Battle of Boma

The Battle of Boma or Battle of Baima was the first of a series of battles that led to the decisive Battle of Guandu between the warlords Yuan Shao and Cao Cao in northern China in the late Eastern Han dynasty. Although Cao Cao won the battle and Yuan Shao lost an elite general Yan Liang, Cao eventually abandoned his position in Boma to entrench at the strategically important Guandu.

Background

By the 190s, the Han dynasty had fractured into warlordism. After years of reconfigurations and annexations, northern China was divided along the Yellow River by two warlords — the prominent Yuan Shao to the north and his former ally Cao Cao to the south. As it became obvious that a confrontation was inevitable, the two powers scrambled to gather their forces in defensive positions along the Yellow River.

At the time, Boma (白馬; near present-day Hua County, Henan) laid south of the river across from Liyang (黎陽; northwest of present-day Xun County, Henan), a major base for military recruits. The crossing between Boma and Liyang was deemed to be of tremendous importance as a strategic link in the main north-south route between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao's territories. In the eighth lunar month (September 8 – October 7, 199), Cao Cao personally advanced to the vicinity of Liyang in a probing action and stationed the Grand Administrator of Dong Commandery (東郡太守), Liu Yan (劉延) at Boma. The position at Boma would allow Cao Cao's forces to overlook the vital ford while serving as a first line of defense against Yuan Shao's forces. However, Cao Cao had set his sights on a concentrated confrontation at the topographically advantageous city of Guandu (官渡; northeast of present-day Zhongmu County, Henan) to the south, thus the purpose of defending Boma might only be to delay enemy advances across the river.