Campaign against Dong Zhuo 討伐董卓之戰

After Dong Zhuo deposed the emperor and set up another, Cao Cao changed his name and went back east, dispersed his family's wealth at Chenliu to gather volunteer troops, and first raised his army at Jiwu in the 12th month, winter, of the 6th year of Zhongping (189). Han Fu, Liu Dai, Kong Zhou, Zhang Zi, Zhang Miao and others, recommended by Zhou Bi and Wu Qiong, whom Dong Zhuo trusted, joined forces to attack Dong Zhuo once they reached their posts, and Dong Zhuo beheaded Zhou Bi and Wu Qiong, saying they had betrayed him. Yuan Shao, who had become Administrator of Bohai, also raised troops in Bohai. Records, Wei 1 §6Records, Wei 6 §10 · 39

In the 1st month, spring, of the 1st year of Chuping (190), Yuan Shu, General of the Rear; Han Fu, Governor of Ji Province; Kong Zhou, Inspector of Yu Province; Liu Dai, Inspector of Yan Province; Wang Kuang, Administrator of Henei; Yuan Shao, Administrator of Bohai; Zhang Miao, Administrator of Chenliu; Qiao Mao, Administrator of Dong Commandery; Yuan Yi, Administrator of Shanyang; and Bao Xin, Chancellor of Jibei, raised troops at the same time, each with a following of tens of thousands, and chose Yuan Shao as leader of the alliance. Yuan Shao styled himself General of Chariots and Cavalry, and Cao Cao served as acting General of Vehement Might (fenwu jiangjun). According to the biography of Zang Hong, Liu Dai, Kong Zhou, Zhang Miao, Qiao Mao, Zhang Chao and others gathered at Suanzao each deferred the oath to the others and put forward Zang Hong, who mounted the altar, drank the blood and swore that they would harbor no divided loyalty. Records, Wei 1 §7Records, Wei 6 §39Records, Wei 7 §37–39

In the 2nd month, hearing that troops had risen, Dong Zhuo moved the Son of Heaven to Chang'an while he himself stayed behind at Luoyang, burned the palaces, dug up every one of the imperial tombs and took their treasures. Wang Kuang, Administrator of Henei, who had stationed troops from Taishan at Heyangjin, was crushed by Dong Zhuo's surprise attack and lost nearly all his men. Hearing that Yuan Shao had won the lands east of the passes, Dong Zhuo killed every member of the Yuan clan, including Yuan Shao's uncle, the Grand Tutor Yuan Wei, and Yuan Shao had Wang Kuang kill Huwu Ban, Bearer of the Golden Mace, and the others whom Dong Zhuo had sent bearing an edict. Records, Wei 1 §8Records, Wei 6 §11 · 46–47

Yuan Shao was stationed at Henei; Zhang Miao, Liu Dai, Qiao Mao and Yuan Yi at Suanzao; Yuan Shu at Nanyang; Kong Zhou at Yingchuan; and Han Fu was at Ye; but because Dong Zhuo's troops were strong, no one dared advance first. Saying that now, when Dong Zhuo had burned the palaces and moved the Son of Heaven, was the moment Heaven was destroying him, Cao Cao advanced west alone intending to seize Chenggao, and Zhang Miao detached troops under Wei Zi to follow him. He fought Dong Zhuo's general Xu Rong on the Bian River at Xingyang and fared badly, with many of his men killed; Cao Cao was hit by an arrow and his horse was wounded, but his cousin Cao Hong gave him his horse and he escaped by night. Xu Rong, seeing them fight hard all day with few troops, concluded that Suanzao would not be easy to attack and withdrew. Records, Wei 1 §8–10Records, Wei 9 §48

The armies at Suanzao, more than a hundred thousand strong, did nothing but hold drinking parties every day and made no attempt to advance and attack. Cao Cao proposed a plan in which Yuan Shao would advance to Mengjin, the generals at Suanzao would hold Chenggao and Aocang and block Huanyuan and Taigu, and Yuan Shu would enter the Wu Pass to shake the Three Adjuncts, all of them raising their ramparts high and not giving battle, but Zhang Miao and the others could not adopt it. The biography of Sima Lang records that the hosts of the lands east of the passes, several hundred thousand gathered at Xingyang and Henei, could not unite and gave themselves to plunder, so that nearly half the common people died, and the biography of Zang Hong records that the armies, none willing to advance first, scattered when their provisions ran out. Records, Wei 1 §11–12Records, Wei 15 §21Records, Wei 7 §39

In the south, Sun Jian met Yuan Shu at Luyang and became acting General Who Smashes the Caitiffs; he suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Dong Zhuo's army east of Liang, then gathered his troops again, won a great victory at Yangren and beheaded its commander Hua Xiong and others. Sun Jian rejected Li Jue, who came to ask for peace, and advanced to Dagu, ninety li from Luoyang, and when Dong Zhuo burned Luoyang as he went into Guanzhong, he entered Luoyang, repaired the imperial tombs and returned to Luyang. Records, Wu 1 §15–20

Cao Cao, short of troops, went to Yang Province with Xiahou Dun and others to recruit soldiers and then stationed himself at Henei. Liu Dai fell out with Qiao Mao and killed him. Yuan Shao, together with Han Fu, wanted to set up Liu Yu, Governor of You Province, as emperor, but Cao Cao refused, and in spring of the 2nd year of Chuping (191) Liu Yu too in the end would not accept. In the 4th month, summer, Dong Zhuo returned to Chang'an, and in the 7th month, autumn, Yuan Shao intimidated Han Fu and took Ji Province. Records, Wei 1 §13–18