Why didn't Cao Cao unify the Three Kingdoms? Fight for a lifetime, regret the end.
Cao Cao, a generation of heroes in history, has unparalleled outstanding abilities. From an ordinary filial piety, he won the trust of the emperor with his unremitting efforts, and later became the overlord of the north through continuous conquest.
It stands to reason that he has hundreds of thousands of soldiers and is so strong that he can completely unify the three kingdoms. However, although the total strength of Liu Bei of Western Shu and Sun Quan of Eastern Wu was not as good as him, he fought all his life, why did he still fail to achieve unification?
You must know that after the Battle of Chibi, although Cao Cao's vitality was greatly damaged, his strength should not be underestimated. With Cao Cao's eloquence, why did he not launch a large-scale war in the next 12 years?
Cao Cao suffered heavy losses at the Battle of Chibi, and although he had hoped to unify the Three Kingdoms, in a letter to Sun Quan of Eastern Wu, he declared that he had an army of 800,000 and would fight Sun Quan to the outlet.
However, historians speculate that Cao Cao's military strength at the time was only about 200,000, and although this number may seem like nothing today, it was still a great deterrent at the time.
The forces of Sun Quan of Eastern Wu plus Liu Bei were also far inferior to Cao Cao's troops. Moreover, Cao Cao's soldiers were strong and brave in battle, which gave them an advantage in battle.
If it was a hand-to-hand battle on land, Cao Cao had a good chance of winning, but unfortunately, the war was fought on the water. Sun Quan's soldiers were adept at water warfare, and with Zhuge Liang's resourcefulness, the outcome of this war became unpredictable.
Some people think that the cause of the defeat in the Battle of Chibi was just a fire, but in fact, this can only be half the truth. Even before this fire, Cao Cao's soldiers had already shown their unsuitability to water warfare.
During the training, many people suffered from seasickness and even vomiting and diarrhea on the boat. Subsequently, there was also an outbreak of plague in the army, which quickly spread among Cao Cao's army.
Although the epidemic was finally successfully controlled, after this battle, Cao Cao's army was already greatly damaged. Then, war broke out, and a fire burned Cao Cao's warship to ashes, killing many people, and some northern soldiers were drowned by jumping into the water to avoid the fire due to poor water quality.
In the Battle of Chibi, Cao Cao's troops lost more than half, and the relatively weak Sun Quan and Liu Bei were victorious, and the three-legged situation was officially formed. Cao Cao led the defeated army and fled until his death, without waging a large-scale war.
It's not that he doesn't want to unify the whole country, it's just that after the Battle of Chibi, he no longer has the strength to launch such a large-scale war. According to historians' estimates, Cao Cao's army was 200,000, and this defeat directly led to the death of 100,000 people, which was a huge loss for Cao Cao and the entire country.
It will take a long time to restore these populations, during which it is only possible to recuperate in order to stabilize the country.
Cao Cao, a thoughtful strategist, understood that the future of the country was far more important than the immediate victory. He decided to take a break to recuperate and allow the people to recover, so as to ensure the long-term stability and prosperity of the country.
While some young people may think that he should re-call young people across the country to fight, Cao Cao knew that that would only quickly deplete the country, leading the people to rebel and even his right-hand men against him.
Cao Cao's pattern is very large, and he thinks about the whole situation, not a temporary victory. Although his decisions may not have an effect in the short term, in the long run, they will enable the country to continue to prosper and realize the ambition of unifying the three countries.
The reason why Cao Cao was able to sit firmly in the country was because he won the hearts of the people. The phrase "whoever wins the hearts of the people wins the world" expresses his wisdom and foresight. After the defeat, Cao Cao's first consideration was how to stabilize the people's hearts, he implemented the tuntian system, built water conservancy, made irrigation simple, greatly increased grain production, and the people could live and work in peace and contentment.
In addition, Cao Cao also strictly enforced military discipline, and anyone who violated military discipline was severely punished, even himself. Once, Cao Cao's horse was frightened and trampled on the farmland, and he resolutely cut off his own hair in order to enforce military discipline.
Cao Cao's example and disciplined army made the country prosperous. Although it may not be possible to destroy Eastern Wu and Western Shu in the short term, the development rate of Wei is significantly faster than that of other countries.
In a few decades, Wei's national power will greatly surpass that of other countries, so that it can easily dominate the world. Cao Cao's strategy of recuperation and recuperation proved to be correct, but unfortunately he did not expect that it would not be the Cao family who would dominate the world, but the Sima family.
The hard work of three generations of the Cao family was finally skillfully used by the Sima family.
Among the many strategists, Cao Cao's most relied on military advisor Guo Jia was once his right-hand man. Guo Jia's wisdom and courage made Cao Cao more at ease on the battlefield, and his strategy helped Cao Cao remain invincible in the era of division between the great powers.
However, after the loss of Guo Jia, Cao Cao became more cautious, not because he lacked a brave character, but because he lost a trusted thinker who made him more cautious with every move.
Although Cao Cao's men were full of talent, his trust and reliance on Guo Jia was unmatched.
After listening to Guo Jia's advice, Cao Cao decided to attack Lü Bu, and although the process was difficult, he eventually succeeded in defeating Lü Bu, and Cao Cao became famous. This made Cao Cao convinced of Guo Jia's ability, and even when faced with an adventure, Cao Cao would not hesitate to decide to send troops as long as Guo Jia expressed his support.
For example, on the issue of the expedition to Wuhuan, despite the opposition of his ministers, Cao Cao resolutely followed Guo Jia's advice and eventually won the battle. Therefore, we can conclude that Cao Cao was not timid and fearful, and as long as Guo Jia was by his side, he had the courage to face any risks.
Guo Jia's untimely death due to overwork deprived Cao Cao of his right-hand man. In the next major decisions, Cao Cao and his team could not compare with Guo Jia's ingenuity.
Therefore, Cao Cao took a cautious approach just to be on the safe side. He firmly believes that if you are careful to sail the ship of ten thousand years, you should not act rashly if you are not completely sure.
This caution is not only related to Guo Jia's death, but also to his increasing age. Young people are passionate and adventurous, and they will be bold and fearless.
However, in his early years, Cao Cao pursued Dong Zhuo with a small number of men, but the result ended in failure.
It turned out that Cao Cao, who didn't know life and death, began to pay attention to life and death because of the heavy responsibility he shouldered. He is well aware that any negligence could lead to national instability and cause hundreds of people to suffer.
Therefore, he became cautious and cautious in order to better maintain the stability of the country. Although he was ultimately unable to unify the three kingdoms, his outstanding talent and superb way of employing people are undoubtedly admirable.
If he hadn't met such formidable opponents as Zhuge Liang and Sun Quan, his dream might have come true long ago.