The Battle of Fengqiu was a battle between Cao Cao

Cao Cao

Cao Cao was a warlord and the penultimate chancellor of the Eastern Han Dynasty who rose to great power during the dynasty's final years. As one of the central figures of the Three Kingdoms period, he laid the foundations for what was to become the state of Cao Wei and was posthumously titled...

 and Yuan Shu

Yuan Shu

Yuan Shu was a warlord during the late Han Dynasty era of Chinese history. He rose to prominence following the collapse of the imperial court in 189. He was said to be a younger cousin of the warlord Yuan Shao, but was actually Yuan Shao's younger half-brother...

 in the spring of 193 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms

Three Kingdoms

The Three Kingdoms period was a period in Chinese history, part of an era of disunity called the "Six Dynasties" following immediately the loss of de facto power of the Han Dynasty rulers. In a strict academic sense it refers to the period between the foundation of the state of Wei in 220 and the...

 period of Chinese history

History of China

Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...

. Cao Cao emerged victorious against Yuan Shu's forces.

The battle

Cao Cao's army at Juancheng numbered 30,000 troops. Liu Biao

Liu Biao

Liu Biao , style name Jingsheng , was a warlord and the governor of Jing Province during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He was a member of the extended family of the Han Dynasty emperors...

 cut off Yuan Shu's grain supply. As a result, Yuan Shu led his army of 10,000 into Chenliu, garrisoning Fengqiu, where the remnants of the Heishan bandits

Heishan bandits

The Heishan bandits or Black Mountain bandits was a bandit confederacy in the Taihang Mountain range during the later years of the Eastern Han Dynasty in China...

 and Southern Xiongnu

Xiongnu

The Xiongnu were ancient nomadic-based people that formed a state or confederation north of the agriculture-based empire of the Han Dynasty. Most of the information on the Xiongnu comes from Chinese sources...

 leader Yufuluo provided him aid. The Heishan bandits and Xiongnu opposed him. Yuan Shu sent his general Liu Xiang to garrison Kuangting. When Cao Cao attacked Liu Xiang, Yuan Shu provided him with reinforcements, both sides battled and Yuan Shu was badly defeated. Yuan Shu retreated to defend Fengqiu. Then Cao Cao subsequently moved to surround the town before he could complete the movement, Yuan Shu fled to Xiangyi. Cao Cao pursued to Taishou and diverted the waters of the Qu River from Xiangyi, cutting off the canal supplying water to the city. After, Yuan Shu fled to Ningling and Cao Cao pursued Yuan Shu retreat towards Jiujiang. In summer, Cao Cao finally withdrew with his army to Dingtao.