Battle of Nanpi The Battle of Nanpi happened in the first month of 205 , during the period known as the end of the Han Dynasty . The battle spelled the annihilation of Yuan Tan , one of Yuan Shao ' s sons vying to succeed their father , by their common enemy Cao Cao , one of the serving Three Ducal Ministers . Having already dealt a major blow to another son Yuan Shang , Cao Cao ' s victory at Nanpi gave him uncontested control of the North China Plain , while the remnant Yuan power blocs were chased further north . Background . Yuan Shao , the powerful warlord of northern China , had been decisively defeated at the Battle of Guandu by Cao Cao in 200 . Two years later , he died , leaving his expansive territories of Ji province ( 冀州 ) , Qing province ( 青州 ) , Bing province , and You province to his three sons and a nephew : Yuan Tan , Yuan Xi , Yuan Shang , and Gao Gan . Although the eldest son was expected to succeed his father , Yuan Shang ' s supporters forged a document declaring the youngest son , him , as the successor . Yuan Tan , predictably resentful , rebelled against Yuan Shang after fending off Cao Cao ' s invasion together in 203 . Yuan Tan had wanted to take the Yuan family headquarters of Ye , but Yuan Shang defeated the besiegers chased them three hundred kilometers away to Nanpi , the capital of Bohai commandery ( 渤海郡 ) . The commandery was north of Qing province , where Yuan Tan had held the title of Inspector ( 刺史 ) since his father ' s time . Here he was joined by his former subordinates such as Wang Xiu and Guan Tong ( 管統 ) , but at the same time some of them rebelled against him under Liu Xun ( 劉詢 ) - Yuan Tan ' s foothold in Nanpi could hardly have been stable . In the autumn of 202 , Cao Cao waged war against the Yuans ' ally Liu Biao to his south , part of a strategy to let the Yuan brothers tire themselves out . Taking advantage of Cao Cao ' s apparent absence , Yuan Shang marched his men to Nanpi and defeated Yuan Tan there . Yuan Tan fled south into Qing province , to Pingyuan . Though it was Yuan Tan ' s former domain , Qing province had been slowly encroached by Cao Cao ' s general Zang Ba . So when Yuan Shang followed up his attack by laying siege to Pingyuan , Yuan Tan could not expect much help within his province . Yuan Tan ' s key advisor Guo Tu summarized the situation and proposed an unlikely alliance : Guo Tu ' s proposal was a marked departure from the calls for reconciliation by Wang Xiu and Liu Biao , and though Yuan Tan was initially reluctant to act on this advice , he soon sent Xin Pi to negotiate with his father ' s nemesis . When Xin Pi reached Xiping ( 西平 ) , Cao Cao ' s staging post for his planned attack on Liu Biao , Cao Cao consulted with his advisors on how to react to the current situation . Xun Yu reasoned that Liu Biao was not ambitious enough to be a threat , so the time was right to take advantage of the Yuan family feud before the brothers reunite . Cao Cao agreed in principle , but was unsure of Yuan Tan ' s sincerity in an alliance . Now Xin Pi revealed his true colours , and reasoned that Cao Cao need not worry about Yuan Tan ' s intentions as long as the Yuan brothers remained at odds , since Cao Cao could easily triumph over their armies separately . Cao Cao , now happily convinced , turned his army north and crossed the Yellow River by the end of 203 , also arranging to have one of his sons Cao Zheng ( 曹整 ) marry a daughter of Yuan Tan . Yuan Shang hurriedly led his army from Pingyuan back to Ye in response to the new alliance , while some of Yuan Shang ' s officers like Lü Xiang and Lü Kuang fled over to Cao Cao . The Lüs were rewarded with enfeoffment , but Yuan Tan offered them seals in an attempt to persuade them to join him instead . This was regarded as Yuan Tan ' s first breach of trust , but Cao Cao took no action at this point . Cao Cao made preparations to attack Ye in the year 204 . Seemingly oblivious to this threat , Yuan Shang led another attempt to subdue Yuan Tan . Although Yuan Shang eventually returned with a relief force of 10 , 000 men when Cao Cao actually laid siege to Ye , Cao Cao had no trouble crushing his army and sent him fleeing north to Zhongshan commandery ( 中山郡 ) ; and in September , the city of Ye capitulated . Yuan Tan , now unchecked by his brother , marched north from Pingyuan and took the commanderies of Ganling ( 甘陵 ) , Anping ( 安平 ) , Bohai , and Hejian ( 河間 ) , culminating in an assault in Zhongshan that drove Yuan Shang out of Ji province . At this point Cao Cao , having no more use for the alliance , accused Yuan Tan of not doing his part in the siege of Ye and only sought to further his own ends . The accusation was followed by the cancellation of the alliance , the returning of Yuan Tan ' s daughter , and the movement of troops into Yuan Tan ' s territories at the beginning of 205 . Battle . Yuan Tan pitched camp at Longcou ( 龍湊 ) after his conquests , positioning himself between Pingyuan and Nanpi against Cao Cao . Despite his recent achievements , he had only reestablished himself in the northern part of Ji province for a few weeks at most and could not have held Longcou and Nanpi securely . When Cao Cao brought his army forth to Longcou , Yuan Tan fled the position and retreated to Nanpi at night , where he set up camp on the nearby Qing River ( 清河 ) . Yuan Tan ' s retreat left Pingyuan undefended , and Cao Cao entered the city and established control over its counties . At this time , another of the Yuan clan ' s traditional allies , the Wuhuan tribe to the north under Supuyan ( 蘇僕延 ) prepared a force of 5 , 000 horsemen to help Yuan Tan . Cao Cao ' s envoy to the Wuhuan Qian Zhao ( 牽招 ) made an impressive show of force against a rival envoy at Supuyan ' s court and successfully convinced the Wuhuan king to disband the relief force . In the next month , Cao Cao turned north to attack Nanpi and Yuan Tan came out to fight . The casualties were high on both sides , and Cao Cao contemplated a temporary truce . Cao Chun , the head of Cao Cao ' s Tiger and Leopard Cavalry ( 虎豹騎 ) force , dissuaded him from taking such a decision , apparently aware of Cao Cao ' s difficulties that Guo Tu had pointed out to Yuan Tan : Cao Cao agreed , ordered an aggressive strike , personally beat the drums to lead his soldiers in attack , and routed Yuan Tan ' s army before they had a chance to regroup . Yuan Tan himself fell off his horse while fleeing Cao Chun ' s men , and in a desperate bid to save himself , he turned to his pursuer and pled : " Tut ! Spare me , I can make you wealthy . " It was recorded that he was beheaded before he finished talking . With the death of Yuan Tan , Cao Cao captured Nanpi . Aftermath . As Cao Cao entered the city , he heeded the advice of Li Fu ( 李孚 ) , the newly surrendered Registrar of Ji Province ( 冀州主簿 ) , to not sack the city , and sent Li Fu to announce to the populace that business should carry on as usual . However , Cao Cao was not as merciful towards Yuan Tan ' s chief associates — Guo Tu and the other leaders were summarily executed along with their families , while Yuan Tan ' s own family may have shared the same fate . The fall of Nanpi , combined with the previous capture of Ye , ousted the Yuan clan from the Ji province and hence confirmed Cao Cao ' s authority over the North China Plain . The Heishan bandits confederacy leader Zhang Yan fully submitted to Cao Cao , as with most local officials who previously served the Yuan family . Guan Tong held out in Le ' an commandery ( 樂安 ) of Qing province and refused to surrender , and Cao Cao ordered Wang Xiu , who submitted to Cao Cao after arriving too late to save Yuan Tan , to kill him . Wang Xiu , however , argued that Guan Tong was being a loyal servant to a fallen state , and a pleased Cao Cao pardoned Guan Tong and took Wang Xiu onto his staff . With the two provinces of Ji and Qing under his control , Cao Cao took the advice of his advisor Guo Jia and invited local gentry leaders to join his administration . He also suppressed private feuding and vendetta , while also setting some sumptuary law s forbidding excessive funerary rites , over - extravagant tomb constructions , and the erection of stele s . Further north , Yuan Shang sought refuge with his second brother Yuan Xi , who was the Inspector of You Province . Even in the northern province of You , there were some who saw the turn of the tide . Wang Song ( 王松 ) in Zhuo commandery ( 涿郡 ) and Xianyu Fu ( 鮮于輔 ) in Yuyang commandery ( 漁陽郡 ) pledged allegiance to Cao Cao , while in Yuan Xi ' s headquarters he was faced with internal mutiny by Jiao Chu ( 焦觸 ) and Zhang Nan ( 張南 ) . Jiao Chu succeeded in driving away the Yuan brothers , proclaimed himself the Inspector of You Province in Yuan Xi ' s place , and led many local officials to go over to Cao Cao . Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang fled northeast to their allies the Wuhuan , who soon attacked Xianyu Fu in Gongping ( 獷平 ; northeast of present - day Miyun ) in support of the Yuans . Another source of opposition to Cao Cao was found in Zhao Du ( 趙犢 ) and Huo Nu ( 霍奴 ) , local leaders apparently sympathetic to the Yuans , who attacked and killed the Grand Administrator of Zhuo and the Inspector of You . By autumn 205 , after settling Ji province , Cao Cao came north to destroy Zhao Du and Huo Nu , and relieved Xianyu Fu from the Wuhuan . The Wuhuan remained a threat , but Cao Cao had no opportunity to deal with them as the recently surrendered Gao Gan in Bing province rebelled , perhaps inspired by the hope that the support from the Wuhuan may reverse the Yuan family ' s fortunes . Cao Cao defeated Gao Gan for good in 206 , and it would be late 207 before he had decisively crushed the united forces of the Yuan family and the Wuhuan and become the uncontested power in northern China .