route and involves Sima Shi fighting the remnants of Shu and Wu in a decisive battle. In the alternate path, after Sima Shi defeated Shu and quelled Jiang Wei's rebellion in Chengdu and Sima Zhao defeated Wu, both Shu and Wu remnants joined in a final stand against the Sima clan in Chibi. Sima Shi and Wang Yuanji held the eastern side, while Jia Chong accompanied Sima Zhao's advance north to the Coalition main camp. Holding off attacks from the Coalition and failing their fire attack, Sima Yi and Zhang Chunhua arrive as reinforcements and opens the southern approach of Chibi to the main camp. Defeating Jiang Wei and the coalition, Sima Shi is then crowned Emperor.

Warriors Orochi
In the final Wu Gaiden, Sun Jian and his children defy Orochi. Before the final battle at Koshi Castle, their allies, Ieyasu and Sakon, assemble a navy to cripple their foe at Chi Bi. Sakon suggests using a fire attack and orders the foes on the western boats to be dispatched for their path. Meanwhile, he blows up the bridge connecting the armies on the eastern side to isolate the Orochi forces. As the battle progresses, Lu Xun rides in on the western shore to assist. Masamune will bluntly insult the plot and charge straight in the east, endangering Sakon and Ieyasu. The call for the engineer unit commences when the southwestern side of the map is clear of competition. If the engineer succeeds, the western bridge will also be broken and proceed along the western shore. His goal is to reach the central boat and set the enemy boats ablaze, which requires the players' help.

Succeeding in the fire attack inspires all allies to charge and is also needed to spurn Lu Bu's lone rush for the ally main camp. If the player goes back to defeat him, he will acknowledge the players' strength.

The Escape from Chi Bi map also serves Shu's fourth Gaiden stage for chasing Goemon who had stolen Liu Bei's treasure from Wei Yan. While searching for the treasure, miscreants will try to stop the Shu forces. Okuni also arrives to keep Goemon from leaving. The bandit also goes as far as to hire the services of Kotarō and Musashi for this battle. If the treasure is recovered before fighting Goemon, he will join Shu.

Chi Bi becomes the stage for Wu's final battle with the resurrected Orochi and his forces in the sequel. As Sun Jian heads there, a rogue Lu Bu unexpectedly attacks Orochi at the same time. Taking advantage of Lu Bu's momentum, Sun Jian has his navy attack. Unlike other scenarios, however, the tables are turned and the Wu army has their boats on fire at the start of the battle. Cut off from their enemy, the Orochi forces additionally use an altar on the western shore to resurrect their fallen comrades on Wu's side. Motochika reads the enemy movements and sets up boats to counter the altar and reconnect the two armies together. Da Ji casts another fire spell on the Orochi boats to only harm ally forces and Keiji barges in to protect Orochi. Defeating the demon kills the flames and the main obstacle to peace that remains after Keiji's defeat is Orochi.

Musou OROCHI Z presents a dream stage setting the supernatural characters against the mortal heroes of both time periods lead by Nobunaga and Cao Cao. Players are given the default team of mystics -Fu Xi, Nu Wa, and Taigong Wang- to use as they momentarily join forces with Da Ji, Orochi, and San Zang for the dream match. At the start of the battle, Taigong Wang orders the central boat connecting the armies to be blown apart, ordering Wu Ji to perform the task. If he reaches the point quickly enough, he will succeed. Da Ji, who doesn't like the boy mystic, loses her drive near the beginning of the stage and pulls back from the front lines. After the enemies in the central boats are defeated, she makes a petty excuse that she is wounded and needs to retreat. If the player's team intercepts her, her wounds will be healed and she'll reluctantly return to fight.

Meanwhile, Taigong Wang instructs Orochi to cause havoc along the boats in the southeast. As Orochi scares away the soldiers in his path, Zuo Ci appears as an ally for humanity and casts a petrification spell on the serpent king. The elder needs to be beaten in order to release Orochi. Once ally morale increases, Nu Wa orders Nanto to move out. To retaliate, Zhao Yun and Yukimura charge for the ally main camp. With the two youths down, Zhou Yu orders Zhu Ran to carry out a fire attack with Mitsunari's assistance. When the mystic army reaches the enemy commanders position, Hideyoshi and Dian Wei lead forces to reinforce their lords' final defense.

Warriors Orochi 3 does not feature Chibi as a battlefield in the main story. However, it becomes the backdrop of several DLC stages which include Lu Bu's revenge against Nezha, Aya lecturing two mystics on human love, and Keiji challenging several heroes for their theme song.

In the original timeline, Cao Ren and Xiahou Ba went into the area in the hopes of freeing some of Kiyomori's puppets, but they failed in their mission and became puppets themselves. In Ultimate, the two re-imagine the previous battle except with their current selves and Katsuie Shibata's aid. Although they are stronger, they are still unable to break the puppets from their trance, and the objective instead changes to escape the area to keep themselves from being turned into puppets.

Kessen
Similar to the Dynasty Warriors series, the battle takes place after the escape from Chang Ban and Liu Bei will form an alliance with Sun Quan in Kessen II. Zhuge Liang purposes to call forth the winds, but Wu is skeptical, as for decades no high winds have ever blown during this time of year. Despite their doubts, they agree to the strategist's plan. Cao Cao confidently presses on with his overwhelming numbers and Heaven's favor.

In Shu's version of the battle, the player will be given only one strategy to choose: wait for Zhuge Liang to summon the wind. The player must carefully maneuver their troops to stall for time while avoiding being surrounded and overwhelmed. While Zhuge Liang summons the wind, the Mandate of Heaven will try to prevent him from succeeding. Liu Bei will protect him and defeat the avatar sent by the Mandate. His victory allows the winds to start blowing. Once the winds are summoned, Zhuge Liang will use a fire spell and set Cao Cao's fleets aflame. Wei's army experiences a massive morale drop and it is easier to route them at this point.

Wei's version of the encounter offers three strategies; Zhang Liao advocates for an all-out offensive, Xun Yu will suggest to chain the boats together to gain army stability while Himiko will advocate attacking Zhuge Liang. Should the player use the third strategy, they will be able to prevent the fire attack. The second will allow armies to fight in a larger field, making it an excellent set up for fire magic. In both versions of the stage, Lady Sun Li will appear as reinforcements for Shu.

Historical Information
Cao Cao had defeated Yuan Shao and took Hebei. In 208, Liu Bei fled to Jiangling, prompting suspicion that he would attack the city. Cao Cao went and defeated him at Changban, then sent a message to Sun Quan. In the message, he boasted a command of 800,000 men and threatened to take military action if Wu did not surrender. Sun Quan's domain was divided between the side that wanted a surrender and the side that wanted a fight to the death.

Zhou Yu, however, figured that Cao Cao actually had about 220,000 men, and convinced Sun Quan to ally with Liu Bei, and in the winter of 208, a battle was to be fought at Red Wall/Cliffs.

From there, Zhou Yu also proposed with notable accuracy that Cao Cao was acting on impetus due to the prior surrender of Liu Cong which while it gave Cao Cao a hold over Jingzhou, was no doubt still in a shaky condition (and thus not as secure); what was more was that Cao Cao was still technically far away from his homeland up further north, meaning other forces such as the Xiliang Calvary would no doubt take advantage of his long absence from Xuchang, on top of the which would mean Cao Cao would have to decisively gamble on finishing off the allied forces in one solid move in order to head back home much sooner; Liu Bei would had a history of often fleeing when situations turned sour would prove to be a solid turning point in Cao Cao's favor.

From there, Cao Cao could either corner both Liu Bei and Liu Qi at Jiangxia County making Sun Quan lose motivation to help them, or assault Sun Quan's headquarters at Chaisang District with Liu Bei most likely willing to abandon him. Even then, Zhou Yu also pointed out that Sun Quan would have nothing to lose when fighting Cao Cao or if Zhou Yu himself was defeated, especially when the marshes in the area would prove to be detrimental to his forces while Sun Quan's people were naturally immune to the environment (on top of his other reserves and spare soldiers). In any case, Cao Cao would not have enough resources to risk an elongated-campaign against Sun Quan without considering his army's current condition and the affairs back up north he still had to attend to. Even then regarding his army, most of them were fresh talents that were not yet as accustomed to working with each other as his veteran officers that he knew of closely beforehand.

As Zhou Yu was waiting at the Red Wall with Cao Cao remaining in Wulin to have his army recover themselves after a long march, Zhou Yu was rather uncertain on how to attack him. However, Huang Gai offered to defect to Cao Cao, then set off on fire ships with their prior fire attack against Huang Zu as reference. Prior to this, Cao Cao chained up his ships, probably to make a stable fighting-ground for his army, which was mostly consisting of northerners who were inexperienced in naval battles, on top of the water making his soldiers become ill (unlike Sun Quan's forces from their homeland whom grew natural resistances to it).

Cao Cao due to his new recruits being from unlikely places didn't grow to suspect Huang Gai's fake defection, and soon with a favorable southeastern wind coming just on time with Huang Gai reaching half way, Cao Cao's ships soon were all lit on fire.

Cao Cao retreated to Xuchang to prepare for another campaign against Sun Quan. It should be noted that unlike in the novel, Cao Cao's actual escape route and condition was not properly detailed, which can be assumed he fled without any hitches. Cao Cao as aforementioned was also gambling on his prior string of successes (especially with one of his most recent ones at the time being Liu Cong's surrender that offered him Jingzhou), and that he was aware if things were to go wrong. From there, it was also likely he planned a retreat route with notable foresight as he took his army's condition into heavy consideration.