Xiapi — the End of Lü Bu

In 198 Cao Cao and Liu Bei besieged Lü Bu in Xiapi in Xu province and flooded the city with river water. Betrayed by his officers, Lü Bu was captured and executed.

Wandering after Dong Zhuo’s death, Lü Bu seized Xu province from Liu Bei and became a power in the east. In 198 Cao Cao attacked him with Liu Bei and besieged Xiapi. When three months passed and the city still held, Cao diverted the Yi and Si rivers to flood it, and Lü Bu’s exhausted officers bound his adviser Chen Gong and surrendered.

Captured, Lü Bu begged for his life, telling Cao Cao that with himself leading the cavalry and Cao the infantry the realm would be easily won. As Cao hesitated, Liu Bei reminded him how Lü Bu had served and then killed Ding Yuan and Dong Zhuo, and Lü Bu was strangled. His officer Zhang Liao surrendered to Cao and became a famous general of Wei.