In 195 (the second year of Xingping), Cao Cao successfully defeated Lü Bu in the Battle of Yanzhou, and Lü Bu had to lead his troops to defect to the new Xuzhou Mu Liu Bei. A year later, Cao Cao welcomed Emperor Xian of Han to move the capital to Xu County, beginning the era of "feng tianzi to order not to be subordinate". In 196 (the first year of Jian'an), Lü Bu took advantage of liu bei's war with Yuan Shu to attack Xuzhou and lead Xuzhou Mu himself, and Liu Bei was forced to defect to Lü Bu and temporarily stay in Xiao Pei.
However, soon after, Lü Bu was disturbed by the increasing number of soldiers gathered by Liu Bei, and led his troops to attack Liu Bei. Liu Bei's army was defeated, and he had no choice but to turn to Cao Cao. Cao Cao supplied him with food for his troops and continued to garrison Xiao Pei. In 197 (the second year of Jian'an), Yuan Shao had already annexed Heshuo and controlled the three prefectures of Ji, Qing, and He, gradually surpassing Cao Cao in overall strength. In the same year, Cao Cao was defeated by Zhang Xiu at Wancheng, and not only Dianwei was killed, but his son Cao Ang was also unfortunately killed.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Yuan Shao was arrogant in his letter to Cao Cao, Cao Cao was furious, worried that Yuan Shao's powerful forces would annex him, and wanted to fight and felt that he was invincible, so Guo Jia and Xun Yu analyzed the ten victories and ten defeats of Yuan and Cao Cao (Xun Yu's version is "four victories and four defeats") for Cao Cao, and at the same time urged Cao Cao to take advantage of Yuan Shao's attack on Gongsun Zhan to eliminate Lü Bu, so as not to attack Cao Cao once the battle with Yuan Shao began. Cao Cao then prepared to attack Lü Bu. This is the historical background of the Battle of Xia Pi, and it is also another duel between Cao Cao and Lü Bu.
One
Specifically, in 198 (the third year of Jian'an), Liu Bei was once again defeated by Lü Bu, and even his own family members were captured by the other side. Liu Bei, who was extremely depressed, could only choose to join forces with Cao Cao. As far as Cao Cao was concerned, he also had the intention of attacking Xuzhou. Therefore, the two led an army directly to Xuzhou in the winter of the same year. Soon after, Cao Cao captured Pengcheng. Chen Deng, the Taishou of Guangling Commandery, led the Guangling Commandery as the vanguard of Cao Cao and entered Xia Pi. Lü Bu personally led the army and repeatedly fought with Cao Cao, all of which were defeated, so he had to retreat to the city and did not dare to fight.
Thus, unlike the previous situation in the battle for Yanzhou, Lü Bu's side was almost completely on the defensive in the Battle of Xia Pi, not only because Cao Cao's overall strength was enhanced, but also because Chen Deng and other warriors in Xuzhou fell to Cao Cao. Therefore, for Lü Bu, who lacked a foundation, he could only hold out in the city of Xia Pi. Of course, for Cao Cao, he could not continue to stalemate, because to the north was Yuan Shao, who was about to destroy Gongsun Zhan, and to the south was Yuan Shu, who had not yet completely perished. To this end, Cao Cao had to make a quick decision to solve Lü Bu's thorny opponent.
Therefore, Cao Cao wrote to Lü Bu to state his interests for him, and Lü Bu was afraid and planned to surrender. However, Chen Gong strongly opposed it, and under his persuasion, Lü Bu agreed to continue to resist. At the same time, Hanoi Taishou Zhang Yang sulai and Lü Bu were friendly, planning to send troops to rescue each other, but their strength could not be supported, so they sent troops to Dongshi, far away. However, in November 198, Zhang Yang's forces killed Yang in response to Cao Cao, but was soon killed by Mugu, who intended to lead the remnants of Zhang Yang north to unite with Yuan Shao.
Two
In addition to the killing of Lü Bu's friend Zhang Yang, Yuan Shu, who originally wanted to rescue the former, the soldiers and horses he sent were also defeated by Cao Cao. By this time, Lü Bu could be said to be completely isolated. Of course, with the strong city walls, Lü Bu still repelled cao Cao's army that attacked the city many times. In this regard, Cao Cao considered that the momentum of the soldiers had declined, and already had plans to withdraw. However, under the persuasion of Xun Yu, Guo Jia and other strategists, Cao Cao decided to continue a stalemate with Lü Bu.
At the same time, because of the long siege by Cao Cao's army, Lü Bu's subordinates already had the idea of betrayal. Among them, as far as Hou Cheng was concerned, because he was reprimanded by Lü Bu, he simply joined forces with Song Xian and Wei Xu to capture Chen Gong and Gao Shun in December 198, and led his soldiers to surrender to Cao Cao. As we all know, Chen Gong was the first strategist under Lü Bu, and Gao Shun was Lü Bu's confidant. Now, they were all escorted to Cao Cao's camp, which caused Lü Bu to lose his right and left arm.
Seeing this, Lü Bu led his men up to the White Gate Tower, and seeing that the Cao army was besieged and forced to cut, he ordered his subordinates to take their first rank and give it to Cao Cao, but the subordinates could not bear it, so Lü Bu went down to the city and surrendered. Therefore, for the Battle of Xia Pi, it undoubtedly ended the duel between Lü Bu and Cao Cao.
Three
Finally, after Lü Bu saw Cao Cao, in order to save his life, he expressed his willingness to serve the other party. Considering Lü Bu's bravery, Cao Cao could not help but be moved, so he asked his men to loosen Lü Bu's ties. At this critical moment, Liu Bei immediately dissuaded Lü Bu, and the fact that Lü Bu had served Ding Yuan and Dong Zhuo, but in the end both were killed by Lü Bu, showed that Lü Bu was not credible. Under the persuasion of Liu Bei, Cao Cao finally gave up the idea of appointing Lü Bu.
Cao Cao again persuaded Chen Gong, who had been his subordinate, to surrender, but Chen Gong resolutely refused to comply and requested that he be tortured immediately, and Cao Cao could not help but shed tears and took good care of Chen Gong's mother, wife and children from then on. In early 199, Cao Cao killed Chen Gong and Lü Bu and Gao Shun, and passed it on to Xu Chang.
On this basis, Cao Cao took in Lü Bu's subordinates Zhang Liao, Chen Deng's father and son, and then recruited local forces such as Zang Ba, Sun Guan, Wu Dun, Yin Li, and Chang Feng, who were originally dependent on Lü Bu, and entrusted the coastal counties of Xuzhou to them. In this regard, in the author's opinion, the victory in the Battle of Xia Pi not only prompted Cao Cao to obtain the land of Xuzhou and realize the expansion of his own strength, but also allowed him to have no worries after the outbreak of the Battle of Guandu and be able to fight Yuan Shao with all his strength. Conversely, if lü Bu could not be solved with the capricious Lü Bu, it would be difficult for Cao Cao to defeat the powerful Yuan Shao in the Battle of Guandu.