Cao Cao ' s invasion of Xu Province Cao Cao ' s invasion of Xu Province was a punitive invasion launched by the warlord Cao Cao against Tao Qian , the Governor of Xu Province , in the late Eastern Han Dynasty . The " casus belli " for the invasion was the murder of Cao Cao ' s father , Cao Song , in Xu Province . Although Tao Qian ' s culpability was questionable , Cao Cao nonetheless held him responsible . The invasion took place in two separate waves in 193 and 194 , during each of which Cao Cao captured a number of towns and engaged in collective punishment of the civilian populace . Background . Cao Cao ' s father Cao Song was living in his hometown Qiao ( 譙 ; present - day Bozhou , Anhui ) after retirement until it became a battle field when the Campaign against Dong Zhuo happened . So Cao Song along with the rest of Cao ' s family moved to Langya ( 琅邪 ; present - day Linyi , Shandong ) in Xu Province . By 193 , Cao Cao had established a base in Yan Province ( covering present - day southwestern Shandong and eastern Henan ) . And he invited his father over to his territory . However , before Cao ' s family could reunite , they were murdered in the border line of Xu Province and Yan Province . There were two accounts of how they were murdered . One was that the governor of Xu Province , Tao Qian , sent his men to kill Cao ' s family because he was defeated by Cao several times . The other was that Tao Qian actually sent people to protect Cao ' s family because he was afraid of Cao Cao . But his men killed Cao ' s family for the great fortune they owned . Regardless of Tao Qian ' s culpability , Cao Cao intended to hold him responsible for the murder of his father . The first invasion . In the summer or autumn of 193 , Cao Cao invaded Xu Province with an unspecified number of troops and easily captured over ten cities . After conquering Tao Qian ' s capital of Pengcheng ( 彭城 ; present - day Xuzhou , Jiangsu ) , Cao Cao killed possibly more than 10 , 000 defenders . Tao Qian fled to Tan ( 剡 ; present - day Tancheng County , Linyi , Shandong ) , which Cao Cao assaulted unsuccessfully . Thwarted and low on rations Cao Cao turned his army around , sacking in the process the counties of Qulü ( 取慮 ) , Suiling ( 睢陵 ) , and Xiaqiu ( 夏丘 ) . The local population was swollen with refugees from the violence of the capital regions . Cao Cao ' s army killed over 100 , 000 civilians , including both men and women , such that the Si River was stoppered up with their corpses . His army took the chickens and dogs for food and tore down the villages into ruins . The second invasion . In the spring of 194 , Cao Cao ' s army returned to Xu Province , and Tao Qian begged aid from Tian Kai in the nearby Qing Province ( 青州 ) . Tian Kai sent Tao Qian a force of some thousand men commanded by Liu Bei . Tao Qian , seeking to open a southern front against Cao Cao , appointed Liu Bei as the Inspector of Yu Province , and transferred 4 , 000 soldiers into his service . Along with Tao Qian ' s officer Cao Bao , Liu Bei encamped east of Tan ( 郯 ) . Cao Cao ' s army plundered Langya and Donghai ( 東海 ; near present - day Tancheng , Shandong ) , destroying all in its path . Returning west , Cao Cao engaged and defeated Tao Qian ' s forces led by Liu Bei . According to one source , Cao Cao conquered the nearby city of Xiangben ( 襄賁 ) after this . Xu Province was only granted reprieve when Zhang Miao betrayed Cao Cao and invited Lü Bu to take over Cao Cao ' s home base in Yan Province ( 兗州 ) . Cao Cao broke off his vengeance against Tao Qian and turned his army back to attack Lü Bu . Aftermath . Liu Bei shifted his alliance from Tian Kai towards Tao Qian and he remained in Xu Province after Cao Cao left . When Tao Qian died of illness later in 194 , his sons Tao Shang ( 陶商 ) and Tao Ying ( 陶應 ) were passed over for governorship by the local elite in favour of Liu Bei . Thus Liu Bei gained his first territory as a result of Cao Cao ' s campaign . Modern references . Cao Cao ' s invasion of Xu Province is featured as playable stages in the seventh instalment of Koei ' s " Dynasty Warriors " video game series .