Kuangting

The battles of Kuangting and Fengqiu was an engagement between Cao Cao's forces and those under Yuan Shu during the year 193. Yuan Shu was soundly defeated and this helped bolster Cao Cao's reputation throughout Yan Province.

Role in games
This battle first appears in Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends where it is in the extended version of the Wu story and is labelled as 'Runan.' It shares the map of Ruxukou and in it, the player controls Sun Ce and his army, who are nominally allied with Yuan Shu at the time. Sun Ce and his men must rescue Yuan Shu's allies in the garrisons, with Zhou Yu preventing ambushes from officers such as Yue Jin and Li Dian while circling to the undermanned east of the Wei formation, trying to take out Guo Jia who's strategies keep putting the allied forces into a bind. Defeating Guo Jia quick enough, will mean that Cao Cao is undermanned when his reinforcements arrive in the northern forest, prompting an all-out assault by the allied forces.

This battle makes an appearance in Dynasty Warriors 9. Unlike before, Cao Cao is now allied with Yuan Shao against Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao takes a more active role within the conflict. Yuan Shao must assess the condition of the Wei officers including the likes of Yu Jin and Xun Yu in order to formulate a plan for success. Capturing the garrisons from Zhou Tai and Han Dang causes Yuan Shu's army to quickly lose momentum, allowing them to be surrounded and picked off one at a time, making it a humbling defeat for Yuan Shao's adoptive brother.

As DLC, this appears in Yuan Shu's new story as well. Yuan Shao plays a less active role in this version only sending a few of his generals as token aid to Cao Cao, who has strong defenses led by Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan. Regardless of how the player plays the stage, Cao Cao eventually outmatches Yuan Shu's army and his allies, causing a general retreat by Yuan Shu back to Shouchun. After the battle, Yuan Shu curses his losses to Yuan Shao, calling him talentless and asking how Yuan Shao keeps getting victories over him, causing Zhou Yu to respond that the victory really belonged to Cao Cao, who is a greater threat then Yuan Shu could have ever imagined.

Historical information
The battle of Fengqiu was fought between Cao Cao and Yuan Shu in the spring of 193[1]  in the late Eastern Han dynasty. Cao Cao emerged victorious against Yuan Shu's forces.

Cao Cao's army was stationed in Juancheng (鄄城). Liu Biao, the Governor (牧) of Jing Province, cut off Yuan Shu's supply route. As a result, Yuan Shu led his army into Chenliu (陳留), garrisoning at Fengqiu (封丘), where the remnants of the Heishan Bandits and the Xiongnu chieftain Yufuluo provided him support. Yuan Shu sent his general Liu Xiang (劉詳) to garrison at Kuangting (匡亭).[2]

When Cao Cao attacked Liu Xiang, Yuan Shu reinforced Kuangting, where the latter was badly defeated. Yuan Shu retreated to defend Fengqiu. Cao Cao subsequently moved to surround the town before Yuan Shu could complete the movement, Yuan Shu fled to Xiangyi (襄邑). Cao Cao pursued to Taishou (太壽) and diverted the waters of the Qu River (渠水) from Xiangyi, cutting off the canal supplying water to the city. After, Yuan Shu fled to Ningling (寧陵) and Cao Cao pursued Yuan Shu retreat towards Jiujiang (九江). In summer, Cao Cao finally withdrew with his army to Dingtao (定陶).