Before the war between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao broke out in Guandu, Yuan Shao successfully defeated Gongsun Zan in northern Jizhou, and successfully mastered Youzhou, Jizhou, Qingzhou and Bingzhou, and Hebei was basically in his hands. Yuan Shao's morale was very strong at this time, and he decided to lead 100 thousand soldiers and 10 thousand cavalry against Cao Cao, ready to annihilate Cao Cao in one fell swoop.
Although Cao Cao once succeeded in expanding his sphere of influence by relying on the emperor to make the princes. Later, relying on his own intelligence, he successfully defeated Lu Bu and Yuan Shu, occupied parts of Yanzhou, Xuzhou and Yuzhou, and finally formed a situation of competing with Yuan Shao for northern hegemony. However, there is still a big gap between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao at this time, so if there is a war between them, no one thinks that Cao Cao has the possibility of winning, which is also an important reason why Yuan Shao wants to launch the battle of Guandu.
Tian Feng's proposal, Yuan Shao's counselor Tian Feng found the difference. He thinks that although Yuan Shao won Gongsun Zan, the soldiers who fought in the war are still very tired after a long time, and all regions should also develop. At this time, recuperation is the best choice. What's more, Cao Cao in the north is in the land of four wars, and there are Yuan Shao in the north; There are Liu Biao, Zhang Xiu and others in the south; Southeast Sun Ce is stirring, and many people in Guanzhong are watching. Even Liu Bei, who was temporarily attached to Cao Cao, had infidelity.
Tian Feng thought that Cao Cao would fight the people around him without Yuan Shao. At this time, Yuan Shao, who was ambitious, didn't listen to anyone's advice at all, and wanted to crush Cao Cao with his strong military ability to deter those who were watching. Unfortunately, the ideal is beautiful and the reality is cruel. When Yuan Shao attacked Cao Cao with a great army, everyone who wanted to stir things up around Cao Cao settled down at this time. After all, they don't want to see Yuan Shao and Cao Cao grow up together. For them, losing both Cao Cao and Yuan Shao is the best result, so Cao Cao must not back down at this time, after all, he was weaker than Yuan Shao.
When Yuan Shao attacked Xu Du, when the news that Yuan Shao had sent troops south reached Xu Du, many people in Cao Wei's camp felt that Yuan Jun was unstoppable and had the idea of surrendering to Yuan Shao. But Cao Cao knew from his own understanding of Yuan Shao that he was just an ignorant but ambitious and headstrong man. I feel that if I fight him, I still have a chance to win. Even many of Cao Cao's advisers think that Cao Cao's chances of winning are quite good. Because Yuan Shao had so many troops, it was difficult for Cao Cao to hold so many places. He had to send Cang Ba rate, Yu Jin and others to defend various military arteries, and personally took the main military forces to build fortifications in Guandu to confront Lombardi.
When Yuan Shao attacked Cao Cao, he also thought about uniting with others, but in the end, only Liu Biao responded to his call, and everyone else was on the sidelines. They don't want to attract tigers just after driving away jackals. Just when many people were optimistic about Yuan Shao, Cao Cao succeeded in defeating Yuan Shao, who seemed impossible to defeat, with his own talents, advisers and military commanders. At this time, no one in the northern region could compete with him, which laid a very solid foundation for the later reunification of the north.