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Battle of Jieting
Jieting in Warriors Orochi 3
Date 228
Location Jieting, Yong Province (present-day Qin'an County, Gansu)
Result Wei victory.
Forces
Wei Shu
Commanders
Zhang He Ma Su

The Battle of Jieting (街亭の戦い, rōmaji: Gaitei no Tatakai) was a battle that took place during Zhuge Liang's Northern Expeditions, and was the first of his said campaigns with Jieting being a vital spot with resources for the Shu Army. It is famous for Ma Su's crushing defeat after he mistakenly camped at the top of a hill which deprived him of his water sources. Zhang He showed prowess in the battle, forcing a full retreat from Zhuge Liang's army due to the inability to secure the supply line. Zhang He was then was entrusted to defend the lands of Wei against Zhuge Liang's invading army.

The loss of this battle in the Romance of Three Kingdoms novel lead to Zhuge Liang's position at Xi Castle (西城, Saijō, lit. West Castle) within Xi Prefecture being exposed to Sima Yi's forces. Famously as Sima Yi and his army approached, Zhuge Liang with very few able men as the rest of the was Shu Army stationed and occupied at other distant important positions, pulled off the iconic Empty Fort Strategy which caused Sima Yi out of fear of an ambush to retreat before Zhuge Liang did so himself later on. However, while the historical authenticity of the event was heavily debated (Sima Yi was actually stationed at Wan Castle at the time), it was immortalized as an iconic highlight between Shu and Wei in the novel and its adaptations.

Role in Games[]

Dynasty Warriors[]

In the Dynasty Warriors series, the battle usually begins when Ma Su camps on top a mountaintop and Zhang He is sent to battle. The battle first appears in Dynasty Warriors 3, where the main aim is to take the supply depot and defeat Ma Su or defend both the supply depot and disciple for the Wei and Shu sides respectively. In Wei's scenario in Dynasty Warriors 4, Sima Yi is the Wei commander and Ma Su as the enemy commander. The player must defeat each of the three sub-officers quickly to enter the fortress and eliminate Ma Su inside without moving close to the gates themselves beforehand. If the player is not quick enough, Zhuge Liang, Yue Ying, Wei Yan and Zhao Yun will appear, and the player must defeat Zhuge Liang to win the battle.

In Shu's scenario, the player starts at the southern point of the map informed that Ma Su is in trouble in the fortress and needs to be rescued before Zhang He, Xu Huang, Xiahou Yuan, and Sima Zhao defeat one of Ma Su's sub-officers. In the fifth installment, the battle is easily won when using the Wei forces, with Cao Pi providing support for the player.

In the sixth installment, the battle was removed but re-added in the PlayStation 2 version as one of Ma Chao's and Zhang He's stories for their Musou Mode.

Jieting makes its return in Dynasty Warriors 7 in Conquest Mode for several warriors' special stages. Depending on the character, the battles may go in different ways. In all of the versions, Sima Yi will be Wei's Commander and Ma Su and Zhuge Liang will command Shu. In this installment, the battle uses the map of Shiting from Dynasty Warriors 6. Jieting uses the same layout as the sixth installment again in its expansion.

Outside Conquest Mode, Jieting serves as a Hero Scenario for Yue Ying in the Xtreme Legends expansion.

Dynasty Warriors 8 makes Jieting a Shu-exclusive stage using the Hanzhong map. Ma Su is already close to being surrounded. The player has to rescue him and his officers along the way. If the officers are rescued, Ma Su will be spared, allowing Chencang to be unlocked. If not, he will be executed. In Wei's Free Mode version, Zhang He and Sima Yi will first take the foothill garrisons to surround Ma Su. Once Ma Su is isolated, a charge is ordered, but if the player takes too long, Zhuge Liang will be able to appear in the far south to assist Ma Su. Defeating Ma Su and Zhuge Liang will end the stage.

Warriors Orochi[]

As a Shu side story stage, Magoichi will send Xing Cai and Zhu Rong to trap the Orochi army commander, Masamune in the middle. The paths to the main camp are blocked, but Magoichi and another member of the party can go into the center and draw a lot of attention. As soon as Masamune is surrounded, he can be recruited.

In Warriors Orochi 3, Jieting has two stages. In one stage, leads the Oda army to try and fight the Serpent forces with cannons. However, the gunpowder meant for the cannons never made it, thus resulting in Mitsuhide's fiery death at Honnōji. Having heard of this, Sun Ce, Goemon, and Achilles set out to make sure the gunpowder does indeed make it and use it all up. The second battle comes for Xing Cai, with Keiji and Katsuie fight against Guan Ping and the Oda forces to recruit the former.

Historical Information[]

Jieting was a crucial region for securing supplies, and Zhuge Liang sent generals Ma Su and Wang Ping to guard it. Ma Su ignored Wang Ping's advice and chose to set up a base on the mountains instead of a city with ample walls. The Wei troops led by Zhang He attacked the hill, cutting off water supply and leading to a defeat for the Shu army. Zhuge Liang had to order a full retreat due to lack of advance routes and supplies. Ma Su feared punishment and attempted to flee, but was captured and executed by the Shu Forces. Zhuge Liang took over and took over Ma Su's family. Some records suggest Jiang Wan blamed Liang for employing Ma Su and executing him. The prefectures of Nan'an, Tianshui, and Anding revolted in favor of Zhuge Liang, but Zhang He eventually pacified them.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms[]

The novel follows the historical battle of Ma Su, who willingly gives up and takes responsibility for his defeat with death. Zhuge Liang, heartbroken, orders Ma's execution and takes care of the deceased's family. The events of Ma Su's execution have given birth to the Chinese pronoun "Huī Lèi Zhán Mǎ Sù" and the Japanese equivalent "Naite Ba Shoku wo kiru." Zhuge Liang's forces are positioned at Xicheng, trying to move supplies back to Hanzhong via Yangping. They receive reports of Sima Yi's army approaching along the main route to Xicheng's east gate. Liang orders everyone to hide the city's Shu Army banners and not make any risky movements or major noises when the enemy approaches.

Liang is frustrated with moving supplies on time and decides to have the gates to the city opened and a few workers sweep the dust on the main path while Zhuge Liang plays his guqin. Sima Yi sees Zhuge Liang being calm, but Sima Yi fears that he is being invited towards a disaster, concluding that Zhuge Liang has setup an ambush inside the city.

Yet despite his sons arguing that the soldiers in the city might be few, Sima Yi also pointed out to the environment around the city (such as the hills surrounding the path in some adaptations). Part of Yi's exchange with his sons' disagreements also involved these quotes:

Vin1 "The clanging of his strings are akin to raging waves beating against cliffs, winds that coil the remnant clouds; it's as though there is an army worth one million in his fingers."

"It's as at a small stream, you can clearly see the bottom; he would not play like that if he was not happy or relaxed. Zhuge Liang must've thought out a plan!"

"The heart is disordered if the sounds are chaotic, but the heart is pure if the sounds are orderly. Wrong sounds come out if one is anxious, but sounds are clear if one is of a peaceful mind. When I see Zhuge Liang playing such music, I can see the bottom of his heart! I feel honored by much that I am keenly appreciative of his talents."

Vin2


Because of the other several factors and further adding that Zhuge Liang would never dare to take such a risk due to being careful by nature (and given that as stated before with the gates being freely opened and no soldiers being around), Sima Yi assured to everyone that there was an ambush, given in his plain view that Liang's spirit did not show signs of wanting to give up. Yi then also added "if we enter the city rashly now, it'll be too late for us to react on time to the trap". As Zhuge Liang accidentally snapped one of the strings on his guqin which gave a sudden shock to both sides, Sima Yi then ordered his sons and his army to turn their vanguard around and retreat.

As Sima Yi's army retreated and as the fellow officials reported as such, Zhuge Liang let out a huge sigh of relief from his prior moments of fear as he admitted the plan was such a risk that needed to be taken out of pure luck, as Sima Yi knew Zhuge Liang far too well. And that with only around 2000 troops, Sima Yi's 1 million would've caught up in due time if they had just simply retreated earlier due to the lack of a main army. The supplies were already fully loaded and Zhuge Liang then ordered the entire council and the townspeople to retreat back to Hanzhong through Yangping, for Sima Yi was to surely return to check if there truly was an ambush. Out of regret, Zhuge Liang and the entire Shu Army lost hold of 3 prefectures while also forcing such people to evacuate their hometowns and feeling that a few more months and/or years will be spent trying to plan another northern campaign.

Sure enough, Sima Yi did indeed return and was either upset and/or impressed upon checking the truly-empty city with his own eyes. Even then, he too pulled back once more to replenish his forces for the coming conflicts.

In other adaptations of this event, another point stressed was both Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi having the weight of their respective nations on their backs, as well as Sima Yi knowing Zhuge Liang for sure had no troops inside the city, but likely chose to retreat anyway to remain of use to the state of Wei (thus he let Zhuge Liang live to have the conflict continue) due to other personal internal affairs with the Cao and Xiahou families.

Trivia[]

  • So far, only 2 instances of the Musou Warriors versions of Jieting reference the historical anecdote of Ma Su's forces being deprived of water; the cutscene in which Zhang He has successfully surrounded Ma Su in Dynasty Warriors 4, and the BGM for the stage in Dynasty Warriors 6 dubbed as THE CREST OF THIRST.
    • Likewise, Dynasty Warriors 4's version of the battle on the Shu Forces scenario happens to be one of the only few instances that references the historical fire attack on the hill.

Gallery[]

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