Hefei

	Battle of Hefei
Date	208; August 215
Location	Hefei, Yang Province (east of modern day Hefei, Anhui)
Result	Victory for Wei, Taishi Ci is slain (208); Victory for Wei, Wu retreats. (215)
Forces
Wei	Wu
Commanders
Zhang Liao(208, 215); Li Dian (215); Yue Jin (215)	Sun Quan

The Battle of Hefei (合肥の戦い, rōmaji: Gappi no Tatakai) refers to a series of battles fought at this location. The Dynasty Warriors series focuses on the second battle though events from the first battle are occasionally merged together. During the second battle, Zhang Liao's undermanned army is heavily surrounded by Sun Quan's massive army. Charging with only 800 soldiers, Zhang Liao punched a hole into the Wu army, killing several generals and soldiers, and inflicting a heavy morale loss to the Wu forces. Upon Cao Cao's arrival with reinforcements, the Battle of Ruxukou takes place shortly after.

Role in Games[]

Dynasty Warriors[]

The Dynasty Warriors series features a series of battles with various twists and turns. Zhang Liao is prominently featured, often returning after defeat in Hyper mode. He sometimes charges the main camp after destroying a bridge, putting Wu at an immediate disadvantage. Wei is reinforced by warriors such as Xu Huang, Cao Ren, and Cao Cao.

Gan Ning's first battle for Wu is when he appears in the middle of the battle on a ship with high troop morale, causing panic in the Wei ranks. In Dynasty Warriors 3, if Sun Quan makes it into the Wei headquarters, the battle ends in a loss for Wei.

In Dynasty Warriors 4, an altered version of the battle is available with the goal to defeat Sun Jian, led by Yuan Shao, Dong Zhuo, Lu Bu, or Zhang Jiao. Another version has Sun Ce and Zhou Yu rescue the Qiao Sisters from Dong Zhuo's army.

The stage's version of He Fei Castle appears in an incomplete form, hinting and foreshadowing future battles. In Dynasty Warriors 4: Xtreme Legends, Sun Quan is ambushed at the front of the castle and must escape through Gu Li's advice.

Hefei returns in Dynasty Warriors 6 with four scenarios. The Wei version requires defeating all Wu officers, the Wu scenario requires capturing the West and East castles, and the last scenario involves Sun Jian and his forces confronting Cao Cao at Hefei.

In Dynasty Warriors 7, the battle between Wei and Wu forces is split into two parts. In the first half, Zhang Liao and his comrades confront enemy vanguards, while in the second half, they plan to catch Sun Quan off guard. Yue Jin volunteers to lure out the main unit of the Wu army led by Ling Tong and Lu Meng. Gan Ning leads the enemy's secondary unit to assault the undermanned Hefei castle. Sun Quan retreats east until he finds the bridge destroyed by Li Dian. Zhang Liao manages to jump over the bridge to safety but manages to cut down Taishi Ci.

The Wei side of the battle is divided into two parts, with Ling Tong and Gan Ning having a contest to see who can defeat the most enemies. The game comes to a head as ambushes severely damage the Wu forces across the battlefield. Zhang Liao jumps into the garrison and orders an arrow attack on Sun Quan, while Taishi Ci sacrifices himself to stop the arrows. Lu Meng and Ling Tong escort Sun Quan to safety, while Cao Cao leads the main Wei army.

In Dynasty Warriors 8, no reinforcements are actually brought to aid the undermanned defense in the Wei scenario. Initially, Yue Jin and Li Dian refuse to attack but eventually join Zhang Liao's charge and fight Ling Tong and Gan Ning. A mission to destroy the Xiaoshi bridge appears, and Zhou Tai stands as a final obstacle.

Warriors Orochi[]

In the story of Warriors Orochi 2, Da Ji watches humans fight amongst themselves. Zhuge Liang is given the task to take He Fei, facing Sun Jian's army with Zhou Yu as the strategist. Zhuge Liang orders the army to destroy either the north or southern Wu fronts, and the Orochi troops march on. Sun Ce arrives to reinforce and Sun Jian begins the final charge. Sun Jian is taken prisoner, while Sun Ce, Sun Shang Xiang, Sun Quan, Da Qiao, and Zhou Tai join the Orochi Army. Sun Quan assembles forces to attack his older brother, and Lu Meng orders the player to lure the enemy in the south within the castle. Zhou Tai distracts Sun Ce, but later joins Sun Ce to save Sun Jian and Sun Quan from execution and defeats Orochi at Koshi Castle. Benkei teaming with Da Ji and Himiko, they join forces at He Fei, where they face head-hunters led by Zhang Jiao.

In Warriors Orochi 3, Cao Pi, Zhenji and Mitsunari Ishida head to Hefei to rescue the trapped forces of Lu Xun who are fighting against Susano'o and the mystics. In the midquel DLC stage, "Rise of Kiyomori Part 1" Kiyomori Taira's forces notice that Kiyomori has gained significant powers since his resurrection, and decide to test it on the outlying Wei and Wu forces. They first capture a lone Wang Yi, and successfully brainwash her into serving the serpent army. They then attack the Wei forces and capture Cai Wenji, Cao Ren and Guo Huai, and brainwash them into serving Kiyomori. The serpent army then turns its attention to the remaining Wu forces and attack with their new allies. Though Sun Shangxiang escapes, Lianshi and Sun Quan are captured and later possessed. Kiyomori would then use Hefei as a foothold against his next target, Fan Castle.

In Ultimate, a bewildered team of Kenshin Uesugi, Yukimura Sanada and Kunoichi arrive in the area to do battle with allies from both the Takeda army and Uesugi army led by Shingen Takeda, Aya and Kanetsugu Naoe. Seeing Sun Jian in the area, Yukimura first moves to rescue the general and his army. After the Wu army is rescued, Kenshin plans a sneak attack on the enemy cavalry, and the Wu army volunteers to lead the raid while Kagekatsu baits the enemy. As the two trios confront each other, another team of Shingen, Aya and Kanetsugu appear, and the objective changes to defeating all enemy officers. Soon Gan Ning and Ling Tong arrive to aid the second Shingen's army. Once all officers are defeated, Kaguya and Shennong will appear, and will explain the recent occurrences at the battle's end.

Historical Information[]

In 214, Cao Cao's southern campaign against Sun Quan failed, leaving Zhang Liao, Li Dian, and Yue Jin to guard Hefei with 7000 men. Cao Cao sent Xue Ti to deliver a letter to Hefei, stating that the enemy would arrive before the army could attack. Sun Quan and Liu Bei retreated from Jing Province, and Sun Quan led an army of 100,000 men to attack Hefei. Zhang Liao and his deputies were surprised by the letter, which instructed them to attack the enemy before reinforcements arrived. Li Dian agreed and gathered 800 men overnight to attack the enemy. Zhang Liao led a charge in the Wu formation, killing several dozen enemy soldiers and two generals. Sun Quan's troops deserted, and Zhang Liao rescued the trapped soldiers. Sun Quan's troops were defeated and deserted, and the Wei army's morale was greatly boosted.

Sun Quan's troops besieged Hefei for several days but were unable to conquer the city. He had to retreat, with Ling Tong, Gan Ning, Lü Meng, and other generals leading 1,000 troops at the rear. At Leisure Ford, Zhang Liao attacked the retreating Wu troops, but Sun Quan was surrounded by enemy troops. Ling Tong managed to rescue Sun Quan, and he turned back to stop the pursuing Wei troops. Sun Quan leaped across the Xiaoshi Bridge to safety, and at the end of the southern ford, he met 3000 backup troops under He Qi's command.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms[]

In the novel, Sun Quan attempts to push his victories in Jingzhou and invades Cao Cao's outposts at Yang Province. Zhang Liao, who defended Hefei, intercepts these attempts and sends Taishi Ci to duel Zhang. During the duel, Sun Quan's unit is spotted by Li Dian and Yue Jin, who charge at Sun Quan. Taishi Ci reports that his old friend, Ge Ding, has infiltrated the enemy camp and plans to assassinate Zhang Liao. However, Zhang Liao personally addresses his troops to remain calm and orders his archers to lure in the Wu forces. Taishi Ci races into the Wei camp, but his wounds are beyond recovery and he dies in the Wu camp.

After the establishment of Shu, Liu Bei exchanges multiple cities for Sun Quan to attack Hefei, while the Shu forces attack jointly at the Hanzhong region. Sun Quan targets Wei supplies at Huan, but Lu Meng disagrees, leading the drums for the next major charge against the Wei forces. Gan Ning makes the decisive blow, and the Wei forces flee.

Zhang Liao opens a brocaded box from Cao Cao, instructing Zhang Liao and Li Dian to engage the enemy, while Yue Jin is left to defend the city. They form a plan with Zhang, which involves luring out enemy forces, destroying the Xiaoshi bridge, and ambushing Sun Quan. The remaining troops are decimated, and Zhang Liao requests reinforcements, which are answered by his lord.

Gallery[]

Gallery
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