cannot advance to the east due to the strong defense mounted by Zang Ba.After defeating Yuan Shao at the Battle of Guandu in 200, Cao Cao defeated and killed his son Yuan Tan in the Battle of Nanpi. Zang Ba went personally to Cao Cao to congratulate him on his great victory. During the celebration banquet, he offered to move his family to Ye city, Cao Cao's headquarters, effectively as hostages to bound his loyalty. Cao Cao refused, expressing his full confidence in Zang Ba. For his accomplishments in restoring order in the east, Zang Ba was enfeoffed as a marquis of a chief village by and named as general. In 206, Zang Ba put down the rebellion of Chang Xi, his former subordinate, together with Yu Jin. Some time between 206 and 209, he joined Xiahou Yuan and Lü Qian (呂虔) in the quelling of Yellow Turban remnants led by Xu He () and Sima Ju (). After several engagements and heavy casualties on both sides, the two Yellow Turban rebels were killed. Zang Ba was then formally appointed as the Inspector of Xu Province, and his close comrade Sun Guan became the Inspector of Qing Province. Campaigns against Sun Quan After the Battle of Red Cliffs stopped Cao Cao's southern expansion in 208, Zang Ba led a contingent to join Cao Cao's army as he advanced across the Huai River to attack the southern warlord Sun Quan north of the Yangtze River. Zang Ba was the leader in the capture of Juchao (居巢) of Lujiang Commandery (盧江郡). Later, Cao Cao sent two separate forces to suppress Chen Lan () and Mei Cheng (), who rebelled in Lu County (六縣; in present-day Lu'an, Anhui). Yu Jin and Zang Ba were sent to attack Mei Cheng; Zhang Liao, with Zhang He and Niu Gai () as his deputies, were to attack Chen Lan. Mei Cheng pretended to surrender to Yu Jin and then led his men to join Chen Lan at Mount Tianzhu as soon as Yu Jin and Zang Ba left. On the other hand, Zhang Liao was worried that Sun Quan would send his general, Han Dang, with an army to assist Chen in resisting Cao Cao's forces. Han Dang was in charge of defending Huancheng, a major stronghold in Lujiang Commandery at that time, so Zhang Liao sent Zang Ba to ensure that Han Dang could not