Cao Cao's armyCao (Wei)
Cao Cao
曹操
“Villainous Hero of a Chaotic Age”
155–220 (aged 66)
- Rank / office
- Chancellor / King of Wei
- Domain / base
- The Central Plains (Wei)
- Battles in 3D
- 4 battles
Later imagined depiction · Source: Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
I would rather betray the world than let the world betray me.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Rising amid the turmoil of the late Han, he beat Yuan Shao at Guandu and unified northern China. A ruler of both arms and letters, he built up his state with military farms and wrote poetry himself. But he lost to the Sun–Liu alliance at Red Cliffs and never unified the empire. As Chancellor of Han and King of Wei he laid the foundation for the Wei dynasty founded by his son Cao Pi.
Life and battlesGold dots mark battles you can watch in 3D
- 200Jian'an 5
Battle of Guandu
Beat Yuan Shao's great army with a small force and opened the road to unifying the north.
Battle of Guandu Commander-in-chief 3,000 troops Watch in 3D › The hero of a chaotic age who led picked troops himself in the night raid on Wuchao and burned Yuan Shao's grain. He seized mastery of northern China with a small army. - 208Jian'an 13
Defeat at Red Cliffs
His great southern fleet was burned by a fire attack, ending his dream of unifying the empire.
Battle of Red Cliffs Commander-in-chief 100,000 troops Watch in 3D › Villainous hero of a chaotic age, able minister of a peaceful one. With the unification of the empire within reach, one night of fire on the Yangtze cut his dream short. - 208
Battle of Changban
Determined to keep the Jiangling stores out of Liu Bei's hands, he abandoned his baggage, led 5,000 elite horsemen in person and covered three hundred li in a day and a night to catch Liu Bei at Changban.
Changban, Dangyang, Jing Province Commander-in-chief 5,000 troops Watch in 3D › - 216Jian'an 21
King of Wei
Enfeoffed as King of Wei, he laid the foundations of the later Wei dynasty.
- 219
Battle of Mount Dingjun
On news of Xiahou Yuan's death he came in person from Chang'an through the Xie valley into Hanzhong, but Liu Bei held the strong ground and would not fight, and supplies ran out. Muttering "chicken ribs," he abandoned Hanzhong.
Mount Dingjun, Hanzhong, Yi Province 60,000 troops Watch in 3D ›
