Why Lü Bu Was Defeated and Killed

In the previous episode, Liu Bei had just taken Xuzhou, then lost it overnight after Zhang Fei's conflict with Tao Qian's old followers opened Xiapi to Lü Bu.

Lü Bu held Xuzhou. Liu Bei lived at Xiaopei. Yuan Shu watched from Huainan. Each side needed the others at times, and none trusted the others.

Lü Bu Shot the Halberd at the Gate

Yuan Shu had territory and grain, but he feared Lü Bu's military power.

To bind Lü Bu, he arranged a marriage between his son and Lü Bu's daughter. Lü Bu agreed.

With that relationship in place, Yuan Shu turned on Liu Bei. He sent Ji Ling with thirty thousand men to attack Liu Bei at Xiaopei.

Liu Bei was weak and asked Lü Bu for help. Lü Bu understood that if Yuan Shu swallowed Liu Bei, Yuan Shu might next join others against him. So Lü Bu rode to Xiaopei with a little more than a thousand cavalry.

The force was not large, but the name Lü Bu was enough to make Ji Ling hesitate.

Lü Bu invited Ji Ling and Liu Bei to a feast. He set his halberd upright outside the camp gate and said that if he hit the small branch of the halberd with one arrow, both armies must withdraw. If he missed, they could fight.

He drew and shot. The arrow hit.

This became the famous "shooting the halberd at the gate." Liu Bei escaped danger, and Lü Bu showed that he could sometimes mediate through sheer prestige.

It did not last.

Liu Bei Grew at Xiaopei

Back at Xiaopei, Liu Bei gradually gathered more than ten thousand men.

Lü Bu became uneasy. No lord holding a province wants a dependent nearby to grow too strong. Liu Bei was formally subordinate, but his strength was returning.

Lü Bu attacked Xiaopei.

Liu Bei could not resist and fled to Cao Cao at Xuchang. Cao Cao, now holding the emperor, treated him well and had the court appoint him Governor of Yu Province. The title still lacked real territory.

Some urged Cao Cao to kill Liu Bei early, warning that Liu Bei had heroic ambition.

Cao Cao asked Guo Jia. Guo Jia agreed Liu Bei was not ordinary, but argued that Cao Cao had built his name by attracting heroes. If a desperate Liu Bei came to him and was killed, talented men everywhere would fear him. Killing one danger might lose the hearts of many.

Cao Cao spared Liu Bei, gave him troops and supplies, and sent him back toward Xiaopei to restrain Lü Bu.

Yuan Shu Declared Himself Emperor

In 197 CE, Yuan Shu declared himself emperor at Shouchun.

This pushed him against almost every other power.

Yuan Shu had long dreamed of imperial status. He believed the imperial seal, his aristocratic Yuan background, and the weakness of Han meant Heaven's mandate should pass to him. Many warned him that the Han emperor still existed and the name of Han still mattered.

He ignored them.

Chen Gui of Pei, an old acquaintance, refused Yuan Shu's summons even when Yuan Shu held his son as hostage. Chen Gui wrote back that Cao Cao was supporting the emperor and restoring the court, while Yuan Shu was courting disaster by usurping the title.

Yuan Shu also tried to complete the marriage alliance with Lü Bu.

Lü Bu first sent his daughter toward Shouchun. Chen Gui rushed to stop him, warning that marrying Yuan Shu would bind Lü Bu to a rebel. Lü Bu, already resentful that Yuan Shu had once failed to treat him well, changed his mind. He recalled his daughter and executed Yuan Shu's envoy in the marketplace.

Yuan Shu was furious.

Seven Routes Attacked Xuzhou

Yuan Shu sent Zhang Xun and allied with Han Xian, Yang Feng, and others, sending tens of thousands in seven routes against Lü Bu.

Lü Bu used Chen Gui's advice. He wrote to Han Xian and Yang Feng, reminding them that they had escorted the emperor east and he had killed Dong Zhuo. They had all served the state. Yuan Shu, now calling himself emperor, was the real criminal.

He also promised them Yuan Shu's supplies.

Han Xian and Yang Feng defected. When Lü Bu's forces approached Zhang Xun's camp, they attacked Yuan Shu's army from within. Yuan Shu's troops collapsed.

Lü Bu then joined Han and Yang in raiding toward Shouchun, burning and plundering along the way. From the north bank of the Huai River, he left insulting messages for Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu came to the south bank, and the two sides shouted abuse across the water before withdrawing.

Yet in this age, enemies could become partners again. By 198 CE, Lü Bu and Yuan Shu were again connected against Liu Bei.

Xiapi Was Surrounded

Lü Bu sent Gao Shun and Zhang Liao to attack Liu Bei.

Liu Bei was defeated again, his family captured again, and he fled alone.

Cao Cao saw the opening and personally campaigned against Lü Bu. He met Liu Bei on the way, and the two advanced on Xuzhou.

Chen Gong advised Lü Bu to meet Cao Cao outside the city. Cao Cao had come from far away; his troops and supplies were stretched. Lü Bu refused, saying he would wait and drive Cao Cao into the Si River.

When Cao Cao reached Xiapi, Lü Bu fought several times and lost, then withdrew into the city.

Cao Cao sent letters urging surrender, and Lü Bu wavered.

Chen Gong proposed a better plan: Lü Bu should lead cavalry outside while Chen Gong defended inside. If Cao Cao attacked Lü Bu, Chen Gong would strike from the city. If Cao Cao attacked the city, Lü Bu would rescue from outside. Within a month, Cao Cao's supplies would fail.

Lü Bu agreed at first.

Then his wife objected. Chen Gong and Gao Shun did not get along, she said. If Lü Bu left the city, could he trust them to hold it? Chen Gong had once abandoned Cao Cao; why must he be reliable now?

Lü Bu changed his mind and missed the chance.

White Gate Tower

Lü Bu tried to ask Yuan Shu for help.

Yuan Shu first refused, saying Lü Bu deserved trouble after breaking the marriage. His envoy warned that if Lü Bu fell, Cao Cao would next threaten Huainan. Yuan Shu prepared support.

Lü Bu again tried to send his daughter out to Yuan Shu, but Cao Cao had surrounded Xiapi. Lü Bu personally escorted her, failed to break through, and returned.

Cao Cao's troops grew tired and considered withdrawal. Xun You and Guo Jia urged him to press harder: Lü Bu had courage but no strategy; Chen Gong had strategy but was slow. Now was the time.

Cao Cao diverted water into Xiapi.

After another month, Lü Bu was desperate. Inside the city, trust collapsed. Hou Cheng recovered a lost horse, and officers brought wine and meat to celebrate. Hou Cheng offered some to Lü Bu. Lü Bu raged that he had banned wine and suspected Hou Cheng of plotting through drinking.

Hou Cheng, frightened and resentful, joined others in seizing Chen Gong and Gao Shun and surrendered to Cao Cao.

Cao Cao entered the city. Lü Bu climbed White Gate Tower. Seeing the end, he told attendants to cut off his head and offer it to Cao Cao. They could not bear to do it, so Lü Bu came down and surrendered.

Liu Bei Reminded Cao Cao of Ding Yuan and Dong Zhuo

Before Cao Cao, Lü Bu still tried to live.

He said Cao Cao's only worry had been Lü Bu. Now Lü Bu had submitted. If Cao Cao commanded infantry and Lü Bu cavalry, the world could be settled.

Cao Cao was tempted.

Lü Bu saw Liu Bei nearby and asked him to speak. Cao Cao joked that binding a tiger required tight ropes.

Then Liu Bei said: had Cao Cao forgotten Ding Yuan and Dong Zhuo?

Lü Bu had killed Ding Yuan to serve Dong Zhuo, then killed Dong Zhuo to serve Wang Yun. Liu Bei's reminder struck exactly where Cao Cao feared.

Cao Cao ordered Lü Bu executed.

Lü Bu cursed Liu Bei as faithless, and then the greatest warrior of the age died below White Gate Tower.

Chen Gong was also brought out. Cao Cao asked him what had become of his famous plans. Chen Gong pointed to Lü Bu and said that if this man had listened, he would not have been captured.

Cao Cao asked what would happen to Chen Gong's mother and family. Chen Gong answered that a ruler who governs by filial piety does not harm another's parents, and one who governs by humanity does not cut off descendants. Their fate lay with Cao Cao, not with him.

He asked to die quickly and walked out without looking back.

Cao Cao wept, but still executed Chen Gong and Gao Shun. Later he supported Chen Gong's mother and arranged marriage for Chen Gong's daughter.

Lü Bu was gone. His bravery had never become stable political power. After Xuzhou, Cao Cao's position in the central plains became different.

But that difference came from more than defeating Lü Bu. The next episode follows Emperor Xian's eastward return, and the opportunity Cao Cao had been waiting for.