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Battle of Nanjun
Nanjun in Dynasty Warriors 8
Date Winter 208 ~ 209
Autumn 222 ~ June 223
Location Jiangling, Nan Commandery, Jing Province (present-day Jingjiang, Hubei)
Result Allied forces conquer Nanjun (209)
Wei forces withdraw (223)
Forces
Allied Forces
Wu
Cao Cao's Forces
Wei
Commanders
Zhou Yu (208)
Liu Bei (208)
Zhu Ran (222)
Cao Ren (208)
Cao Zhen (222)
Xiahou Shang (222)

The Battle of Nanjun (南郡の戦い, rōmaji: Nangun no Tatakai; lit. "Battle of Nan County") was the final conflict between the forces of Cao Cao and the allied forces of Sun Quan and Liu Bei after the former's loss at Chibi. Cao Cao left Cao Ren behind to guard the area against the assault of Zhou Yu. Later, in 222, the forces of Wei and Wu would meet there again as part of Cao Pi's invasion of Wu.

Role in Games[]

Dynasty Warriors[]

In Dynasty Warriors 4, Nanjun is the Nan Territory played by Wu forces, aiming to capture garrisons from the Wei army before the Shu forces. Zhou Yu is injured and pretends to withdraw. In Dynasty Warriors 7, the Battle of Nanjun is featured. Zhou Yu orders Gan Ning to capture three garrisons, but Cao Cao's forces ambush him. Xu Huang attacks Zhou Yu, and Cao Cao's reinforcements arrive. The gates of Nanjun open, causing Liu Bei's forces to advance towards Nanjun and Wu forces. Defeating Cao Ren ends the battle.

In Dynasty Warriors 8, the player is tasked with rescuing Gan Ning and his men at Yiling Castle. Zhou Yu is injured and uses his injury to lure out the enemy. The player must conquer the base behind the drawbridge, either waiting at the garrison or taking the eastern route. The Wu forces attempt a pincer attack, leading to Cao Cao's forces sending reinforcements to attack Zhou Yu. Zhou Yu survives his injury, but defeating Cao Ren will result in a victory.

In Wei's Free Mode battle, several Wei officers are encircled near Nanjun Castle. Zhou Yu helps defeat Lu Su and Lu Meng, allowing the Wei forces to lower the drawbridge to Yiling Castle. Liu Bei's forces advance from the eastern side of the map, and defeating Zhou Yu a second time will end the stage.

Nanjun appears in Wei's hypothetical story path, where Cao Cao's forces chase Liu Bei down in Jing Province. The player must defeat Sun Qian, Liu Qi, Liao Hua, Guan Yu, Yueying, and Zhuge Liang to escape. The stage is reused in the Battle of Lujiang, where Cao Cao's forces aim to destroy the remaining Wu forces.

The DLC stage Melee at Jing Province takes place, with the player taking Wei's side. Yu Jin chases Mi Zhu, who lures Wei officers into a trap sprung by Guan Ping. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei attempt to charge the Wei main camp, but Zhuge Liang deploys ballista to keep them at bay, allowing Liu Bei to advance.

Dynasty Warriors 9 sees Nanjun as one of the main battles of Chapter 7 of Wei and Wu's Story Modes as Cao Cao attempts to deal with Sun Quan as they vie for control of Jing Province, only to then turn his attention back to the north when he deals with Ma Teng and then Ma Chao at Tong Gate before turning back to deal with Wu at Ruxukou before withdrawing to station Zhang Liao, Yue Jin, and Li Dian at Hefei while he takes the bulk of his army, including Xiahou Yuan and his son Xiahou Ba, to attack Hanzhong, knowing that with Guan Yu still in Jing Province, tensions between Wu and Shu were starting to build regarding if Liu Bei would return it to Wu or they would have to take it back by force.

Warriors Orochi[]

In Warriors Orochi 3, Xiahou Ba and Sun Quan search for their missing father, Xiahou Yuan, and rescue a maiden's sister. Sun Wukong, frustrated by the lack of success, captures the southern garrison and joins the Coalition. In Hyper, Lianshi, Joan of Arc, and Rachel defend local peasants from a demon army raid. The Coalition forces are initially holed within a garrison, but Rachel insists on engaging. The Orochi army calls in reinforcements, but Rachel eventually focuses on defense. Kiyomori takes command and must be defeated. In Ultimate, the Oda army is attacked by the Wei army, using an imposter Nobunaga. The Oda forces defeat Guo Jia and Zhenji, but Cao Pi and Mitsunari attack the Oda camp. Da Ji and a fake Nobunaga must be defeated, and the Oda army is trapped inside the Divine Mirror by Tamamo.

In the mirror realm version, the battle plays out almost identically except that the Oda forces are able to confirm the second Nobunaga to be one of Kyūbi's tails. Once they learn of this, the Oda forces quickly send a messenger to Cao Pi to inform him of what has happened.

Historical Information[]

Following their victory at Chibi, the allied forces pursued the enemy forces into the heartland of Jing Province and began preparations to conquer Nan Commandery from Cao Cao's forces. Nanjun at that time was defended by Cao Ren, who had around 100,000 troops stationed in various strategic locations in the area. In order to start a coordinated attack on Jiangling, Zhou Yu asked Liu Bei to cut off Cao Ren's supplies. Liu Bei in turn sent Guan Yu to attack Xiangyang. Guan Yu suffered a heavy defeat against Yue Jin, who pursued the enemy down the Han river up to Xiakou. Guan Yu tried to withdraw to Jingcheng, but the navy of Yue Jin and Wen Ping caught up and forced Guan Yu to fight a naval battle, which resulted in a total disaster for the allied forces.

Meanwhile, Liu Bei received the surrender of Jin Xuan, Han Xuan, Liu Du, and Zhao Fan in the four commanderies of southern Jing, conquering a huge portion of Jing Province. He also received the support of Lei Xu, a bandit leader who had rebelled against Cao Cao at Lujiang and was defeated by Xiahou Yuan, although his force remained largely unscathed. Following that, he divided his troops among Guan Yu and Zhang Fei and ordered Guan Yu to block off the route between Jiangling and Xiangyang to cut Cao Ren's supply line. However, Cao Cao's general Li Tong broke through the blockade, forcing Guan Yu to retreat and managing to hold the supply line.

In the meantime, Cao Ren tried to retake Yiling from Sun Quan's forces, but failed and suffered heavy casualties. Another attempt to attack Zhou Yu's main camp together with Xu Huang led to another defeat against Ling Tong. The morale of Cao Ren's men dropped, forcing him to send out Niu Jin with a small detachment of 300 troops to score a minor victory and inspire the troops in Jiangling. However, Niu Jin and his men were quickly surrounded and Cao Ren decided to go out for the rescue, against the advice of Chen Jiao. Cao Ren managed to save Niu Jin and even went a second time to retrieve the other survivors, keeping the losses low. Cao Ren then built some camps outside of the city and Zhou Yu attempted numerous raids. On one of these raids, Zhou Yu was hit by an arrow and injured, forcing him to leave the battlefield. Lu Meng, Ling Tong and others were left in charge of the campaign.

The siege of Jiangling took on for about a year until Zhou Yu recovered from his injury and rejoined the battlefield. He personally led his men forward and flaunted before Cao Ren, leading him to believe that he was determined to keep up the offensive, although he was still in a critical condition. Cao Cao finally ordered Cao Ren to withdraw, saying that their forces could not afford more losses. Thus, Nanjun fell under the control of Sun Quan.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms[]

After Cao Cao's defeat at Chibi, Sun Quan capitalized on the situation by besieging Jingzhou with high morale. Cao Ren mounted a strong defense, but Niu Jin became impatient and requested reinforcements. Cao Ren received a brocaded box with orders to hold Nanjun and kill Zhou Yu. Cao Ren lured Zhou Yu out, but he faked his own death, leading to the Wei forces being defeated. Cao Ren withdrew his troops to Xiangyang and Fan Castle. Liu Bei's forces attacked Jingzhou, causing Zhou Yu to become incensed. Sun Quan attempted to retake the stolen areas, but Lu Su warned against conflict between himself and Liu Bei. The seizure of Nanjun marked the beginning of the Sun-Liu alliance rift.

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