Some general information about the Battle of the Red Cliffs, as promised...
In 200 AD, the warlord Cao Cao had united most of central and northern China under his rule. His lands were called the Kingdom of Wei. The Emperor was his puppet. The Emperor's uncle, Liu Bei, was still actively resisting Cao Cao, but had no lands and only a small force. Liu Bei's forces would eventually become the Kingdom of Shu, but at this time, they were no kingdom at all.
Liu Bei fled to the Kingdom of Wu, in the southeast. Wu was ruled by Sun Quan, a popular leader. They were naval experts, and prosperous. Sun Quan did not know whether to resist Cao Cao and join with Liu Bei, or surrender peacefully to Cao Cao in exchange for retention over his lands. SUn Quan asked his chief strategist, the handsome Zhou Yu, what to do. Zhou Yu was initially undecided, until he spoke with Liu Bei's strategist, the brilliant Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang convinced Zhou Yu that Cao Cao wanted to enslave Zho Yu's wife, thus persuading the man to persuade Sun Quan to go to war.
Zhou Yu was commander-in-chief for the Wu forces. Cao Cao led the Wei forces himself. He assembled a massive navy and sailed down the river to Wu. Wu was vastly outnumbered, but had the home field advantage, essentially. Zhou Yu with the help of Zhuge Liang, invented a brilliant strategy for success. Pang Tong, a friend of Zhuge Liang, pretended to defect to Wei. He then gave bad advice to Cao Cao: He told Cao Cao to chain his ships together to prevent seasickness. Once the ships were chained, Zhou Yu instructed one of his officers, Huang Gai, to feign defection to Wei.
Huang Gai sailed his ship toward the Wei fleet. At that moment, Zhuge Liang offered a prayer and changed the direction of the wind. Huang Gai lit his ship on fire and crashed it into Cao Cao's fleet. With the help of the wind, all of Cao Cao's ships were engulfed in flame.
Zhou Yu realized that with Zhuge Liang at his side, Liu Bei would one day become a threat to Wu. He sent an assassin to kill Zhuge Liang, but the sorcerer escaped.
Cao Cao fled the battle. Zhuge Liang arranged his men so that Cao Cao could slip by--for if Cao Cao had perished, Wu would have seized control of China completely. Cao Cao's defeat and subsequent escape created an equilibrium that allowed for the three roughly equal kingdoms to emerge.