There were three famous battles in the history of the Three Kingdoms, namely, the Battle of Guandu, the Battle of Battle of Red Cliffs and the Battle of Yiling, which had great influence at that time. First of all, the battle of Guandu was that Cao Cao defeated the strong with the weak. After the war, Cao Cao gradually unified the north, and Battle of Red Cliffs Cao Cao was defeated by Sun Liulian, which made it possible to divide the world into three parts. In the battle of Yiling, Liu Bei was defeated by Lu Xun, and the three countries stood firm.
It is worth mentioning that Yuan Shao and Liu Bei collapsed after losing the war and died soon. However, Cao Cao was able to make a comeback after the defeat in Chibi and become the most powerful vassal. Why?
The first was Yuan Shao, who became one of the most powerful governors on paper after the Han Dynasty annexed Jizhou. At that time, Cao Cao had to stay out of it, and he had to please Yuan Shao before destroying Lu Bu and other princes, so that Yuan Shao never destroyed him at the most difficult moment.
In the battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao lost 80,000 soldiers, which is not fatal in theory, but Yuan Shao has many shortcomings, if he is a leader.
Yuan Shao, who lives under the same roof for four generations, has a high reputation but is not in direct proportion to his ability. In terms of management, Yuan Shao's ability is low, and the civil servants form their own factions and fight with each other, but Yuan Shao can't control his advisers. On the issue of heirs, Yuan Shao is probably the most criticized. From ancient times to the present, the eldest son inherited things according to his own preferences, which led to the confusion and uncontrollable of Yuan Shao's philosophers.
In fact, the downfall of Yuan Shao was not in Cao Cao's hands, but his own mismanagement and the problem of his heirs. After Liu Bei defeated Cao Cao, his power reached its peak, with Yizhou and Hanzhong, plus Jingzhou four counties, and the momentum was booming. Sun Quan is also afraid that Liu Bei will become his own threat. At Cao Cao's suggestion, Sun Quan and Cao Cao joined forces to attack Jingzhou, each taking what he needed. In the end, Jingzhou was owned by Soochow, and Cao Cao also saved Fancheng in the north.
In order to seize Jingzhou again and seize the initiative, Liu Bei spared no effort to conquer Wu Dong. Liu Bei, who had been fighting for half his life, didn't take Lu Xun seriously and eventually lost in Yiling. Liu Bei was ashamed to know that he was defeated by scholar Lu Xun. In a long period of grief and indignation, Liu Bei failed to resist this failure and died after Baidicheng trusted Zhuge Liang.
In the battle of Yiling, the strength of Shu was greatly damaged, and about 50 thousand soldiers were killed or injured. At that time, the population of Shu was only one or two million, which was undoubtedly a great loss. After Liu Bei's death, there were many rebellions in Yizhou, which were finally pacified by Zhuge Liang's ability, but the national strength was irretrievably weakened, and Shu was never recovered. In contrast, Cao Cao's defeat in Chibi did not hit him as hard as Liu Bei and Yuan Shao, but he could make a comeback. Why?
First, Cao Cao's family has a great cause. Before the Chibi War, he had basically unified the northern region, occupying nearly half of China's territory. Its power is so strong that a red cliff is not enough to destroy Cao Cao.
At that time, Cao Cao's soldiers were mostly Jingzhou soldiers. The loss of fighters on which Cao Cao started was not great, and the loss of military power was far less than that of Liu Bei's Yiling War.
Secondly, Cao Cao has a good attitude. Cao Cao, who has fought all his life, has won and lost. Every time he loses, Cao Cao's mentality is particularly good. He can still laugh when he is out of danger, and he doesn't care much about the outcome of a battle.
After Battle of Red Cliffs's defeat, Cao Cao didn't make himself depressed and didn't dare to fight. Instead, he actively defended and expanded his territory, which was very resistant to pressure.
The important reason for Cao Cao Can's comeback is that he has a large number of talents, and the trump card of Emperor Xian of Han Dynasty can make him invincible.
Cao Cao is different from Yuan Shao, who has a good face, and Liu Bei, who died of grief and indignation. He is an optimistic person who can let go. It can be seen from Cao Cao's several requests for talents that Cao Cao regards face as worthless.