by DragonAtma » Fri Dec 22, 2017 7:43 pm
The way I see it, Yuan Shao USED to be competent, but entered senility (and was firmly there by 200).
He got Jizhou because Han Fu panicked and gave in.
He got Qingzhou because his son Yuan tan defeated Kong Rong -- who's not exactly known for leading armies.
He got Bingzhou because it had fallen apart (and only had 600,000 people or so -- much less than Jizhou had)
He got Youzhou because Gongsun Zan may have been good at combat, but was poor at governing and made an idiotic decision.
As for the later days? Remember that Yuan Shao was given these pieces of advice:
* Ju Shou and Tian Feng saw Cao Cao as a threat and suggested attacking him while Cao Cao was still weak. Yuan Shao didn't do so.
* Liu Bei recommended attacking at the same time Liu Bei took Xuzhou in rebellion; Yuan Shao did nothing.
* Afterwards, Tian Feng said Yuan Shao missed the chance to attack Cao Cao. Yuan Shao ignored that and started the Guandu campaign anyway.
* Ju Shou said that Yan Liang was too impatient to lead the battle of Boma alone; Yuan Shao ignored that, and Yan Liang died in battle.
* While advancing on Yangwu, Ju Shou warned Yuan Shao that leaving Cheng Yu's small army alone was a bad idea, in case things went bad. Yuan Shao ignored that, and stripped Ju Shou of his men.
* Ju Shou said that Cao Cao was running out of grain at Guandu, and it's best to deny Cao Cao an actual battle. Yuan Shao refused that advice.
* Yuan Shao's first food supply, at Gushi was guarded by Han Meng. Xu Huang routed him and burned the supplies.
* Yuan Shao's second food supply, at Wuchao was guarded by Chunyu Qiong. Ju Shou said that Chunyu Qiong was unequal to that and she be reinforced. Yuan Shao ignored that.
* When Yuan Shao heard of the raise, Zhang He urges Yuan Shao to support Wuchao, as the campaign depended on it. Instead, Yuan Shao sent forces to attack Guandu and only sent Wuchao a token force. Surprise, surprise -- Chunyu Qiong was captured, Yuan Shao's second supplies went up in smoke, and the attack on Guandu failed.
* Guo Tu slandered Zhang He and Gao Lan. Yuan Shao believed them, and the two were forced to defect to Cao Cao.
Like it or not, the Guandu campaign was one blunder after another.
Unless I specifically say otherwise, assume I am talking about historical Three Kingdoms, and not the novel.
In memory of my beloved cats, Anastasia (9/30/06-9/18/17, illness) and Josephine (1/19/06-9/23/17, cancer).