Yiling

The Battle of Xiaoting (猇亭の戦い, rōmaji: Ōtei no Tatakai), also known as the Battle of Yiling (夷陵の戦い, rōmaji: Iryō no Tatakai), is a battle fought by Shu in retaliation for the loss at Fan Castle. Young Lu Xun, with the help of Ling Tong and Zhu Ran, lead Wu to a decisive victory thanks to his genius fire attack. The decisive battle here halted Liu Bei's invasion of Wu and eventually led to his death.

Dynasty Warriors
Most of the versions of this battle in the Dynasty Warriors series emphasizes the devastating effects of Wu's fire attack and the importance of the Stone Sentinel Maze. In all games, the battle results with Wu using a fire attack against Shu, although it is preventable in some games. Depending on what installment and what force the player is for fighting, this can happen soon after the start of the battle, or minutes into the battle. In some games, Wu brings out reinforcements after the attack. After the fire attack, the Shu forces retreat back, normally to the Stone Sentinel Maze in which the map will disappear if the player enters it. Normally, Zhuge Liang appears when the Shu forces reach the center.

The Stone Sentinel Maze is the essential key to winning the battle in some of the games depending upon the faction the player is supporting. Depending on the forces as well as the installment, the effects of the maze greatly varies towards the player.

In the fourth installment of the series, this stage is part of the Yi Ling series with both Campaign for Jing and Unification of Jing. Yi Ling itself can be considered the whole stage of the stage set, having included the Stone Sentinel Maze in the south. In order to render the maze's effectiveness against Wu to be useless, players have to cause the fire attack to force Liu Bei to retreat into Bai Di Castle. The maze is a few roads divided by statues which rise and lower until the player exits the western side, and they are set to work in a predetermined route. Upon exit, Zhuge Liang arrives with a fleet to defend Liu Bei and raid the Wu Forces' camp.

Lu Xun's Legend Mode in the Xtreme Legends expansion focuses on the Stone Sentinel Maze portion of the land, known both in the game and historically as Yufu Bay/Yufupu (魚腹浦, Gyofukuho, lit. Fish Entrails Bay). Only the maze with slight traces of the northern and western entry points (not to be confused with troop spawning units) are shown on the map, and Lu Xun must traverse through the maze carefully in order to reach his goal and cut down Zhuge Liang, all while running into guards hidden within the sections of the maze. Eventually, a mysterious man by the name of Huang Cheng Yuan leads Lu Xun to the exit of the maze onwards to Bai Di Castle. Note that in this Legend Mode stage, Lu Xun is alone with only his bodyguards available.

In Dynasty Warriors 5, the maze is a set of paths in a forest, and ambushes appear there. Zhuge Liang arrives south of the area. Unlike in the previous game, both the Stone Sentinel Maze and Bai Di Castle itself are on a stage separate from Yi Ling.

In Dynasty Warriors 6, it contains a few mazes and paths which lead to the center of the maze, which resembles an arena in many ways. Zhuge Liang appears there to finish the player off, with many generals alongside him.

In Dynasty Warriors 8, Lu Meng's appearance there determines whether he survives Fan Castle or not. After fighting off the Shu forces on the frontlines, Liu Bei deserts his army and Lu Xun gives orders for Han Dang to set the fire attack and for Ling Tong to recapture the garrisons near the main camp while the young Wu strategist heads to lure out the Shu commander. Gan Ning ventures on his own without orders, only to be ambushed and killed by Sha Moke. After the fire attack and the first round against Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang brings him to safety and sets the Wu forces to try and clear the Stone Sentinel Maze.

In a history altering scenario, should the player go with Gan Ning, they can save him from his death and unlock Guangling.

Shu's version of the stage begins as Liu Bei runs off alone and goes missing. While Zhao Yun fights off multiple ambushes by Wu forces in search of Liu Bei, Guan Xing and Zhang Bao lead Shu's forces south towards the Wu main camp. Zhao Yun must also defeat Han Dang before he launches the fire attack, whereupon Liu Bei is discovered being attacked by Lu Xun. After Lu Xun is defeated Zhuge Liang arrives with reinforcements and orders the Shu forces to march on the Wu camp. Gan Ning, Ling Tong and Zhou Tai arrive as the Shu forces capture the Wu garrisons. Sun Quan is defeated but Liu Bei fails to slay him to avenge his brothers.

The expansion later gives two new, revised scenarios of the battle. In Wu's part, Lu Xun is joined by his predecessors, Zhou Yu, Lu Su, and Lu Meng. The Wu soldiers immediately defeat the Shu forces surrounding the allied camp, before moving on to the fire strategy. As Lu Xun and Zhu Ran advance north, to the center of Shu's army, while Lu Meng and Zhou Tai divert the enemy's attention to the south. From that point on, the Wu army begins their hunt for Liu Bei. At the battle's conclusion, Liu Bei escapes with Zhao Yun's aid. The timing of Zhao Yun's defeat may also result in the unlocking of the Defense of Jiangling.

In Shu's scenario, Fa Zheng will appear at the entrance of the Stone Sentinel Maze, and he will immediately move out to warn Liu Bei of the fire attack. Within the maze are the ones responsible for Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's death, while the exit is guarded by Han Dang. Soon the Wu forces begin sending out fire attack units, and they immediately target the center of Shu's army. After being warned, Liu Bei begins pulling out his forces. On Fa Zheng's advice the Shu army allows the Wu army to initiate a fire attack, and then goad the enemy into attacking by stating Liu Bei's death. Zhu Ran then moves out to execute the fire, while the Shu forces withdraw and hide in order to ambush the enemy. As planned, Sun Quan moves out as soon as word reaches out of Liu Bei's death, allowing Liu Bei to ambush the Wu forces. With the vengeance exacted, Liu Bei oversees the planting of new trees, in hopes of unity and tranquility for future generations, and his hopes to continue leading Shu without his brothers.

Lu Xun's Legend Mode in the fourth title's expansion entails his desire to surpass Zhuge Liang's wit for the eradication of Shu. It is a custom made map of the Stone Sentinel Maze, the pathways being blocked by rising stone walls and phantom soldiers. To proceed forward, Lu Xun needs to backtrack with caution and defeat the guards impeding his path within the maze. Midway to Zhuge Liang's hiding spot, the strategist will send Chen Shi and Zhang Bao to try to stop the youth. Zhao Yun and Guan Xing also attempt to guard the second to last barricade. On the last stone wall impeding their path, a middle aged gentleman named Huang Cheng Yan realizes Lu Xun is stuck and guides him to the real exit. Lu Xun then engages in a final duel with Zhuge Liang.

Warriors Orochi
During Orochi's story mode, Orochi and Sun Quan spot Cao Cao's army at this location. The latter's army still consists of a majority of his loyal officers. The serpent army invades from the upper right hand corner while Cao Cao's army stands firm in the center. Moments after the short exchange between the commanders, the Orochi army fires with their cannons. The Wei forces, whom have never seen the destructive weapons of war before, panic and start to break formation. A composed Cao Cao attempts to recover from the situation by issuing an organized retreat into the Stone Sentinel Maze. To capitalize on the brief moment of weakness, Sun Quan orders the Orochi forces to hunt down the escaping officers.

Once his remaining troops flee inside the maze, Cao Cao plans a fire attack to counter the cannons. His plot cannot be prevented by the player, although a quick and mighty character can execute the officer leading the engineers in the north-western garrison. With the fire spelling confusion on the Orochi forces and the cannons dispelled, Cao Cao then orders a counter offensive. The player's team then has to calm the Orochi officers in the front line garrisons or they will be annihilated without even putting up a fight. Once the nearest generals to the main camp have been defeated, Cao Cao's location becomes hidden in the maze. The player then has to defeat the sorcerers hiding him before he flees to the lower left hand base on the map. Pinned at last, he and a few of his guards put a final offensive.

After the battle's conclusion, Orochi and his men believe that Cao Cao had died of his wounds in battle and a portion of Wei's officers submit to the serpent king.

In Warriors Orochi, Cao Pi and Mitsunari band together to deal with the disgruntled Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan. They are assisted by reinforcements from the Orochi army, Sun Shang Xiang and Ina. Again, the Orochi forces arm themselves in the north-eastern corner of the map. Cao Pi and company heading from the east, the ladies invade from the west, and Mitsunari defends the main camp. The Xiahou cousins take their position in the center with Pang Tong as their strategist. Victory must be claimed by defeating the three figures spearheading the revolution.

Pang Tong orders a pincer by ordering Xiahou Dun to attack Cao Pi's path and Xiahou Yuan to attack from the west. He plans to send an engineer team to create a straight bridge to the Orochi forces' main camp. If interrupted, he attempts to flee into the Stone Sentinel Maze and launches an ambush on those who pursue. Meanwhile the Xiahou cousins realize the plan has failed and order an all-out attack on the main camp to compensate for their weakened morale. Both cousins need to be defeated twice for their submission while the player's team need only defeat Pang Tong once. After witnessing Cao Pi's worth firsthand, the trio then join Wei after their defeats.

If their plan succeeds, the player will need to deal with the invigorated rebel army as they relentlessly charge for Mitsunari's position. This may prove to burdensome in early levels as it is difficult to simultaneously guard Cao Pi and the main camp. The aftermath is still the same regardless of the player's choice.

A replica of the Stone Sentinel Maze also appears in Kawanakajima. In Orochi's Story Mode, the Takeda army uses the maze in conjunction with a fire attack to weaken players.

In the third game, the battle with Kiyomori there first ends in a complete disaster; Ma Dai and Pang De have died in their efforts to protect Ma Chao. Suddenly, the young Xi Liang warriors returns to the past thanks to Kaguya to stop the tragedies he originally faced. Ma Chao first turns back and begins moving to assist Ma Dai, who receives surprise reinforcements from Pang De. On his way, they run into Kunoichi, who is possessed by Kiyomori, and successfully defeat her, and bring her back to her senses. As the battle rages on, Ma Dai immediately urges their forces to assist Huang Zhong at the entrance to Stone Sentinel Maze, only to find the exit locked from the inside. This eventually leads to the Coalition's inability to save Huang Zhong. Despite this, they manage to defeat both Kiyomori and Yukimura, ending the battle.

The redux version allows Ma Chao to rescue Huang Zhong from his death after taking catapults from the Demon storehouse at Tedorigawa.

Shortly before the rise of the Hydra, Ina went to Yiling to train, but was cut off from her allies by a demon army. Guo Jia, Guo Huai, and Xingcai come to her aid.

Ultimate shows a recap on the original battle prior to Kaguya's intervention. It first shows Huang Zhong, Ma Dai, Ma Chao, and Xu Shu leading the remnants of Shu through the Demon forces at Yiling. Huang Zhong and Ma Dai ultimately choose to stay behind, guarding the entrance of the Stone Sentinel Maze and the southeastern garrison respectively while Ma Chao and Xu Shu leave for Odawara Castle.