Wan Castle

The Battle of Wan Castle (宛城の戦い, rōmaji: Enjō no Tatakai) was a battle between the forces of Cao Cao and Zhang Xiu in 197 AD. Zhang Xiu led a revolt, ambushing Cao Cao in Wan Castle and burning it. Though Cao Cao escaped, casualties were heavy, including Cao Cao's bodyguard, Dian Wei.

Dynasty Warriors
In Dynasty Warriors 4, Cao Cao is trapped in Wan Castle by the warlord Zhang Xiu. Amidst the flames, there are several battles between forces, Cao An Min being trapped in the south. Zhang Xiu's location is to the north, but is not revealed on the map yet. When you defeat him, he will flee with his men. Dian Wei will come and help Cao Cao escape by holding off the advancing enemy. However, later on in the battle Zhang will return with men pouring in from all corners. Cao An Min will also be under more assault. Cao Cao soon faces too much flames so his advance will be halted. Only later will Dian Wei break down burnt walls. All you need to do is defeat enemy units until Cao Cao escapes to fight another day.

In Dynasty Warriors 5, the battle is focused on Dian Wei's defense on the escape point. While Cao Cao is escaping, the player has to prevent any enemies to pass through the checkpoint. Eventually, Jia Xu will appear followed by Zhang Xiu. After defeating the two officers, Cao Cao will safely escape.

In Dynasty Warriors 7, the battle returns as a two-part battle after its absence in the previous installment. In this version, Dian Wei needs to defend Cao Cao from ambushes, phantoms, fire-breathing statues, ballistas, and arbalests. After going through deadly traps, one will eventually find Cao Ang. Later on, Cao Ang will attack an arbalest only to be killed by the weapon. After escaping Wan Castle, Dian Wei sacrifices his life to let Cao Cao escape. In the second part, Cao Cao seeks revenge for the death of his bodyguard. In the end, Jia Xu is defeated only to be hired by the now-cruel Cao Cao who will spare his life if he is a capable strategist.

In Dynasty Warriors 8, the battle starts with Cao Cao and Dian Wei escaping the fiery castle. After defeating Huche'er, the two men encounter arbalests at the hallway while Yang Feng activates the ballistae. Breaking through, they are then impeded by fire breathing qilin statues with Han Xian guarding the passage. Soon an ambush occurs, and Cao Cao wonders about the welfare of both Cao Ang and Cao Anmin. After breaking the ambush, Jia Xu activates the wind traps which will blow allied soldiers into a pit filled with Zhang Xiu's men. After overcoming the trap, the pair reach the exit, but Dian Wei is wounded by projectiles. Attempting to move to the offensive, Guo Jia first orders that the nearby areas be secured, and they soon find Liu Biao's men in the process. Now aware of the situation, Cao Cao's forces plant ambush troops to lure out Zhang Xiu, and defeat Liu Biao's reinforcements. Once the plan is successful, Cao Cao's men storm Zhang Xiu's castle. Defeating both Zhang Xiu and Jia Xu will end the battle. Saving Cao Anmin and Cao Ang is optional; doing so will help clear one of the battle's bonus conditions as well as enable the aforementioned officers and Dian Wei to appear in future battles.

Warriors Orochi
In one of Wu's side stages, the Tokugawa mutiny against Orochi and help a mass evacuation of peasants at Wan Castle. Kunoichi later arrives to assist the effort. Yoshimoto also happens to be in the castle and must be evacuated as well. When all peasants are evacuated and Zhen Ji is forced to withdraw, Kunoichi joins the Wu-Tokugawa alliance.

Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper makes the castle itself resemble the Hayabusa village. When Ryu Hayabusa, Jia Xu, and Kunoichi arrive to protect the castle. They appear to find no enemies. Suddenly, the officers of the castle begin to attack the ninjas and the strategist assassin. It is here that the Coalition meets with Momiji.

In Ultimate, Zhuge Dan, Lu Xun and Tadakatsu Honda invade the area in the hopes of catching and sealing Tamamo. Surprisingly, the trio are ambushed by Lu Bu's army, and Lu Xun deduces that they think the allied army is a group of impostors. The trio first move to assist Nezha, who was also caught up in the conflict, and begin proceeding to Wan Castle itself. Despite Zhuge Dan's words, Chen Gong still refuses to believe the words, so Lu Xun instead requests that Tadakatsu defeat multiple soldiers to get Lu Bu's army to open the gates on their own. Using the chaos within the castle, Lu Xun manages to slip a messenger to speak with Chen Gong, however, and Chen Gong begins to doubt his lord. Upon seeing Nezha in the castle's vicinity, Chen Gong asks his lord if he'd like to ride out and engage the mystic. Lu Bu refuses the suggestion, and decides to attack the strategist instead, and the objectives change to saving Chen Gong. Tamamo soon appears after Lu Bu's defeat, and Nezha was also revealed to be an impostor. Once Tamamo is defeated, Tadakatsu will attempt to use the Divine mirror on her, but it only ends up revealing her true form, Kyubi.

Historical Information
Zhang Xiu's forces stormed Cao Cao’s camp. The battle went against Cao Cao, with no advantage, he fled on a light horse. Dian Wei battled at the gate preventing the traitors from entering. The troops then entered from the other gates. At the time Dian Wei had about ten or so men; they all fought a desperate battle; each fought like ten men. The traitors numbered many and were coming from front and rear. Dian Wei using his long crescent halberds attacked left and right destroying ten or more. The surrounding area was littered with many dead bodies.

Dian Wei received over ten cuts, yet he continued to fight despite lacking troops. He held onto two traitors underneath his arms, killing them. The remaining traitors dared not to advance any further. Dian Wei continued attacking the traitors, killing numerous men. His wounds took its toll, he let out a great cry and then died. The traitors dared not to advance and take his head, instead returned to the army. Cao Cao had retreated back to Wu Yin where he then heard about Dian Wei’s death. The news brought tears to his eyes. Cao Cao's son Cao Ang offered his steed to his father and bravely stayed behind to hold off the enemy, allowing his father to escape while he was killed in the battle. Cao Cao's beloved nephew Cao An Min was also killed in battle.