Rise Of Cao Wei
- Mod: Rise of Three Kingdoms v3.0
- Faction played: Cao Clan
- Year: 194 CE
The tyrant Dong Zhuo has been slain by the dishonourable general Lu Bu at Chang'An and the coalition of the Eastern Pass has come to an end. The court had been rendered ineffective and now the regional warlords vied for power. Cao Cao moved to secure Xu Chang, a beautiful and populous city that was under threat from bandits, as well as secure his own territory around Chenliu, where the people celebrated Cao Cao's kindness. Cao Cao was surrounded by potential enemies on all sides but his position allowed him afforded him many options to restore Han rule to rebellious warlords. In 193, Cao Cao established a base of operations in Yan province and invited his father, Cao Song to come join him from Xu province. However, Cao Song and his family were murdered on the border of Xu province on Tao Qiao's orders who wanted to seize their assets out of greed. Cao Cao mobilised his force and dealt a swift defeat to Tao Qiao.
Despite having a smaller army and unfavourable terrain, Cao Cao was able to soundly defeat Tao Qiao's army in the field and capture a number of cities. Tao Qiao fled Cao Cao like a cowered and barricaded himself away whilst he got Liu Bei to fight his battles for him but with a cowards army, Liu Bei was soundly defeated. As Cao Cao marched to bring the murderer Tao Qiao to justice he received news of Zhang Miao's betrayal in Yan, he and Chen Gong conspired to take Yan for themselves and invited Lu Bu to take part in this treachery. Cao Cao called off his attack of Tao Qiao (who was struck down by the gods for his crimes) and returned to Chenliu to reorganise his army and resupply before taking on the new threat that was Lu Bu.