Battle of Xu Province

Background
Cao Cao had just been given Yan province and had stabilised it by defeating the remnants of the Yellow Turbans there. At this time, his father, Cao Song was taking refuge in Langye in Xu province to escape the chaos raging throughout the empire. Because Cao Cao had settled in Yan, he invited his father to relocate to Yan also.

In the summer of 193 A.D., Cao Song travelled through Xu with a baggage train of more than 100 carts.

The Inspector of Xu province, Tao Qian had men garrisoned at Yinping. These men attacked Cao Song, murdering both him and his son, Cao De, and robbed them of their belongings.

Accounts of Tao Qian's culpability vary depending on the source:
 * HHS 73/63 has, a detachment of Tao Qian's troops not under his direct command.
 * Wu Shu says, Tao Qian sent 200 men to escort Cao Song, but they betrayed and murdered Cao Song.
 * Wei-Jin says, Tao Qian sent several thousand troops to assault Cao Song.

But whatever the case, Cao Cao definitely blamed Tao Qian for his father's death.

The Battle
In the autumn of 193 A.D. Cao Cao attacked Xu province. Cao Cao stormed ten cities before meeting Tao Qian's forces at Pengcheng. Tao Qian was badly defeated and Cao Cao hounded him east to Tan city, where Tao Qian took refuge.

Cao Cao was unable to effectively siege Tan city and directed his wrath on the neighbouring counties instead, destroying: Qulü, Suiling and Xiaqiu; massacring the entire populace wherever he went. Unable to sate his vengeance, Cao Cao had to return to Yan province to make preparations for a proper attack.

Cao Cao's Second Invasion of Xu
Following his narrow survival the previous year, Tao Qian looked north for support.

Tian Kai, the Inspector of Qing province appointed by Gongsun Zan, had been fighting continuously against Yuan Shao for the past two years alongside Liu Bei. The fighting had reached a stalemate and a truce had been arranged, so Liu Bei elected to lead his forces to Tao Qian's aid, as his situation was more urgent.

Liu Bei only had a few thousand men under his command at this time, so Tao Qian gave him a further 4,000 more from Danyang to bolster his forces and gave him the garrison at Xiaopei.

Cao Cao returned in force, seizing the northern part of Xu province, Langye and Donghai commanderies. He then turned his forces back south and defeated Liu Bei just east of Tan city.

Tao Qian was frightened and wanted to flee, but at that moment a rebellion broke out in Yan province, forcing Cao Cao to give up his attack and retreat.

Tao Qian had narrowly avoided destruction, twice, but he soon became gravely ill, dying in Jan 195 A.D. Just before his death, Tao Qian told his Aide-de-Camp, Mi Zhu to offer Inspectorship of Xu to Liu Bei, which he accepted.