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WARNING: THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY MAY INCLUDE SPOILERS.
Chapter 33 comes with a bit of a feeling of deja vu. Remember about 23 chapters ago when Lu Bu, having just assassinated the wicked Dong Zhuo, found himself facing the armies of four of Dong Zhuo's generals (Li Jue, Guo Si, Fan Chou, and Zhang Ji)? Lu Bu succumbed to what was essentially the tactics of a wolfpack, one attacking the neck while the other goes for the hamstring. Cao Cao is in somewhat of a similar situation, facing off against the remainder of Yuan Shao's once insanely large army, which is now under the command of three sons and a nephew: Yuan Tan, Yuan Xi, Yuan Shang, and Gao Gan.
But Lu Bu, for all his valor and ferocity, was no real strategist. This is why he was overcome by Li Jue and Guo Si, and thus lost control of the Imperial Court, as well as the life of Wang Yun. Cao Mengde, on the other hand, whose commentaries on Sun Tzu's Art of War survive to this very day, was indeed a real strategist, and in Chapter 33 he meets this challenge with deadly efficiency.
Divided by internal dissension following a hotly contested succession to the office of the late Yuan Shao, the Brothers and their Cousin are not really all that capable of defending their lands against Cao Cao, and he devours them one by one, overcoming not only the Sons of Yuan Shao but also their advisors and strategists in the devouring.
Cao Cao is able to divide and conquer the Sons of Yuan Shao because of the mistake Yuan Shao made on his deathbed in naming Yuan Shang, the youngest, as heir in preference over Yuan Tan, the eldest. The capable strategist analyzes the situation as it occurs, and reacts accordingly. This is exactly what Cao Cao does, moving quickly and decisively to put the fallen House of Yuan to an end once and for all.
As a result, Cao Cao, who has firm control of the Central Plains, now has added to his fief all the lands north of the Yellow River, all the way to Manchuria, with the exception of Gongsun Kang, son of Late-Han General Gongsun Du the Warlike, whose territory extends into the Korean Peninsula. In addition, he actually mounts an expedition into the Gobi Desert to subjugate the Xiongnu (predecessors of the Mongols and the Jurchen).
But, ah, what a cost this campaign in the North, and particularly in the desert, has collected from Cao Cao. Guo Jia, probably the most talented strategist in the novel thus far (with only the possible exception of Jia Xu), meets his demise not in battle, but in what is apparently a complete collapse of his immune system. Yet even though Guo Jia succumbs to illness and dies, he reaches out from beyond the grave to hand Liaodong to his Lord. There were few in all his life that Cao Cao relied more heavily upon than Guo Jia, and if Guo Jia had not died young, he might very well have eventually proven a match for Zhuge Liang himself. It might very well have been Guo Jia, and not Sima Yi, who faced down against Zhuge Liang at Wu Zhang Plains, if such a battle would indeed have existed still.
Guo Jia remains one of my favorite characters in the novel, and so I deliver this eulogy for him: "Farewell, Guo Jia! You were the world's worst Christopher Walken impersonation, but one of the world's finest strategists, tacticians, and all around thinkers. But could you foresee that a change in climate would steal your life away? Rest in Peace, Buddy."
Interesting sidenote here, while we're still on the subject of strategists. Ten chapters ago, Yuan Shao possessed a very, very, very impressive collection of advisors in civil and military affairs. Tian Feng, Ju Shou, Shen Pei, Guo Tu, Peng Ji, Xu You, and Xin Ping...if they could have worked together, they would have probably been an unstoppable force. Instead, they all met their demises...seperately, and often with utmost ignominy. Tian Feng slit his own throat, Ju Shou was executed by Cao Cao, Shen Pei died perhaps honorably but was still executed by Cao Cao, Guo Tu was shot in the back with arrows, Peng Ji was put to death by Yuan Tan, Xin Ping died of chagrin (Perhaps a heart attack?). And Xu You, who defected to Cao Cao and delivered into his hands the victory at Wu Chao (Battle of Guan Du) and thus pretty much overall victory in the north, did not escape the Curse of Yuan's Advisors. He makes the mistake of shit-talking Xu Chu, and Xu Chu makes the mistake of separating him from the mortal coil. It could be interpreted that Yuan Shao held the Mandate of Heaven at the beginning of the Coalition against Dong Zhuo (Chapters 5-6), but the deaths of not only himself but all his heirs and advisors proves quite well that any such Mandate of Heaven has departed from the House of Yuan.
So now Cao Cao, having destroyed his childhood friend and greatest threat thus far, Yuan Shao, now turns his ambitious eyes southwards, to the fertile and rich lands below the Great Yangtze River, and the great Battle of Chi Bi looms ever nearer, and with it, the birth of the Three Kingdoms.
Enjoy Chapter 33, and thanks for reading and listening!