Editing Battle of Red Cliffs (section)

{{Short description|Battle on the Yangtze River (208 AD)}}
{{About|the historical battle|the 2009 film dramatisation|Red Cliff (film)}}
{{EngvarB|date=November 2023}}
{{use dmy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Featured article}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Battle of Red Cliffs
| partof            = the wars at the [[end of the Han dynasty]]
| image             = chibi.jpg
| image_size        = 300px
| caption           = Engravings on a cliff-side near a widely accepted candidate site for the battlefield, in the vicinity of [[Chibi, Hubei]]. The engravings are at least 1000 years old, and include the Chinese characters {{zhc|c=赤壁|l=red cliffs}} written from [[Horizontal and vertical writing in East Asian scripts|right to left]].
| date              = Winter, 208&nbsp;AD
| place             = [[Yangtze River]], China{{efn|name=loc|The precise location is debated, see {{slink|#Location}}.}}
| result            = Allied victory
| territory         = * Cao Cao fails to gain a foothold south of the Yangtze
* Liu Bei gains [[Jingzhou (ancient China)#Han dynasty|Jingzhou]]{{sfnp|Farmer|2019|p=69}}
| combatant1        = {{ubl|[[Sun Quan]]|[[Liu Bei]]|[[Liu Qi (Liu Biao's son)|Liu Qi]]{{sfnp|de Crespigny|2007|p=538}}}}
| combatant2        = [[Cao Cao]]
| commander1        = {{ubl|[[Zhou Yu]]|[[Cheng Pu]]|Liu Bei|Liu Qi}}
| commander2        = Cao Cao
| strength1         = 50,000{{sfnp|de Crespigny|2010|pp=183–184}}
| strength2         = {{ubl|800,000 (Cao Cao's claim){{sfnp|de Crespigny|2010|pp=183–184}}|220,000–240,000 (Zhou Yu's estimate){{sfnp|de Crespigny|2010|pp=183–184}}}}
| casualties1       = Unknown
| casualties2       = Heavy
| campaignbox       = {{brse|{{Campaignbox End of Han}}|{{Campaignbox Red Cliffs campaign}}}}
| alt               = A photograph of some cliffs above a waterline, the cliffs have two red Chinese characters painted at their centre with a white Chinese character at the top centre of the red ones
}}
{{Infobox Chinese
| s = 赤壁之战
| t = 赤壁之戰
| p = Chìbì zhī zhàn
| mi = {{IPAc-cmn|ch|^|4|.|b|i|4|-|zh|^|1|-|zh|an|4}}
| poj = Chhek-pek chi chiàn
| j = Cek3-bik1 zi1 zin3
| y = Jek-bīk jī jin
| ci = {{IPAc-yue|c|ek|3|.|b|ik|1|-|z|i|1|-|z|in|3}}
}}
The '''Battle of Red Cliffs''', also known as the '''Battle of Chibi''', was a decisive naval battle in China that took place during the winter of AD 208–209.{{sfnp|de Crespigny|1990|p=264|loc="The engagement at the Red Cliffs took place in the winter of the 13th year of [[Jian'an (Eastern Han)|Jian'an]], probably about the end of 208."|postscript=}} It was fought on the [[Yangtze River]] between the forces of warlords controlling different parts of the country during the [[end of the Han dynasty]]. The allied forces of [[Sun Quan]], [[Liu Bei]], and [[Liu Qi (Liu Biao's son)|Liu Qi]] based south of the Yangtze defeated the numerically superior forces of the northern warlord [[Cao Cao]]. By doing so,  Liu Bei and Sun Quan prevented Cao Cao from conquering any lands south of the Yangtze, frustrating Cao Cao's efforts to reunify the territories formerly held by the [[Eastern Han dynasty]].

The allied victory at Red Cliffs ensured the survival of Liu Bei and Sun Quan and left them in control of the Yangtze, establishing defensible frontiers that would later serve as the basis for the states of [[Shu Han]] and [[Eastern Wu]] during the [[Three Kingdoms]] period (220–280).{{sfnp|de Crespigny|1990|p=273}} Historians have arrived at different conclusions in their attempts to reconstruct the timeline of events at Red Cliffs. The location of the battlefield itself remains a subject of debate:{{sfnp|de Crespigny|1990|p=256 (§n78)}} most scholars consider either a location southwest of present-day [[Wuhan]], or a location northeast of Baqiu in present-day [[Yueyang]], Hunan as plausible candidate sites for the battle. The battle has been the subject of or influenced numerous poems, dramas, movies and games.