Talk:Battle of Hefei (208)

Before Red Cliffs, or after?
The following description from Cao Cao's biography gives the impression that this battle took place before the actual engagement at Red Cliffs, instead of after.

"In the 12th month, Sun Quan helped Liu Bei attack Hefei. Cao Cao personally led forces from Jiangling to attack Liu Bei and they reached Baqiu, where Cao sent Zhang Xi to lead reinforcements to Hefei. When Sun Quan heard that Zhang Xi's reinforcements had arrived, he retreated. Cao Cao headed towards Red Cliffs and engaged Liu Bei but lost the battle. [十二月，孫權為備攻合肥. 公自江陵征備，至巴丘，遣張憙救合肥. 權聞憙至，乃走. 公至赤壁，與備戰，不利. ]"

Any comments? LDS contact me 08:16, 15 May 2013 (UTC)

Sun Sheng commented in his Yitong Ping (異同評) that the Wu Zhi (吳志) claimed that this battle took place after Red Cliffs. [孫盛異同評曰：案吳志，劉備先破公軍，然後權攻合肥，而此記云權先攻合肥，後有赤壁之事. 二者不同，吳志為是. ]   LDS  contact me 15:17, 15 May 2013 (UTC)


 * de Crespigny, following the Zizhi Tongjian, explains why it should be after Red Cliffs (and in 209, no less), in his translation of the Zizhi Tongjian, To Establish Peace: (note 96 to Jian'an 13)

de Crespigny and Sima Guang seem to follow Sun Sheng's take in SGZ 47 (Wu 2, the Biography of Sun Quan) as the genuine account for this event. _dk (talk) 16:34, 15 May 2013 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the clarification.   LDS  contact me 16:54, 15 May 2013 (UTC)