Shouchun

The Battle of Shouchun (寿春の戦い, rōmaji: Jushun no Tatakai) or Campaign against Yuan Shu was fought between the allied forces under Cao Cao, Sun Ce, and Liu Bei and the forces of the Zhong Dynasty led by Yuan Shu. After having declared himself emperor, Cao Cao issued an edict to the other eastern warlords to destroy Yuan Shu. Lu Bu, who was initially part of the alliance, later betrayed it to side with Yuan Shu.

Decades later, the site would be a recurring place of defiance to the Sima family's rise to power. The rebellions were collectively known as the "Three Rebellions of Shouchun". All three were suppressed, and would lead to the Sima family running nearly unopposed in Wei. The first rebellion was led by Wang Ling, the second was led by Wen Qin and Guanqiu Jian and the final was led by Zhuge Dan. Wu also participated in all three rebellions, in an attempt to exploit Wei's civil war.

Role in Games
The battle appears for the first time in Dynasty Warriors 6 and uses the Wu Territory map. Liu Bei is sent by Cao Cao to defeat Yuan Shu, who had previously declared himself emperor. During the battle, Liu Bei will receive reinforcements by Sun Ce.

In Dynasty Warriors 7, Cao Cao, Sun Ce and Liu Bei unite to bring down Yuan Shu in Shouchun in Wu's story. Although weary of Cao Cao, both Sun Ce and Liu Bei decide to join the alliance. This is also the battle where Liu Bei and Sun Shang Xiang meet each other for the first time. Cao Cao first orders the allied forces to surround Shouchun castle and lay siege to the gates. The player will be tasked to destroy the siege weapons on the castle walls and the defenders before the ram can get into position. Once the gates are breached, Yuan Shu will disappear and the player will have to search the castle for him, only to find some of his generals hiding in ambush. After a short time, Yuan Shu and the bulk of his army appear north of the castle and attempt to flee the battlefield. Midway, however, Chen Lan and Lei Bo defect to the allied forces and buy them enough time to catch up with Yuan Shu and slay him. The map also serves as the battlefield for Zhuge Dan's Rebellion.

In Dynasty Warriors 8, Yuan Shu's demise is only mentioned in the narration. The map again serves as the place for Zhuge Dan's Rebellion in Jin's story. In Wu's hypothetical path, after their victory at Hefei, Sun Quan pursues Cao Pi and the Wei army at Shouchun. Zhuge Dan's Rebellion also takes place in the Shouchun map.

In Zhuge Dan's Free Mode version of the stage, the castle is already surrounded by Sima Zhao, and, surprisingly, also by a few Wu officers. Having received Cao Mao's reinforcements, Wen Qin and his sons immediately begin to suspect Zhuge Dan and mutiny against him. When Wen Qin is killed, Zhuge Dan will order his troops in a desperate charge out of the castle, attacking Sima Zhao who is leading the encirclement. Upon Sima Zhao's initial defeat, Zhuge Dan will notice Quan Dan being attacked by Sun Chen. If Quan Dan is rescued, some of the Wu forces will also defect to Zhuge Dan's side. Eventually, Zhuge Dan's forces reach the Wei main camp, guarded by Jia Chong. When he is defeated, the last objective left is to slay Sima Zhao.

The historical path of Lu Bu's Story Mode in Xtreme Legends has Lu Bu come to Liu Bei's aid against Yuan Shu at Shouchun. Chen Gong will come up with a pincer attack to defeat Yuan Shu. Once the battle is won, Lu Bu ensures peace between Liu Bei and Yuan Shu by shooting at his halberd with a bow.

In Wu's additional scenarios, Sun Jian is the one who takes control of Jiangdong, and becomes a major power in the south much more quickly. Upon Cao Cao's hard-won victory over Yuan Shao, Sun Jian takes the opportunity to strike the worn out conqueror. Initially proceeding without stiff resistance, Han Dang senses a trap, and advises taking the nearby garrisons, revealing Yue Jin leading ambush troops. Upon Yue Jin's defeat, Sun Jian's army continue their march, until Cao Cao's forces unexpectedly charge from the rear. Catching and defeating Cao Cao will end the battle.

In Jin's additional scenario, Sima Zhao, Wang Yuanji, and Zhong Hui provide cover for Zhuge Dan's plan to take out the mutiny led by Wen Qin. A DLC version of the battle takes place in the eyes of Zhuge Dan who sets up the ambush.

Historical Information
During the turmoil in Luoyang following Dong Zhuo's escape, Sun Jian found the imperial seal after conquering the city and gave it to his superior Yuan Shu. Years later, in 197, Yuan Shu used the seal to declare himself emperor, starting the Zhong Dynasty. This caused Sun Ce to break ties with him and the imperial court under Cao Cao's administration issued edicts to the surrounding warlords to destroy Yuan Shu.

Although Yuan Shu was powerful at the time he declared himself emperor, the rebellion of Sun Ce and other subjects caused him to lose many of his holdings in Yang Province, especially in Wu and Guangling. Yuan Shu's army was beaten by Lu Bu at Xiapi and Yuan Shu attempted to invade Chen kingdom in Yu Province. Although he managed to kill its King Liu Chong, Cao Cao led reinforcements and defeated Yuan Shu's army.

Yuan Shu managed to turn Lu Bu against his allies, but the latter was soon defeated and killed at Xiapi in 198. He then bribed the Shanyue leader Zu Lang to attack Sun Ce, but he was defeated and forced to surrender. Yuan Shu faced rebellions in his own camp, since Chen Lan and Lei Bo plundered his treasures and fled to the mountains. Yuan Shu then asked Yuan Shao for help, who sent Yuan Tan to escort him to Hebei. Cao Cao sent Liu Bei and Zhu Ling to intercept Yuan Shu and defeated Yuan Tan, forcing Yuan Shu to turn around and return to Shouchun. He died of illness on his way and Cao Cao's forces conquered Shouchun. Yuan Shu's family escaped south to Liu Xun in Lujiang, who was however defeated by Sun Ce in late 199.

The second rebellion of Shouchun was due to both Guanqiu Jian and Wen Qin joining their forces to bring down Sima Shi from his position. Despite the urging of his advisors, Sima Shi while recovering from his eye surgery decided to personally lead the army to crush the rebellion. Sima Shi had his brother Sima Zhao oversee the affairs back in Luoyang while Xuchang was the base of operations.

Sima Shi eventually reached Shouchun and had his army take control of the whole perimeter via capturing many important territories, deeming that most of their men followed their commanders' orders solely out of loyalty and fear and that instantly attacking would cause them to instantly stand their ground. To that end, Guanqiu Jian and Wen Qin's armies started to fall to paranoia as they were at a loss at what to do in this awkward stalemate, true to Sima Shi's predictions. As the men fled while only a few supporters remained, Sima Shi decided to lead a sneak attack with Deng Ai as the vanguard in order to massively outnumber Wen Qin's troops without any casualties. Soon, Guanqiu Jian fled with his brother and grandson (but was soon killed at some point by a peasant), while Wen Qin fled to Wu with both of his sons.

However, the said campaign took a heavy toll on Sima Shi's health, causing him to be immediately transported back to Xuchang as Jia Chong oversaw the cleanup operations in his place. Sima Shi then passed away in Xuchang afterwards, but not before passing on his command to Sima Zhao, who eventually succeeded him.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms
In the novel, Liu Bei, Zhu Ling and the others move to Xu Province to cut off Yuan Shu's escape to the north. Yuan Shu sends his general Ji Ling to fight them, but he is cut down by Zhang Fei after two bouts. Following this, Liu Bei offers Yuan Shu to surrender, but Yuan Shu refuses by insulting him and orders his men to attack. His forces are defeated and he tries to retreat to Shouchun, but he is ambushed by Chen Lan and Lei Bo. Yuan Shu escapes to Jiangling with 1,000 men, many of whom die from starvation. Yuan Shu eventually dies as a broken man.