论吴蜀夷陵之战

The Battle of Yiling between the Kingdoms of Wu and Shu

蜀章武元年(221年)五月,刘备即皇帝位不满一个月,就要出征东吴为关羽报仇。蜀国文臣武将都认为时间过于紧迫,且蜀国的主要敌国是曹魏而非东吴,不该舍魏而与吴战。但刘备不听劝阻,一意孤行,亲率大军4万东征。在东征过程中,刘备并非水陆并进打东吴一个措手不及,而是在夷陵弃船登陆,沿江岸700里设置连营四五十座与吴军相持。吴军统帅陆逊与蜀军相持不战,等待时机。半年之后,知蜀军已失锐气、防备松弛,遂发动火攻,烧刘备连营700里,蜀军军资、器械损失殆尽,刘备狼狈逃回白帝城,不久病逝。此后诸葛亮掌政,他深知联吴抗曹的重要性,遂派使臣去东吴,恢复吴蜀联盟,这为蜀国开发西南、吴国开发江南创造了有利时机,并使三国鼎立维持40多年。

In May of the 1st year of Shu Kingdom＇ s Zhangwu （221 AD） , with in one month after he proclaimed himself emperor, Liu Bei decided to confront the Kingdom of Wu to avenge Guan Yu. The officials and officers in Shu all agreed that they were too pressed for time, and that it was not advisory to fight Wu since their main rival was Wei. But Liu would not listen, and he led a force of 40 thousand soldiers to undertake a personal expedition. During the expedition, instead of advancing by both land and water to catch their enemies unprepared, Liu＇ s troops abandoned their ships in Yiling. They landed and set up camps along the 700-li river bank to be at loggerheads with Wu. Lu Xun, Wu＇ s army commander waited patiently for his opportunity without fighting. Six months later, assuming that Liu＇ s troops were not prepared for fighting and that their morale was lowering, Lu delivered a fire attack. Liu＇ s camps were burned, military supplies and equipment lost. Liu flurried back to Baidicheng and died soon after. When Zhuge Liang came in control, he was well aware of the importance of combining Wu against Cao and sent envoys to Wu. The Wu-Shu Alliance was recovered, which created a favorable opportunity for Shu to develop the southwest regions and Wu to exploit the lower reaches of the Changjiang River. The period of the Three Kingdoms thus lasted for more than 40 years.