History of Three Kingdoms 3
Cao Cao's First Battle
In the first month of 190 A.D., Qiao Mao(桥瑁), the commanderial governor of Dongjun（东郡） , forged the documents of the three Councillors and called on the governors of various commanderies to rise up against Dong Zhuo.
At that time, eleven warlords responded: Qiao Mao, the governor of Dongjun, Yuan Shao（袁绍）, the commanderial governor of Bohai（渤海）, Yuan Shu（袁术）,the General of Rear, Han Fu（韩馥）, the Provincial governor of Jizhou（冀州）, Kong Zhou（孔伷）, the Provincial governor of Yuzhou , Liu Dai, the Provincial governor of Yanzhou（兖州） , Wang Kuang（王匡）, the commanderial governor of He’nei(河内) , Zhang Miao(张邈), the commanderial governor of Chenliu , Zhang Chao(张超,Zhang Miao’s younger brother), the commanderial governor of Guangling , Yuan Yi(袁遗), the commanderial governor of Shanyang （山阳）, and Bao Xin（鲍信）, the commanderial governor of Jibei（济北） .
We find that unlike the eighteen warlords in the novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Cao Cao, Sun Jian and Liu Bei are not among them, because Cao Cao belonged to Zhang Miao's army at this time, while Sun Jian was under Yuan Shu's command, and the two of them had not yet formed an independent and strong enough armed force. Liu Bei is still under Gongsun Zan's（公孙瓒） command, making preparations for his rise to power, while Gongsun Zan is not involved at all.
At that time, Yuan Shao and Wang Kuang were stationed in Henei, while Zhang Miao, Liu Dai, Qiao Mao, Yuan Yi, and Bao Xin were stationed in Suanzao（酸枣）, Yuan Shu was stationed in Luyang（鲁阳）, Kong Zhou was in Yingchuan（颍川）, and Han Fu stayed in Yecheng（邺城）, responsible for providing the allied army with munitions and provisions.
They elected Yuan Shao to be the alliance leader, because at that time people used to take Han’gu Pass（函谷关） as the boundary, west of Hangu Pass is called Guanxi（关西，xi means the west）, east of Han’gu Pass is called Guandong(关东,dong means the east), because the territories of the heroes are in the east of the Han’gu Pass, so the alliance to fight against the Dong Zhuo is also known as the Guandong Army.
The warlords of the Guandong region, though each with their own agenda, had hundreds of thousands of troops, which was a great deal of prestige. Upon learning the news, Dong Zhuo was more disappointed than intimidated, because the vast majority of these people were appointed by him. It was at this point that the devastated Dong Zhuo finally recognized the situation, gave up his unrealistic ideals of governance, and began to embark on a path of no return!
Driven by this state of mind, Dong Zhuo decided to avoid the front line for the time being, and continued to stay in the city of Luoyang himself, while relocating Emperor Xian of Han and his ministers to Chang'an, which was closer to his own base.
This forcible relocation of the capital brought about deep suffering to the people of the city of Luoyang, and innumerable innocent deaths were recorded. Yuan Shao's uncles, Yuan Wei(袁隗) and Yuan Ji（袁基）, had dozens of their entire families killed, while Lyu Bu（吕布） and others even took the opportunity to raid the tombs of the Eastern Han emperors.
Though Dong Zhuo was scared, the Guandong coalition army instead made no moves, as everyone wanted to save their strength and continue to support their own troops, and no one wanted to be the first to engage Dong Zhuo in battle.
At this point, Cao Cao, who was still under Zhang Miao's command, was very upset, and he impassionedly rebuked Dong Zhuo and urged the allied forces to hurry up, but no one except Bao Xin paid him any attention at all, and seeing this, Cao Cao had to act alone with Bao Xin.
They each lead their own troops and prepare to enter the Hulao Pass（虎牢关）. Seeing Cao Cao's determination, Zhang Miao also dispatched Wei Zi（卫兹） to follow Cao Cao into battle.
When they reached the Bian River（汴水） in Xingyang（荥阳）, they met Xu Rong（徐荣）, a general sent by Dong Zhuo, and Cao Cao was defeated, with half of his soldiers killed or wounded, Bao Xin wounded, Wei Zi was killed, and Cao Cao himself wounded by an arrow.
The situation was very urgent, when cao cao's life was in danger, Cao Hong（曹洪） gave his horse to Cao Cao and ran after him, and when he arrived at the bank of the Bian River, he saw that the current was so strong that he couldn't cross the river, and Xu Rong's pursuers were approaching in a flash! Cao Hong then ran wildly all the way along the river and finally found a small boat, Cao Cao then crossed the Bian river and escaped in a terrible mess!
After returning to Suanzao, Cao Cao proposed that Yuan Shao lead his troops to Mengjin（孟津）, while the generals in Suanzao stationed themselves at Hulao Pass to control the important terrain, and Yuan Shu could lead his troops into Wu Pass（武关） to sneak inside , where Dong Zhuo's belly was vulnerable to the enemy, and the country could be settled in an instant.
But the warlords were still busy with banquets and parties, and no one wanted to pay any attention to Cao Cao, so Cao Cao went to He’nei to join Yuan Shao.
At this point in time, the most aggressive person in the entire Guandong army, besides Cao Cao, was only Sun Jian, and Sun Jian's experience of being defeated was very similar to Cao Cao's.
Right after Cao Cao's defeat, Xu Rong also had an encounter with Sun Jian in Liang County(梁县), when Sun Jian was defeated ,he killed his way out with only a few dozen men
.
Because Sun Jian often wore a red turban, he was afraid of being targeted by Xu Rong, so he took it off and put it on the head of Zu Mao（祖茂）, who distracted Xu Rong's cavalry while Sun Jian escaped by a small road.
Seeing that the Guandong army was not united, Dong Zhuo launched a proactive attack, targeting Wang Kuang, who was stationed in He’nei. Dong Zhuo first bluffed Wang Kuang into believing that he was going to cross the river from Pingyin(平阴), and then used his elite troops to cross the river via Xiaopingjin（小平津）, and circled around and attacked Wang Kuang's rear, which resulted in Dong Zhuo's great victory, and Wang Kuang's almost total annihilation.
Although the war is unfavorable, the internal struggle between the warlords of Guandong is getting more and more intense. First, Han Fu, who is already exhausted, is unwilling to provide provisions for the allied army, then Qiao Mao was killed by Liu Dai because of his personal grudges, and at this time, Yuan Shao and Han Fu are thinking of setting up a new way, and appoint Liu Yu（刘虞）, the grand Chancellor of Wars, as the emperor instead.
Inside the apparently powerful Guandong army, there is really a lot of secret fighting, and each of them is harboring their own evil intentions, which is irredeemable!
Sun Jian, who was previously unknown, exploded his energy in an inconspicuous corner and threw a warm light into the world at Late Han period from the obscure cracks!