Fan Castle

The Battle of Fan Castle (樊城の戦い, rōmaji: Hanjō no Tatakai) is a battle in which Guan Yu besieged the location, which was being dutifully defended by Cao Ren. A flood aids Guan Yu's attempts to capture the castle, as it devastates the defenders and Wei reinforcements, leading to the death of Pang De and Yu Jin's capture. To defeat Guan Yu and lift the siege, Cao Cao forms an alliance with Sun Quan. The future Wu Emperor attacks Jing province while Guan Yu is preoccupied with the siege, forcing him to flee in defeat.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms dramatizes the earlier aspects of the siege such as the Shu forces flooding the Wei army and how the famed Hua Tuo scraped poison from Guan Yu's arm.

Dynasty Warriors
In Dynasty Warriors 3 the battle is confined to the inside of the castle walls. The Shu forces control the north and eastern walls, while Wei maintains control of the rest of castle. The Allied perspective starts out with Sima Yi ordering the army to move out and after a few the flood attack will come wipe out the majority of the Wei army including Pang De and Cao Ren. Guan Yu and Guan Ping use the opportunity to attack the main camp by using the roofs of sunken houses. Lu Meng, Lu Xun, and Gan Ning (as well as Sun Ce if the player completed his story) appear as reinforcements and work with Xu Huang to push back the Shu army. If they player takes too long to finish the battle, Zhou Cang will arrive leading to assault Sima Yi directly. Shu's uses the same events except the Wu forces appear from behind the Shu army. Either way, the flood will instantly take out any non-playable units that happen to be within the flood-level of the castle (as well as blocking off access to item containers on that said level), and bridgeways will form around the rooftops of the castle as aforementioned.

The historical battle is exclusive to the Shu forces in Dynasty Warriors 4 as Guan Yu leads his son and Zhou Cang to assault the castle, and is part of the Xiang Yang series of maps. After an enemy officer is defeated Jiang Qin of Wu will appear to the west and heads this way towards Mi Fang and Fu Shi Ren to convince them to defect. Regardless if the player stops Jiang Qin or not, the two former officers will betray Guan Yu and try to convince all of the troops to do the same. Once the traitors have been dealt with, More Wu reinforcements arrive led by Lu Meng, Lu Xun, and Zhou Tai. Xu Huang will also appear with more reinforcements. The battle will end when all Wei officers have been defeated. Here, the battle takes place outside of Fan Castle itself via two other forts (a center castle and the fort where the Wu Forces will appear from), while Fan Castle itself will only have an inaccessible downstairs-street-area flooded which surrounds a tall-tower/pagoda that is bridged towards the surrounding buildings, which is where the battle vs. Cao Ren normally takes place.

Dynasty Warriors 4 also gives an alternative scenario that pits the Wei forces against Wu in a siege battle. Wei's of the battle has Cao Ren, Sima Yi, and Xu Zhu remain inside the castle while, Xu Huang and Zhen Ji engage the enemy outside to take down their siege weapons and the officers who protect them. Zhou Tai and Sun Shang Xiang protect the catapults to the north and south as, Taishi Ci and Lu Xun protect the ramps to the east and west. The player has to destroy all the ramps and catapults attacking Fan Castle in order to raise morale and can additionally cut off supply lines and use a fire attack to cripple the enemy ranks. Once all siege weapons are destroyed, Lu Meng will charge out personally and Cao Ren will give the order to counterattack. The battle will end once Sun Quan is defeated. If player has already cleared the battle of Shi Ting, Cao Xiu will arrive with reinforcements. Alternatively clearing this stage allows a catapult to appear at Shi Ting and reinforcements to come to the defense of He Fei. Wu's side of the battle has Lu Meng be the commander unless the player is using Sun Jian or one of his children. In addition to Xu Huang and Zhen Ji's units, raiding parties will continuously attack the siege weapons which the player has to protect in order to get into the castle. As ramps are attached to the castle walls and the northern and southern gates collapse, a supply unit will appear for Wei. If the player takes it out before it enters Fan Castle Cao Ren's morale will drop considerably and give the player the chance to defeat him easily. Clearing this stage for Wu causes Zhen Ji to appear at Shi Ting, Sun Jian to be rescued by an allied unit at He Fei, and Sun Shang Xiang will arrive with a catapult in the same battle.

In the expansion of the fourth installment, Xu Huang's legend mode details him defending Fan Castle via aiding Cao Ren, while managing to successfully repeal the siege weapons and defeating Guan Yu later on when he expresses his excitement to clash blades with him. This version of the stage interestingly cuts out only one portion (the northeastern portion) of Fan Castle while keeping all other elements in tact, save for the most western fort of the original Fan Castle map.

Dynasty Warriors 5 adds new elements to the battle such as the flood gates, the playable debut of Pang De, and Shu reinforcements led by one of the Tiger Generals, Zhang Fei. Wei's side of the battle has Cao Ren and the others confined to the northeast of the map in and around Fan Castle. Here, the castle is surrounded by a large ditch that is large enough for the water to pour in to form a large surrouding flood-lake, forcing the castle to have its rooftops acts as a bridge like in the third installment, and making it so that the only way to access the castle itself is to go across a ferry-based bridge that leads up to an upper crack in one of the castle walls.

Wei's scenario will have Guan Ping shall begin preparations for the flood attack just a few minutes after either version of battle has started. Cao Ren will then ask for somebody to deal with the floodgates to which Yu Jin volunteers for. Players have the option to assist him as it will cause significant morale boost if Guan Ping is defeated in time. Cao Ren will order the entire army to charge as Xu Huang arrives with reinforcements. Wu forces led by Lu Meng and Lu Xun arrive a couple of minutes later to the southeast and will push west to help corner Guan Yu at his main camp to the southwest. Zhang Fei appears when the player gets close to Shu's main camp If the player takes too long Meng Da and Liu Feng will appear to assist the enemy troops.

Wu's side of the battle has Lu Meng and Lu Xun start in the southeast as the Wei forces are pinned down at Fan Castle and the Floodgates have been opened. Lu Xun suggests to go to the Shu main camp and get Mi Fang and Fu Shi Ren to join them which can be accomplished by simply attacking them. The player can then assist the Wei forces as losing either Cao Ren or Lu Meng will ensure defeat. Just like in Wei's version of the battle Liu Feng, Meng Da, and Zhang Fei arrive to assist Guan Yu if the stage isn't finished swiftly.

Shu's side of the battle has them positioned to the western part of the map while Wei controls the rest. The only major differences in Shu's version are that Pang De needs to be defeated for the boats to make a path to the castle, and if the player isn't using Guan Yu, or not accompanying him, he will perish midway through the battle and be replaced by Zhang Fei as commander. Trying to enter the castle too soon before the flood will cause the castle gates to open and the water attack to fail.

In Dynasty Warriors 6, the battlefield map centers on castle once again, as well as the surroundings to the south and west of the castle. The Allies version of the battle starts with the Shu forces attacking the west and southern gates of Fan Castle, during which time players can have Mi Fang and Fu Shi Ren defect by approaching each of them. After a few minutes pass, Guan Ping will appear and head to the southwest for the flood attack. regardless if the flood attack succeeds or not, Wu reinforcements will arrive to help the Allied army, and Zhang Fei will come to assist Guan Yu when players near the enemy main camp. In Guan Yu's Musou story, Mi Fang and Fu Shi Ren turn on him as the fights begins, while also dealing with the large presence of Wei and Wu officers protecting Fan Castle. Sun Jian and Diao Chan's version of Fan Castle has a hypothetical twist. Sun Jian's version has him corner Liu Bei following his previous victory in Jing Province as Cao Cao's forces arrive to assist the besieged general. In Diao Chan's story, she makes her way to Fan Castle along with Lu Bu when she realizes the only way to save the Han is to fight Cao Cao head on.

In Dynasty Warriors 6 Special, Cao Pi, Ling Tong, and Taishi Ci get the allied side as part of their story. In Cao Pi's version, he is the one commanding the allied forces. For Taishi Ci's story, Zhao Yun, Huang Zhong, and Ma Chao will arrive as enemy reinforcements for the Shu side.

This battle is the last stage in Wei's story in Dynasty Warriors 7, and begins with Xiahou Dun advancing against his cousins' orders along with Sima Yi to Xiangyang Castle. Along the way the duo rescue Cao Tai and discover Xiangyang's gates are closed, so they decide to attack from hilltop to enter the castle. Upon clearing the enemy from Xiangyang, Sima Yi realizes Shu's attack was a diversion for the flood attack and advises the player to move north in order to save Fan Castle from Guan Yu's sons. Working together with Cao Ren and Xu Huang, they prevail over Guan Ping and Guan Suo to end the first half of the battle. The Battle resumes as water attack recedes for Xiahou Dun and Sima Yi to retake Xiangyang from the Shu forces. Wang Fu will flee to Fanling to request reinforcements led by Ma Chao which the player can prevent from happening. Once Guan Yu’s main camp and the Eastern Bank Garrison have been secured, Sima Yi will have catapults to be constructed. Xiahou Dun escorts them to Jiangling only to be ambushed by ballistae. With the ballistae silenced, a second set of catapults arrive north of Jiangling to bombard the city, causing Mi Fang to defect and open the gates. Guan Yu immediately heads towards Mai Castle and Ma Liang will move out secure more troops to protect the Shu general. Zhu Ran ambushes the officer which can allow the player to deny the arrival of units led by Huang Zhong and Wei Yan. With Jiangling east and western sides secured Xiahou Dun sets forth to end Guan Yu. Upon eliminating his rival, the one general says he always hated the bearded general despite of his accomplishments.

Wu’s perspective starts through Lu Xun’s eyes as he and Lu Meng move to covertly capture Gong’an and Jiangling, while Guan Yu leads the main force of Shu Army near Fan Castle. Once two signal towers and their messengers have been taken care of, the duo make Fu Shiren surrender who immediately helps out by calling for Jiangling‘s eastern gate to open. Upon entering the castle the Wu men manage to get Mi Fang, Xi Zhen, and Pan Jun to join them. However, two enemy messengers flee the castle in an attempt to light the remaing signal towers. As Lu Xun nears the Eastern Bank Garrison, a supply convey appears which causes the garrison gates to open and defeating Guan Xing and Guan Suo end the first half. (Players are expected to move swiftly as taking too long will end up having the Wei forces defeated as Cao Ren needs to survive this battle.)

The rest of the Battle is seen from Lu Meng’s perspective who immediately moves to help relieve Xiangyang and the outer part of Fan Castle with Gan Ning. After a couple of minutes, Ma Chao appears charging directly for Cao Ren, though he is intercepted by the arriving Xu Huang of Wei. Guan Xing reappears to retake the Eastern Bank Garrison and closes it doors, while Guan Yu’s is spotted north of Jiangling Castle. Xi Zhen defects back to Shu, which causes Gan Ning to advise going back to help Lu Xun, which can happen either Guan Suo or his brother are dealt with. With the young officer safe inside the Western Castle Lu Meng braves through Huang Zhong and Wei Yan reinforcements to get to Guan Yu at Mai Castle. Destroying the God of War with his spirit, Lu Meng‘s sick body gives out and is given just enough time to be thankful for fulfilling Zhou Yu’s long-term plan for Jing Province as well as entrusting Wu’s future to Lu Xun.

Shu‘s side of the fight starts with Guan Yu leading the charge against Xiangyang Castle with his sons. As the attack goes underway Yu Jin appears leading a large army advancing straight towards the God of War. Once the reinforcements and the Castle are secured, an enemy assault unit targets the Western Bank Garrison by taking out the guards defending its gates. With assault unit driven off, Guan Yu opens the floodgates as fill up the area around Fan Castle. Taking a boat in dock, he along with Guan Ping and Guan Suo ride towards the castles’ south wall and infiltrate the vicinity. Sima Yi arrives with more enemy troops and taunts Guan Yu’s reasons for attacking for his lord. Once Cao Tai and Niu Jin are defeated in the outer sector, a messenger informs the Guans that Wu has seized Gong’an and Jiangling and a massive Wei army surrounded the Fan Castle. Guan Ping volunteers to stay behind and distract the enemy his father and brother escape.

From here, the player uses Guan Suo as he and his father withdraw to Mai Castle and can’t let Guan Yu be defeated throughout. Almost right after exiting Fan Castle, archers hit the God of War point blank; injuring him in the process. Skimming their way through the choatic battlefield the duo entcounter Lu Meng of Wu, who taunts Guan Yu for the reason why Wu betrayed them and retreats with the slow responsing Shu general attempting to pursue. Trapped by Lu Meng‘s ambush Guan Suo fights off enemy troom as well as a ballista with Lu Meng being killed in the action. Driving off Jiang Qin, Guan Yu is attacked by Mi Fang and Fu Shiren via catapults during which Xu Huang may come to challenge the Shu general to a duel. Moving south of Jiangling more ambushes come, as news of Guan Ping‘s death is brought forth due to Cao Ren isolating the young officer. Upon driving back Ding Feng, Lu Xun leads one more ambush inside Mai Castle, and even though Guan Suo help his father escape the castle it isn’t enough to save him, and is told to tell Zhang Fei that Guan Yu is sorry for breaking their oath.

The third game's map is reused in Dynasty Warriors 7: Xtreme Legends as a Legend Scenario. Wei's side of the battle can gives players the opportunity to prevent the flood by swiftly defeating Guan Ping. On the Wu side, players must rescue trapped officers and get them to higher ground before the flood attack. Unlike the third game, Wu forces are already present.

In Wei's scenario this battle marks the final stage for the historical path in Dynasty Warriors 8. Pang De immediately leaves the castle with a coffin, despite Cao Ren's objections and makes out to fight Guan Yu. Meanwhile reinforcements led by Cao Pi, Xiahou Dun, and Xu Huang (and possibly Xiahou Yuan, if he survives the battle at Mt. Dingjun) appear to assist Cao Ren. Together they first stop the Shu forces in the center, prevent a mutiny by Yu Jin, Hu Xiu and Fu Fang, and rush to the floodgates to stop Guan Ping from initiating the flood. Wu reinforcements arrive, the chase for Guan Yu begins and he is eventually slain. Depending on events, Pang De may either be killed by Guan Yu or live to participate in the chase. There is a glitch in the game if Pang De is among those chasing Guan Yu; the final quote from the cutscene will always be in Japanese even if the voices are set to English.

Wu's scenario has Lu Meng, Lu Xun, and Lianshi attack Shu's rear flank while fighting they're fighting Wei. Though they make short work of Guan Yinping and force Mi Fang and Fu Shiren defect, Pang De is killed and Guan Ping attempts to attack the floodgates. After Guan Yu is defeated, he escapes the first onslaught. Arbalasts are set up near Guan Yu's camp as a defense. If any of the arbalests gets a shot into Lu Meng, he will be injured and die at the battle's end. Wu forces will continue the chase until he is finally slain after the defeat of his sons and the reinforcements from Hanzhong. If Lu Meng doesn't get injured by the arbalests, he will survive his illness and participate at the battle of Yiling.

Shu's path has Guan Yu already take the castle, but besieged by the Wei defenders and their new reinforcements. As Guan Yu first moves out, Pang De immediately launches a flood attack, which not only wipes out many defenders but also keeps Ma Chao's reinforcements at bay allowing a prolonged chase for Guan Yu. Shortly after the flood, Guan Ping volunteers to stay behind and stall for time but dies defending Fan Castle. Wu forces led by both Lu Meng and Lu Xun appear to block Guan Yu's retreat and redirect his path. Mi Fang and Fu Shiren betray Guan Yu and his reinforcements are unable to move thanks to the flood. Xu Huang then ambushes Guan Yu, attacking him with ballistae. Guan Yu manages to defeat Xiahou Dun, Sima Yi and Cao Ren but is finally cornered after Lu Meng and Lu Xun catch up to them.

In the hypothetical path, Xu Shu's intervention and insight sees through many of the enemy's plans. He takes over the flood gates before Pang De can arrive and stops the initial flood, causing the latter's defeat in the battle. After subduing the main frontlines of Wei, Ma Chao, Huang Zhong, and Pang Tong all arrive. Xu Shu then installs ballistae, effectively stopping any enemy that arrives. Lu Meng defies Lu Su's orders and leads an attack on Shu, only to be blunted by Yellow Turban reinforcements allied with Shu led by Zhang Jiao. Wei reinforcements led by Xiahou Dun and Sima Yi attempt to restart the flood attack but are defeated. Eventually Cao Ren attempts to make one final push towards Fan Castle but is defeated and forced to flee.

In the Xtreme Legends expansion, a new scenario is given, this time for the Wei forces holed up in the castle. Yu Jin and Pang De first rally up the defenses of Fan Castle in order to defend against both Wu and Shu armies. Reinforcement led by Ma Dai, coming from Hanzhong arrive to also assist the assault unit. Yu Jin then decides to lure only the Wu assault force into the castle in order to aggravate suspicions between Guan Yu and Wu, and furthers this by severing Guan Yu's messengers. The Wei forces then flood the castle containing the Wu soldiers, causing a retreat from both Lu Xun and Lu Meng. Together with the reinforcements led by Xu Huang, Guan Yu is soon defeated afterwards. If no significant casualties occur to the Wei forces, "Pacification of Jing Province" will be unlocked, otherwise Guan Yu will be slain in this battle. In the coalition's side of the battle, the Wu forces have already been lured into the castle, and must be rescued in order to pursue the flood attack. When the Wu forces successfully evacuate, Guan Ping moves out to take the floodgates back from Pang De. After the Shu forces flood the castle, Yu Jin and Cao Ren order a charge. Defeating Pang De, Yu Jin and Cao Ren will end the stage in victory.

Warriors Orochi
In Warriors Orochi, Hideyoshi and Nobunaga attack an exhausted Orochi army after their victory in Nagashino.

In the sequel, Hideyoshi, Nobunaga and Ieyasu share a dream stage where they combine their might to face Sun Quan, Cao Cao and Liu Bei in a friendly competition. There is a glitch in this version which allows players to surpass the boundaries of an exit, and secretly attack the Main Camp by going behind the castle and back through an entrance again.

In the third game, the Wei army blocks the coalition's path to Chengdu, intending on eliminating all those who serve Da Ji. Aya, Guan Yu, and Tadakatsu aid Ma Chao in fending off against the Wei forces. After the coalition explains why they need Da Ji, Cao Cao, Xiahou Dun, and Nuwa join them. After pacifying Luo Castle in the past, Sima Yi returns to Fan Castle with Aya, Zhao Yun, and Toshiie to ensure that Guo Jia joins them.

This serves as the second part of the midquel DLC stage, "The Rise of Kiyomori".

Romance of the Three Kingdoms
In a follow up to Liu Bei's seizing of Mt. Dingjun, Guan Yu, who was stationed in Jing province at the time, decided to drive Wei out of Jing by laying siege to the Wei stronghold at Fan Castle. Right before the battle, Mi Fang and Fu Shiren were originally placed at the vanguard, however, they held a celebratory banquet, and, in carelessness, caused a camp-wide fire. The two were flogged as punishment and were relegated to defend the outpusts at Gong'an and Nanjun.

To begin the siege, Guan Yu first drove out Cao Ren from Xiangyang with relative ease to secure a starting base. Before pushing on with his siege, Wang Fu warned Guan of a potential attack by Wu on Jing Province, however, Guan Yu stated that that he was confident in his the brazier towers that he had built right before the siege and refused to add extra security or to allow Zhao Lei to defend the area over Pan Jun.

Upon the fall of Xiangyang, Cao Cao scrambled seven armies to be led by Yu Jin and Pang De to aid Cao Ren. On their way, many officers doubted Pang De, but he silenced all by carrying a coffin to battle, showing his intention to kill Guan Yu or die trying. Pang De would later go on to duel Guan Yu twice, and succeeded in wounding the bearded general with an arrow shot during their second duel. Guan Yu, however, refused to be beaten so easily, and made use of the heavy rains to flood the seven armies. Yu Jin surrendered and was sent to Jingzhou while Pang De was executed.

At the end of his ropes, Cao Ren consulted Man Chong about abandoning Fancheng, but Man insisted on defending as the flood was only a temporary disaster, and that Wu would not allow Guan Yu to gain such a large foothold in Jingzhou on their watch. Moved by the advice, Cao Ren personally went to the ramparts to rouse his troops into fighting to the bitter end.

With the Wei troops defending the fortress bitterly, Guan Yu himself came out to lead the assault, however, Cao Ren noticed the enemy commander coming out and ordered his archers to attack Guan Yu. The attack was successful, and an arrow filled with poison hit Guan's arm. As the arrow had penetrated deep into his arm, Guan risked an amputation, but the skilled physician, Hua Tuo had arrived to treat Guan's arm. Making a deep incision and scraping the poison out with his scalpel seemed arduous for a normal person, Guan Yu treated the matter lightly and even drank and played a game of Go with Ma Liang. Hua Tuo then took his leave without payment, stating that he treated the general out of respect, not reward. Before leaving, he warned Guan to not exert himself or get angry as the wound would reopen. Following Hua Tuo's advice, Guan delegated control of the siege to both Liao Hua and Guan Ping.

Behind the back of the Shu forces, however, Lu Meng had successfully bypassed Jingzhou's defenses and occupied the remainder of the province, while Pan Jun, Mi Fang, and Fu Shiren all surrendered to the Wu forces without a fight. Additionally, Cao Cao had already prepared a second detachment of reinforcements led by Xu Huang. With the noose tightening, Xu Huang arrived to duel with Guan Ping, and told the youth that Jing had already fallen, and that the siege would have to end sooner or later. In disbelief, Guan Ping reported these words to Liao Hua and Guan Yu, the latter believing that it was a trick by the Wei forces to reduce morale. Meeting Xu Huang personally, the two briefly reminisced of their old times serving together until the Wei general announced a massive bounty on his friend's head, reminding him that they were now enemies.

Guan Yu duelled Xu Huang but, due to his arm injury, was unable to fully exert himself and was forced to retire. Upon returning back, a messenger arrived to inform Guan that Jing had indeed been lost. With his rear exposed, Guan Yu was forced to leave for Gong'an and Nanjun to try and retake the lost cities but was instead informed that both Fu Shiren and Mi Fang had surrendered as well. Filled with rage, Guan Yu burst into anger, and so to did his arm wound. With no choice, Guan Yu fled for Maicheng, where he would eventually meet his end at the hands of the Wu forces.