The Battle of Guandu was one of the three great campaigns at the end of the Han dynasty, and the first great war to determine the course of the realm.
Yet compared with the battles of Red Cliffs and Yiling, this war spanned an exceptionally long time.
From the moment the two sides began their standoff, to the raising of troops for the decisive battle, to the final outcome, it lasted a full year and a half.
The war would begin in the sixth month of the fourth year of the Jian'an Era—four months from now.
But in truth, it should not have begun at this time, for neither Cao Cao nor Yuan Shao was ready.
In the original course of events, when war broke out, Cao Cao had only just defeated Lu Bu and Yuan Shu. To the south, Liu Biao and Sun Ce were both stirring restlessly, while Liu Bei maintained only a façade of harmony with the court. Cao Cao was beset by troubles within and threats without.
Yuan Shao was much the same. Though Yuan Shao had unified the four provinces of Hebei, Gongsun Zan had still held out in You Province for more than a year.
After a year of exhausting travel and campaigning, Yuan Shao himself lacked the strength to begin a war.
Yet at that time, Yuan Shao had destroyed Gongsun Zan, and his confidence had swelled beyond measure. Moreover, Cao Cao had always been Yuan Shao's junior brother before this.
Thus, in Yuan Shao's eyes, destroying Cao Cao was far easier than destroying Gongsun Zan.
So, urged on by advisers such as Guo Tu, Yuan Shao raised a hundred thousand elite soldiers and marched south, directly drawing back the curtain on the Battle of Guandu.
It could be said that the beginning