Hefei Castle

	Battle of Hefei Castle
Date	234; 253
Location	Hefei, Yang Province (modern day Hefei, Anhui)
Result	Wu retreats
Forces
Wu	Wei
Commanders
Sun Quan (234); Zhuge Ke (253)	Cao Rui (234); Man Chong (234); Sima Shi (253)

The Battle at Hefei Castle (合肥新城の戦い, rōmaji: Gappi Shinjō no Tatakai, translated as "Battle of New Hefei Castle" in the Asian ports) is one of the conflicts during the Battles of Hefei featured in the Dynasty Warriors series. Historically, Sun Quan led many assaults on the castle that Wei built within He Fei, but his third attack to the area is given focus. In the games, the conflict takes place during the final year of the castle's sieges and it is the decisive battle between Wu and Wei. What separates this from previous campaigns in the area is that, by now, the Wei forces had built a large fortress made specifically to deter Wu.

With the inclusion of Jin in Dynasty Warriors 7, the sixth battle for the area was included into the game, and subsequent releases. Here, the Wei forces are defeated at Dongxing, and Zhuge Ke attempts to ride the momentum to defeat Wei once again, but he suffers a devastating defeat.

Role in Games

Dynasty Warriors

In Dynasty Warriors 3, Wei's centered in and around the northern part of the map in a castle. The Wu army leads resistance in the center, and to the eastern and western parts of the stage with Zhen Ji and Sun Shang Xiang respectively. At the northeastern most corner of the stage lies bridge layer ruins with a drop on each side and stairs to get back up with, at the end of which archers and a deadly set of crossbow units are placed and a special item is often at the end of the second bridge layer ruins (which has a broken end unlike the other and features little-to-no enemies around the initial non-isolated side and past the first layer ruins).

As gates open, the various set traps in the western part of the stage can be seen (hidden arrows, and gusts of wind). Wu is found along the shoreline of the southern part of the map. In Wu's scenario, players have the option of going either left, right or through the center of enemy resistance. The left path offers hidden arrows and wind gusts, of which cannot be ceased, the right path features high enemy resistance, and the center path triggers either an ambush (Wu forces) or a fire attack (Wei forces) and the central gates cannot be opened until later in the stage from the respective opposing sides. Walking on the central northern lake with the bridge formation (just outside and in front of the castle's most northern and final palace where Sima Yi/Cao Cao resides) will trigger an archer ambush cutscene, and will occur on both Wei and Wu scenarios with the archers being of the opposing side regardless.

In both scenarios, Wei reinforcements will appear in the southeast near Wu's main camp after a set amount of time. Near the Wu forces, the central south area of the castle is an ambush that will prevent the player's forces from entering through there, and they must open the gates on the other side from the west and eastern point entries. This also applies to the Wei forces as well, where Lu Xun will declare a fire attack on the Wei forces who try to exit out the castle in the central entrance via a planned trap (due to their greater control over the castle grounds in Wei's scenario).

Despite not being an actual stage by itself in Dynasty Warriors 4, a portion of the incomplete (and currently-under-construction) castle is used as part of the default He Fei map and its variations.

In Dynasty Warriors 5, Wei is within He Fei Castle's inner, and outside areas. Wu's front is to the east and west of the outer region of the castle. Oscillating statues that shoot fireballs can be seen on the east and west sides of the stage, but only damage Wu officers. Rams will try breaking the central outer gates of He Fei Castle. There are critical ambush points in each region that one must be wary of. The inner pathways leading to the courtyard are also filled with fire breathing lion statues. Like in the fourth installment, incomplete traces of the future castle can be seen on the west side of the previous He Fei stage as a foreshadowing to the New Castle battle.

In Dynasty Warriors Vol. 2, the stage appears as one of the final battles for either Wei or Wu. In Wei's side of the battle, Cao Pi will order a charge, but when the Wei forces are deep in enemy territory, Ling Tong and Zhou Tai will break the castle walls, and charge the allied main camp. Gan Ning will also appear, and he will take the allied supply depot with a fire attack. Defeating Sun Quan will end Wei's story. In Wu's story mode, only a small portion of the map is revealed, so the Wu forces must capture the outer and inner gates in order to reveal the Wei army. Once the inner gate is taken, Sima Yi will launch an ambush on the Wu forces. Defeating Cao Pi ends Wu's musou mode. The treasure trove in Wu's version of the stage is guarded by Oichi. He Fei castle also appears in name as the Wei main camp in the battle of He Fei.

In Dynasty Warriors 6, the Wu forces besiege the castle from three sides. The castle itself contains three traps ― One central conveyor belt and two fire pits in the western and eastern sectors of the castle. The conveyor belt leads to the inner main gate and activates every ten seconds or so, moving every soldier or item on it into a pool of water below. To deactivate the belt, the player must destroy the inner main gate. The fire pits are courtyards accompanied by traveling machines that are able to breathe fire. In Wu's scenario, the pits can be stopped by destroying all of the courtyard's machines. By contrast, in Wei's scenario, the pits will be stopped if the defending officer is defeated.

The castle siege in Dynasty Warriors 7 takes place after Sun Quan's death. Zhuge Ke leads Wu troops after gaining momentum from Dongxing. To counter their push towards Wei, Sima Shi reinforces Sima Zhao and Zhuge Dan's whittled armies.

The battle appears in the eighth installment as Wu's final historical stage. Beginning with an attack to the main gate, Lu Xun orders the taking of nearby garrisons in order to create rams. As the rams attack the main gate, they are destroyed by the guillotines. Simultaneously, Wei forces exit the eastern and western gates to repel the Wu forces, but this gives the Wu forces access to the gates. After breaking through the outer gates, ballistae are activated to slow the Wu forces' advance while Man Chong charges straight for the Wu camp. After breaking through the inner gates, the Wu forces split to a forked path. The western path will contain wind generators that prevent the Wu forces from passing while the eastern path has pyrocannons. After overcoming all the traps, defeating Cao Pi will end the battle.

In Jin's story, this stage can only be unlocked if none of the allied officers in Dongxing were defeated. In the battle's beginning, Wu forces have already breached the castle. Wei forces must first defeat those who have already breached the castle in order to retake and reactivate the traps. Once the castle is secured, Sima Shi moves out to pick out the garrisons one at a time. Eventually, he will provoke Zhuge Ke to coming out of the Wu camp. If none of the castle gates are breached, Zhuge Dan will be able to appear in future battles.

The stage reappears in Jin's expanded storyline in the Xtreme Legends expansion, and Sun Quan will appear leading the siege alongside many warriors of his generation. The battle starts with Sima Zhao and Zhuge Dan leading late reinforcements for Man Chong at the eastern side of the castle. They first secure the eastern gate, and Wen Qin volunteers to hold out in order to allow the rest of the reinforcements to pass through. Upon reaching the central area of the castle, Wang Yuanji will point out that the ballistae must be retaken. Once Man Chong is saved, Zhuge Dan will continue protecting the commander while Sima Zhao attempts to secure the arrival point for Jia Chong's reinforcements. Once the reinforcements arrive, the Wei forces will take the offensive, and must defeat Sun Quan to win.

Warriors Orochi

During the first game of the series, it serves as the stage for the last Wei gaiden. Cao Cao leads a siege against Orochi at the castle, telling his army to invade from three different directions. Da Ji acts as the enemy main strategist and triggers the castle's traps as the Wei army moves in. To aid their advance, Cao Cao sends engineers to break the gates blocking the mountain path. Keiji appears to guard it. If the plan succeeds, the ally army will have a morale boost.

As the battle progresses, Sun Ce, wanting to repay his debt to Cao Pi, appears to reinforce Cao Cao from the eastern docks. Da Ji also has engineers ready to burn down Cao Cao's main camp while he leaves it undermanned. Lu Bu also tires of Da Ji's orders and charges the invading army at whim. If Cao Cao's earlier plan succeeded, he will be impressed with the invading army after his defeat.

In Warriors Orochi 2, the stage is used as a dream stage for three master strategists: Zhuge Liang, Zhou Yu, and Shingen. They work together to defend the castle from Sima Yi's invading army.

Historical Information

After Sun Quan suppressed the Shan Yue tribes in Jingzhou and the minority in Wiling, he desired to recapture Wu's Hefei Castle and push back Wei. The previous defender of the area, Cao Xiu, died shortly after his defeat at the Battle of Shiting so his position was replaced by Man Chong. In Sun Quan's first offensive in 230, he marched his army near a location that was close to a dam. Since his advisers feared a water attack, he abandoned the expedition. A year later, he ordered Sun Bu to feign surrender to the Governor of Yangzhou, Wang Ling, and sow discord between him and his subordinate, Man Chong. The Wei retainers saw through the plot and ended it before it began.

In 233, Man Chong abandoned Wu's Hefei Castle and decided to build a new castle in Hefei, which became the subject of a long string of defensive and offensive battles. It is generally debated that Man Chong did this on purpose to throw off the Wu army. Researchers note that the older castle would have been difficult to protect in long drawn out sieges and, though its design indicates that it was well defended, it was impractical for the Wei army to keep for long due to Wu's familiarity with the area. The new castle's water ways prevented heavy naval assaults and allowed the Wei army to strategically station ambushes along Wu's retreats. The Wu army continued to attack the fortification but avoided long-term sieges. During the same year, Sun Quan led an army to take the western area around the new Hefei Castle, but was driven back by the military forces that were there.

In 234, Sun Quan gathered an army of 100,000 to take the new castle. This attack happened at the same time as Shu's Fifth Northern Campaign. While Sun Quan stationed himself in Jingzhou with Lu Xun and Zhuge Jin, he ordered Sun Shao and Zhang Cheng to attack from their respective locations. Marching towards the fortification from three fronts, Sun Quan ordered a full-scale charge. Man Chong countered with a massive fire attack, which crippled Wu's siege. After losing one of his nephews, Sun Tai, and additionally seeing his troops plagued by illness, Sun Quan abandoned the idea of taking the castle and ordered a retreat. It is said that the battles made him realize his foes' ferocity and was the reason why he did not commit to waging war with Wei for the rest of his days.

As a side note, Wei had predicted Sun Quan's assault but Sima Yi was busy dealing with Zhuge Liang's offensive. Cao Rui led troops as Hefei's reinforcements yet Sun Quan's army had already retreated by the time he arrived.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Romance of the Three Kingdoms wrote about the last encounter in chapters 102 and 103. In accordance with their alliance, Zhuge Liang requested for Sun Quan to aid the Shu army by raising arms. The Emperor of Wu agreed to do so and coordinated three hundred thousand men to march immediately toward Xincheng, Xiangyang and Huaiyang. Sun Quan would ride to Xincheng, Lu Xun and Zhuge Jin were to take Xiangyang, and Sun Shao and Zhang Cheng were ordered to take the last location.

As Sima Yi was fighting Zhuge Liang, Cao Rui led a three way defensive force to counter Wu's army. Cao Rui went with Man Chong into Hefei to counter Sun Quan. Liu Shao was sent to Jiangxia and Tian Du led the army at Xiangyang. Spotting a huge fleet from Wu, Man Chong devised a night raid and a fire attack on Zhuge Jin's men. The plan succeeded and Zhuge Jin scarcely fought and fled. When Lu Xun heard of the news, he gathered his officers into a meeting and all agreed to have Sun Quan cancel his siege of Xincheng. He planned to trap the pursuing Wei army in a pincer attack, with himself leading the frontal assault. Lu Xun sent a messenger but his envoy was captured by Wei's army.

With Zhuge Jin's troops suffering from illness and his plot discovered by the enemy, Lu Xun advised the army had best withdraw. Sending a memorial to Sun Quan for a retreat, Lu Xun and Zhuge Jin delayed their departure and feigned a strong front so that the three armies could safely escape.