The Battle of Ruxu, also known as the Battle of Ruxukou, was fought between the warlords

Cao Cao Cao Cao () (; 155 – 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde (), was a Chinese statesman, warlord and poet. He was the penultimate grand chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty, and he amassed immense power in the dynasty's final years. As one o ...

and

Sun Quan Sun Quan (, Chinese: 孫權) (183 – 21 May 252), courtesy name Zhongmou (), posthumously known as Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of the Eastern Wu dynasty, one of the Three Kingdoms of China. He inherited control of the warlord regime ...

in 213 during the late

Eastern Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...

of China. The battle consisted of multiple attacks led by Cao Cao, but all were eventually lifted after efforts by Sun Quan's forces.

Background

Before 213, Cao Cao was waging war with

Ma Chao Ma Chao () (176–222), courtesy name Mengqi, was a Chinese military general and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty and early Three Kingdoms period of China. A descendant of the general Ma Yuan, Ma Chao was the eldest son of Ma ...

and Sun Quan following his defeat during the

Battle of Red Cliffs The Battle of Red Cliffs, also known as the Battle of Chibi, was a decisive naval battle in the winter of AD 208–209 at the end of the Han dynasty, about twelve years prior to the beginning of the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history ...

. One of the moves that Cao Cao wanted to make in his war against Sun Quan was to intimidate Sun Quan by stationing one of his officers, Xie Qi (謝奇), at Wancheng (皖城; present-day

Qianshan County Qianshan is a county-level city in the southwest of Anhui Province, People's Republic of China; it is under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Anqing. It has a population of 570,000 and an area of . The government of Qianshan County ...

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze Riv ...

) and spread his forces to

Qichun County Qichun County () is a county of eastern Hubei province, People's Republic of China. It is under the administration of Huanggang City. Qichun is the birthplace of famous herbalist Li Shizhen, who was born and lived in Qizhou town, on the southern ...

in order to agitate Sun Quan. In order to stop Cao Cao's harassment, Sun Quan sent his general

Lü Meng Lü Meng () (178 – January or February 220), courtesy name Ziming, was a Chinese military general and politician who served under the warlord Sun Quan during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Early in his career, he fought in several batt ...

to demand Xie Qi surrender. Xie Qi refused, and Lü Meng attacked. Xie Qi went down easily and retreated. Two of Xie Qi's subordinates, Sun Zicai and Song Hao, surrendered to Lü Meng, boosting morale. Cao Cao then began to mobilise troops to attack Ruxu (濡須). He captured Gongsun Yang, an officer under Sun Quan. Sun Quan, in response, personally led an army to stop Cao Cao's advance towards Ruxu, and ordered Lü Meng to join him.

The battle

Lü Meng came up with a defence plan against Cao Cao's attack consisting of warships readied at a quickly established dock, to be used to backfire Cao Cao's advance after a flood that was supposed to occur not long into the battle.

Sun Guan The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared rad ...

, who died in battle at Ruxu in either 213 or 217, was perhaps fatally injured in his attack onto Sun Quan's line of defence by

Xu Sheng Xu Sheng (died 222–229), courtesy name Wenxiang, was a military general serving under the warlord Sun Quan in the late Eastern Han dynasty and early Three Kingdoms period of China. Early life and career Xu Sheng was from Ju County (), Langya ...

. Sun Guan died not long after his rescue at Cao Cao's camp. Lü Meng's prediction quickly was proven correct, Sun Quan then started to send out his warships onto Cao Cao's army, but a few of their ships were blown off course, but not much. (This could have been the death of

Dong Xi Dong Xi (died 217), courtesy name Yuanshi, was a military general serving under the warlords Sun Ce and Sun Quan during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Service under Sun Ce Dong Xi was from Yuyao County (餘姚縣), Kuaiji Commandery, ...

.) Having realised the experience of Sun's army, Cao Cao eventually decided to withdraw. In a momentum burst, a few other generals of Sun Quan joined Lü Meng in a following assault onto Wancheng and Lujiang.

Aftermath

Zhang Liao Zhang Liao () (169–222), courtesy name Wenyuan, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Cao Cao in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He served briefly in the state of Cao Wei, founded by Cao Cao's successor Cao Pi, in the ...

, following this withdrawal, stationed his troops at Hefei, where in 215 he played a major role in the

Battle of Xiaoyao Ford The Battle of Xiaoyao Ford, also known as the Battle of Leisure Ford, Battle of Hefei, and Hefei Campaign, was fought between the warlords Cao Cao and Sun Quan between 214 and 215 in the late Eastern Han dynasty. The two contending sides we ...

Order of battle

Cao Cao's forces

, in command. **

?, perhaps attacked the front lines and was fatally injured by Xu Sheng. He died immediately after his attack in

's main camp. **

Zhu Guang Zhu or ZHU may refer to: * Zhu (surname), common Chinese surnames *Zhu River, or Pearl River, in southern China *Zhu (state), ancient Chinese state, later renamed Zou *House of Zhu, the ruling house of the Ming dynasty in Chinese history *Zhu (str ...

, administrator of Wancheng, captured by Gan Ning afterwards.

Sun Quan's forces

, in command. **

, aided Sun Quan in the commanding of their forces. Came up with the plan to use the docks to their advantage. ***

Ling Tong Ling Tong () (189–217), courtesy name Gongji, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Sun Quan during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He started his service under Sun Quan when he was still a teenager and, throughout his ...

, helped Lü Meng with Gan Ning to take Wancheng and Lujiang. ***

Gan Ning Gan Ning () (early 170s - c. 220), courtesy name Xingba, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Sun Quan in the late Eastern Han dynasty. Originally a notorious pirate, he gave up the life of a marauder in the late 190s and beca ...

, helped Lü Meng with Ling Tong to take Wancheng and Lujiang. **

Zhou Tai Zhou Tai () (died 223), courtesy name Youping, was a military general serving under the warlord Sun Quan during the late Eastern Han dynasty and early Three Kingdoms period of China. He previously served under Sun Ce, Sun Quan's elder brother a ...

, helped protect Sun Quan's defence lines. ***

, assisted Zhou Tai. Injured Sun Guan.(魏嘗大出橫江，盛與諸將俱赴討) ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 55. ***

Zhu Ran Zhu Ran (182 – March or April 249), born Shi Ran, courtesy name Yifeng, was a Chinese military general of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Despite being a childhood friend of Wu's founding emperor, Sun Quan, h ...

, assisted Zhou Tai. **

, possibly could have been involved and died during this battle.

References

* Chen, Shou (3rd century). ''

Records of the Three Kingdoms The ''Records or History of the Three Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese name as the Sanguo Zhi, is a Chinese historical text which covers the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty (c. 184–220 AD) and the Three Kingdoms period (220� ...

'', volumes 17, 54, 55. {{coord missing, Anhui 213 Ruxu 213 Ruxu 213 Cao Cao