Puyang

The Battle of Puyang (濮陽の戦い, rōmaji: Hokuyō no Tatakai) was fought between Cao Cao and Lu Bu from 194 to 195. Zhang Miao and Chen Gong invited Lu Bu to take over Yan Province while Cao Cao was away fighting Tao Qian. In the novel, the battle is used to display Chen Gong's great intellect.

Role in Games
In Dynasty Warriors 5: Xtreme Legends, the siege is known as the "Battle of Yan Province", and acts as a Legend mode stage for Lu Bu, Diao Chan, and Zhang Liao. Chen Gong will be stationed within Pu Yang castle, and will wait for Lu Bu's army to surround the castle's three gates, which are guarded by Yue Jin, Li Dian, and Man Chong. The western path led by Zhang Liao will lose their retreat path when their bridge is destroyed while Lu Bu, who is leading the central path will be ambushed during his advance. If Lu Bu's men surround the castle quickly enough, Chen Gong will defect, and open the gates. Otherwise, Cao Cao will appear, and Chen Gong will immediately scoff Lu Bu, and will exit the battlefield. Taking Pu Yang castle from Xun Yu will end the battle in victory.

Puyang is an unlockable stage in Wei's story in Dynasty Warriors 8. During Cao Cao's absence, Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, and Yue Jin stay behind in Yan Province when they are informed of Lu Bu's assault. Leaving the defense of Puyang castle to Cheng Yu, the trio move to rescue Xun Yu who is surrounded by Lu Bu's men at Juancheng Castle. Once this is done, the player is informed that Puyang Castle has fallen to Lu Bu's main army. The trio advance to retake the castle, but Chen Gong orders an ambush unit to attack them. Additionally, Zhang Miao arrives with reinforcements for Lu Bu, with the castle gates being locked up and defended by ballistae. The player is thus forced to take the secret path in the south, where he will meet Zhang Liao for a second time. Once he is defeated, the southern gate of the castle is opened and the player has to defeat Hou Cheng. Doing so opens the main gate and allows Cao Cao's men to infiltrate the castle. Shortly afterwards, Cao Cao himself returns with the main army and orders an attack on Puyang. Once Zang Ba is defeated, Lu Bu, Diaochan, and Chen Gong will remain behind the last gate.

This stage reappears for Lu Bu's story in the expansion. In this scenario, Lu Bu's forces are instead located at the southwest corner. Chen Gong first has Zhang Miao convince the tribal lords of the area to side against Cao Cao. Meanwhile, Lu Bu's forces take the rear path to reach Cheng Yu, who is guarding Puyang castle. In retaliation, Cheng Yu will launch an ambush, but he is defeated, and Puyang falls. Upon seeing this, Yu Jin decides to go into hiding. After Puyang falls, Chen Gong immediately orders the attack on Juan castle, but Xun Yu activates ballistae to try and stop Lu Bu. After Juan castle falls, Chen Gong installs his own siege weapons to guard the area. Soon Cao Cao's initial wave of reinforcements led by Xiahou Dun appear, and Yu Jin reappears in the hopes of a pincer attack to retake the castle. By this time, all the tribal lords are convinced by Zhang Miao to defect, and they immediately order that Tian Shi write a forged letter to Cao Cao. If the plan is unsuccessful, Cao Cao will arrive, but will attack Juan castle, and the tribal lords will attack Lu Bu instead. But should the plan succeed, Zhang Miao will trap Cao Cao at Puyang castle, and Guo Jia and Dian Wei will attempt to guard the escape point for their lord. Defeating Cao Cao will end the stage.

Historical Information
In 193, Cao Cao's father was killed by Zhang Kai, a subordinate of Tao Qian , and Cao would subsequently besiege Tao. Meanwhile, Chen Gong and Zhang Miao invited the wandering Lu Bu to take the province. Through this, Lu Bu was able to take most of Yan Province, but he was unable to take both Juancheng, Dong'e county and Fan county, which were guarded respectively by Xun Yu, Xue Ti, and Cheng Yu. Cao Cao soon cancelled his invasion on Xu province, and returned back to home base. Lu Bu subsequently prepared for a siege at Puyang.

In the first clash, Lu Bu's cavalry was able to mow down the Qingzhou corps. Cao Cao attempted to ride out to ease ensuing chaos, but fell from his horse, and burned his left palm instead. In spite of the initial failure, Cao Cao roused his men to use siege weapons instead. As the siege wore on, Cao Cao was able to isolate Lu Bu even further by defeating both Zhang Chao and Zhang Miao. Supplies on both sides were spent severely, but the tide finally went against Lu Bu when Tian family defected to Cao Cao's side, and opened the gates to let the Cao troops pour in.

During the conflict, Cao Cao was captured by Lu Bu's men, but they were unable to recognize Cao, and he deceived them into thinking that another rider was actually "Cao Cao". After being released by Lu Bu's men, Cao Cao escaped the city, and maintained the siege. Eventually, Lu Bu's defense crumbled, and he was forced to flee to Liu Bei.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms
In Chapter 12, Chen Gong managed to convince a noble to fake a defection. Cao Cao received the letter, and proceeded as planned, until he realized he was deep into an enemy trap. When he reached the city, Lu Bu immediately cut off most of the retreat routes of Cao Cao's men, and the area they were in was set on fire. During the battle, Lu Bu encountered Cao Cao, but was unable to recognize him, and demanded to know where Cao Cao was. Cao feigned ignorance, and pointed to another person, causing Lu Bu to release the warlord.

After escaping Lu Bu, Cao Cao's horse was killed when a beam fell on it, but the warlord was able to escape thanks to Xiahou Yuan and Dian Wei. The rest of the battle follows closely to the one of actual history.

Cao Cao's Forces

 * Men Wei Soldiers

Lu Bu's Forces

 * Many of Lu Bu's Men