The Battle of Guandu was fought between the warlords Cao Cao and Yuan Shao in 200 AD in the late Eastern Han dynasty . Cao Cao's decisive victory against Yuan Shao's numerically superior forces marked the turning point in their war. The victory was also the point at which Cao Cao became the dominant power in northern China, leading to the establishment of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period.
64-749: Guandu may refer to: Battle of Guandu (官渡之戰), a battle between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao in the Three Kingdoms period Guandu Station (關渡站), a station of the Taipei Metro Guandu District (官渡区), Kunming, People's Republic of China Towns (官渡镇) [ edit ] Guandu, in Potou District , Zhanjiang, Guangdong Guandu, Liuyang , in Liuyang City, Hunan See also [ edit ] Guandu River (disambiguation) Topics referred to by
128-433: A battalion toward Yan Ford as a feint to trick Yuan Shao into believing that Cao Cao would attack his camp on the other side of the river. Yuan Shao split off his troops from Liyang to counter Cao Cao's attack, leaving Yan Liang without any support at Boma. Cao Cao then struck eastward to lift the siege on Boma. In the ensuing battle, Yan Liang was killed by Guan Yu and Yuan Shao's army was routed. Cao Cao decided to abandon
192-475: A firm defence against Lü Bu. Lü Bu was unable to conquer Ju County and returned to Xiapi. Zang Ba later made peace with Lü Bu. Later in 198, Zang Ba supported Lü Bu with his bandits when the latter was attacked by Cao Cao. However, after Lü Bu's defeat and execution following the Battle of Xiapi , Zang Ba lost his ally and became a fugitive. After Zang Ba was captured, Cao Cao asked for his allegiance and made him
256-466: A large ditch dug within his lines to block the tunnels. Subsequently, neither side could overcome each other as Cao Cao and Yuan Shao became locked in a stalemate. Before long, Cao Cao's army began to run short of supplies and Cao Cao was in a dilemma on whether to retreat in order to lure Yuan Shao deeper into his territory. Xun Yu , the defender of the capital Xu, sent Cao Cao a letter dissuading him from retreat. He wrote, drawing historical examples from
320-482: A position with so few men. Yuan Shao's Attendant Officer ( 從事 ) Ju Shou had reservations about concentrating all of the main army at Yangwu, and suggested leaving a garrison at Yan Ford as a precaution in case the attack on Guandu did not go well. Yuan Shao ignored the suggestion again. Ju Shou, in despair, tried to excuse himself by claiming to be ill, but Yuan Shao became annoyed at him and would not grant him leave. Instead, he divested Ju Shou's men and divided them under
384-401: A reinforcement unit from Yuan Shao and attacked Wuchao. Chunyu Qiong's initial defences were overrun, and he retreated to hold his forts, which Cao Cao attacked and set on fire. When Yuan Shao's camp received the news that Wuchao was under attack, Zhang He urged Yuan Shao to send reinforcements to Wuchao to save the supplies, on which the fate of the campaign hinged. Guo Tu, however, advocated
448-554: A three-pronged invasion against Wu territories in 222. Zang Ba and Cao Xiu had success attacking the Wu forces under command of Lü Fan at the Battle of Dongkou , though the battle ended in a retreat. To take advantage of Lu Fan's defeat after being hit by a storm and retreat south of the river, Zang Ba was sent to attack Xuling (Jingkou) with 500 light boats and 10,000 volunteers but Zang Ba's siege engines were burnt and Wu defenders killed several of his men. Zang Ba attempted to retreat but
512-495: A war of attrition, denying Cao Cao a decisive battle. Another advisor, Xu You suggested that Yuan Shao should maintain the front at Guandu but at the same time send men to circle around and capture the emperor in Xu. Yuan Shao accepted neither plan, saying he preferred to capture the emperor with a direct advance. In the eighth month, Yuan Shao's army slowly advanced southward from Yangwu and engaged Cao Cao's men in trench warfare , behind
576-691: A year. In this situation his strength will be exhausted and there must arise some crisis. This is the time for employing unexpected stratagems; you may not miss this opportunity. Cao Cao followed this advice and held fast to his ground. In the ninth month, Xun Yu pointed out that Yuan Shao had been storing supplies at a depot in the village of Gushi (故市; southwest of present-day Yanjin County, Henan), guarded by Han Meng. Cao Cao sent out small cavalry units led by Xu Huang and Shi Huan ( 史渙 ) to attack this position. They succeeded, routing Han Meng, disrupting Yuan Shao's supply lines, and burning his grain carts. Yuan Shao
640-526: Is around present-day Fei County , Shandong . According to the Records of the Three Kingdoms , Zang Ba's father, Zang Jie (臧戒), who served as a prison warden in Hua County, was displeased with the commandery administrator's abuse of power and stopped obeying the administrator's orders. The administrator, who was greatly angered, had Zang Jie arrested to be sent to the commandery capital. Zang Ba, although only 18 at
704-570: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Battle of Guandu The inevitability of military conflict between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao had become apparent by 196. Yuan Shao held control of the lands north of the Yellow River , namely the Hebei region, while Cao Cao controlled most of the lands south of the Yellow River after he defeated Lü Bu at
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#1732855203326768-514: Is skeptical of the traditional viewpoint and questions Yuan Shao's supposed advantage over Cao Cao. De Crespigny argues that Yuan Shao's hold on his nominal territories were not as secure as Cao Cao, who had aggressively campaigned to stabilize his surroundings. Taking note that Yuan Shao took ten years to eliminate the isolated Gongsun Zan, de Crespigny suggests that it was not due to indecisiveness that Yuan Shao did not take advantage of Cao Cao's temporal weaknesses, but that Yuan Shao might not have had
832-421: The Battle of Xiapi in 199 and kept Emperor Xian with him in the new capital city of Xu . The warlords saw each other as the obvious impediment to their individual ambitions to conquer and rule China. Some years before the battle, Yuan Shao's advisors Ju Shou and Tian Feng warned that Cao Cao would become a threat to their lord in his ambition to dominate China. They advised Yuan Shao to attack Cao Cao when
896-507: The Chu–Han Contention : ...your military supplies are low, but they are not as bad as the situation of Chu and Han at Xingyang and Chenggao. At that time neither Liu nor Xiang were willing to be the first to retreat. The first to retreat reveals that his strength is exhausted. You, Duke, with one-tenth of the enemy's force you have held the ground you marked, and gripping him by the throat, have not let him advance for already half
960-704: The Yangtze River . Zang Ba was the leader in the capture of Juchao (居巢) of Lujiang Commandery (盧江郡). Later, Cao Cao sent two separate forces to suppress Chen Lan ( 陳蘭 ) and Mei Cheng ( 梅成 ), who rebelled in Lu County (六縣; in present-day Lu'an , Anhui ). Yu Jin and Zang Ba were sent to attack Mei Cheng; Zhang Liao , with Zhang He and Niu Gai ( 牛蓋 ) as his deputies, were to attack Chen Lan. Mei Cheng pretended to surrender to Yu Jin and then led his men to join Chen Lan at Mount Tianzhu as soon as Yu Jin and Zang Ba left. On
1024-490: The Yellow River and lay on the road leading to the capital city Xu. Cao Cao recognized its strategic importance and in the autumn of 199, he stationed troops there and prepared fortifications. Other deployments along the frontline included Liu Yan ( 劉延 ) at Boma (白馬; near present-day Hua County , Henan), Yu Jin at Yan Ford, Cheng Yu at Juancheng (鄄城; near present-day Juancheng County , Shandong ), and Xiahou Dun at Meng Ford (孟津; present-day Mengjin County , Henan). At
1088-466: The Chinese Nationalists and Communists have picked up on this battle and made their own interpretations, in various degrees of objectivity. The Nationalists followed traditional Chinese historiography in that they judged the battle in terms of personalities, rather than the situations and the tactics involved. For example, Cao Cao was seen as capable, decisive, and far-sighted, while Yuan Shao
1152-489: The Three Kingdoms period until the reign of the second Wei emperor, Cao Rui . During his life he was granted autonomous power over Qing and Xu provinces. He eventually held the title of marquis of various counties within, but by the time of his death held the appointment Bearer of the Golden Mace (執金吾; i.e., police chief of the imperial capital). Zang Ba was originally from Hua County ( 華県 ), Taishan Commandery , which
1216-583: The Yellow River in time and were captured by Cao Cao, including Ju Shou. Some of these men had feigned surrender so they could escape later, thus Cao Cao had these men buried alive . In his proclamation of victory to Emperor Xian , Cao Cao claimed to have killed 70,000 enemy troops. Cao Cao's victory at the Battle of Guandu was a decisive one and marked the turn of the tide in his struggle for power with Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao died in June of 202 and his youngest son Yuan Shang
1280-467: The Yuan brothers' ally, in the Battle of White Wolf Mountain . Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi fled to Liaodong to seek shelter under the warlord Gongsun Kang in 207, but Gongsun killed them instead and sent their heads to Cao Cao. By then, most of northern China was unified under Cao Cao's control, and Cao Cao could begin to turn his attention to the south. Throughout the ages, Cao Cao's impressive victory at Guandu,
1344-567: The area pressured Sun Quan to offer Cao Cao a nominal form of submission, and the garrisons were withdrawn in 219 when Sun Quan relieved Cao Cao's forces in the Siege of Fancheng by killing Liu Bei's general Guan Yu . When Cao Cao was seriously ill in early 220, Zang Ba sent a detachment to Luoyang to observe the situation. Upon learning of Cao Cao's death, Zang Ba's troops from Qing Province took leave without permission and refused to take command from Cao Pi , Cao Cao's successor. Nevertheless, Cao Pi
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#17328552033261408-506: The army. Shortly after, Yuan Shao had Chen Lin draft a document condemning Cao Cao in what was essentially a declaration of war , and marched his main army toward the forward base of Liyang (黎陽; northwest of present-day Xun County , Henan) north of the river. At the time, Yuan Shao's army boasted of numbers up to 110,000, including 10,000 cavalry. Yuan Shao's general Yan Liang crossed the Yellow River and besieged Cao Cao's fort at Boma . Heeding his advisor Xun You 's advice, Cao Cao led
1472-430: The attack, driving Zang Ba to take refuge in the city of She, north of Juchao. With Zang Ba withdrawing, Sun Quan dispatched some 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers in two separate forces to assist Chen Lan. They avoided engaging Zang Ba, but Zang Ba emerged out of his defences in a forced night march and caught Sun Quan's forces by surprise in the morning. Many soldiers of Sun Quan could not board their ships and were forced into
1536-447: The battle, which led to open warfare between the brothers. Yuan Tan eventually allied with to Cao Cao against Yuan Shang, but Cao Cao accused him of violating some terms of the alliance and killed him in battle. On the other hand, Yuan Shang suffered defeats at the hands of Cao Cao and fled north to join his second brother Yuan Xi . Cao Cao's forces pursued them and defeated the Wuhuan tribe,
1600-483: The chancellor of Langya, while Zang Ba's old friends were also appointed as local administrators. Together, they held sway over the Qing and Xu provinces. Once, Cao Cao ordered Liu Bei (then his subordinate) to ask Zang Ba for the heads of Mao Jun (毛暉) and Xu Xi (徐翕), men who rebelled against Cao Cao and sought refuge with Zang Ba during the war with Lü Bu. However, Zang Ba refused to turn the two men over as he told Liu Bei that
1664-455: The civilian community that could affect his army's morale. After the engagements at the river, Yuan Shao's army pushed to Yangwu (陽武; near present-day Yuanyang County , Henan), directly north of Guandu, and began constructing earthen fortifications. He ignored Cheng Yu 's bastion of 700 men at Juancheng and missed an opportunity to attack Cao Cao's eastern flank, exactly as Cheng Yu's predicted earlier when he guessed that Yuan Shao would ignore
1728-445: The climactic event of his life, has drawn analysis by both historical commentators and militarists hoping to imitate his success. The Song dynasty historian Sima Guang , compiler of the chronicle Zizhi Tongjian , remarked that while Yuan Shao was generous, elegant and able, he was also obstinate, self-satisfied, and seldom heeded reasonable advice. These negative attributes were the cause of his defeat. In more recent times, both
1792-559: The commands of Guo Tu and Chunyu Qiong . Yuan Shao reorganized his forces and sent Liu Bei with an army to support the rebellions against Cao Cao in Yinjiang (㶏疆; southwest of present-day Xuchang ), just 20 li south of the capital. Although Cao Cao was concerned about such developments in his rear, his cousin Cao Ren observed that Liu Bei could not have too much control over his new men given by Yuan Shao. So Cao Cao sent Cao Ren to deal with
1856-444: The death. The raid on Wuchao was a great success, inflicting over a thousand casualties. Yuan Shao's officers Lü Weihuang ( 呂威璜 ), Han Juzi ( 韓莒子 ), Sui Yuanjin ( 眭元進 ), and Zhao Rui ( 趙叡 ) were decapitated; Chunyu Qiong was captured by Yue Jin and had his nose cut off. Almost all of Yuan Shao's food supplies at Wuchao were burnt. By dawn, Wuchao had turned into an inferno and the morale of Yuan Shao's army plummeted sharply due to
1920-431: The earthen embankments that both sides made. Both sides harassed each other with engines of war. Yuan Shao had erected siege-ramps and high platforms which allowed his men to rain arrows onto Cao Cao's forces. In response, Cao Cao's men had to carry their shields above their heads, and retaliated with traction trebuchets that destroyed the archer platforms. Yuan Shao also tried to tunnel under Cao Cao's fort, but Cao Cao had
1984-567: The east due to the strong defense mounted by Zang Ba. After defeating Yuan Shao at the Battle of Guandu in 200, Cao Cao defeated and killed his son Yuan Tan in the Battle of Nanpi . Zang Ba went personally to Cao Cao to congratulate him on his great victory. During the celebration banquet, he offered to move his family to Ye city , Cao Cao's headquarters, effectively as hostages to bound his loyalty. Cao Cao refused, expressing his full confidence in Zang Ba. For his accomplishments in restoring order in
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2048-411: The east, Zang Ba was enfeoffed as a marquis of a chief village by and named as general. In 206, Zang Ba put down the rebellion of Chang Xi, his former subordinate, together with Yu Jin . Some time between 206 and 209, he joined Xiahou Yuan and Lü Qian (呂虔) in the quelling of Yellow Turban remnants led by Xu He ( 徐和 ) and Sima Ju ( 司馬俱 ). After several engagements and heavy casualties on both sides,
2112-511: The fort and evacuate its occupants to the south. Taking advantage of the situation, Wen Chou and Liu Bei led 6,000 horsemen in pursuit. Cao Cao anticipated the attack and prepared a distraction tactic. He ordered his troops to discard their steeds, weapons and other valuables along the way. Yuan Shao's forces broke their ranks to grab the valuables lying ahead. Just as they were claiming the items, 600 of Cao Cao's elite cavalry that had been lying in ambush attacked them. Yuan Shao's commander Wen Chou
2176-441: The latter was still building up his forces, but Yuan Shao ignored their advice as Cao Cao was still nominally an ally. Tension between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao increased after Cao Cao moved Emperor Xian from the old capital Luoyang . The geographical position of Guandu (官渡; northeast of present-day Zhongmu County , Henan ) made it a strategically vital position. It was near Yan Ford (延津; north of present-day Yanjin County , Henan) on
2240-545: The loss of food supplies. Cao Cao also cut off the noses of the dead, mixed them with noses and lips of oxen and horses, and showed them to Yuan Shao's men, as a form of intimidation. Meanwhile, at Guandu, Yuan Shao's army led by Zhang He and Gao Lan failed to break through the enemy lines. Affected by the news of the defeat in Wuchao and rumors of Guo Tu making slanderous remarks about them, Zhang He and Gao Lan surrendered to Cao Hong and destroyed their weapons. Cao Cao's forces seized
2304-615: The men to spare for such ventures. From such a perspective, Yuan Shao, faced with the ever-growing threat of his former ally Cao Cao, concentrated his force in a direct approach to Cao Cao's headquarters in hope that such a strike would overwhelm his enemy. Though he was outwitted and defeated by Cao Cao, Yuan Shao's decisions might not have been so foolish as numerous traditional historians and commentators have said. 34°54′26″N 114°37′13″E / 34.90722°N 114.62028°E / 34.90722; 114.62028 Zang Ba Zang Ba ( c. 162–230s), courtesy name Xuangao ,
2368-495: The military, Cao Pi still consulted him on military affairs from time to time and treated him respectfully. In 226, following Cao Pi's death, Cao Rui became the new emperor and he increased the number of taxable households in Zang Ba's marquisate to 3,500, a number higher than other marquises who held key military appointments along Wei's eastern border. (Cao Xiu had 2,500 households while Zhang Liao had 2,600 households in their respective marquisates.) After his death, Zang Ba received
2432-450: The opportunity to launch the full attack on Yuan's army. Yuan Shao's numerous armies were destroyed and much of his supplies were captured by Cao Cao. Yuan Shao himself fled north across the Yellow River with only about 800 cavalry, which was what was left of his army. Order was restored only when Yuan Shao reached the camp of his general Jiang Yiqu ( 蔣義渠 ), from where he gathered his straggling troops. Some of Yuan Shao's men could not cross
2496-554: The opportunity to start a campaign south, but was daunted by Yu Jin, the defender of Yan Ford. When Cao Cao returned to Guandu after his victory over Liu Bei, who sought refuge under Yuan Shao afterwards, Yuan Shao decided to renew the campaign against Cao Cao. The aide-de-camp ( 參軍 ) Tian Feng, who had urged Yuan Shao to attack Cao Cao while he was away, advised against such a campaign, reasoning that they had lost their chance and must wait. Yuan Shao ignored Tian Feng's repeated remonstrations and imprisoned him under charges of demoralizing
2560-401: The opposite: attack Cao Cao's base at Guandu with the hope that Cao Cao will abandon the raid on Wuchao. Yuan Shao used Guo Tu's idea and sent Zhang He and Gao Lan to lead his main army to attack Cao Cao's main camp at Guandu, while only sending a small cavalry unit to reinforce Wuchao. Cao Cao ignored pleas to split off his force to deal with the reinforcements and readied his men to fight to
2624-484: The other hand, Zhang Liao was worried that Sun Quan would send his general, Han Dang , with an army to assist Chen in resisting Cao Cao's forces. Han Dang was in charge of defending Huancheng, a major stronghold in Lujiang Commandery at that time, so Zhang Liao sent Zang Ba to ensure that Han Dang could not move to reinforce the rebels. Zang Ba attacked Huancheng, but Han Dang defended the stronghold well and repelled
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2688-402: The reason he had been able to earn the loyalty of so many people was because he never turned his back on them and further remarking that it would befit a great leader to act magnanimously. Liu Bei relayed Zang Ba's response back to Cao Cao, who praised Zang Ba for his honourable conduct, comparing it to that of ancient heroes, and pardoned the two renegade, making them commandery administrators. As
2752-554: The rebellion. Cao Ren succeeded, killing the rebel leader Liu Pi and routing Liu Bei. Yuan Shao also tried to cut off Cao Cao from the west by sending Han Meng ( 韓猛 ) southwest. Cao Ren again responded to the threat by defeating Han Meng at Mount Jiluo (雞洛山; 50 li northeast of present-day Xinmi , Henan). Yuan Shao did not send any detached force into Cao Cao's territory after this. At Yangwu, several war plans were presented to Yuan Shao. Ju Shou observed that Cao Cao's men were running out of grain, and thus it would be proper to enter
2816-407: The relation between topography , logistics , and tactics over Yuan Shao. It was the issue about logistics that prompted Cao Cao to abandon the defence at the Yellow River. By luring Yuan Shao far south into Guandu, Cao Cao had forcibly extended Yuan Shao's supply lines and was thus able to pounce on his logistical disadvantage to gain a decisive victory. The Australian sinologist Rafe de Crespigny
2880-442: The representative of the great landlord-official class, and Cao Cao as of the middle and small landlord class. The battle was thus a product of class conflict in which Yuan Shao's fall was inevitable. The historian Carl Leban attributes Cao Cao's victory to one single strategic decision — the defender's choice of location. Leban asserts that Cao Cao chose Guandu as the place to make his stand because of his superior understanding of
2944-418: The rest of eastern China plunged into turmoil, the situation in the lands under Zang Ba's influence remained under control. During Cao Cao's battles with Yuan Shao in the early 200s, Zang Ba led elite soldiers into Qing Province , allowing Cao Cao to focus the majority of his soldiers on the main battles at hand, and not having to worry about being flanked from the east. Yuan Shao's forces cannot advance to
3008-409: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Guandu . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Guandu&oldid=1232594430 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
3072-491: The same time, Cao Cao sent Zang Ba to harass Qing Province ( 青州 ), which was governed by Yuan Shao's son Yuan Tan , to prevent his eastern flank from coming under attack. In the first month of 200, Liu Bei rebelled against Cao Cao and seized Xu Province after killing Che Zhou ( 車冑 ), Cao Cao's appointed Inspector ( 刺史 ) of Xu Province. Cao Cao, in an unexpected move, left his northern front exposed to Yuan Shao and turned east to retake Xu Province. Yuan Shao tried to use
3136-492: The soldiers uneasy at the situation, Zhang Liao wanted to retreat, but Zang Ba told him to wait, as he replied to Zhang Liao that "Cao Cao is wise, and (he) will not simply abandon us." The next day, an official order to retreat indeed arrived, and both generals safely returned to safety. Zhang Liao told Cao Cao of what happened, and Cao Cao was greatly impressed. Thereafter, Zang Ba moved to Juchao with Xiahou Dun to maintain pressure on Sun Quan's forces. This and other garrisons in
3200-717: The time, led a group of some 20 or 30 men to rescue his father. Although there were over 100 soldiers escorting Zang Jie, none of them dared to stop Zang Ba. Henceforth, the Zangs became fugitives, but Zang Ba's bravery became well known. After the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out in the 180s, Zang Ba entered the service of Tao Qian , the Governor of Xu Province , who appointed him as Commandant of Cavalry ( qiduwei , 騎都尉). During his service under Tao Qian, Zang Ba fought against Yellow Turban Army in 185. Later in 193, as Tao Qian
3264-555: The two Yellow Turban rebels were killed. Zang Ba was then formally appointed as the Inspector of Xu Province, and his close comrade Sun Guan became the Inspector of Qing Province. After the Battle of Red Cliffs stopped Cao Cao's southern expansion in 208, Zang Ba led a contingent to join Cao Cao's army as he advanced across the Huai River to attack the southern warlord Sun Quan north of
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#17328552033263328-408: The water and drowned. Without the intervention from Sun Quan, Zhang Liao killed both Chen Lan and Mei Cheng, quelling the rebellion. Later, during the Battle of Ruxu in 216 and 217, Zhang Liao and Zang Ba both led the vanguard in a campaign against Sun Quan. However, their progress was hampered by continuous rainfall which had raised the water level, that allowed Sun Quan's ships to approach. With
3392-554: The weaker one yielding a step at first, pinned down the stronger one through delayed action and defeated him." Mao's words attracted some attention to the battle, and many papers were written to analyze the Battle of Guandu in Maoist terms. The Maoist interpretation, while taking note of Yuan Shao's serious errors of judgement, advocates that the strong enemy will make fateful errors, while the weaker opponent need only to await their appearance. The Marxist interpretation portrays Yuan Shao as
3456-406: Was a military general who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty and Three Kingdoms period of China. He served the warlord Tao Qian initially, followed by Lü Bu and finally Cao Cao and his successors, but for the most part of his career, he remained semi-autonomous over his troops and eastern China. The years of his birth and death are not recorded, but he served the state of Cao Wei in
3520-700: Was around this time that Zang Ba gained the nickname "Outlaw Slave" (奴寇). When Lü Bu gained control of Xu Province, Zang Ba and his Taishan Bandits attacked Xiao Jian ( 蕭建 ) at Ju County and seized his treasury. Lü Bu found issue with this act—according to the Yingxiong ji , he was seeking an alliance with Xiao Jian; the Hou Hanshu says he expected Zang Ba to turn over the spoils—and personally led his troops to confront Zang Ba, despite opposition from his subordinate Gao Shun . Zang Ba heard of Lü Bu's violent and plundering ways, so he remained inside Ju County and put up
3584-422: Was derided as mediocre, slow, arrogant, and unable to employ men properly. The Communist leader Mao Zedong , in his writings about strategic retreat, used the Battle of Guandu along with the Battle of Chenggao , Battle of Kunyang , Battle of Red Cliffs , Battle of Xiaoting , and Battle of Fei River to illustrate the concept. In all of these battles, he wrote, "...the contestants were unequal in strength, and
3648-496: Was forced to call for relief supplies in response to this raid. In the tenth month, Yuan Shao's general Chunyu Qiong returned with an army of 10,000 from Hebei escorting large reserves of food supplies. Yuan Shao ordered Chunyu to escort the supplies to Wuchao (烏巢; in present-day Yanjin County, Henan), a place 40 li away from Guandu near Gushi, and placed him in charge of guarding the supplies there. Yuan Shao's advisor Ju Shou argued that Wuchao, being their important supply depot,
3712-473: Was given 10,000 infantry and cavalry, he would be invincible along the Yangtze River." Cao Xiu reported Zang's speech to Cao Pi. Cao Pi, who still bore a grudge against Zang Ba for his arrogance at Cao Cao's funeral, plotted to strip off his military command. Zang Ba went to Cao Pi's tent to greet him, but the emperor relieved him of his command and sent him to Luoyang. Even though Zang Ba no longer served in
3776-524: Was killed and Liu Bei fled. Having lost two of their generals in these relatively minor skirmishes prior to the primary conflict at Guandu resulted in a crushing blow to the morale of Yuan Shao's army. Despite having won the preliminary battles, Cao Cao was still outnumbered. He abandoned the forward bases along the Yellow River in preparation for a determined defence at Guandu. Cao Cao also ordered his officials in charge of his lands in his absence to govern with lenience, so as to minimise chances of chaos within
3840-596: Was made his successor shortly thereafter. His oldest son Yuan Tan was furious with the succession and fought with his younger brother. This resulted in internal conflict within Yuan Shao's forces. Yuan Shao's pool of talented advisors and generals were also divided into two factions by the conflict – one supported Yuan Shang and the other supported Yuan Tan. Cao Cao seized the opportunity to launch an attack on Yuan Tan's base at Liyang . Though Cao Cao eventually withdrew, Yuan Tan came to resent Yuan Shang even more during course of
3904-598: Was pursued by Sun Shao and Quan Cong , thousands of his soldiers killed or captured with subordinate general Yin Lu killed. The campaign would be ended the next year as Cao Pi's forces were stalled and epidemic swept through the land so a retreat was ordered After the campaign, Zang Ba was summoned back to Luoyang to serve as Bearer of the Golden Mace (執金吾, chief of police in the imperial capital). However, he refused to leave his troops and complained to Cao Xiu that Cao Pi did not make use of his full potential, and claimed that "if he
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#17328552033263968-469: Was repeatedly defeated by the warlord Cao Cao , Zang Ba gathered adventurers and gangsters and established himself as the leader of the bandit groups of Mount Tai with characters like Sun Guan ( 孫観 ), Wu Dun ( 吳敦 ), Yin Li and Chang Xi ( 昌豨 ) within his ranks. However, they did not return to Tao Qian after the campaign and instead camped at Kaiyang County ( 開陽 ) in the north of Langya Commandery . It
4032-437: Was successful on stabilising the situation, and formally established the state of Cao Wei with himself as its emperor after usurping the throne from the last Han emperor, Emperor Xian . After ascending the throne, Cao Pi promoted Zang Ba along most of the officials. the new emperor placed Zang Ba under the supervision of the general Cao Xiu , who had supreme authority over Qing and Xu provinces. Zang Ba accompanied Cao Xiu in
4096-859: Was too lightly guarded and insisted that Yuan Shao should send the general Jiang Qi ( 蔣奇 ) to serve as a perimeter guard to Chunyu Qiong and cut off any potential raids. Yuan Shao, again, did not heed Ju Shou's advice. Shortly after, Yuan Shao's advisor Xu You , who had harboured dissatisfaction against Yuan Shao for not following his plan and having his wife arrested by Shen Pei , defected over to Cao Cao. He understood Cao Cao's shortage of supplies and alerted Cao Cao to Yuan Shao's exploitable weakness at Wuchao. Cao Cao's generals were suspicious of this piece of intelligence, but his advisors Xun You and Jia Xu urged Cao Cao to put Xu You's plan to action. Thus at night, Cao Cao led 5,000 infantry and cavalry to attack Wuchao after leaving Cao Hong and Xun You in charge of his main camp at Guandu. Cao Cao's army disguised itself as
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