Baima is the primary target of the renewed campaign between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, and the setting for a decisive encounter that brings Guan Yu’s extraordinary martial strength into the conflict. The fighting there turns a contest over a city into a political crisis: Guan Yu’s victory helps Cao Cao’s forces rout Yuan Shao’s army and leads Yuan Shao to suspect that Xuande has betrayed him.

Strategic Setting

In the spring, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao agree to go to war and choose Baima as their army’s principal target. Cao Cao responds by setting out with a force of 150,000 men. The account places the city within a larger struggle between the two leaders, whose forces meet in a campaign in which commanders, numbers, and the ability to break an enemy’s confidence all shape the outcome.

The Challenge of Yan Liang

Yan Liang commands Yuan Shao’s troops. When Cao Cao sees him in the distance, he sends Song Xian, formerly associated with Lü Bu, to challenge him. Yan Liang defeats Song Xian in a single stroke. Wei Xu then asks to fight, but is also quickly defeated. Xu Huang manages to battle Yan Liang for twenty rounds before withdrawing without killing him. The successive failures unsettle Cao Cao’s commanders and establish Yan Liang as a threat they cannot overcome by ordinary challenge.

Guan Yu’s Intervention

Cao Cao concludes that Guan Yu is the one warrior capable of defeating Yan Liang. His adviser Cheng Yu sees an opportunity to make Guan Yu’s action politically consequential: if Guan Yu kills Yuan Shao’s commander, Xuande, who is then with Yuan Shao, may be blamed, leaving Guan Yu with no choice but to remain in Cao Cao’s service.

Summoned to the field, Guan Yu rides Red Hare and carries the Green Dragon. Cao Cao points out Yan Liang, and Guan Yu charges directly toward him. The enemy ranks part before the attack, and Yan Liang is caught unprepared. Guan Yu kills him, takes his head, and returns to Cao Cao carrying it at his reins. The account presents the suddenness of the assault as crucial: Yan Liang’s death leaves the opposing army astonished and unable to respond effectively.

Rout and Political Consequences

Cao Cao’s troops attack while the northern army remains stunned, routing it and taking substantial plunder. When Guan Yu presents Yan Liang’s head, Cao Cao praises the feat as beyond the capacity of an ordinary mortal. Guan Yu answers by invoking the greater strength of his sworn brother Zhang Fei, a warning Cao Cao takes seriously enough to have his commanders record on their collars.

The defeat also alters Xuande’s position. On hearing that Guan Yu’s actions have defeated his army, Yuan Shao concludes that Xuande must have plotted against him. He orders Xuande seized for execution. Baima therefore functions not only as a battlefield objective but as the site of a victory whose consequences travel beyond the city: Guan Yu’s service to Cao Cao becomes the cause of suspicion falling on the brother he hopes to rejoin.