Cao Cao's Northern Expedition 1（Three Kingdoms 36）

History of Three Kingdoms

Previous Chapter ：The wandering life of Liu Bei 2(Three Kingdoms 35)

Catalog of Three Kingdoms’ history

In July 202AD，after Yuan Shao died,with the support of some of Yuan Shao’s Important ministers,Pang Ji逄记, Shen Pei审配, and others, Yuan Shao’s third son Yuan Shang袁尚 officially inherited Yuan Shao's official title, the General-in-Chief, Provincial Governor of Jizhou冀州, and Marquis of Ye邺.

After arriving in Yecheng邺城, Yuan Shao’s eldest son, Yuan Tan袁谭 ,saw that Yuan Shang had already ascended to the throne and felt indignant in his heart, so he named himself the General of Chariots and Cavalry.

Yuan Shang subsequently dispatched Yuan Tan to station troops in Liyang黎阳. Liyang is on the north bank of Yellow River,which is the gateway of Jizhou, a very important position, but Yuan Shang only allocated a small number of soldiers to his big brother. Yuan Tan requested more soldiers from Yuan Shang, but Yuan Shang not only refused, but also sent his close counsellor Pang Ji to be the army inspector to Control Yuan Tan's actions. In a fit of anger, Yuan Tan directly killed Pang Ji, making the conflict between the two brothers even more irreconcilable.

In September of the same year, Cao Cao took the opportunity to lead his troops northward to attack Liyang,Yuan Tan was easily defeated.

After Yuan Tan's defeat, he retreated to hold the city and once again requested reinforcements from Yuan Shang. Yuan Shang knew the importance of Liyang, but he was afraid that Yuan Tan would not return it after receiving the soldiers, so he left Shen Pei to guard Yecheng, while he himself personally led the army to rescue.

At that time, Huchuquan呼厨泉,a leader of Southern Xiongnu匈奴, rebelled in Pingyang平阳. Cao Cao ordered Zhong Yao钟繇, the Colonel of the Sili司隶 ,who was stationed in Chang'an长安, to lead his troops to surround Pingyang, but he couldn't capture the city after attacking for a long time.

In order to contain the Cao army, Yuan Shang appointed his general Guo Yuan郭援（Guo Yuan is his enemy Zhong Yao’s nephew）, as the governor of Hedong河东 commandery,leting Guo Yuan with Gao Gan高干(Gao Gan is Yuan Shao’s nephew,Yuans brother’s cousin), the Provincial Governor of Bingzhou并州, jointly attack Zhong Yao with Ma Teng马腾 and Han Sui , powerful warlords who were in Liangzhou凉州.

After arriving in Hedong commandery, Guo Yuan and Gao Gan immediately headed north, with a strong momentum and invincible attacks. However, when they reached Jiangyi绛邑, they were met with stubborn resistance from the magistrate of Jiangyi County, Jia Kui贾奎.

Just as the city was about to be conquered, the people of Jiangyi chose to surrender voluntarily to avoid being slaughtered, but the prerequisite was that Jia Kui could not be killed.

After entering the city, Guo Yuan immediately changed his mind and ordered Jia Kui to be executed on the spot. When the people of Jiangyi heard the news, they stood on the rampart and shouted that :"we would rather die together!" they cried loudly and uncontrollably, even the generals under Guo Yuan were moved and pleaded for mercy for Jia Kui. Guo Yuan had no choice that he had to put Jia Kui in prison temporarily, and then Jia Kui subsequently escaped with the help of the guards.

Jia Kui's defense in Jiangyi delayed the marching speed of Guo Yuan and others, giving Zhong Yao valuable time to manage. Zhong Yao understood his nephew Guo Yuan's character of being both Careless and radical, so he led his army to station on the opposite bank of the Fen汾 River, preparing to take advantage to attack when Guo Yuan crossed of the river halfway.

Zhong Yao also sent his subordinates to persuade Ma Teng. Under their persuasion, Ma Teng not only gave up the idea of rebellion against Cao Cao, but also sent his son Ma Chao马超 and more than 10000 people to help Zhong Yao.

Ma Chao was valiant ,and the combat style of the Liangzhou soldiers were very fierce. Their joining played a decisive role in Cao's ultimate victory on the western Front battlefield.

After arriving in Pingyang, Guo Yuan easily ordered to cross the river, and everyone tried to dissuade him, but Guo Yuan refused to listen. Before passing the center of the river, Zhong Yao commanded the entire army to launch an attack.

At that time, arrows rained down heavily, but Ma Chao rushed at the front, causing his foot to be hit by the arrow and injured. Ma Chao reluctantly pulled out the arrow, wrapped it in a cloth strip, and continued to charge, finally defeating the enemy. Pang De庞德, a fierce general under Ma Chao, personally killed Guo Yuan on the spot. Huchuquan ,the leader of Southern Xiongnu,surrendered, while Gao Gan led the remaining troops back to Bingzhou.

After the was, everyone did not know that the chief commander of the enemy had died and speculated about where was Guo Yuan.While Pang De didn't know Guo Yuan either, after returning, he took off a head hanging from his belt and said, "Take a look ,is it him?" Zhong Yao identified it, he found out that it was Guo Yuan's head. Zhong Yao then hugged his head and burst into tears. Pang De apologized to Zhong Yao, who replied, "Although Guo Yuan is my nephew, he is ultimately a traitor. you don't need to apologize."

The good news came from thw west, Cao Cao was overjoyed,he appointed Pang De as the General of the Household, Marquis of Capital Precinct, Ma Teng as the General of Conquering South, and Han Sui韩遂 as the General of Conquering West. Cao Cao also appointed Ma Chao as the Provincial Governor of Xuzhou徐州, But the ambitious Ma Chao refused to take up the post.

After Cao's army complete victory on the western front, the situation on the eastern front became increasingly clear, because Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang together could not match for Cao Cao.

In March 203 AD, Liyang was captured,Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang retreated to Yecheng. Cao Cao led his troops to pursue them. Just as Cao Cao was about to attack Yecheng with all his might, his counsellor Guo Jia郭嘉 strongly opposed public opinion and suggested retreating. He believed that:" Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang were at odds and had comparable strength, both having their own followers. If we were to launch a strong attack at this time, it would force them to unite and resist. If we temporarily withdraw our troops, under the instigation of their each ministers with ulterior motives, the two will soon fall out. Then we turn north again,we can pacify the whole north by one shot." Cao Cao adopted Guo Jia's strategy and harvested the wheat fields near Yecheng before returning to his headquarters Xuchang.

It has been proven that Guo Jia's strategy is indeed the optimal choice. He can grasp the key points first, see through the essence of things and people's hearts at a glance, truly deserving of being the number one psychological counsellor in the Three Kingdoms. And when Cao Cao's morale was high and he was approaching success, he could still remain calm and adopt this strategy of "watching the fire from the shore", which was actually even more rare.

Even though Cao Cao's own strategy is not inferior to anyone of his time, we rarely see words like "Cao Cao did not listen","Cao Cao did not accept", when flipping through history books. And what about Yuan Shang? Before the war, he was still considering whether Yuan Tan would return his troops after winning, isn't it funny?In the face of such humble, calm, and high-level opponents, no matter what his family background is, no matter how many soldiers there are,all of them are uesless.

To be Continued