Yuan Shu's life was truly hard now. Though he had previously formed an alliance with Liu Bei and Liu Biao to resist Cao Cao together, this so-called joint resistance amounted to little more than the three powers refraining from attacking one another while striking Cao Cao from three different directions.
But they could not stop Cao Cao from attacking whomever he wished. Old Cao was naturally quite dissatisfied with Yuan Shu. He had been fighting him all along before, and now that he had crossed the river, he was certainly going to fight his way back. Moreover, he intended to win over Liu Bei and Liu Biao, while also showing everyone the strength he possessed when going all out. Wasn't Yuan Shu simply asking to be beaten?
Thus, against Liu Bei and Liu Biao, he merely split off forces to hold them at bay and maintain a defensive posture. But against Yuan Shu, he attacked with everything he had. He crossed the river in early spring and fought all the way into autumn, battling for a full half year and winning battle after battle. He had driven Yuan Shu from Chaisang in northern Yuzhang all the way to Gan County in the south. Beyond that lay Jiaozhi, Shi Xie's territory. Yuan Shu had practically nowhere left to retreat.
And because of his defeats, few of the powerful Yang Province clans that had supported him remained. His civil and military officials were still more or less intact, but they each harbored their own thoughts. Nor did he have many troops left. Yuan Shu knew perfectly well that he was finished.
Still, his circumstances were far better than Yuan Shao's had been. Considering his descendants as well, he ultimately chose to surrender. By then, he had little left: his civil and military