Invasion of Xuchang | |||||||
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Forces | |||||||
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Sun Ce's Forces | Cao Cao's Forces | ||||||
Commanders | |||||||
Sun Ce | Xun Yu | ||||||
The Invasion of Xuchang (許昌侵攻戦, rōmaji: Kyoshō Shinkōsen) is a fictional battle between Sun Ce and Cao Cao's forces. It occurred during the Battle of Guandu when Xuchang, Cao Cao's base of operations, was poorly guarded. With Cao Cao's attention diverted towards Yuan Shao, Sun Ce desires to use the moment of weakness to rescue the emperor, who was held by Cao Cao at Xuchang.
In history, while Sun Ce did have the intention to invade the capital, he was assassinated by Xu Gong's men before the plan could be set. This was also where Sima Shi eventually met his end after the second rebellion at Shouchun.
Role in Games[]
Dynasty Warriors[]
In the first Dynasty Warriors game, the stage is called "Great Hall, Shang Yong" and takes place in a dark, lit room.
First appearing as an open-field stage in the fourth game, the player's army must storm a castle, part of the Xu Chang series. A general on the player's side arranges a siege ramp to enter the castle grounds, but Sima Yi foresees this and has an an ambush party led by a Wei officer and their sub-unit converge on the allied main fortress. If the sub-officer and enemy peons are defeated, the ramp will be smooth, while the player can protect the camp. The main camp is attacked twice by Cao Cao's reinforcements, prompting the player's strategist to aid the fortress. The southeastern section of the castle must be reached by defeating enemy officers guarding the two-way Wu Ru Guan. Sima Yi sets gunpowder within the western part of the castle to blow up the troops, sealing the gates and wiping off nearby peons. In the southern part, there is another ambush party. Upon triggering the explosions or the ambush, Cao Cao's section of the castle can be accessed. A soldier tells him to retreat, but he refuses to and seals his strongholds as he makes his final stand.
In Dynasty Warriors Vol. 2, Wu's last stage involves a battle with Wei troops, with Cao Pi as the commander. The battle can be played using Sun Ce's Forces, Sima Yi's Forces, and Lu Bu's Forces. Sun Ce's invasion involves taking the castle from three fronts, while Sima Yi's version involves rebelling and attacking Xu Chang. The first gate opens, causing ally morale to drop, and Xu Huang appears as reinforcements. The second gate opens, and Cao Pi and his wife appear as Cao Cao's last reserve. Defeating them leaves Xu Zhu as the final obstacle. The battle can be played using three different forces: Sun Ce's Forces, Sima Yi's Forces, and Lu Bu's Forces.
Cao Pi's last stage in Special deals with his side of Sima Yi's revolt. Sima Yi already has possession of the castle and Cao Pi has to invade it. At the beginning of the battle Sima Yi shall seal the first gate and lures Cao Pi to the west which Cao Pi senses to be a trap. Once his forces conquers the gates, Lu Xun and Yue Ying, and the remnants of Wu and Shu reinforce Sima Yi from the west and eastern sections outside Xu Chang. Cao Pi is forced to deal with the two sub-parties in order to defend his main camp in the south. Simultaneously, the strategist decides to have his forces march with the momentum. Later, Cao Pi send off Xiahou Dun and Cao Ren appeared as Wei reinforcements after Cao Pi helped them in previous battle. Xiahou Dun survived from Lu Bu at Xia Pi and Cao Ren thanked to Cao Pi for defending Fan Castle from Guan Yu.
The hardest to get is Lu Bu's Forces only being unlocked as Diao Chan's last challenge to fulfill her promise to her father. The battle is similar to Sima Yi's scenario but changes the placements of Cao Cao's officers. Cao Pi will already be present defending the innermost gates instead of appearing as reinforcements. Before entering the palace, Xiahou Dun will appear and must be defeated for an easy win. After Cao Cao is defeated Lu Bu will tell Diao Chan that her wish is finally fulfilled.
It also appears in the seventh installment where all theories of Sun Ce's death were put together. In the first part of the battle, Sun Ce will take a walk in the western path where he will encounter Yu Ji. Yu Ji will then start the trials, summoning apparitions of enemies and allies. If all trials are finished Yu Ji will disappear and soldiers of the late Xu Gong will attack him. In the second part, Sun Ce has disappeared and Sun Quan will have to navigate the castle in search of him. After defeating the reinforcements, led by Xiahou Dun, Sun Ce will appear to Sun Quan and his allies and drops dead from the wounds he got from the archers. Sun Quan's forces then retreats from the battle.
Xuchang is also the area where Sima Zhao will defend Sima Shi from the Wei Forces who were trying to assassinate him. The map in this installment is the same as the sixth installment with a few minor differences.
In the eighth title Xuchang features as a battleground for all four factions.In the Wei hypothetical route, Zuo Ci instigates a rebellion at Xuchang and summons phantom soldiers, as well as phantoms of deceased heroes including Lu Bu, Dong Zhuo, and Zhang Jiao. If Sun Quan is killed at Jianye, Lu Meng, Lu Xun, Gan Ning, and Ling Tong will appear to aid the rebels. The rebellion is put down by Cao Pi, Zhenji, Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan. A personal scenario allows the player to control Zuo Ci, who successfully defeats Cao Pi and the other officers present.
In both Wu and Shu's hypothetical routes, the Wei forces make their final stand at Xuchang. In Wu's version, most of the army feigns a frontal assault in order to distract the Wei forces from a fire attack that is successfully carried out, setting fire to the palace and opening the way to Cao Cao. In Wei's side, the Wu forces have already reached the throne room, and the Wei forces must expel them. Lianshi, Zhou Yu, and Sun Jian lead the first assault. When they are defeated, Liu Bei and Sun Shangxiang will appear from the pond's hidden passage. Finally, Sun Quan will order a full assault when the others have been defeated. Notably, even when Yu Jin receives his playable incarnation for the Xtreme Legends expansion, allowing the ram's destruction at the outer gate will cause Yu Jin to order an attack using his generic counterpart's voice.
Shu's version sees the Shu army attack Xuchang from two sides. Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang lead a frontal assault, cutting down Xiahou Ba and Guo Huai as they attempt to defend the courtyard. An arrow ambush also stalls the advance until the officer in charge is defeated. Wei reinforcements will attempt to destroy the battering ram as it breaks down the castle gates, but Xu Shu defends the gates long enough for them to be breached. Meanwhile Zhao Yun and Liu Shan close off reinforcements before attacking from the side. In the process they seize arbalests and siege equipment to turn against the Wei forces and cut down the waiting Zhang Liao, Yue Jin, and Li Dian. Once the Shu forces reunite, they must fight through Wang Yi and Jia Xu before being trapped by Xiahou Dun. Once the castle has been breached, Cao Pi, Zhenji and Sima Yi stand as the final obstacle before the throne room, where Cao Cao awaits. In Wei's version of the stage, the Shu forces have already broken through most of the defenses and are now attacking Cao Cao's palace. After the defeat of the first assault unit, Zhao Yun and Liu Shan arrive leading the second unit to attack, when they are defeated Liu Bei will charge himself.
In Jin's storyline Sima Shi is ambushed by Wen Qin's forces and must be rescued by Jin forces lead by Sima Zhao. Whether or not the player unlocked the hypothetical route will determine Shi's survival. In the historical version, Sima Zhao will attempt to search for Sima Shi while the remainder of the forces fight against Wen Qin's men. Faced with a continuous supply of reinforcements, Sima Zhao fights his way to the central square where he encounters Sima Shi's guards, who tell the younger brother that Shi had fled to the garden. Saving a nearby village, the peasants confirm the guards' words, but, by the time Wei forces reach the garden, Sima Shi is nowhere to be seen, and Wen Qin orders the attack on the Wei forces. When Wen Qin is defeated Sima Shi finally appears with his brother, only to die in mere moments later.
In the hypothetical scenario, Wen Yang will first order Xiahou Ba and Guo Huai attack the nearby entry points at the east, while Sima Zhao's men continue to advance to the central square, with assistance from Zhuge Dan. Doing so causes Wen Hu to appear for the first time. When the southern entry point is taken, Wen Yang will order for the central points to be taken, leading to Wen Hu's second appearance. When Wen Hu is defeated, Xiahou Ba and Guo Huai will hide their troops to ambush Wen Qin's reinforcements. Wen Hu then appears for a third time, but now chooses to surrender after his defeat, and reveals Sima Shi's location, allowing Sima Zhao to reach his brother before the enemy can. Defeating Wen Qin ends the stage. In the rebel's scenario, Wen Qin is instead located at the central square, under attack from the Wei forces while Sima Zhao rushes to meet his brother. Defeating both Simas will end the battle in victory.
In the Xtreme Legends expansion, the city hosts the emperor's tournament on who is the strongest warrior of the land. Dong Zhuo first passes through the tournament by defeating Gao Lan, Cao Hong, Han Dang, and Xiahou Yuan, while secretly arranging his forces to kill the other warlords. As soon as he wins the tournament however, Sun Jian appears and reveals that they had already seen through his plan. Now, Dong Zhuo must race across the city to reach the escape point before the other warlords can successfully evacuate the emperor.
In a DLC stage, Xiahou Ba here must decide whether to fight for Cao Shuang or the Sima family.
In the ninth installment, Xuchang appears as a full-fledged city due to the game's open world design. It carries all the various shops that can be found in most cities, a hideaway just outside the city walls to the east, and the moat can be used to fish for artifacts that can be sold for gold.
Cao Cao makes Xuchang his capital and central base of operations during all of his campaigns, from early after defeating Dong Zhuo and ousting him from Luoyang, to his death some time after kicking Liu Bei out of Hanzhong to avenge Xiahou Yuan and allying with Sun Quan to oust Shu from Jing Province with slaying Guan Yu. This also includes placing Emperor Xian in Xuchang for his own safety after he manages to escape Dong Zhuo's remnant troops in Chang'an. After Cao Pi takes over for his late father and becomes the next King of Wei, he then solidifies Wei's power by forcing Emperor Xian to abdicate, dissolving the Han Imperial Court and establishing the Wei Empire in its place, naming himself Wei Emperor, before moving the capital on Sima Yi's suggestion back to Luoyang.
In Chen Gong's DLC scenario, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu are able to successfully lead an attack on the capital during Cao Cao's absence. Hoping to recruit them to their cause, Chen Gong instructs Liu Bei to stop Sun Ce to gain a favor with Cao Cao as well as having a secret meeting to plot against the warlord. Upon their defeat, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu, although suspicious of Chen Gong's true intentions, return home and promise to lend their support when the time comes.
In Lu Su's DLC scenario, the city is defended by Sima Yi and Lu Su organizes a joint attack with Shu. Through this, both Lu Xun and Guan Yinping are able to set the city on fire, eventually defeating the strategist and paving the way towards Cao Pi's capital of Luoyang.
Kessen[]
Dynasty Tactics[]
In Dynasty Tactics, a young Sun Ce may choose to try to take Xu Chang early in the game. However, once he even moves towards the capital, a cinematic noting his fatal injury during a hunting party incident occurs. Sun Ce then passes his dreams of conquest onto Sun Quan and dies.
Warriors Orochi[]
In Warriors Orochi 3, Xuchang is held by Dong Zhuo who still intends on making his paradise. While the Coalition heads to rescue the maidens Nene, Xingcai, and Oichi, Jiang Wei almost succeeds but is spotted and dies from earlier wounds. After capturing Katsuie who was forced to fight for Oichi's safety, the player and Ayane must go inside to rescue the girls, and even save Zhang He. While outside, Nagamasa and his group must distract the serpents. As soon as Dong Zhuo hears of the women's rescue, he attempts to re-kidnap them, but is defeated and dies. The party must then go after and capture Shuten Doji.
In the redux, Zhang He remembers the hostages locations and the player meets with Jiang Wei after ensuring he crosses Mt. Xingshi safely.
In Ultimate, the player is assigned to Dong Zhuo's side in Chapter 6, and has to prevent Yuan Shao's army from besieging the city. Later, Shennong and Dian Wei will arrive and decide to attack both armies. Once Sima Zhao and Shennong's forces are defeated, Yuan Shao's camp gates will open and he must be defeated in order to get him to retreat. In the Mirror Realm's version, both Sima Zhao and Yuan Shao are revealed to the fakers within the enemy army, though Dong Zhuo will still act hostilely against Shennong's army.
In Warriors Orochi 4, a portion of Xuchang has been merged with Odawara Castle and Wan Castle.
Historical Information[]
After defeating Li Jue and Guo Si at Luoyang, Cao Cao offered refuge to Emperor Xian in Yan Province. Xuchang became the temporary capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Historians dispute the battle's existence, with Sun Ce assassinated before it began. Emperor Xian abdicated, and Xuchang became Wei's capital. Sima Shi's eye injury worsened, and he entrusted power to his younger brother, Sima Zhao.
Gallery[]
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