Now Yuan Shao, whose courtesy name was Benchu, raised his forces and set out toward Guandu. Xiahou Dun, whose courtesy name was Yuanrang, sent a dispatch in urgent alarm. Cao Cao, whose courtesy name was Mengde, raised seventy thousand men to go out and meet him, leaving Xun Yu, whose courtesy name was Wenruo, to guard Xuchang.

As Yuan Shao's army prepared to march, Tian Feng, still confined, submitted a memorial: "Now it is best to hold firm and wait for the times, not to raise a great army in haste, lest we invite harm." Feng Ji said, "My lord now has assembled an army for righteousness and virtue; how can Tian Feng speak such inauspicious words?"

Yuan Shao grew angry and ordered Tian Feng executed. The officers begged for clemency. Yuan Shao said, "After I have broken Cao Cao, I will rectify his crimes openly." and drove the army onward. Banners spread across the plain, and swords flashed like a forest. When they reached Yangwu they made camp. Ju Shu said, "Though our army is large, our courage does not exceed theirs; though theirs is smaller and their courage is stronger, their grain is weaker than ours. They have advantage in rapid battle; we have advantage in endurance. If we can hold on for days and months, they will break on their own. "

Yuan Shao snapped, "Tian Feng does not understand my soldiers' heart. When I return, I will execute him." He ordered Ju Shu chained in prison. "When I have defeated Cao Cao, I will deal with Tian Feng in the same action." He then ordered seven hundred thousand men to encircle on all sides and connect camps for over ninety li.

Scouts learned the truth and reported to Guandu. The Wei troops newly arrived there, hearing the news, were afraid. Cao Cao consulted his advisers. Xun You said, "Yuan Shao's army is large, but we need not fear it. Our soldiers are all elite men; one of ours can stand for ten. The advantage is for rapid battle. If we delay too long, grain will become insufficient, and that is troublesome."

"Your counsel is exactly what I thought," said Cao Cao. He ordered the officers to beat war drums and cry out and advance.

Yuan Shao rode out to meet him and both sides arranged in array. Shen Pei set ten thousand crossbowmen on both wings and five thousand bowmen behind the banners, with one order to shoot together.

After the third beat of drums, Yuan Shao appeared before the front in gold helmet and armor, silk robes and jade sash, mounted on horseback. At his sides stood Zhang He, Gao Lan, Han Meng, Chunyu Qiong, and other generals. Standards and halberd marks were arranged in strict order.

At the opening of Cao Cao's gate cloth, Cao Cao rode out. Xuchu, Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, and Li Dian held him with arms drawn at front and rear. Cao Cao pointed with his whip: "Before the Son of Heaven, I had your office recommended as Great General. Why do you now conspire to rebel?"

Yuan Shao replied, "You call yourself Chancellor of the Han, but in truth you are a traitor to the Han. Your crimes are vast and worse than those of Meng and Zhuo. You now slander innocence while you are already a rebel against the Son of Heaven." Cao Cao said, "I now go against you by imperial command." Yuan Shao barked, "I carry the command in my sash to strike rebels."

Cao Cao, angry, sent Zhang Liao out first. Zhang He rode out to meet him. The two fought four or five dozen passes without giving way. Cao Cao observed and praised silently. Xuchu spurred his horse and sword forward to aid. Gao Lan thrust forward his spear. Four commanders clashed in close struggle. Cao Cao sent Xiahou Dun and Cao Hong, each with three thousand men, to surge together into the formation.

Shen Pei saw Cao's force charging and ordered the signal horns and signal guns raised. Then in both directions ten thousand crossbows and the bowmen inside the wagons surged to the front and shot in disorder. Could Cao's army stand against it? They looked in panic and ran southward. Yuan Shao pressed with pursuing troops and cut them down. Cao Cao's force was badly beaten and withdrew all the way to Guandu. Yuan Shao moved his troops nearer and camped south of Guandu. Shen Pei advised, "Now send ten thousand to hold Guandu. Build an earthen mound before Cao Cao's camp and place soldiers to shoot down into it. If Cao Cao leaves, we can secure this chokepoint and break through to Xuchang."

Yuan Shao adopted this. In every camp he selected stout men, brought iron spades and earth baskets, and together marched to the edge of Cao's camp, heaping soil into mounds. Inside Cao's encampment, soldiers who wished to break out were blocked by Shen Pei's crossbowmen holding the throat roads.

Within ten days they had raised more than fifty earthworks and set high watchtowers, posting crossbowmen there. The Wei troops were deeply alarmed and held shields overhead. At each clapper sounded on a mound, arrows fell like rain.

Cao's men huddled low with shields, while Yuan's men shouted and laughed. Cao Cao called his advisers again. Liu Ye said, "We can make catapult carts to break this." Cao Cao ordered Liu Ye's design, and through the night had hundreds built and set along the camp wall opposite the earthen towers. When the bowmen shot, the men inside pulled in unison. Stone shots flew up wildly. Many of the enemy bowmen were killed. Yuan's soldiers called these engines "thunderclap carts."

From then on, Yuan's men could not climb high and shoot from the ridges. Shen Pei offered another plan: have soldiers dig a tunnel with iron spades through to the middle of Cao's camp, a "sapper company." The Cao troops saw Yuan's diggers making pits behind the earthworks and reported it.

Cao asked Liu Ye again. Liu said, "This means Yuan's army cannot attack openly; it attacks by digging. They want to tunnel through and enter the camp from below." "How to counter it?" Cao asked. "Dig a long trench around the camp," Liu replied. "Then their tunnel is useless." Cao ordered the trench dug that night. Yuan Shao's troops had reached to its edge but could not enter.

For the rest of the eighth month through the ninth month, Cao Cao held at Guandu. Strength declined, grain grew scarce. He intended to abandon and withdraw to Xuchang but hesitated, then sent for Xun Yu by letter. Xun Yu answered:

To resolve Your Excellency's doubts of advancing or withdrawing, I submit this. Yuan Shao has gathered all his force at Guandu and seeks to decide victory and defeat with Your Excellency. Though Your Excellency is now weaker against the strongest enemy, if you do not master him, he will certainly take the advantage. This is the great chance of the age. Yuan Shao's forces are many but cannot use their strength. With Your Excellency's divine valor and clear judgment, why should this not be resolved? Though ours are few, we are better than when Chu and Han opposed one another at Xingyang and Chenggao. Now hold your position and cut off his throat so he cannot advance. He seems depleted, but only then does change appear. This is the time for stratagem. It must not be missed. I beg Your Excellency to judge and decide.

Cao Cao rejoiced greatly at the letter and ordered the troops to hold fast to the end. Yuan Shao's troops withdrew slightly more than thirty li. Cao Cao sent detachments on patrol. A unit under Xu Huang captured a Yuan scout and brought him before Xu Huang. Xu Huang asked about enemy supplies. The captive answered: "Each morning and evening, General Han Meng brings grain to the front. He first sends us out to probe the roads." Xu Huang reported this at once.

Xun You said, "Han Meng has courage only for charge, not stratagem. Send one man leading a few thousand light cavalry by a back path to strike him. He has no grain now if we can cut it, and Yuan Shao will be in confusion." Cao Cao asked, "Who can go?" Xun You said, "Xu Huang can."

Cao Cao then ordered Xu Huang, with his subordinate Shi Huan and his men, to move out first. He sent Zhang Liao and Xuchu to come afterward for support. That night Han Meng moved with thousands of grain carts toward Yuan Shao's main camp. Midway, in a mountain valley, Xu Huang and Shi Huan cut off the way. Han Meng charged in battle. Xu Huang met him and they fought hand to hand. Shi Huan drove off the porters and set the grain carts burning. Han Meng could not stand and turned to flee. Xu Huang ordered the baggage burned completely.

In Yuan's camp, fire rose in the northwest and soldiers were still in wonder and doubt when they heard a broken messenger cry: "The grain was intercepted."

Yuan Shao, in alarm, sent Zhang He and Gao Lan to block the main road. They met Xu Huang as he returned with the grain burning. At the very edge of contact the two were about to engage when Zhang Liao and Xuchu arrived behind. Under pressure from both sides Yuan's force was scattered and the four commanders withdrew to Guandu.

Cao Cao rejoiced and awarded extra rewards. He then set his line before the camp in a cornered formation.

When Han Meng returned defeated, Yuan Shao wished to execute him, but officials begged for leniency. Shen Pei said, "A campaign depends on grain. Never neglect that. Wuchao is the granary. It must be guarded by heavy troops."

Yuan Shao said, "My plan is already made. You may return to Bei and supervise the grain transport; make sure there is no shortage." Shen Pei obeyed and left. Yuan Shao then sent Chunyu Qiong to command Sui Yuanjin, Han Juzi, Lü Weihuang, and Zhao Rui, with twenty thousand men and horses, to hold Wuchao. That Chunyu Qiong was a hard drinker and beloved by soldiers for their fear. He arrived and that day feasted all along with other commanders.

Cao Cao's grain stores now said near empty. He urgently sent word to Xuchang to tell Xun Yu to arrange rapid grain delivery through the night to the front. A messenger left with letters. Within less than thirty li he was seized by Yuan's troops, tied and brought before strategist Xun You. Xun You had once been Cao Cao's friend but was now serving Yuan Shao. Searching the packet, he showed the letter to Yuan Shao:

Cao Cao camps at Guandu and has for long held against me. Xuchang is surely vulnerable. If one body of troops can strike at Xuchang by night, then Xuchang can be taken and Cao Cao captured. As for him now, grain is already finished. This is the moment to act. If we do not strike now, we will later suffer from this chance.

Yuan Shao said, "Cao Cao's tricks are endless. This is only bait to lure us." Xun You said, "If we do not seize this now, we will later be repaid by it."

At that moment came a messenger from Ye Commandery presenting Shen Pei's report. First he spoke of grain movement. Then he said that when Xun You was in Jizhou he had repeatedly plundered the people, and allowed his sons and nephews to levy extra taxes and grain into his own hands. Their sons and nephews now stood in jail.

Yuan Shao shouted, "A low official abusing the people dares still to offer plans before me!" He added, "You were close to Cao Cao before; now you must be taking his money and making a traitorous scheme to profit from me. You should have been beheaded at once. For now I spare your head for a moment. Leave quickly now, and do not let us meet again."

Xun You stepped out, looked upward, and sighed. "Loyal advice that goes against the ear is rarely accepted. A base man has no place to counsel. My sons and nephews have already been harmed by Shen Pei's designs. How can I show my face in Jizhou?" He tried to draw a sword to commit suicide. Those near him took the sword away and begged, "Do not throw your life away. If Yuan Shao does not accept frank counsel, he will later be taken by Cao Cao. You had former intimacy with Cao Cao. Why not leave darkness and join the light?"

Those two lines awakened Xun You. He turned and came straight to Cao's camp. A later poem says:

Benchu's heroic zeal once covered all under Heaven, But at Guandu the stand turned to endless grief. If Xun You's counsel had been followed, Could the mountains and rivers have escaped the house of Cao?

Xun You slipped out in secret and reached Cao Cao's camp. He was caught by the sentries and brought in.

"Carry this word as a messenger from old times," he said, "I am Xun You of Nanyang, and I come to see the General of the Han."

The guards told Cao right away. At that moment Cao Cao had just removed his garments and was resting. Hearing that Xun You had deserted into the camp, he rushed out barefoot without boots. From a distance he saw him, clapped and laughed, and brought him in. He first knelt to the ground. Xun You drew him up and said, "You are Han Chancellor; I am but a commoner. Why thus with my old friend?"

Cao said, "You are my old companion. I cannot stand to place titles above old ties."

Xun You said, "I could not choose a lord. I went with Yuan Shao, but he did not hear my words; when my counsel was ignored he now is in danger. I now leave him and come to this old friend. I ask you to accept me."

Cao said, "If Xun You has come, my matter is resolved. Teach me the way to break Yuan Shao."

Xun You said, "I once advised Yuan Shao to send light cavalry and strike Xuchang from both front and rear." Cao gasped, "If Yuan Shao followed that, then I would have lost."

Cao then asked, "How much grain does Your Excellency still hold?" Xun You said, "As for a year, maybe enough." Cao admitted, "A year at most." Xun You laughed, "I do not believe it." Cao corrected, "Six months, at best."

Xun You rose in resentment: "I trusted in trust, yet I was deceived. Is this what I sought?" Cao replied, "Do not take offense. Your warning is still welcome. Our camp can truly support one month only." Xun You shouted, "Do not hide from me. The grain is already gone!"

Cao asked, "How do you know?" Xun You showed the letter between Cao and Xun Yu and asked, "Who wrote this?" He explained he had obtained it from the captured messenger.

Cao took his hand and said, "Because Xun You came with honest heart, teach me now." Xun You said, "Mengde fights great enemies with only a lean host and does not seek speed for victory; this is the road to death. I have one stratagem. In three days Yuan Shao's one-million-strong host will collapse without battle. Will Your Excellency hear?"

Cao replied, "Speak it." Xun You said, "Yuan Shao's grain and baggage are all stored at Wuchao. Chunyu Qiong guards it. That man loves wine and is careless. Now choose selected troops, announce that Jiang Qi has come with escorts to protect the grain, and at the right moment burn that grain and baggage. In three days Yuan Shao's force will collapse from within."

Cao Cao rejoiced and kept Xun You in honored quarters.

The next day Cao Cao selected five thousand horse and foot and prepared to raid Wuchao. Zhang Liao said, "Where Yuan stores grain, it cannot be without guard. Your Excellency should not go lightly. Xun You might deceive." Cao said, "No. Xun You has come to overturn Yuan Shao's fate. My own camp grain is exhausted and cannot hold. If I do not use his plan, we sit to be trapped by need. If he deceived, why would he stay in my camp? Besides, I have long wished to raid a camp. This must be done."

He ordered Xun Yu, Jia Xu, and Cao Hong to hold the main camp with Xun You. He placed Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan with one force on the left, and Cao Ren and Li Dian with another on the right, as a guard against anything sudden. He sent Zhang Liao and Xuchu forward, Xu Huang and Yu Jin behind. Cao Cao rode in the center with his other officers. They were five thousand in all, carrying Yuan's banners. Each soldier carried bundled straw and firewood. Each rider held a torch in his mouth and reins in hand. At dusk they marched for Wuchao. That night the sky was filled with stars.

Ju Shu was still confined by Yuan Shao. That night, seeing the stars brilliantly set, he asked his guard to lead him to the courtyard. He looked up and saw the Great White Star moving backward, passing between Niu and Dou. He grew alarmed.

He sought immediate audience with Yuan Shao, but Yuan had fallen asleep in drink. When told of urgent astrological warning, Yuan Shao summoned him.

Ju Shu warned: "I have read the sky. The Great White Star travels backward between Niu and Dou, and its radiance enters the sector of Niu and Dou. There will be enemy raiders and robbery. Wuchao is where grain is stored; we must make heavy preparations. Dispatch bold troops now to patrol side paths and mountain roads, or Cao Cao will compute against us."

Yuan Shao shouted, "You are already in guilty standing. How dare you mislead the troops!" He turned to the guard and said, "Who let him out of prison?" He had the officer who had released him beheaded, then had another escort him back to prison.

Ju Shu came out, covered his eyes with tears, and sighed, "Our army will fall within a day or two. I do not know where my body will lie." Later people lamented in a poem:

Loyal advice is often repaid with hostility, Simple-minded Benchu lacks foresight. Wuchao's grain is gone from its roots, Yet he still seeks to hold Jizhou in name.

Cao Cao's army then moved at night. At every Yuan outpost, guards asked what force it was. He answered, "Jiang Qi has been ordered by my command to Wuchao to guard grain." Yuan's men saw their own banners and doubted nothing. From camp to camp, no obstacle stopped the same claim.

At the end of the fourth watch they reached Wuchao. Cao Cao ordered his soldiers to gather straw and set fires around. Commanders and captains blew horns and rushed straight in.

At that time Chunyu Qiong was still drinking with others and lay drunk in his tent. When he heard the noise he woke and asked, "What is this commotion?" Before he could finish, he was hooked and dragged down.

Sui Yuanjin and Zhao Rui were returning after carrying grain when they saw flames rise over Wuchao. They came in haste to aid. They sent a flying report to Cao Cao: "The enemy is at our back. Divide the forces and resist!"

Cao Cao shouted, "Do not worry about the rear yet. Push forward with all strength. When the enemy comes behind you, then turn and meet them!"

Every commander struggled to strike first. Suddenly flames rose in all directions and smoke blurred the sky. Sui and Zhao came to aid, but Cao wheeled back and struck. The two could not resist and were both killed by Cao's men. Wuchao grain was entirely burned.

Chunyu Qiong was captured and brought before Cao Cao. Cao ordered his ears, nose, and fingers cut off. He had him tied to a horse and sent back to Yuan's camp in humiliation.

Yuan Shao was in his tent when he saw fire covering the northern sky and knew Wuchao had fallen. He ran out, calling ministers and officers. They discussed and who should go to rescue.

Zhang He said, "I can go with Gao Lan." Guo Tu objected, "No. If Cao Cao has raided grain, he surely came in person. If he left his camp, the camp is empty and we can strike there first. Once he hears this, he must return. This is the stratagem of Sun Bin: surround Wei and rescue Zhao."

Zhang He said, "No. Cao Cao is cautious. If he goes out, he surely leaves men inside for sudden defence. If we attack his camp but do not take it, then Qiong and the others will be lost and our men too."

Guo Tu replied, "Cao Cao is absorbed in the raid and will leave no reserve men in camp." After repeated entreaty, Yuan Shao decided: Zhang He and Gao Lan, with five thousand, were sent to attack Guandu. Jiang Qi, with ten thousand, was sent to save Wuchao.

Cao Cao had already scattered Chunyu Qiong's men, seized all their uniforms and banners, and made his men feign a routed return. On a side road they met Jiang Qi's cavalry. Jiang Qi's men said they were retreating from Wuchao, and Jiang Qi did not suspect. He rode through.

Zhang Liao and Xuchu suddenly appeared shouting, "Jiang Qi, do not run!" Caught unprepared, he could not avoid it. Zhang Liao cut him down from the saddle. All of Jiang Qi's men were killed. Another officer was sent ahead to report, "Jiang Qi has scattered and returned from Wuchao."

Because of that report Yuan did not send additional troops to Wuchao but added force toward Guandu.

Zhang He and Gao Lan attacked Cao's camp. Xiahou Dun came on the left, Cao Ren on the right, Cao Hong in the center. They assailed three times and were deeply defeated. When reinforcements arrived, Cao attacked from behind, surrounding on all sides. Zhang He and Gao Lan cut their way out and fled.

Yuan Shao gathered the remains from Wuchao and the horsemen fleeing. Seeing Chunyu Qiong's severed ears and nose and hands and feet removed, he asked, "How was Wuchao lost?" The survivors said, "Chunyu Qiong was drunk in bed and could not resist."

Yuan Shao ordered immediate execution. Guo Tu feared that if Zhang He and Gao Lan returned they would clarify the truth. He slandered before Yuan Shao that "Zhang He and Gao Lan, hearing the lord's loss, were in secret happy. The two had long ago wished to defect to Cao. Now sent to Wuchao, they held back intentionally and caused so much loss."

Yuan Shao asked sharply, "How can that be so?" Guo Tu said, "The two have long been inclined to surrender to Cao. Now they were sent to attack; naturally they did not exert themselves."

Yuan Shao became furious and ordered a messenger to summon both at once. Guo Tu first sent ahead: "The lord intends to execute you." The envoy arrived before Gao Lan. Gao Lan asked, "Why does the lord call us?" The messenger replied, "I do not know."

Gao Lan drew his sword and killed the envoy. Zhang He was startled. Gao Lan said, "Yuan Shao believes slander and will surely be captured by Cao. Why should we wait and die? Let us go and submit at once." Zhang He said, "I have held this in my heart for some time."

So the two led their main troops and defected to Cao's camp.

Xiahou Dun said, "Two commanders have come over from Yuan's side. I cannot yet tell true from false." Cao said, "I will welcome them with favor. Even if they hold a divided heart, it can be turned." He opened the gate and commanded them in.

The two cast down their spears and removed armor, kneeling on the ground. Cao said, "If Yuan had listened to these two, he would not have met this defeat. Now they come to me. It is like Weizi leaving Yin and Han Xin returning to Han."

He titled Zhang He as General and Marquis of Tingting. He titled Gao Lan as General and Marquis of Donglai. They were greatly delighted.

By then Yuan Shao had lost Xun You, then Zhang He and Gao Lan, then Wuchao's grain. His army's spirit was shaken.

Xun You urged Cao Cao to advance at once. Zhang He and Gao Lan asked to be vanguard. Cao Cao agreed. He ordered both to lead five thousand for the first strike on Yuan's camp. At the third watch they moved out by three routes. They fought until morning and then withdrew by portions. Yuan Shao's army was split in half.

Xun You then offered one more plan:

Make the drums announce troop movements. Send one route for Suanzao and another toward Ye Commandery. A third should cut Yuan Shao's path of retreat. Yuan will be alarmed and split his forces. When his men move to resist, strike him then and break him.

Cao implemented it with small and large detachments and orders in all four directions. Yuan Shao heard the report in camp: "Cao Cao has split his army. One route to Ye Commandery; one route to Liyang."

Yuan Shao was shocked. He sent Yuan Shang with fifty thousand to defend Ye Commandery. Xin Ming left with fifty thousand for Liyang. Both moved at once through the night.

Cao Cao learned the movement and then sent his large teams in eight columns, all to strike Yuan's camp. Yuan's men had no spirit for fighting and scattered in all directions. It became a great rout.

Yuan Shao could not put on full armor in time. He rode out with only a light robe and a broad scarf. His eldest son Yuan Tan followed behind.

Zhang Liao, Xuchu, Xu Huang, and Yu Jin led the pursuit. Yuan hurried across the river, throwing away carts carrying books, ceremonial vessels, and silk and gold. Only about eight hundred and some riders escaped with him.

Cao Cao's men could not catch him but recovered all abandoned stores. More than eighty thousand were killed. Blood filled the channels, and those who drowned were beyond count.

Cao Cao won a complete victory. He distributed recovered gold and silk to reward soldiers.

Among documents seized from official baggage and records there was a bundle of letters showing secret communication between people in Xuchang and Yuan's commanders. An officer said, "Match each name and execute everyone implicated."

Cao Cao said, "When Yuan was this strong, I alone could not secure myself. How could others keep safe?" He ordered all letters burned and asked no more.

Yuan Shao's army routed and fled, Ju Shu still confined. He tried to run but could not evade. He was captured by Cao's troops.

Ju Shu was brought before Cao. Cao and Ju Shu had once known one another. When Ju Shu saw him, he shouted, "I do not surrender!" Cao said, "Benchu had no stratagem and did not use your words. How do you still persist in dark loyalty? If I had gained you earlier, there would be no concern in the realm."

He kept Ju in honorable custody. Yet Ju stole a horse in camp, wanting to return to the Yuan household. Cao was angry and executed him. Ju's expression did not change to the end.

Cao sighed, "I have killed a loyal and upright man in error." He ordered proper funeral rites and burial at a ford on the Yellow River, titling the mound "Tomb of the Loyal and Righteous Ju."

Later people praised him in verse:

Many eminent men were in Hebei, Loyal and true, they honored the Lord Ju. In the eye, he understood formations; Upward he could read the stars. To death his heart was iron, In peril his breath was like cloud. Cao valued his righteousness, and raised him a grave at once.

Cao Cao then ordered a march against Jizhou.

Weakness is not a vice if it is full of stratagems, while strength falls when strategy is absent. How this turned out will be told in the next chapter.