Chapter 10 5. Battle of Guandu

This is a war of great disparity. The stronger side is Yuan Shao.The former leader of the Kwantung Allied Forces had eliminated Gongsun Zan who was entrenched in the north, and possessed the four prefectures of Ji, Qing, Bing, and You, equivalent to occupying more than half of northern China. Put Cao Cao in your eyes. Cao Cao is much more pitiful.All he has, apart from enemies, is the emperor.However, the big Han emperor had no land, no soldiers, and no money.What's more, Yuan Shao wants to eliminate Cao Cao, so where does he need the emperor's approval? Therefore, not only the gentry and landlord class bet on Yuan Shao, but even some people who are not gentry are optimistic about Yuan Shao and not Cao Cao.So Dong Cheng's coup d'etat, Liu Bei's defection, riots in many places in Yuzhou, counties and counties in Xuzhou surrendered to Yuan, Liu Biao secretly instigated rebellion, and Sun Ce attempted a sneak attack, but failed only because he was assassinated.

Kong Rong, the celebrity leader, spread rumors in Xudu, spreading the words that Yuan Shao was invincible, and Cao Cao was almost besieged on all sides.If it wasn't for the strong support of Xun Yu and others, he might not be able to withstand it. In fact the war was fought very hard.In February of the fifth year of Jian'an (200 A.D.), Yuan Shao's army went to Liyang and attacked Baima and Yanjin in two ways.Although the battle ended with Cao Cao's victory, Cao Cao knew that his strength was not as good as Yuan Shao's, so he gave up Baima and Yanjin, and the whole army retreated to Guandu to avoid his edge.

In July, Yuan Shao's army entered Yangwu (now Yuanyang, Henan).In August, Yuan Jun approached Guandu again and set up camp along the sand dunes, which stretched for tens of miles from east to west.Cao Cao had no way to retreat, so he camped against each other, and the war entered a stalemate. At this time, Yuan Shao's army claimed to be in the tens of thousands, while Cao Cao had "less than 10,000 soldiers, and twelve or three wounded", and he himself was exhausted physically and mentally.One day in September, Cao Cao saw that the soldiers transporting food were exhausted, so he blurted out: In fifteen days, I will definitely capture Yuan Shao for you, and I will never let you suffer so much again!

In fact, Cao Cao didn't want to fight anymore, he couldn't hold on anymore.Xun Yu, who was far away in Xudu, wrote a letter saying that Yuan Shao came out with all his strength and put all his eggs in one basket. This is because he is determined to fight Ming Gong to the death!If you can't win the battle, you will definitely be wiped out, and there will never be a third way. So Xun Yu said: Duke Cao, Duke Cao, success or failure depends on one action! Jia Xu also supported Cao Cao.Jia Xu told Cao Cao that Duke Ming was wiser than Yuan Shao, braver than Yuan Shao, employing more people than Yuan Shao, and more decisive than Yuan Shao. The only problem is that he always wants to be safe.In fact, as long as you seize the opportunity and work hard, you will be done in a moment.

What Jia Xu said is right, opportunities come when they are said. First of all, Liu Bei slipped away.Liu Bei is very sensitive politically.Others were optimistic about Yuan Shao, but he was negative. Even when the Cao and Yuan armies were in a stalemate, he already had a premonition that Yuan Shao would be defeated.So he left on the pretext of uniting with Liu Biao. The second is Xu You's defection.Xu You is Yuan Shao's old subordinate. He followed Yuan Shao when he was in Jizhou. He was resourceful and had a lot of military intelligence.So when Cao Cao heard that Xu You was coming, he ran out barefoot to greet him, rubbed his hands and laughed loudly, saying: "Now my affairs are easy to handle!"

Xu You opened his mouth and asked, "Excuse me, how much food does your army have?" Cao Cao replied: At least one more year. Xu You said bluntly: No!Repeat! Cao Cao changed his words again and said: You can still support it for half a year. Xu You sneered: Is it possible that you don't want to defeat Yuan Shao on purpose?Why do you keep telling the truth again and again? Cao Cao knew that if Xu You had not grasped the information, he had seen through his mind.So he smiled and said: It was just a joke!To be honest, it is only enough for a month at most, so what can I do? Seeing that Cao Cao was telling the truth, Xu You revealed his analysis of the battle situation and the solution to it.Cao Cao also acted decisively according to the plan, and personally led the light cavalry to Yuan Shao's grain depot Wuchao (now northwest of Fengqiu, Henan), and burned all the military supplies and logistical equipment.

This directly led to the third thing: Zhang Xi turned against the water. Zhang He is Yuan Shao's general, brave and resourceful, and he also followed Yuan Shao when he was in Jizhou.Cao Cao made a surprise attack on Wuchao, and Zhang Yun advocated for immediate reinforcements, but Yuan Shao followed the advice of counselor Guo Tu, sent light troops to rescue Wuchao, and sent heavy troops to attack Guandu.As Zhang He expected, Guandu failed to capture and Wuchao's entire army was wiped out. Guo Tu was nervous.In order to shirk his responsibility, he falsely accused Yuan Shao of Zhang Yun taking pleasure in other's misfortunes and making rude remarks.Zhang He's front was unfavorable, and there was a fire in the backyard, so he and his subordinate Gao Lan burned the chariot and surrendered to Cao Cao.Cao Cao was overjoyed and said that Han Xin had returned to Liu Bang!So he worshiped Zhang Yun as a partial general and made his capital Tinghou.

Liu Bei ran away, and Yuan Shao lost foreign aid; Xu You defected, and Yuan Shao lost his brain trust; Zhang He rebelled, and Yuan Shao broke his arm.All of these show that Yuan Shao's general situation is gone, and the next thing to do is to wipe out the whole army and collapse. The situation changed fundamentally in an instant. As soon as Zhang He surrendered, Cao Cao immediately concentrated his forces to counterattack according to Jia Xu's suggestion.At this time, Yuan Shao, who had been betrayed by all relatives, completely lost his fighting spirit, and left with his eldest son Yuan Tan to abandon the army.Yuan Jun, who had lost his commander, became prisoners one after another, and the books and treasures that Yuan Shao brought to the army also fell into Cao Cao's hands.

Also seized were letters from courtiers and generals who communicated with Yuan Shao during the war, and Cao Cao burned them all.Cao Cao's explanation is: Yuan Shao was really strong at that time, and I, Cao Cao, couldn't protect myself, let alone everyone!As a result, all counties in Jizhou raised their cities and surrendered to Cao. The battle of Guandu ended. This was a war that determined the fate and future of China at that time.In fact, both Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were extraordinary warlords, and they also had their own plans and views on post-war reconstruction.Of course, Yuan Shao wanted to follow the gentry line and restore the old order representing the interests of the gentry. This was the mission entrusted to him by his class.

Cao Cao wanted to establish a "non-gentry regime", at least he could not follow the old path of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and he had to update his politics.He promulgated a series of decrees after the war, advocating restraining mergers, ruling the country by law, and emphasizing talents, and even put forward the idea of ​​"governing peace and respecting morality, and rewarding functions if there is something", which is proof. The difference between Cao and Yuan lies in this. In other words, Dong Zhuo is the destroyer of the old order, Yuan Shao is the maintainer of the old order, and Cao Cao is the builder of the new order.Therefore, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao wanted to unite against Dong Zhuo, who disrupted order and disturbed the world, but they would part ways after Dong Zhuo, and even fight to the death.

Therefore, the Battle of Guandu was not only a struggle between two interest groups, but also a decisive battle between two classes and two lines.In terms of social status, it is a dispute between the gentry and the Han clan; in terms of ideology, it is a dispute between Confucianism and Legalism.There is no room for compromise here.Yuan Shaosheng, the world belongs to the gentry and Confucianism; Cao Cao wins, the new regime and new order will be established by the Han and Legalists. The same is true. Thus, the calendar of history was completely disrupted.During Dong Zhuo's period, although the gentry and landlord class suffered heavy losses, they could still pin their hopes on Yuan Shao, a "gentry and warlord".Once Yuan Shao was defeated, this glimmer of hope disappeared. It seems that in this era of warlords, the gentry have no chance, even if they turn themselves into warlords at the same time. Those who can dominate the situation can only be people of non-gentry origin. Such as Liu Bei and Sun Quan. Both Liu Bei and Sun Quan are not nobles, but also warlords.But unlike Cao Cao, their regimes were all established in the south.Only in this way can we form a tripartite rivalry with Cao Wei.Therefore, Cao Cao's victory over Yuan Shao was the Han clan's victory over the gentry; Sun Liu's fight against Cao Cao was the south's fight against the north. So why is the South able to fight the North? What is the mystery behind this confrontation?