In 196, Cao Cao sent Emperor Xian of Han to Xuchang, thus gaining the advantage of holding tianzi hostage to order the princes. Of course, at this time, Cao Cao, because he was located in the land of the four wars, was facing a very complicated situation. In 196 AD, Lü Bu rebelled against the guests and seized Xuzhou from Liu Bei. Prior to this, Lü Bu took advantage of Cao Cao's attack on Xuzhou to enter Yanzhou. Therefore, around the ownership of Yanzhou, Cao Cao and Lü Bu launched a fierce contest. Now, after Lü Bu occupied Xuzhou, he undoubtedly became a major problem for Cao Cao's confidants.
In addition, Lü Bu also allied with Yuan Shu, who divided Shouchun. For Yuan Shu, he also fought with Cao Cao many times. As for Liu Biao in the south, he gained the attachment of Zhang Xiu. It is worth noting that The City of Wancheng, where Zhang Xiu is located, is very close to Xuchang, and Zhang Xiu's overall strength is also weaker than that of Lü Bu, Yuan Shu, Liu Biao and others. Against this background, Cao Cao launched the Battle of Wancheng in 197 AD, trying to destroy Zhang Xiu first and then deal with other princes. Therefore, for Cao Cao, if Zhang Xiu could be eliminated, he would naturally be able to deter Liu Biao behind him, thus creating a favorable external environment for himself to deal with Yuan Shu, Lü Bu and other princes.
One
Specifically, in the first month of 197 AD, Cao Cao led a large army to The Water in the north of Wancheng. For Zhang Xiu, although he had the assistance of Jia Xu, a strategist, his overall strength was not as good as Cao Cao's, so Zhang Xiu did not put up fierce resistance and chose Kaesong to surrender. In this regard, in the author's opinion, in addition to the gap in strength, Zhang Xiu's surrender should also be Cao Cao representing the Eastern Han Court, and if he confronted Cao Cao, he would have been morally inferior.
Of course, no matter what, he could take Wancheng without bloodshed, which made Cao Cao very happy. Therefore, he invited Zhang Xiu and his subordinates to come to the gathering, and everyone drank happily, which can be described as happy and harmonious. However, during this period, Cao Cao occupied Zhang Ji's widow, Lady Zou. Zhang Ji was Zhang Xiu's uncle and was originally a subordinate of Dong Zhuo. After Dong Zhuo was killed, Zhang Ji escorted Emperor Xian of Han back to Luoyang. In 196, Zhang Ji led an army to attack Jingzhou, only to be killed by Liu Biao. After Zhang Ji was killed, Zhang Xiu took charge of his soldiers and horses and attached himself to Liu Biao.
In addition to accepting Zhang Ji's wife, Cao Cao also became close to Zhang Xiu's subordinates, which prompted Zhang Xiu to be suspicious and worried that Cao Cao would harm him. Therefore, Zhang Xiu and the strategist Jia Xu discussed countermeasures. After some planning, Zhang Xiu first invited Cao Cao's bodyguard Dianwei to his camp and deliberately drunk Dianwei. Because it was only against Zhang Xiu, plus the need to guard against Yuan Shu, Lü Bu and other princes, Cao Cao did not lead too many military generals this time. Therefore, Zhang Xiu was ready to solve Dianwei first, and then send a large army to capture Cao Cao.
Two
Upon hearing the news of Zhang Xiu's army, Cao Cao immediately called out to Dianwei. Although Dianwei woke up from his drunken dream, because his weapons had been hidden, Dianwei could only engage Zhang Xiu's subordinates, that is, Dianwei's combat effectiveness was not fully exerted. It is true that Dianwei was a fierce general during the Three Kingdoms period, but it was difficult to fight with two fists and four hands, and Dianwei eventually lost his life.
However, Dianwei's hard fighting still bought a little time for Cao Cao to retreat. In the process of Cao Cao's escape, his son Cao Ang and nephew Cao Anmin accompanied him. Because Cao Cao's war horse had already been killed by Zhang Xiu, cao Ang offered his war horse to his father in a critical moment, which helped Cao Cao get rid of the pursuing soldiers behind. Although Cao Cao managed to escape, both Cao Ang and Cao Anmin were killed by Zhang Xiu's army.
In addition, when Cao Cao's army was in chaos, Yu Ban reorganized the soldiers and horses at a critical moment to maintain order, which deprived Zhang Xiu's army of the opportunity to continue to pursue. Therefore, after the Battle of Wancheng, Yu Ban obtained the title of Marquis of Yishouting. In the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, marquises were mainly divided into four grades: county marquis, township marquis, Tinghou, and Guannei marquis, such as Guan Yu's Hanshou Tinghou, who was also a Tinghou.
Three
Finally, compared to the Battles of Guandu, Chibi, and Yiling, the Scale of the Battle of Wancheng was not very large. However, the impact of this battle is very far-reaching. On the one hand, Cao Cao lost Dianwei, a loyal and fierce general, and it is said that a thousand armies are easy to obtain, and one general is difficult to find. Of course, it was more fortunate that after Dianwei was killed, Cao Cao and Xu Chu would defend themselves.
On the other hand, the eldest son Cao Ang was originally Cao Cao's ideal successor, which was also an important reason why Cao Cao took him to the battlefield. However, after the sacrifice of his eldest son Cao Ang, Cao Cao hesitated between Cao Pi and Cao Zhi, which led to a dispute over the establishment of the heirs. As a result, the fierce competition between Cao Pi and Cao Zhi also caused a huge internal friction within Cao Wei. Of course, Cao Pi still became the final winner, and in 217 AD, Cao Pi was made the prince of the State of Wei by Cao Cao, and in 220 AD, Cao Pi usurped Han and established himself.
In addition, after the Battle of Wancheng, although Cao Cao hated Zhang Xiu, because Yuan Shu had usurped the title of emperor in 197 AD, Cao Cao focused on Yuan Shu, Lü Bu and other princes. By 199 AD, Cao Cao had dealt with the two princes Lü Bu and Yuan Shu. In this context, Jia Xu persuaded Zhang Xiu to surrender to Cao Cao. Because he wanted to fight with Yuan Shao in the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao could only put aside his hatred and accept Zhang Xiu, a prince.
In the fifth year of Jian'an (200), Zhang Xiu participated in the Battle of Guandu, and was promoted to the rank of General of the Broken Qiang. In the tenth year of Jian'an (205), Zhang Xiu followed Cao Cao to defeat Yuan Tan in Nanpi and increased the number of food yi again, a total of 2,000 households. In the twelfth year of Jian'an (207), Zhang Xiu followed Cao Cao to Liucheng to conquest Wuhuan, but before he arrived, he died of illness and was posthumously honored as the Marquis of Dinghou and succeeded by his son Zhang Quan.