The All Stars under Cao Cao's command

Three Kingdoms-Chapter 30

After the siege of Baima白马 was relieved, Cao Cao believed that once Yuan Shao's main force pressed over, the two strongholds of Baima and Yanjin延津 would be lost sooner or later, so it was better to voluntarily give up the banks of the Yellow River and concentrate on the stronghord of Guandu官渡.

So Cao Cao ordered that all the people and materials around Baima and Yanjin be transferred to Xuchang许昌.

After Yuan Shao learned the news of Yan Liang's颜良 death, he was very angry, and immediately decided to personally lead the main force to cross the river in pursuit,Ju Shou沮授 stood up again to dissuade Yuan Shao from dispatching the whole army,he said:“ it is better to divide the army to attack, if we could defeat and then cross the river completely, otherwise once we were defeated, there was a risk of total annihilation." But Yuan Shao still couldn't agree,Ju Shou then sighed loudly in frustration, while Yuan Shao became angry and simply completely deprived him of his military power.

However, once Cao Cao withdrew from Baima, the Juancheng鄄城 also on the south bank of Yellow River was in danger,Cheng Yu程昱, who was charge in guarding Juancheng at that time, had only about 700 men under his command. Cao Cao was worried about Cheng Yu's safety, so he wanted to add him more troops and allocate another 2,000 people to him, but Cheng Yu refused,he thought that:"Yuan Shao has more than 100000 men,if he really comes to attack the city,there is not much difference between 700 people and 2,000 people,we could not hold it both. And if we have more people,Yuan Shao may be afraid of being attacked form the rear,he will definitely send troops to attack. But if we have fewer people,there is no threat to him,Yuan Shao will not take care of us,the city will be safe."

It must be said that Cheng Yu's grasp of Yuan Shao's psychology is indeed accurate,after Yuan Shao led his army across the Yellow River, he heard that there were only a few hundred defenders in Juancheng,so he really chosed to ignore it and rushed straight along the river bank to Yanjin.

When Yuan Shao arrived in Yanjin, he learned that Cao Cao had just withdraw, so Yuan Shao led his army to temporarily station in the south of Yanjin, and sent Liu Bei and his general Wen Chou文丑 to lead five or six thousand cavalry to continue the pursuit.

At this time, Cao Cao was on the way back to Guandu with Xun You荀攸, Xu Huang徐晃 and others,carrying army supplies. From a distance, he saw thousands of cavalry quickly chasing after them, followed by a large number of infantries.

At that time,there were only 600 cavalry around Cao Cao,everyone saw that the enemy was outnumbered then advised Cao Cao to retreat quickly, but Xun You said that:"It isn't a good time to annihilate the enemy, so why should we withdraw?" When Cao Cao heard Xun You say this, he immediately threw a heartfelt smile.

Cao Cao ordered everyone to dismount and discard their belongings and assets on the road. When the Yuan’s army arrived, they was attracted by these supplies and dismounted and scrambled.

Cao Cao saw the opportunity and ordered everyone to jump on horses and launch a surprise attack, Yuan's army was caught off guard and immediately defeated, Liu Bei saw that the situation was not good,fled quickly,while Wen Chou was killed in the chaos. Cao Cao then smoothly withdrew to the Guandu battalion.

These two battles of Baima and Yanjin,although they were only foreplay for the Battle of Guandu, were fought very beautifully. Whether it is Xun You's “making a feint to the west but attacking in the east",shaking away the flash of Yuan's main force, or Guan Yu's unearthly heroic posture shuttling through the tens of thousands of troops. Whether it is Cao Cao and Xun You's heart-to-heart looking at each other and laugh, or Wen Chou's panicked and doubtful before he died, it all makes people feel so hearty, wonderful and dramatic. And don't forget Yuan Shao's conceited cold eyes, Ju Shou sighing, Cheng Yu's prediction, Zhang Liao, Xu Huang's roar of fighting hard, and Liu Bei's signature running away. These countless wonderful moments, these "superstars", we can't help but exclaim that it was exciting.

However, such a partial victory could not change the fundamental situation of Yuan Shao being stronger while Cao Cao being Weaker,and soon the anxious Yuan Shao led the main force to approach Guandu, and for Cao Cao, the real test may have just begun.