The Battle of Yan Province was a battle fought between the warlords Cao Cao and

Lü Bu Lü Bu () (died 7 February 199), courtesy name Fengxian, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of Imperial China. Originally a subordinate of a minor warlord Ding Yuan, he betray ...

for control of

Yan Province Yan Province or Yanzhou was one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China. During the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE), it covered roughly present-day southwestern Shandong, eastern Henan, and the northwestern corner of Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ...

(covering present-day southwestern Shandong and eastern

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

) in the late Eastern Han dynasty. The battle lasted for at least one hundred days with an indecisive conclusion.

Background

In 192, remnants of the Yellow Turban rebels from Qing Province invaded Yan Province and occupied Dongping and Rencheng.

Liu Dai Liu Dai (died 192), courtesy name Gongshan, was a Chinese politician who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Life Liu Dai was from Mouping County (牟平縣), Donglai Commandery (東萊郡), which is in present-day Muping Dist ...

, Inspector of Yan Province, wanted to attack the rebels but

Bao Xin Bao Xin (152–192) was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Life Bao Xin was from Pingyang County (), Taishan Commandery (), which is present-day Xintai County, Shandong. ...

, Chancellor of

Jibei Jibei Kingdom ( zh, 濟北國) was a kingdom of Han dynasty, in present-day northern Shandong and southern Hebei. The kingdom was first established on the lands of Qi Kingdom (Han dynasty), Qi in 178 BC for Liu Xingju, son of Liu Fei, Prince of ...

, advised him against it. Liu Dai ignored Bao Xin's warning, engaged the rebels in battle, and was eventually defeated and killed. At that time, Cao Cao's advisor Chen Gong urged him to take control of Yan Province and secure it as a base for conquering other territories. Chen Gong volunteered to persuade Liu Dai's followers to join Cao Cao. Bao Xin, who was friendly towards Cao Cao, travelled to

Dong Commandery Dong Commandery ( zh, 東郡) was a commandery in historical China from the Warring States period to Sui dynasty. Its territories were situated in present-day Henan, Hebei and Shandong provinces. The commandery was established by the state of Qin i ...

(southwest of present-day

Puyang Puyang is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Henan province, People's Republic of China. Located on the northern shore of the Yellow River, it borders Anyang in the west, Xinxiang in the southwest, and the provinces of Shandong and Hebei ...

) to invite Cao to be the new Inspector of Yan Province. Cao Cao then attacked the Yellow Turban rebels at Shouzhang but failed to defeat them. After that, Cao Cao reformed his army, enforced military rules more strictly, and used incentives to encourage his men. He recognized that the rebels did not have a stable flow of supplies, as they relied on plundering to sustain themselves. Hence, Cao Cao launched surprise attacks on the rebels, prevented them from pillaging, and achieving ultimate victory and forcing the rebels to retreat north. Cao Cao pursued the rebels and defeated them again at Jibei (south of present-day

Changqing District Changqing District () is one of 10 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province, East China, covering part of the southwestern suburbs. It has an area of 1,208.54 km2 and has 578,740 permanent re ...

, Shandong). The rebels, numbering more than 300,000, including 100,000 civilians, surrendered to Cao Cao. Cao reorganized the surrendered troops to form the Qingzhou Corps (), while implementing the ''

tuntian Tuntian (屯田) or Tunken (屯墾) is a type of frontier "military-agricultural colonies" over the history of China. Troops were sent to harsh landscapes at the Chinese frontier to turn uncultivated land into self-sustained, agrarian settler ...

'' system for the people to provide for themselves and the military. In 193, Cao Cao's father

Cao Song Cao Song (died 193), courtesy name Jugao, was an official who lived during the Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was the foster son of the eunuch Cao Teng and the father of the warlord Cao Cao, who rose to prominence in the final years of Easter ...

was killed by

Zhang Kai Zhang Kai (), (born December 1, 1982) is a retired professional basketball player from China. A centre, he played for the Dongguan Leopards of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He was also a member of the Sacramento Kings The Sacramen ...

(), a subordinate of Tao Qian, Governor of

Xu Province Xuzhou as a historical toponym refers to varied area in different eras. Ordinarily, it was a reference to the one of the Nine Provinces which modern Xuzhou inherited. History Pre-Qin era Xuzhou or Xu Province was one of the Nine Provinces of ...

. In retaliation, Cao Cao launched an attack on Tao Qian, sweeping through Tao's lands and slaughtering thousands of Xu Province's population, including civilians. Tao Qian retreated to Tancheng (), where Cao Cao was unable to conquer the city and retreated after his army was running low on supplies. The following year, Cao Cao attacked Tao Qian again, conquering many counties in Langya and Donghai commanderies of Xu Province. Just then, Cao Cao's subordinates

Zhang Miao Zhang Miao (died 195), courtesy name Mengzhuo, was a Chinese politician and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Early life and career Zhang Miao was from Shouzhang County (), Dongping Commandery (), which is in present- ...

and Chen Gong rebelled against him and aided

in taking over his home base of Yan Province. Cao Cao then decided to abandon his campaign on Tao Qian and turn back to retake Yan Province.

The battle

Cao Cao and Lü Bu's forces were locked in a stalemate for at least a hundred days, with Cao on the disadvantageous end. Eventually, Lü Bu abandoned his position because of an outbreak of famine. Cao Cao then laid siege to Lü Bu at Juye, Puyang. Cao Cao's advisors

Xun Yu Xun Yu (163–212), courtesy name Wenruo, was a Chinese military official and politician who served as an adviser to the warlord Cao Cao during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Early life Xun Yu was from Yingchuan Commandery (around p ...

and

Cheng Yu Cheng Yu (141 – December 220), originally named Cheng Li, courtesy name Zhongde, was a Chinese politician who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was an adviser to Cao Cao, the warlord who became the ''de facto'' head of ...

defended the cities of Juancheng, Fan and Dong'e, but this left only two counties with solid defenses, so Cao Cao led his army back. Lü Bu arrived and was unable to take Juancheng by siege so he went west and garrisoned Puyang. Lü Bu re-stationed his forces to the east at Shanyang. Lü Bu sortied out with his cavalry and charged Cao Cao's Qingzhou Corps. The Qingzhou Corps fled in terror and Cao's formations fell into disarray. Seeing the confusion, Cao Cao quickly galloped ahead, but when a fire broke out he fell from his horse and burnt the palm of his left hand. Cao's army halted before they reached camp because most of the generals had not seen their lord and feared for his safety. Cao Cao then strained himself to rouse his men, ordering that siege weapons be prepared immediately so that they can besiege Lü Bu again. Zhang Miao followed Lü Bu and left his brother Zhang Chao (), Administrator of Guangling, to take care of their family at Yongqiu. Cao Cao laid siege to Yongqiu for several months and eventually captured the city, killing Zhang Chao and his family. Zhang Miao pleaded for assistance from

Yuan Shu Yuan Shu () (died July or August 199), courtesy name Gonglu, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty. He rose to prominence following the collapse of the Han central government in 189 ...

but was rejected and killed by his soldiers. At the same time, a locust plague broke out, causing many to starve while some resorted to

cannibalism Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, b ...

. Lü Bu had also used up all his provisions, horse feed, and grain supplies so both sides were forced to withdraw.Chen Shou. ''Records of Three Kingdoms'', Volume 7, Biography of Lü Bu. When Cao Cao later surrounded Lü Bu at Puyang, the influential Tian clan, who were initially on Lü's side, switched allegiance to Cao and allowed his forces to enter the city. Cao Cao set fire to the eastern gate as a sign that he had no intention of reversing course, thereupon he came under attack and was defeated. Some of Lü Bu's horsemen captured Cao Cao but were unaware of his identity. Cao Cao saw a man riding on a yellow horse and lied that the man was him, so Lü Bu's horsemen released him and chased the rider. Cao Cao then dashed through the burning eastern gate and escaped from Puyang.Yuan Wei. ''In the Annals of Emperor Xian''. Within two years, Cao Cao was able to recapture all the cities in Yan Province and defeated Lü Bu at Juye. Lü Bu then fled eastwards to join

Liu Bei Liu Bei (, ; ; 161 – 10 June 223), courtesy name Xuande (), was a warlord in the late Eastern Han dynasty who founded the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period and became its first ruler. Although he was a distant relative of the H ...

, who had taken over Xu Province from Tao Qian.

Aftermath

In 195, Lü Bu turned against Liu Bei, who had offered him refuge in Xu and led to the subsequent

Battle of Xiapi The Battle of Xiapi was fought between the forces of Lü Bu against the allied armies of Cao Cao and Liu Bei from the winter of 198 to 7 February 199 towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty in China. The battle concluded with victory for C ...

in 199, when the allied forces of Cao Cao and Liu Bei launched an attack on Lü Bu in Xu Province. Lü Bu was executed on Cao Cao's order after his defeat.

In popular culture

The battle was featured as a stage in Koei's video game ''

Dynasty Warriors 5 is a hack and slash video game set in China and the fifth installment in the ''Dynasty Warriors'' series, developed by Omega Force and published by Koei. The game was released on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It is based on the Chinese novel ''Roma ...

: Xtreme Legends'' called the "Battle of Yan Province". In ''

Dynasty Warriors 7 is a hack and slash video game and the seventh official installment of the ''Dynasty Warriors'' series. It is developed by Omega Force and published by Tecmo Koei. The story is based on the 14th-century Chinese historical novel ''Romance of th ...

'', the battle is part of the "Battle of Xu Province", which has Lü Bu attacking Cao Cao's main camp. It should not be confused with the "Battle of Yan Province", which deals with remnants of the Yellow Turban rebels.

References

{{Reflist *

Chen Shou Chen Shou (; 233–297), courtesy name Chengzuo (), was a Chinese historian, politician, and writer who lived during the Three Kingdoms period and Jin dynasty of China. Chen Shou is most known for his most celebrated work, the '' Records of ...

. '' Records of the Three Kingdoms''. * Fan Ye. '' Book of the Later Han''. *

Sima Guang Sima Guang (17 November 1019 – 11 October 1086), courtesy name Junshi, was a Chinese historian, politician, and writer. He was a high-ranking Song dynasty scholar-official who authored the monumental history book ''Zizhi Tongjian''. Sima was ...

. ''

Zizhi Tongjian ''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song (960–1127), Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959&n ...

''. 194 195 Yan Province 194 Military history of Shandong