Cao Cao's Northern Expedition 4（Three Kingdoms 39）

History of Three Kingdoms

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Catalog of Three Kingdoms’ history

After Cao Cao captured Yecheng, Gao Gan高干,Yuan Shao’s nephew and the Provincial Governor of Bingzhou并州 , announced his surrender to Cao Cao. In order to appease Gao Gan, Cao Cao asked Gao Gan to continue serving as the governor of Bingzhou, which was nominally placed under Cao Cao's command.

What really troubled Cao Cao was Yuan,Shao’s eldest son Yuan Tan袁谭. Yuan Tan had always been ambitious and skilled in warfare. Taking advantage of Cao Cao's siege of Yecheng and the fierce battle with Yuan Shang袁尚, Yuan Tan quickly led his troops to capture commanderies such as Ganling甘陵,HeJian河间 ,Bohai渤海, and Anping安平,which were a lot part o Jizhou. After Yuan Shang was defeated and fled to Zhongshan中山, Yuan Tan took the opportunity to attack and capture Zhongshan with no mercy.

Under the relay beating of Cao Cao and Yuan Tan, Yuan Shang could no longer bear it. He ran north and joined his Second Brother ,Yuan Xi,who was the Provincial Governor of Youzhou幽州.

Yuan Tan annexed Yuan Shang's troops and conquered large areas of Jizhou, becoming the biggest winner. Of course, Cao Cao would not allow others to steal his achievements. Therefore, under the pretext of breaking the contract, he repatriated Yuan Tan's daughter, announced the termination of their marriage alliance, and immediately sent troops to attack Longcou龙凑,an Important city of strategy.

In December 204 AD, the Cao’s army arrived at Longcou, but Yuan Tan dared not engage in battle and immediately retreated to Nanpi南皮,the seat of Bohai Commandery. Cao's army followed closely and arrived in Nanpi in January 205 AD.

After Cao Cao arrived, he immediately ordered a fierce attack on Yuan Tan's position. When Yuan Tan faced Cao Cao, he had been already a bit scared. With such a retreat from Longcou to Nanpi, the soldiers became frightened birds, and their fighting spirit was very low.

Under Cao Cao's fierce attack, the formation of Yuan Tan's front army had not properly formed before it was dispersed.However Yuan Tan is a not bad general and good at fighting. Seeing that Cao Cao did not give him a chance to survive, he boosted his morale and fought to the death, gradually stabilizing his position. The two armies fought together, both suffering heavy casualties.

Cao Cao saw that there were too many casualties among the soldiers, so he intended to postpone the attack, but the commander of "the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry", Cao Chun曹纯, firmly disagreed. Under Cao Chun's persuasion, Cao Cao gave up the idea of a ceasefire and continued to lead his army to launch a fierce attack, finally defeating Yuan's army.

After his defeat, Yuan Tan was hair disheveled and fled desperately. The "Tiger and Leopard Cavalry" who were chasing Yuan Tan, expected him to be a important person and chased him even harder. Yuan Tan was exhausted and fell off his warhorse, shouting, "Leave me alone, I can give you wealth!" But before Yuan Tan could finish speaking, his head had already fallen to the ground.

After Cao Cao entered Nanpi, he ordered the execution of Guo Tu郭图, Yuan Tan’s counsellor, Guo Tu’s entire family and Yuan Tan's family ,were all killed.

In the month when Yuan Tan was killed, some of Yuan Xi's subordinates rebelled and commanded their troops to attack Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang. Yuan Xi and Yuan Shao were defeated and fled to Liucheng柳城, defecting to Wuhuan乌桓,the nomadic tribes in Northeast China. Yuan Xi’s subordinates who rebeled him, led the troops of Youzhou to officially surrender to Cao Cao.

Several years ago, Gongsun Du公孙度 of Liaodong辽东, took advantage of the chaos in the Central Plains and captured multiple counties in Qingzhou through the sea. After Cao Cao pacified Yuan Tan,he sent his mighty general Zhang Liao张辽 to lead troops into Qingzhou, driving the forces of Gongsun Du back to Liaodong, and the entire Qingzhou was under Cao Cao's control. When Zhang Liao led his army back, Cao Cao personally went out of Yecheng to welcome him and invited Zhang Liao to ride with him in the same chariot. Zhang Liao was promoted to the General of Wiping out Enemy荡寇将军.

In August of the same year, Tadun踏顿,the King of Wuhuan, instigated by the brothers Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang, launched an attack on the territory of Youzhou,which was just occupied by Cao Cao. Cao Cao personally led his troops north to rescue.

After Cao Cao left, The Provincial Governor of Bingzhou, Gao Gan, saw that Cao Cao was on a northern expedition and his headquarter was empty, He rebelled and secretly sent troops to attack Yecheng,but couldn't captured it. After the battle report reached the front, Cao Cao ordered Yue Jin乐进 as the chief commander,and Li Dian李典 as the deputy general to lead troops to conquer Gao Gan. Gao Gan stubbornly defended the Hu Pass壶关, but the Cao’s army could not win for a long time attacking.

In January 206 AD, Cao Cao repelled Wuhuan and led the main force to turn around and personally attack Hu Pass. When Gao Gan heard that Cao Cao was personally coming, he knew he was not match for Cao Cao ,so he left two generals to guard Hu Pass, He himself ran to the Xiongnu匈奴 tribe and requested reinforcements from the leader of Southern Xiongnu,Huchuquan呼厨泉 .

But since the defeat in Pingyang平阳, Huchuquan has been scared by the Cao’s army and no longer dares to be involved with any anti-Cao forces, so he resolutely refused Gao Gan's request. Gao Gan had no choice but to retreat to Huoze濩泽 county of Hedong河东 Commandery.

To be Continued