Skirmishes Along The Yellow River
Yuan Shao's general Yan Liang crossed the Yellow River and attacked Cao Cao's fort at Boma, besieging it. Heeding his advisor Xun You's advice, Cao Cao led a battalion toward Yan Ford as a feint to trick Yuan Shao into believing that Cao Cao would attack his camp on the other side of the river. Yuan Shao split off his troops from Liyang to counter Cao Cao's attack. Hence Yan Liang's siege at Boma across from Liyang became unsupported. Cao Cao then struck eastward to lift the siege on Boma. In the ensuing battle, Yan Liang was killed by Guan Yu and Yuan Shao's troops were routed.
Cao Cao then decided to abandon the fort and evacuated its occupants southward. Taking advantage of the situation, Yuan Shao's forces of 6,000 light cavalry led by Wen Chou and Liu Bei set off in pursuit. However, Cao Cao anticipated the attack and prepared a distraction tactic. He ordered his troops to discard their steeds, weapons and other valuables along the way. Yuan Shao's forces were tempted by greed and broke their ranks to grab the valuables lying ahead. Just as they were grabbing valuables, Cao Cao's 600 elite cavalry, which had been lying in ambush, attacked. In the chaos, Yuan Shao's commander Wen Chou was killed and Liu Bei fled. Even before the main engagement at Guandu, these relatively minor skirmishes inflicted a crushing blow to the morale of Yuan Shao's army as Yuan Shao had already lost two elite generals at the start of the campaign.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Guandu
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