Battle of Cangting

Battle of Cangting
Part of the Guandu campaign
Date Fourth lunar month (May 20 - June 18), 201 Location North of Yanggu County, Shandong Result Cao Cao victory
Belligerents
Cao Cao	Yuan Shao
Commanders and leaders
Cao Cao

Battle of Cangting
Traditional Chinese	倉亭之戰
Simplified Chinese	仓亭之战
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Cāngtíng Zhī Zhàn

The Battle of Cangting was part of a mop-up operation undertaken by the warlord Cao Cao after his victory over his rival Yuan Shao at the Battle of Guandu in 200 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. The battle was also mentioned in Luo Guanzhong's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms as the first clash between the forces of Yuan Shao and Cao Cao.

In history

After Yuan Shao's defeat at Guandu, many cities within Yuan Shao's territory north of the Yellow River rebelled and switched their allegiances to Cao Cao. Despite this, Cao Cao was too exhausted from the strain of battle to take advantage of the situation. Yuan Shao still retained a presence south of the river at Cangting (倉亭; north of present-day Yanggu, Shandong), a lone bridgehead down the river east from the battlefields of Guandu.

Cao Cao had originally wanted to follow up his victory over Yuan Shao by turning south to attack Liu Biao and Sun Quan, the latter who only newly inherited his domain from his deceased brother Sun Ce. The strategist Xun Yu cautioned against such action, reasoning that Cao Cao should take the opportunity to settle the matter with Yuan Shao, who was now facing internal turmoil after his recent defeat. Xun Yu also realized the danger of turning the focus to the south at such a time, since the remnants of Yuan Shao's men might band up and attack Cao Cao's rear. Cao Cao then gave up on the idea and continued the campaign against Yuan Shao.

Cao Cao went to collect grain from Anmin (安民; southeast of modern-day Dongping, Shandong). This position was well to the east of his former defences at Guandu, as well as near to Yuan Shao's position at Cangting. Cao Cao may have been drawing supplies from far afield to mount an attack across the river, but the amount he gathered was no match for Yuan Shao's resources north of the river. In the fourth lunar month, in summer, Cao Cao drew up his troops from upriver to attack Yuan Shao's men at Cangting and defeated them. With this battle, Yuan Shao's last units south of the river were eliminated.

Afterwards, Cao Cao returned to his base city of Xu city in the ninth lunar month to give his troops a few months of needed rest. Yuan Shao was able to regather his defeated armies to settle the rebellions in his own domain, soon reestablishing order and restored the status quo ante. In the fifth lunar month of the next year, summer 202, Yuan Shao died in illness and agony over his defeat, leaving his domain to be contested by his sons and a looming Cao Cao.

In fiction

In the popular novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the scarcely recorded battle in Cangting was elaborated on and given new light in Chapter 31. It was the final battle that Yuan Shao, who brought all his sons along, personally commanded. It was also a chance for the tactician Cheng Yu to show off his skills of ambuscade.

After his defeat at Guandu, Yuan Shao became dispirited and uninterested in politics. That was until his eldest son Yuan Tan brought 50,000 men from You province, second son Yuan Xi brought 60,000 men from Qing province, and nephew Gao Gan brought 50,000 from Bing province. Yuan Shao prepared to face Cao Cao again after assembling the new reinforcements, and brought the total of some 300,000 men to camp at Cangting. Cao Cao marched his force nearby and faced the challenge.

The next day, the two armies arrayed themselves against each other. Yuan Shao's youngest son, Yuan Shang rode out to seek a duel to impress his father. Xu Huang's subordinate Shi Huan (史渙) challenged Yuan Shang, but was shot in the left eye and died. Seeing that his son had won the duel, Yuan Shao directed his armies to charge and the two armies made battle. At night, Cao Cao sought conference to discuss the battle plan, and it was then Cheng Yu presented his "ambush from ten sides" plan (十面埋伏之計). He suggested that Cao Cao retreat to the river bank and leave ten brigades in ambush, and lure Yuan Shao's men to the river. Cao Cao accepted and put the plan to action.

At midnight the next day, Cao Cao had Xu Zhu put on the appearance of making a raid on Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao's men responded to the bait and gave chase until Cao Cao's men reached the river. With retreat out of the question, Cao Cao's men turned around and fought to the death, bringing chaos to Yuan Shao's army, who had to turn back after facing such stiff resistance. It was then Xiahou Yuan and Gao Lan emerged out of their ambush to block Yuan's way. The Yuans broke through, but then Yue Jin and Yu Jin appeared before them, followed by Li Dian and Xu Huang. With much casualties, the Yuans made their way back to their camp and prepared food to eat. Just then, Zhang Liao and Zhang He came out of ambush and attacked the camp. Yuan Shao hurried mounted his horse and fled toward Cangting, with the main Cao Cao army chasing him in pursuit. Finally, Cao Hong and Xiahou Dun appeared before him, and the desperate Yuan Shao had to fight his way out.

After the battle, all of Yuan Shao's military horses were dead, the soldier corpses piled across the fields, and blood flowed like creeks. Yuan Xi and Gao Gan were wounded by arrows, and once together, Yuan Shao hugged his three sons and cried. Soon afterwards, he fainted and spat blood ceaselessly. In anguish, he said, "I have campaigned on several occasions, never have I suffered like today! Heaven dooms me! You [sons] shall return to your home provinces and promise to settle matters with Cao once and for all!"