Director John Woo said in an interview with David Stratton that the film is only 50% factual. Woo decided to alter the story using modern feelings and his own feelings for a more worldly acceptance. According to Woo, historical accuracy was less important than how the audience felt about the battle.[14]
Part I[edit]
In the summer of 208, towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, the Chancellor, Cao Cao, leads the imperial army on a campaign to eliminate the southern warlords Sun Quan and Liu Bei, whom he denounces as "rebels". Emperor Xian reluctantly approves the campaign. Cao Cao's mighty army swiftly conquers Jing Province. The Battle of Changban is ignited when Cao Cao's cavalry starts attacking civilians on an exodus led by Liu Bei. During the battle, Liu Bei's followers, including his sworn brothers Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, give an excellent display of their combat skills by holding off the enemy while buying time for the civilians to retreat. The warrior Zhao Yun fights bravely to rescue Liu Bei's entrapped family but only succeeds in rescuing Liu's infant son.
Following the battle, Liu Bei's advisor, Zhuge Liang, goes on a diplomatic mission to Jiangdong to form an alliance between his lord and Sun Quan against Cao Cao. Sun Quan was initially in the midst of a dilemma of whether to surrender or fight back, but his decision to resist Cao Cao hardens after Zhuge Liang's clever persuasion and a subsequent tiger hunt with his viceroy Zhou Yu and his sister Sun Shangxiang. Meanwhile, Cai Mao and Zhang Yun, two naval commanders from Jing Province, pledge allegiance to Cao Cao, who puts them in command of his navy.
After the hasty formation of the SunâLiu alliance, the forces of Liu Bei and Sun Quan call for a meeting to formulate a plan to counter Cao Cao's army, which is rapidly advancing towards their base at Red Cliff from both land and water. The battle begins with Sun Shangxiang leading some riders to lure Cao Cao's vanguard force into the allies' Bagua Formation. The vanguard force is defeated by the allies but Cao Cao shows no disappointment and proceeds to lead his main army to the riverbank directly opposite Red Cliff, where they make camp. While the allies throw a banquet to celebrate their victory, Zhuge Liang conceives a plan to send Sun Shangxiang on an espionage mission to Cao Cao's camp. They maintain contact by sending messages via a pigeon. The film ends with Zhou Yu lighting his miniaturised battleships on a map based on the battle formation.
Part II[edit]
Sun Shangxiang has infiltrated Cao Cao's camp and is secretly noting its details and sending them via a pigeon to Zhuge Liang. Meanwhile, Cao Cao's army is seized with a plague of typhoid fever that kills a number of his troops. Cao Cao orders the corpses to be sent on floating rafts to the allies' camp, in the hope of spreading the plague to his enemies. The allied army's morale is affected when some unsuspecting soldiers let the plague in. Eventually, a disheartened Liu Bei leaves with his forces while Zhuge Liang stays behind to assist Sun Quan. Cao Cao is overjoyed when he hears that the alliance has collapsed. At the same time, Cai Mao and Zhang Yun propose a new tactic of interlocking the battleships with iron beams to minimise rocking when sailing on the river and reduce the chances of the troops falling seasick.




Sun Quan's forces look on as Liu Bei leaves the alliance. From right to left: Zhou Yu (Tony Leung), Sun Quan (Chang Chen), Lu Su (Hou Yong).
Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang make plans to eliminate Cai Mao and Zhang Yun, and produce 100,000 arrows respectively. They agreed that whoever fails to complete his mission shall be executed under military law. Zhuge Liang's ingenious strategy of letting the enemy shoot 20 boats covered in straw brings in over 100,000 arrows from the enemy and makes Cao Cao doubt the loyalty of Cai Mao and Zhang Yun. On the other hand, Cao Cao sends Jiang Gan to persuade Zhou Yu to surrender, but Zhou tricks Jiang into believing that Cai and Zhang are planning to assassinate Cao. Both Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu's respective plans complement each other when Cao Cao is convinced, despite having earlier doubts about Jiang Gan's report, that Cai Mao and Zhang Yun were indeed planning to assassinate him by deliberately "donating" arrows to the enemy. Cai Mao and Zhang Yun are executed while Cao Cao realises his folly afterwards but it is too late.
Sun Shangxiang returns to base from Cao Cao's camp with a map of the enemy formation. Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang decide to attack Cao Cao's navy with fire after predicting that a special climatic condition will soon cause the winds to blow from the southeast â a direction to their advantage. Before the battle, Sun Quan's forces feast on rice dumplings to celebrate the Winter Solstice. Meanwhile, Zhou Yu's wife, Xiaoqiao, heads towards Cao Cao's camp alone secretly in the hope of persuading Cao to give up his ambitious plans. She fails to convince Cao Cao and decides to distract him with an elaborate tea ceremony to buy time for her side.
The battle begins when the southeast wind starts blowing in the middle of the night. Sun Quan's forces launch their attack on Cao Cao's navy by ramming smaller boats that are set aflame into Cao's larger battleships. On the other hand, Liu Bei's forces, whose departure from the alliance was a ruse, start attacking Cao Cao's forts on land. By dawn, Cao Cao's entire navy has been destroyed. The allies launch another offensive on Cao Cao's ground army in his forts, and succeed in breaking through using testudo formation despite suffering heavy casualties. Although Cao Cao is besieged in his main camp, he manages to hold Zhou Yu at sword point after ambushing him with the help of Cao Hong. Xiahou Jun also shows up with Xiaoqiao as a hostage and threatens to kill her if the allies do not surrender. Just then, Zhao Yun manages to reverse the situation by rescuing Xiaoqiao with a surprise attack, while Sun Quan fires an arrow that grazes the top of Cao Cao's head and causes his hair to be let loose. Cao Cao is now at the mercy of the allies, but they spare his life and leave. In the final scene, Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang have a final conversation before Zhuge walks away into the far distance with the newborn foal Mengmeng.
Abridged version[edit]
For the non-Asian releases, the film was shortened from 288 minutes to 148 minutes and was released in some countries under the title Battle of Red Cliff. An opening narration in American English provides the historical background, whereas in the Asian release, a more brief description of the context of the political situation appears in scrolling form ten minutes into the film. Notable cuts include the background and motivations behind Zhuge Liang's plan to obtain 100,000 arrows, including the threat to his life, and the early parts of Sun Shangxiang's infiltration. The tiger hunting scene was also cut from the non-Asian releases.
The original two-part 288 minute version was released as a two-disc set on DVD and Blu-ray in the United Kingdom on 5 October 2009,[10] and in the United States and Canada on 23 March 2010.[11]
On what does Cao Cao order the corpses be sent to the allies' camp
floating rafts