Battle of Tong Pass 潼關之戰

In the 3rd month of the 16th year of Jian'an (211), when Cao Cao sent Zhong Yao to attack Zhang Lu in Hanzhong and had Xiahou Yuan and others go out to Hedong to meet Zhong Yao, the generals of Guanzhong suspected that Zhong Yao meant to attack them. When Ma Chao, together with Han Sui, Yang Qiu, Li Kan, Cheng Yi and others, rebelled and stationed himself at Tong Pass, Cao Cao sent Cao Ren to resist them and told his generals that the troops of Guanxi were elite and fierce, so they should hold their walls firmly and not fight. The biography of Ma Chao records that after his father Ma Teng was summoned to be Commandant of the Guards, Ma Chao, who had taken command of his retainers, allied with Han Sui, joined hands with Yang Qiu, Li Kan, Cheng Yi and others, and advanced as far as Tong Pass. Records, Wei 1 §109–110Records, Wei 9 §39Records, Shu 6 §26–27

In autumn, in the 7th month, Cao Cao set out west in person and encamped facing Ma Chao and the others across Tong Pass. According to the biography of Xu Huang, when Cao Cao worried that he might not be able to cross the Yellow River, Xu Huang said that since the enemy had not separately guarded Puban, it was clear they had no plan, and offered to cross at the Puban ford with elite troops and cut off their rear. Xu Huang and Zhu Ling crossed at the Puban ford by night with 4,000 infantry and cavalry and set up camp west of the Yellow River, and before the trenches and palisades were finished, the enemy general Liang Xing attacked by night with more than 5,000 men, but Xu Huang drove him off. Records, Wei 1 §110Records, Wei 17 §61–62

When Cao Cao crossed north from Tong Pass, Ma Chao fell upon the boats before the crossing was complete. According to the biography of Xu Chu, when Ma Chao charged with more than 10,000 infantry and cavalry and arrows fell like rain, Xu Chu helped Cao Cao into a boat and cut down those clinging to it, held up a saddle in his left hand to shield Cao Cao, and, the boatman having been killed by an arrow, poled the boat with his right hand, so that they barely got across. The Annals of Emperor Wu record that the Colonel Ding Fei released cattle and horses to lure the enemy, and while the enemy fell into disorder seizing them, Cao Cao was able to cross. Records, Wei 1 §111Records, Wei 18 §52

Cao Cao advanced south along the Yellow River building a walled road, and when the enemy blocked him at the mouth of the Wei, he set out many decoy troops, secretly sent soldiers by boat into the Wei River, built a pontoon bridge, and at night set up camp south of the Wei River. The enemy who attacked the camp at night were broken by troops in ambush. Ma Chao and the others, stationed south of the Wei River, offered to make peace if the land west of the Yellow River were ceded to them, but Cao Cao did not agree. Records, Wei 1 §111

In the 9th month Cao Cao crossed the Wei River, and though Ma Chao and the others repeatedly challenged him to battle, he did not respond. When Ma Chao and the others insistently asked for land to be ceded and offered to send their sons as hostages, Cao Cao, following Jia Xu's plan, pretended to agree. The biography of Jia Xu records that Jia Xu said, "Just divide them," and that the defeat of Han Sui and Ma Chao was originally Jia Xu's plan. Cao Cao, who had been nominated filial and incorrupt in the same year as Han Sui's father, met Han Sui horse to horse and, without mentioning military matters, only talked and laughed about old times in the capital; later he sent Han Sui a letter blotted and altered here and there, making Ma Chao and the others suspect Han Sui all the more. The biography of Ma Chao and the biography of Xu Chu record that when Cao Cao met Han Sui and Ma Chao, each on a single horse, Ma Chao secretly meant to rush at him, but when Xu Chu glared at him wide-eyed, he did not dare move. Records, Wei 1 §112–113Records, Wei 10 §83Records, Shu 6 §27Records, Wei 18 §53

Cao Cao fixed a day for a decisive battle. He first sent light troops to provoke the enemy, and after fighting for a long while he loosed the Tiger Cavalry to attack from both flanks, crushed the enemy and cut down Cheng Yi, Li Kan and others. Han Sui, Ma Chao and others fled to Liang Province and Yang Qiu to Anding, and Guanzhong was pacified. Cao Cao explained to his generals that by turning his main army toward Tong Pass he had taken Xihe while the enemy guarded the south, that by offering to cede land he had made the enemy feel secure and fail to prepare, and that he had been glad because the enemy, gathered in one place, could be wiped out at a single stroke. In the 10th month Cao Cao besieged Anding and received Yang Qiu's surrender. Records, Wei 1 §113–117