Battle of Nanpi

Part of the wars at the end of the Han Dynasty

Date	January to February 205
Location	Nanpi County, Hebei
Result	Cao Cao victory

Belligerents

Cao Cao

Yuan Tan

Commanders and leaders

Cao Cao
Cao Chun

Yuan Tan †

Battle of Nanpi

Traditional Chinese

南皮之戰

Simplified Chinese

南皮之战

Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Nánpí Zhī Zhàn

Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Nánpí Zhī Zhàn

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.

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:

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