Novel scene
Lü Bu Defeats Cao Cao at Puyang 呂溫侯濮陽破曹操
About this event
Lü Bu Defeats Cao Cao at Puyang is the latter scene of the Chapter 11 title of the Romance, "Imperial Uncle Liu rescues Kong Rong at Beihai; Lü, Marquis of Wen, defeats Cao Cao at Puyang," and the opening passage of the Battle of Puyang. It portrays how, while Cao Cao is attacking Xu Province, Lü Bu, allied with Zhang Miao and Chen Gong, raids Yan Province and takes Puyang, and how Cao Cao, turning his army back, is defeated by Lü Bu in succession in the fight on the plain of Puyang and the fight at the western camp, escaping only barely thanks to Dian Wei's desperate fighting. Romance, Ch. 11 §34–36 · 49 · 52–56
Chen Shou's text has the same outline. The Annals of Emperor Wu and the biography of Zhang Miao in Records of Wei 7 record that in the 1st year of Xingping (194), while Cao Cao was away attacking Tao Qian again, Zhang Miao and Chen Gong welcomed in Lü Bu and took Puyang, and that Cao Cao, turning his army back, fought at Puyang but fared badly. The biography of Dian Wei records the fight in which Lü Bu's separate camp west of Puyang was raided by night. Records, Wei 1 §28–30Records, Wei 7 §12–14Records, Wei 18 §60–62
In the Romance
In Chapter 11 of the Romance, an urgent report reaches Cao Cao, who is besieging Xu Province, that Lü Bu has raided and broken Yan Province and taken Puyang. Lü Bu, who had fled through the Wu Pass during the disorder of Li Jue and Guo Si, had been turned away by Yuan Shu, had entrusted himself first to Yuan Shao and then to Zhang Yang, and had then gone to Zhang Miao; Chen Gong had persuaded Zhang Miao that since Cao Cao had gone to attack the east and Yan Province was empty, he should take Yan Province together with Lü Bu. Only the three places of Juancheng, Dong'e and Fan County are held, through the plans of Xun Yu and Cheng Yu, and Cao Cao, saying that if he loses Yan Province he will have no home to return to, sends a reply to Liu Bei and turns his army back. Romance, Ch. 11 §34–37
Lü Bu entrusts Yan Province to Xue Lan and Li Feng and goes to Puyang. Chen Gong proposes hiding troops on the rugged road of Taishan to strike Cao Cao, and also proposes fighting quickly while Cao Cao's army is weary from coming far, but Lü Bu does not listen. On the plain of Puyang, Lü Bu's 50,000, led by eight generals including Zhang Liao and Zang Ba, meet the enemy, and as Zang Ba and Yue Jin contend for more than thirty bouts, Lü Bu charges out with his halberd leveled, and Cao Cao's army is badly beaten and falls back thirty or forty li. Romance, Ch. 11 §43–49
That night Cao Cao, on the advice of Yu Jin, attacks and takes Lü Bu's camp west of Puyang, but while he is locked in fighting with Gao Shun, who has come to guard the western camp on Chen Gong's advice, day breaks and Lü Bu himself arrives leading a relief army. Fleeing north, Cao Cao is blocked by Zhang Liao and Zang Ba; fleeing west, by Hao Meng, Cao Xing, Cheng Lian and Song Xian. Romance, Ch. 11 §50–53
As arrows pour down like a cloudburst, Dian Wei rushes out before Cao Cao, who is crying, "Who will save me?" Dian Wei dismounts, takes a dozen or so short halberds in his hand and tells his men to call out when the enemy come within ten paces, and then again at five paces; then he hurls the halberds, bringing down a dozen or so men, drives off the four generals and rescues Cao Cao. Toward dusk Lü Bu comes in pursuit again, and at the start of Chapter 12 Xiahou Dun comes to the rescue, and the two armies part in a heavy rain. Romance, Ch. 11 §54–56Romance, Ch. 12 §1
Where the Romance differs
How Lü Bu obtained Yan Province: In Chapter 11 of the Romance, after the disorder of Li Jue and Guo Si, Lü Bu went by way of Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao and Zhang Yang to Zhang Miao, and Chen Gong, who had come with Zhang Chao, persuaded Zhang Miao to have Lü Bu raid Yan Province. In volume 7 of the Records, in the 1st year of Xingping, Zhang Miao's younger brother Zhang Chao plotted rebellion together with Cao Cao's officer Chen Gong and the Attendant Gentlemen (congshi zhonglang) Xu Si and Wang Kai, and Chen Gong, who was stationed in Dong Commandery, led his following to welcome Lü Bu and made him Governor of Yan Province. Romance, Ch. 11 §34–36Records, Wei 7 §12–13
The fight at the camp west of Puyang: In Chapter 11 of the Romance, after Cao Cao takes the camp, Dian Wei saves him by hurling halberds as he is being chased by Gao Shun and Lü Bu, and in Chapter 12 Xiahou Dun comes to the rescue. In the biography of Dian Wei in the Records, Cao Cao raided by night and broke the camp around daybreak, but Lü Bu's relief troops pressed in from three directions, and Lü Bu himself fought dozens of bouts from morning until the sun declined. When volunteers were sought to break into the enemy lines, Dian Wei was first to step forward, rose with a dozen or so halberds in hand and drove back Lü Bu's men, and as night fell Cao Cao was able to withdraw. Romance, Ch. 11 §50–55Romance, Ch. 12 §1Records, Wei 18 §61–62
Written by 3KDEX (not yet reviewed) — The tags at the end of each paragraph link to the exact passage in the Records volume or Romance chapter it is based on.