Guo Jia



Guo Jia is an adviser to the warlord Cao Cao in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Bio
Guo Jia was born in Yangdi County. At first, a position was sought under the orders of Yuan Shao, the most powerful warlord at that time in northern China. However, he judged Yuan as an indecisive man who did not know how to make full use of talented people. Thinking that Yuan had little hope of getting big things left at his service. Guo Jia was recommending Cao Cao to Xun Yu. After a discussion about the state of China at that time, they both liked it. At that time Cao made Guo Jia his military advisor. During the campaign against Lu Bu, the strength of Cao Cao won three consecutive battles, forcing his enemy to retreat and quartering within the ciutt of Xiapi. By that time the troops of Cao were exhausted to fight, and this one had the intention to retire.

However, Guo Jia persuaded Cao to move on and give Lu Bu time to recover. Cao followed the advice and at halftime prevailed against his opponent. Cao Cao was facing the forces of Yuan Shao at the Battle of Guandu, and left leaving his home city (Xuchang) barely guarded. Seeing this opportunity, Sun Ce, a gentleman of the southern war, planned to go north and attack Xuchang. Everyone was desperate in front of the news, but Guo Jia predicted that Sun, being proud and impulsive, would be murdered by his own people before reaching Xuchang. True to his prediction, Sun was killed before he could cross the Yangtze River. Guo Jia then won a great victory against Yuan, solidifying his position as the most important gentleman of the Northern War.

After losing the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao soon died. His legacy was the subject of a dispute between two of his children, Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang. Many urged Cao Cao to take the opportunity to end the heirs. However, Guo Jia advised Cao to shift his attention to the south in order to attack Liu Biao in the Jing Province, and let the brothers destroy themselves by battling among them. Cao Cao accepted the advice of Guo Jia and prepared a campaign against Liu Biao. The Yuan brothers actually exhausted themselves, resulting in an overwhelmed Tan Yuan in search of Cao's help. Cao moved his force back to the north and easily defeated Yuan Shang, who fled to Tadun, the leader of the Wuhuan tribes. Cao then conquered Yuan Tan to Nanpi and took control of the Ji Province.

By that time, Cao Cao had the intention of initiating an expedition to the north to eradicate Yuan Shang and wuhuan tribes, but many feared the possibility of Liu Biao attacking from the south. Guo Jia encouraged Cao to quickly embark on the expedition to prevent a resurgence of the power of Yuan Shang. According to the advice of Guo Jia, the army traveled lightly, leaving behind most of the supplies. The resulting rapid attack caught off guard at the Wuhuan at the Battle of the White Wolf Mountain. Tadun was killed and Yuan was exiled in what is now Heilongjiang and Jilin. Guo Jia died of illness, he was given the posthumous name of "Marquis de Zhen". A year later, after Cao Cao was defeated at the Battle of the Red Cliffs, he complained: "If Fengxiao (a stylized name of Guo Jia) was alive, I would not be in this state."