Liang Province

The Battle of Liang Province (涼州の戦い, rōmaji: Ryōshū no Tatakai) was a rebellion staged by the Qiang people against the governing forces of the Han Dynasty. This event took place right after the end of the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Although the battle's historical significance was not given much attention at the time, it had a lasting impact on the decline of the current dynasty which had already been beset by the many regional warlords vying for power.

It was claimed to be Dong Zhuo's home province.

Role in Games

Dynasty Warriors

Liang Province makes its first appearance as an early stage in Dynasty Warriors 5. For both sides, the key to winning this battle is to take over every base and checkpoint to cut off enemy reinforcements. Playing this stage on Dong Zhuo's side is slightly more difficult due to the presence of Ma Chao and Pang De, both of whom are in high spirits. Defeating those two firsthand is essential before challenging Han Sui and Ma Teng.

In Dynasty Warriors 7, a new reiteration of this battle is featured in Wu's Story Mode where players participate the battle as Sun Ce. Being much larger than its previous incarnation, the terrain of the battlefield is filled with low crevasses and various pathways. While facing Ma Dai is optional, players are forced to fight against Ma Chao after witnessing an event between him and Sun Ce. Once Bian Zhang is beaten, the battle is won.

In Xtreme Legends, this serves as the map for Mt. Xiasi for Da Qiao's Hero Scenario. She and other Wu officers are hunting down what little remains of Yuan Shu's forces who are getting help from the Wei forces.

It appears as the first chronological side stage of the Wu Kingdom in Dynasty Warriors 8. While protecting Dong Zhuo, who limits himself to the main camp for most of the battle, Sun Jian orders his children and soldiers to go around the west and east to ambush the forces in the center, while Dong Zhuo's men act as decoys to lure some of the Xiliang forces out. When the ambush succeeds and the central forces are wiped out, Ma Teng appears in the east and attempts to assault Dong Zhuo via the caves. Once he is dealt with, his son and Ma Dai appear in the west, and advance alongside Han Sui, Pang De and others amongst Bian Zhang's frontline. Dong Zhuo sees it fit to advance and claim glory for himself but is ambushed by Bian Zhang by the western cliffs, whose defeat ends the battle. The Liang forces also get this stage, where they foil the pincer attack and smash through the center in order to get to Dong Zhuo and Sun Jian.

The original version of the stage appears as DLC, albeit expanded and revamped to make the battle of a larger scale, as well as giving the northeast a larger garrison. For both forces, the objective remains similar to DW5 where the bases on the ends of the field must be captured in order to secure the arrival of ally reinforcements and prevent the arrival of enemy ones. For the sake of difficulty, enemy reinforcements arrive at a faster rate than the original battle and the player must prevent their commander from being overwhelmed. Other differences include Dong Zhuo trusting his main camp to Li Ru and for the Xiliang forces, Hua Xiong becomes a lot more powered up and difficult to defeat.

Warriors Orochi

During the first game, Liang Province is one of the many side stages featured in Wei's Story Mode. Players side with Zhen Ji against the combined forces of Dong Zhuo and Kotarō Fūma. By defeating all of the enemy sorcerers empowering the enemy generals and using phantoms and slaying the fake Cao Pi, Zhen Ji will automatically be unlocked as a playable character.

The Warriors Orochi 2 sequel brings back this battle as the fifth stage for the Samurai Story Mode. This time, the players must face the army of Lu Bu while ensuring the survival of Lu Meng and Gan Ning. Sun Wukong may try to complicate matters by impeding the soldiers of Wu from requesting for reinforcements. Lu Bu and Diao Chan may advance outside their main camp if the tide of battle turns against them. After the battle is won, Lu Meng and Gan Ning joins Sakon's army.

Liang Province appears once more in Warriors Orochi 3 as a side stage unlocked by initiating a conversation between Liu Shan and Guan Suo. The forces of Motochika and Yoshimoto are treated as a hostile faction for the Coalition until the Demon army intrude the area.

The DLC Stage Master Archers takes place here, where Xiahou Yuan fights against characters with ranged weaponry.

Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate brings this stage as the first part of a side stage saga centered around Kyūbi during her imprisonment within the mirror realm. Bored of her eternal prison, she decides to create a world mirroring Orochi's realm, creating clones of Orochi and Orochi X to amuse herself with. She challenges a Shu-Tokugawa army and a coalition led by Kanbei and the Yellow Turbans in a three-way battle where Kyūbi's army soundly defeats the warring, albeit falsified, factions and subjugates them for herself, recruiting Kanbei, Zhang Jiao, and Goemon in the process.