Battle
Battle of Ruxukou 濡須之戰
About this event
This was the battle in which Cao Cao, having set out against Sun Quan in the 10th month of winter in the 17th year of Jian'an (212), advanced to Ruxukou in the 1st month of the following year, faced Sun Quan for more than a month and then withdrew. On hearing that Cao Cao was coming to attack, Sun Quan had built the Ruxu Fort, and at Lü Meng's urging he set up fortifications on both sides of the river mouth for defense. The Annals of Emperor Wu say that Cao Cao broke Sun Quan's camp at Jiangxi, captured his Area Commander Gongsun Yang and then turned his army back, while the Biography of the Lord of Wu records that Cao Cao, seeing the good order and discipline of Sun Quan's army, sighed in admiration and withdrew. Records, Wei 1 §119–120Records, Wu 2 §17–18Records, Wu 9 §66
Chen Shou recorded this battle in the Annals of Emperor Wu in Records of Wei 1 and the Biography of the Lord of Wu in Records of Wu 2, and also noted it briefly in the biography of Lü Meng in Records of Wu 9 and the biography of Xun Yu in Records of Wei 10. The Romance depicts this battle in the latter part of Chapter 61. Records, Wei 1 §120Records, Wu 2 §18Records, Wu 9 §66Records, Wei 10 §43Romance, Ch. 61 §37–48
Course of events in the Records
According to the Biography of the Lord of Wu, Sun Quan moved his seat to Moling in the 16th year of Jian'an (211), and the next year built a city at Shitou and renamed Moling as Jianye, and on hearing that Lord Cao was about to invade, he built the Ruxu Fort. The Annals of Emperor Wu record that Cao Cao set out against Sun Quan in the 10th month of winter in the 17th year of Jian'an (212). The biography of Xun Yu says that when Cao Cao's army reached Ruxu, Xun Yu, who had stayed behind at Shouchun because of illness, died in sorrow at the age of fifty. Records, Wu 2 §17Records, Wei 1 §119Records, Wei 10 §43
In the 1st month of spring in the 18th year of Jian'an (213) Cao Cao advanced to Ruxukou, broke Sun Quan's camp at Jiangxi, captured Sun Quan's Area Commander Gongsun Yang and then turned his army back. The Biography of the Lord of Wu records that when Cao Cao attacked Ruxu, Sun Quan held him off for more than a month, and that Cao Cao, looking at Sun Quan's army, sighed in admiration at its good order and discipline and withdrew. The biography of Lü Meng says that Lü Meng repeatedly offered unusual plans and urged Sun Quan to build fortifications on both sides of the river mouth, and that because the defenses were so meticulous, Cao Cao could not take them and withdrew. Records, Wei 1 §120Records, Wu 2 §18Records, Wu 9 §66
The Biography of the Lord of Wu records that before this battle, when Cao Cao, fearing that the commanderies and counties along the Yangtze would be plundered by Sun Quan, ordered their people moved inland, the people panicked, and more than 100,000 households of Lujiang, Jiujiang, Qichun and Guangling all crossed the river to the east, so that the land west of the river was emptied and south of Hefei only Wancheng remained. Cao Cao reached Ye in the 4th month and was enfeoffed as Duke of Wei in the 5th month. Records, Wu 2 §18Records, Wei 1 §120–121
In the Romance
In Chapter 61 of the Romance, on news that Cao Cao was coming with an army of 400,000 to avenge the Red Cliffs, Sun Quan, following Zhang Hong's last letter, moved his seat to Jianye and built the Stone City. When Lü Meng proposed building fortifications at the mouth of the Ruxu, the generals said it was enough to go ashore to attack and then leap barefoot into the boats, but Sun Quan, calling it a far-sighted idea, sent tens of thousands of men to build the Ruxu Fort. Meanwhile, when Cao Cao sought to become Duke of Wei, Xun Yu, who had opposed it, received an empty food box sent by Cao Cao, took poison and died. Romance, Ch. 61 §27–29 · 33–35
Arriving at Ruxu, Cao Cao looked out over Sun Quan's warships from a hillside and sighed, "If one has a son, he should be like Sun Zhongmou," but when the southern boats and the troops of the Ruxu Fort charged, his forces fell back, and, pursued by cavalry led by Sun Quan in person and by Han Dang and Zhou Tai, he was rescued by Xu Chu. That night the Wu troops raided his main camp and Cao Cao fell back more than fifty li. After dreaming of a red sun rising from the middle of the river, Cao Cao came face to face with Sun Quan at the foot of a hill, exchanged words with him, and was again pursued by men in ambush. Romance, Ch. 61 §37–45
As they won and lost by turns for over a month and the year turned to the 1st month, the spring rains did not stop and the soldiers suffered in the mud. Sun Quan sent a letter saying that the spring floods were just rising and that if Cao Cao did not leave quickly he would suffer another disaster like the Red Cliffs, writing on the back, "As long as you do not die, I cannot be at ease." Cao Cao laughed, saying that Sun Zhongmou did not deceive him, turned his army back, and had Zhu Guang guard Wancheng. Romance, Ch. 61 §46–48
Where the Romance differs
The course of the battle: In Chapter 61 of the Romance, Sun Quan's troops drove Cao Cao back and raided his main camp at night, and Cao Cao fell back more than fifty li. In the Annals of Emperor Wu in the Records, Cao Cao advanced to Ruxukou, broke Sun Quan's camp at Jiangxi, captured the Area Commander Gongsun Yang and then turned his army back. Romance, Ch. 61 §38–40Records, Wei 1 §120
Why Cao Cao withdrew: In Chapter 61 of the Romance, Cao Cao received Sun Quan's letter warning of the spring floods and, laughing, turned his army back. In the Biography of the Lord of Wu in the Records, after a standoff of more than a month Cao Cao withdrew, sighing in admiration at the good order and discipline of Sun Quan's army, and the biography of Lü Meng records that the fortifications on both sides of the river mouth were so meticulously defended that he could not take them and withdrew. Romance, Ch. 61 §46–48Records, Wu 2 §18Records, Wu 9 §66
Xun Yu's death: In Chapter 61 of the Romance, Xun Yu received the empty food box sent by Cao Cao, understood its meaning, took poison and died. In the biography of Xun Yu in the Records, when Cao Cao's army reached Ruxu, Xun Yu, who had stayed behind at Shouchun because of illness, died in sorrow. Romance, Ch. 61 §34–35Records, Wei 10 §43
Written by 3KDEX (not yet reviewed) — The tags at the end of each paragraph link to the exact passage in the Records volume or Romance chapter it is based on.
Belligerents
| Item | A | B |
|---|---|---|
| Factions | Wei | Wu |
| Commanders | Cao Cao | Lü Meng, Sun Quan |
Factions, commanders, strength and casualties are checked against the source texts (3KDEX). Strength and casualties show only figures stated in the sources. Source: Wei 1 §120