Mt. Qi

The Battle of Mount Qi (祁山の戦い, rōmaji: Kizan no Tatakai) refers to the series of conflicts surrounding the mountain, a strategic point during Zhuge Liang's Northern Campaigns against Wei. When Zhuge Liang first tried to take the mountain, he ordered Ma Su to lead the expedition that resulted in the defeat at Jie Ting. Two years later, Zhuge Liang then led the Shu army personally to claim the mountain. Although the accounts and details of the battle vary, the conflict ultimately resulted in Zhang He's death.

Role in Games

Dynasty Warriors

Dynasty Warriors 4: Xtreme Legends has two legendary modes take place here. One focuses on a situation where Zhang He is baited by Wei Yan here. As Wei Yan retreats, Zhang He will be attacked by archers while Wei Yan waits in safety. Zhang Bao and Guan Xing defends Wei Yan's position and need to be defeated to reach Wei Yan. Once he rids of all predicaments, Zhang He can appear before the one who taunted him. The other scenario focuses on Sima Yi, similarly lured within a trap by Wei Yan. However, Sima Yi faces more intimidating odds as he additionally faces bombardiers and land mines. While cursing for falling for Zhuge Liang's trick, Sima Yi needs to fight his way back to safety and escape disaster. If the strategist defends and waits for the rain, Zhuge Liang realizes the plan has failed. Wei Yan will attack and the gates blocking Sima Yi will be opened.

The battle returns as a Legend Mode in Dynasty Warriors 5: Xtreme Legends, this time allowing players to fight as the Shu side with Zhuge Liang, Wei Yan, and Jiang Wei. Within the first moments of the march, Zhuge Liang orders the advance forces to bait the enemy and then retreat. Once the entire army has retreated, the player's character remains on the field. Sima Yi and Zhang He are suspicious of Shu's retreat and send three messengers to inspect the escape point. The player has to dodge all of them, which can easily be done by skillfully hiding in the southwest and center path with careful timing. First, wait some distance along the western road until the center task master is deep south within Shu's escape point position. Hide from the western task master by running toward the center road. When all three task masters are in the south-western corner of the map, players can choose to safely wait for reinforcements along any of the three pathways. If the scouts report nothing amiss, Zhuge Liang will then order the entire Shu army to reappear. They surround and ambush Zhang He and the Wei army with little effort. Although Xu Zhu can arrive as support, Sima Yi curses the loss against his rival.

Should the player stray from the plan or get spotted, the Prime Minister will have to issue a real retreat due to lack of supplies. The player then has to face the entire Wei army by themselves.

Warriors Orochi

Mount Qi is one of the dream stages featured in Warriors Orochi 2. It has three heroes who uniquely follow the warriors' path -Kenshin, Guan Yu, Xu Huang- rescue Yoshitsune and his stranded allies from Kiyomori's army. With He Jin as their leader, the trio save the young warrior. Yoshitsune bids them to help his comrades while he leaves to seek aid. Kenshin rallies Ieyasu, Ina is saved by Guan Yu, and Xu Huang raises Ranmaru's morale. As the warriors route their foes, allies praise them as "Gods of War" while the Orochi forces fear their approach. Their bravery intrigues both Lu Bu and Keiji to break formation and challenge the three warriors. In spite of these setbacks, Kiyomori orders his men to intensify their charge. Yoshitsune returns to bring Shingen, Xiahou Dun, and Lu Meng as ally reinforcements.

Historical Information

Prior to this conflict, the Shu army had performed a siege at Chen Cang. Zhang He was ordered by Cao Rui to deal with Zhuge Liang, granting him an army of 30,000. The Wei soldiers were worried by Zhang He's late arrival, as they feared his forces would have come too late to do any good. Zhang He was undeterred, knowing that Zhuge Liang's army came from a great distance and their supplies were already exhausted. He predicted that the enemy commander would retreat at once since Shu hardly had enough food to last ten more days of their siege. Nonetheless, Zhang He planned a night attack on the same day. Zhuge Liang retreated before the raid commenced. Zhang He's cunning, keen perceptions of the northern terrain, and exceptional leadership made Zhuge Liang fear him.

During Shu's Fourth Northern Campaign, Zhuge Liang ordered Mount Qi to be surrounded. The Hanjin Chunqui records he sent Wei Yan, Wu Ban, and Gao Xiang to attack Guo Huai, Fei Yao, and Sima Yi. On the other hand, the Record of the Three Kingdoms only notes Wang Ping charging into battle. The Wei army countered with Zhang He's leadership, but they were repulsed by Wang Ping's troops. Zhuge Liang then ordered the Shu army to withdraw at once. According to the Weilue, Zhang He was ordered by Sima Yi to pursue. The general was resistant and stated, "It is a common military tactic to leave one side open for the enemy in order to surround them. We shouldn't chase a cornered foe." However, Sima Yi was in a position where he didn't hear the protest in time and Zhang He was ambushed by arrows. He died during the assault. Record of the Three Kingdoms doesn't record any protest from Zhang He as he closed in on Zhuge Liang's troops. During the pursuit, Zhuge Liang turned his troops around and awaited the general. When the Wei general passed through a wooden gate, he and his forces were attacked by arrows. Zhang He was wounded in his right knee and died during the fighting.

What happened after Zhang He's death is unclear. The Book of Jin claims that Zhuge Liang then pressed onward toward the mountain and met with Sima Yi's remaining army. Sima Yi led his troops and they repelled their enemies promptly. All other records of the battle note a conflict resulting in Zhang He's demise, but they have no recorded accounts of a "victor". The Wei forces did have a boost in promotions after the battle, but it's not clear if it was because of their supposed victory. Since Zhuge Liang had no demotions within his ranks –which would have happened if he had suffered defeat as the Book of Jin has written, it is presumed that he ordered the army to retreat. The reasonable suggestion for this plan was due to the lack of supplies to continue the expedition and the rainy weather.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

The skirmish occurs in chapter 101 in Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The Shu commander, Zhuge Liang set up archers on either side of a narrow valley. He sent Wei Yan to the Wei base. The Wei commander, Sima Yi, thought that Wei Yan would bring in outside information and let him in. His true intentions were soon discovered as according to the plan. Furious, Sima Yi sent Zhang He after him. Wei Yan retreated, feigning defeat in clashes every now and then to spur him on. When they reached the valley, Zhang He realised it was a trap, but it was too late. Soldiers barred the way out, whose ranks Wei Yan escaped to. Torrents of arrows rained down, killing Zhang He and his men. Horrified, Sima Yi looked at the scene helplessly. Zhuge Liang remarked, "I meant to hunt a horse, but got a river deer instead."