Battle of Dushi Ford The Battle of Dushi Ford was a battle fought between the warlords Cao Cao and Yuan Shao in the first lunar month of 200 in the late Eastern Han Dynasty . In the battle , Yuan Shao launched an attack on Cao Cao ' s position on the southern bank of the Yellow River , taking advantage of Cao ' s temporary absence . In response , Cao Cao ' s general Yu Jin raided Yuan Shao ' s encampments in the vicinity of present - day Henan , ultimately discouraging Yuan from making a determined attack . Background . By the end of the 190s , northern China was divided between two contending warlords , Yuan Shao and Cao Cao . Each had assimilated the smaller powers around them and made political arrangements with the larger powers elsewhere , and were increasingly looking at each other for potential gains . Cao Cao had earlier secured the helpless Emperor Xian into his custody , a move that Yuan Shao regretted not to have made . After the successful conquest of Gongsun Zan ' s territories to the north , Yuan Shao turned to the south to prepare for an assault on Cao Cao in the summer of 199 . In response , Cao Cao went on a patrol to the northern front and dispatched several armies to defend positions on the south side of the Yellow River in the eighth lunar month ( September 8 - October 7 ) of 199 . Among these was the placement of Yu Jin at Yan Ford ( 延津 ; north of present - day Yanjin County , Henan ) with 2 , 000 troops . This position blocked Yuan Shao ' s direct approach over the ford toward Cao Cao ' s main defense lines at Guandu ( 官渡 ; northeast of present - day Zhongmu County , Henan ) . After his patrol of the front , Cao Cao returned to the capital at Xu City and made further preparations for the future confrontation with Yuan Shao at Guandu . At this time , Yuan Shu , Yuan Shao ' s cousin who had declared himself " Son of Heaven " , turned over his claim to the throne to Yuan Shao and made his way across Cao Cao ' s territory to reach Yuan Shao ' s son Yuan Tan in Qing Province . Cao Cao sent Liu Bei and Zhu Ling to block Yuan Shu from getting through , and they succeeded , leaving Yuan Shu to die in infamy in the twelfth lunar month . Liu Bei , however , did not return from this campaign and settled his men in Xu Province ( 徐州 ) in open rebellion . Cao Cao was determined to eliminate Liu Bei before his forces could accumulate , but Cao Cao ' s generals remonstrated against any immediate action against Liu Bei , fearing that Yuan Shao might exploit the opportunity to attack Xu City when Cao Cao was away attacking the east . Cao Cao and his strategist Guo Jia disagreed with the generals , saying that Liu Bei would become troublesome if not dealt with immediately , and Yuan Shao would be too slow and indecisive to make a move in time . Cao Cao went ahead with his plan and attacked Liu Bei personally in Xu Province . Tian Feng , the aide - de - camp ( 別駕 ) in Yuan Shao ' s Ji Province ( 冀州 ) , urged Yuan Shao to grasp this opportunity to mount an attack on Cao Cao ' s rear , but Yuan excused himself on the grounds that one of his sons was sick . Tian Feng , in dismay , struck the ground with his staff and said : " Alas , in the critical moment he throws away opportunity for the sake of a sick child . The pity of it , the chance is lost . " However , that is not to say that Yuan Shao did not attempt to make use of Cao Cao ' s temporary absence . The battle . Yuan Shao , using a great deal less than his main strength , attacked Yu Jin ' s position at Yan Ford in a probing action . Yu Jin held his ground firmly and Yuan Shao could not take him , thus the possibility of a rear attack of Xu City was thrashed . To follow up , Yu Jin joined up with Yue Jin and raided Yuan Shao ' s detached encampments along the Yellow River southwest from Yan Ford with 5 , 000 infantry and cavalry . They raided up as far as Ji ( 汲 ; 25 " li " southwest of present - day Weihui , Henan ) , and crossed the river to raid Huojia ( 獲嘉 ; southeast of present - day Huojia , Henan ) to the north . In all , they had set fire to some 30 enemy camps , decapitated several thousand heads , captured several thousand men alive , and forced the surrender of some 20 generals including He Mao ( 何茂 ) and Wang Mo ( 王摩 ) . Cao Cao then ordered Yu Jin to camp at Yuanwu ( 原武 ; present - day Yuanyang County , Henan ) , where he attacked and crushed Yuan Shao ' s detached encampment at Dushi Ford ( 杜氏津 ) , at the extreme flank of Cao Cao ' s position in Henan . Yu Jin was then promoted as Major - General ( 裨將軍 ) , and returned to Guandu accompanying Cao Cao , who returned from his successful campaign against Liu Bei in Xu Province . Aftermath . With these setbacks , Yuan Shao missed an opportunity to take advantage of the situation . His apparent inaction was explained as simple procrastination in the major biographies in the " Book of the Later Han " and the " Records of Three Kingdoms " , but it is very possible that Yu Jin ' s stiff resistance delayed Yuan Shao ' s advance and gave Yuan Shao more pause . Now that Cao Cao was back in Guandu , the opportunity to attack Cao Cao ' s weakness had passed . Tian Feng reverted his previous plan and advocated a policy of caution against Cao Cao . Holding fast the mountains and the rivers , Tian Feng reasoned that Yuan Shao could fight a battle of agriculture to outlast Cao Cao while exhausting the enemy with crack troops from multiple directions , thus winning the battle in two years . Yuan Shao had the idea of a decisive battle and would not use Tian Feng ' s plan . When Tian Feng continued his remonstrances , Yuan Shao had him imprisoned on charges of demoralizing the army . Cao Cao was said to have been delighted at the news . With his mind set on an all - out offence , Yuan Shao had Chen Lin draft a propaganda pamphlet detailing the rationale of war and Cao Cao ' s various crimes to be distributed throughout the country . In the second lunar month , open hostilities broke out at the Battle of Boma as Yuan Shao brought his army to the forward base of Liyang ( 黎陽 ; northwest of present - day Xun County , Henan ) .