| Battle of Baidi Castle | |||||||
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| Forces | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wu | Shu | ||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| Sun Quan
Lu Kang (263) |
Liu Shan
Luo Xian (263) | ||||||
The Battle of Baidi Castle (白帝城の戦い, rōmaji: Hakuteijō no Tatakai), or literally "White Emperor Castle", is a fictional battle that has the remnants of Shu defend their homelands against the invading Wu army. In a majority of the scenarios, it takes place before the confrontations at Wuzhang Plains and Hefei Castle, marking the fate of each kingdom with either side's victory.
Historically, it is where Liu Bei retreated to after his heavy loss at Yiling, and was his final resting place before giving his last words to both Liu Shan and Zhuge Liang.
Role in Games
Dynasty Warriors
This battle represents a final confrontation between the Kingdoms of Wu and Shu, featuring the next generation of warriors for Shu's future. The castle location itself actually appears first in Dynasty Warriors 4's version of Yi Ling, but in later games onwards, it becomes its own stage. The castle serves as Shu's main camp during the battle. To breach its defenses when Liu Bei retreats into it, the player must traverse through the Stone Sentinel Maze located at the south of the map. The PSP port of Dynasty Warriors has the maze located on the northern portion of the battle map instead for the Wu Forces scenario only.
The stage first appears playable apart from Yi Ling in Dynasty Warriors 5. There are three main entrances to the castle: a front and side entrance guarded by enemy officers and a back entrance, which requires passage through a stone sentinel maze. These points serve as the castle's defense in both versions of the siege.
The goal for the Wu forces is to defeat Liu Chan. The key officers on the Wu side include Sun Quan, Zhou Tai, Lu Xun, and Huang Gai. With Liu Chan barricaded in Bai Di Castle, Lu Xun orders the army to surround it on three fronts. If players choose to delay their march through the central path near Sun Quan's location, they'll fall victim to Huang Zhong's ambush. To clear the maze path, players need to spot the engineer of the area hiding in the central section. Circling towards the right entrance of the maze and searching the corners will show the path to him. The front path is fiercely guarded by a row of arbalests and Xing Cai and, while the side path is lightly guarded, it takes the most time to open due to curves of the roads leading towards it. Players can choose to usurp the Shu reinforcements due to come in the southeastern corner of the map.
Shu's goal is to fight off the invaders and interrupt their plans. The key officers for the Shu forces include Liu Chan, Xing Cai, Jiang Wei, and Huang Zhong. Each officer guards a certain entrance to Bai Di Castle and their defeat opens the gates. Jiang Wei orders a stern defense while he charges along the northern path to attack Sun Quan's camp. When the enemy main camp is breached by ally forces, Sun Quan reappears in the southern part of the map and announces an attack with his remaining officers. If Shu gains the upper hand and claims the southeastern corner of the map, Yue Ying will appear with reinforcements.
In both versions of the battle, the common folk from Shu defy Sun Quan's army and fight on their own will. Ma Chao, who can't forgive the deaths of innocent people, leaves his post to defend them. Their defeat or protection affects the morale for Shu.
In the PSP port, the stage only appears in Wu's story where Sun Quan has to overcome Shu's final defenders before reaching Liu Chan. Each of the playable officers and Liu Chan will instantly be roused and leveled up significantly when the player approaches them. Aside from a village to the north that can be rescued, there is a treasure trove guarded by Water Margin's Gongsun Sheng.
The battle returns in Dynasty Warriors 8 as part of Wei's hypothetical route. It serves as the last battle in which Liu Bei unites with Liu Zhang, the Xiliang forces and the Nanman to make a last stand against Cao Cao's forces. The castle will be attacked on three sides. One army will try to take the central gate; Zhuge Liang will set fire to the area in front of it and the Wei forces will have to defeat all officers in that area in order to stop the fires and open the gates. Once the gates are open, Liu Bei's forces will block the path with arbalests, forcing the Wei army to take a different route.
Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan will attempt to bypass the arbalests by using a ship to approach Baidi Castle from the north. The ship is defended by Zhao Yun, who has to be defeated along with guard captains in order to use the ship. Once the Wei forces man the ship and set out, they will be ambushed halfway through by ballistas and Guan Ping who jumps on the ship. Once Guan Ping is killed and the ballistas destroyed, the ship will continue to move and allow the Wei army to land north of Baidi.
Cao Pi will meanwhile use the route in the south to approach Baidi Castle's main gate. His party will meet various Nanman officers, including Meng Huo. After Meng Huo's forces are defeated, Zhurong will arrive with some more Nanman reinforcements. Eventually, Yueying will appear and attacks the Wei forces with her prized juggernauts. Xu Shu will move to conquer the juggernaut base, allowing the Wei forces to use them against the Shu forces. Ma Chao and Ma Dai will arrive as reinforcements for Liu Bei's troops and charge the Wei forces.
Once either of these two routes is cleared, the Wei forces can destroy the arbalests from behind and attack the main gate of Baidi Castle, which is defended by Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. Additionally, Liu Zhang and Han Sui will now move to attack the Wei forces from the northern garrison. After Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are defeated, the Wei forces will set up catapults that have to be used in order to destroy the main gate. Once this is done, the Wei forces will make their way into the castle and endure rock projectiles from Guan Yinping's men outside and ballistas inside the castle. Guan Xing, Guan Suo, Zhang Bao, and Guan Yinping will try to defend the gate to Liu Bei along with Zhuge Liang. Once they're all defeated, only Liu Bei remains in the throne room.
The battle is also used as Meng Huo's story battle. The player is tasked with supporting the defense of the castle from Cao Cao's army. Meng Huo's men arrives when the Wei forces breach the castle's defenses. Players need to defeat Li Dian and Yue Jin in order to regroup with the rest of the Shu army. Cao Cao will attempt to send Zhang Liao to the castle via the boat; players will be given a mission to destroy it with a catapult before he can reach his destination. Defeat Xu Shu, Pang De, and Wang Yi to allow allied reinforcements led by Zhurong to arrive and then charge the Wei main camp. The Cao, Xiahou families and Zhang Liao will intercept the player. When they are all defeated, Cao Cao stands as the final obstacle.
In the Xtreme Legends expansion, the castle is once again used in one of Jin's hypothetical stages. The main objective is to defeat both Jiang Wei and Zhong Hui after they rebel against Sima Zhao and Wei.
Warriors Orochi
Bai Di Castle is the last Gaiden stage for the Samurai forces in Warriors Orochi. Nobunaga, who desires to reunite with his wife and cripple the Orochi army's position, heads towards the castle with his troops. Though outnumbered, he plans to siege the castle quickly in order to gain the advantage. Although it is one of his original objectives for being there, saving Nō is optional. The enemy will try to use falling rocks, the castle's arbalests, and their numbers to overwhelm Nobunaga's small party. If Nobunaga is not in the player's party, he will gradually march towards the front entrance of the castle; Kotarō ambushes him as he runs. Taking the castle triggers reinforcements that were stated at the beginning of the stage to arrive soon, and eventually it will then trigger Lu Bu's charge and Orochi's arrival on the field, though both occur at a much later time and not at once (Lu Bu appears first). Fighting Lu Bu without running away will allow him to praise the player. Da Ji orders a sorcerer to summon phantom soldiers to spawn from within the maze, lowering ally morale. In due time, Cao Cao arrives as a third party participant to assist Nobunaga's cause. Depending on how well the players do in driving back the Orochi army, Orochi will either be displeased or interested when players approach him.
Warriors Orochi 2 continues to have the Samurai army confront the Orochi forces here. This time, Kenshin and Nobunaga work together with their armies to surround Kiyomori in a decisive battle. Kenshin charges with his cavalry for the side entrance, Nobunaga aims for the front, and Hideyoshi swings through the back. After Nobunaga orders Dong Zhuo's defeat in the west, each leader proceeds along their respective paths. Kenshin's path is relatively light on guards, but his march forward triggers ambushes as he progresses. Nobunaga is in danger from Kotarō's ambush and whirlwinds in the central path. Sun Wukong guards the maze and creates double in an attempt to disrupt Hideyoshi's advance. Helping the three generals quickly break through the castle gates grants the treasure for the stage. Kenshin, Nobunaga and HIdeyoshi defeated and killed Kiyomori, although the Serpent King was risen again, Nobunaga wouldn't wish it any other way.
Orochi, Masamune and Keiji star in a dream stage here in Warriors Orochi Z. After Orochi's conquest of the land, the army is bored by the lull that followed. To amuse themselves and to test their strengths, Da Ji challenges their master to invade the castle with their new forces. Sun Ce and Ieyasu's armies supports Orochi while Da Ji has Zhang Liao, Mitsunari, Dong Zhuo, Zhou Yu's troops to aid her. Soon after their engagement, Da Ji orders her troops to temporarily withdraw from the front lines and restore themselves within the maze. Zhou Yu and -later Zhuge Liang- control the maze and defeating them prevents any further resurrections of Da Ji's officers. As Sun Ce marches towards the maze's entrance, Xu Huang rolls boulders atop of them. Cao Pi eventually appears at Da Ji's request, but she wants more men to defy Orochi and sends a messenger for reinforcements. Mitsunari guards the front gate with arbalests and a few officers. Defeating the defense guards at the gates triggers Sun Ce and Ieyasu's march towards the castle. Meeting Da Ji personally has her cast a group of phantom soldiers to assist her battle against Orochi.
After the player's group wins, a serpent soldier frantically reports that there was an uproar at Ueda Castle. The serpent king is pleased to know that strong warriors will challenge him again in the near future.
Kessen
During Wei's scenario in Kessen II, the place is named "Pai Di". Liu Bei flees here after his defeat from Cheng Du and Cao Cao's army surrounds it. During their siege, Sun Quan marches into Wei's territory in Jing Province to catch Cao Cao off guard. To counter, Cao Cao splits his forces, leaving a vassal in charge of the siege at Pai Di, and deals with Sun Quan.
Historical Information
Historically, this was the location where Liu Bei passed away after his defeat in Yiling. In the novel, Shu's escape was only successful due to a stone sentinel maze that Zhuge Liang erected well in advance.
In 263, after Shu had surrendered to Wei, a Wu army led by Sheng Man and Bu Xie was sent to capture Badong area in an attempt to make some gains in Shu's former territory. The Shu general Luo Xian announced his surrender to Wei, requested reinforcements and put up a heavy defense at the Yangtze River. Eventually, Badong fell to Wu and Baidi Castle was besieged. Luo Xian was able to repel each assault, forcing Lu Kang to lead an army of 30,000 men to capture the castle. Even after six months, Lu Kang was unable to make any progress. Eventually, Sima Zhao sent Hu Lie to attack Wu's positions in Jing Province, forcing Lu Kang to retreat. The battle eventually led to the surrender of Wuling commandery to Wei, with Luo Xian becoming its administrator.
Gallery
.png "Bai Di Castle (DW5).png (128 KB)")
.png "Baidi Castle (DW7XL).png (187 KB)")
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