Changban

The Battle of Changban (長坂の戦い, rōmaji: Chōhan no Tatakai) or literally "Long Slope Bank" (長坂坡, Changbanpo/Chōhanha) is a chase with Cao Cao tracking down Liu Bei. Cao Cao, who wanted to invade and end Liu Bei, is trying to capture his foe. Liu Bei, lacking the troops and resources, is advised by Zhuge Liang to flee for safety. Historically, Cao Cao was mainly targeting the area south of Changban, with Liu Bei simply being there out of coincidence.

This battle within the novel is one of the most famous fictional accounts of Zhao Yun's bravery due to the event of him saving a baby Liu Shan from an insurmountable army of Wei soldiers, and Zhang Fei's famous fictional one-man battle crying stand at the bridge.

Role in Games

Dynasty Warriors

In this series, Liu Bei must flee to the river and escape to the awaiting boats. Loyal peasants will beg to accompany his escape and must be guarded from Cao Cao's forces. During the earlier titles, players could search the city area to find Liu Bei's infant son Liu Shan (erroneously named Liu Chan in these earlier titles). They could also slay Xiahou En to obtain a special power up from the Sword of Light he drops. All of the games allow Zhang Fei to reenact his famous stand on the bridge in the map. Zhao Yun's act of rescuing Liu Shan is also emphasized in Dynasty Warriors 4 and Dynasty Warriors 5, and becomes a main objective in Dynasty Warriors 7 - the young Liu Shan is called A Dou in this installment.

Originally in the first game, this serves as Zhao Yun, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's stage with 3 different time-of-day versions on a clear mountain background.

Liu Bei's manner of escaping and his placement of forces differs in each game. Usually, he placed near Cao Cao's army and retreats through a myriad of hills and mountains. In Dynasty Warriors 2, he starts from the south and works his way up. He has no peasants with him and is only concerned with reaching the dock area. Generals such as Xiahou Dun, Xu Huang, and Dian Wei will block his path. Once the boats arrive, he is pleased with the reinforcements and turns his army around to fight.

Wei's objectives for this stage in every title is to capture or stop Liu Bei in his tracks. The quickest way of achieving this goal is to aim for Liu Bei, ignoring all of his generals along the way. Defeating his men -or the peasants accompanying them- may slow his progress through the map in certain titles. Even if they should succeed, however, the narrative will usually state that he escapes death. A few scenarios, however, will have Liu Bei perish here.

Dynasty Warriors 4 and its spin-offs are the only games where A Dou in this battle can be picked up as a battlefield item. If collected in those games, he will reward the player with a 60 second unlimited Musou boost. In the original game, breaking the box that contains the baby whilst on horseback will trigger a special variable cutscene with the player's character receiving the child from Liu Bei's dying wife. The Xtreme Legends installment through Zhao Yun's Legend Mode has him appear in a random red box out of a set of many others around the entire fortress during the start of the battle, while in the original map he only appears in a set location depending on which route has been cleared for Liu Bei to take. Dynasty Warriors Advance has him in the corner of one of the central battlefield areas of the map.

The following titles have him stationed near the northern part of the map and fighting his way south. Guan Yu guards the boat area for his brother and will usually be stationary along with one of Liu Biao's sons Liu Qi. Along with ensuring their lord's safety, the Shu army is also asked to protect the peasants that wish to accompany them. Once Liu Bei reaches the boat area, he will either wait for the rest of his army to join him or escape at will, ending the stage. Dynasty Warriors 6 discards many optional scenes found in older titles and focuses more on the chase, moving at a much quicker pace than previous titles. Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun continue to have special movies during this battle. When they safely escape, Shu unites their army with Wu and the Battle of Chi Bi occurs.

In Dynasty Warriors Vol. 2, Liu Bei's forces are scattered, and Zhao Yun and Zhuge Liang will attempt to rescue the peasants stranded in the supply depots. Rescuing all the peasants will increase allied morale, but letting any die causes Liu Bei's morale to plummet severely. If Xiahou Dun reaches the central base, Zhang Fei will power up and lower enemy morale. Liu Qi will later arrive to open the path to the escape point, but Cao Cao personally arrives to put an end to the chase. Victory can be achieved by either successfully escaping or by defeating Cao Cao. There is a rescuable village in the area, while the battle's treasure trove is guarded by Nobunaga. If the player is using Zhang Fei, Zhang Bao will not let out a roar or power himself up when approached by enemy officers.

For Wei's side, Liu Bei will be at the far south and will begin fleeing to the escape point. There are three paths to follow, the south, leading directly to the Liu Bei's starting point and has mountainous terrain, the central area, which is guarded by Zhang Fei, and the western path, guarded by Zhao Yun. Victory can be achieved by either eliminating Liu Bei or all the peasant armies in the area. Once two of the peasants have been defeated, Zhao Yun will begin mobilizing and hunting the player. If Zhang Fei is encountered at the central area, he will make a loud roar to lower allied morale. There is a village in the map, and the battle's treasure trove is guarded by Yukimura.

A third battle also appears as an alternate stage for the Yellow Turbans, where Zhang Jiao, Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang must defeat the imperial troops that have pursued them. The leaders, Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Sun Jian must be defeated to ensure victory. As the Yellow Turbans advance, Xu Zhu will appear to ambush them. Defeating Guan Yu in the stage will reward the player with Red Hare.

Dynasty Warriors 7 has Zhang Liao and Zhang He spearheading the pursuit of Liu Bei's army in Wei's story mode. While hesitant to cut down peasants who are fleeing as well, Zhang Liao presses forward, bringing fear to the entire enemy army regardless. He manages to push through Zhao Yun's cavalry, Zhang Fei's defiant stand at the Changban Bridge, and Zhuge Liang's fire attack to come close to catching Liu Bei. However, Guan Yu steps in at the last moment to save his brother and needs to be defeated.

Shu's story tells the battle differently by splitting it into two parts. The first part has Zhao Yun as the players avatar. The objective is to rescue Adou from the northwest garrison before Cao Hong finds him. Once the boy is safe, Zhao Yun must head back to the Changban Bridge and meet up Zhang Fei. Part two continues from Zhang Fei's perspective as he holds off Cao Cao's army, until enemy engineers diffuse the flames on the bridge. From here the player has option to help Zhao Yun flee the battle with peasants that have been left behind, or go after Cao Cao. Either result ends the battle.

In Dynasty Warriors 8, this battle is exclusive to only Shu's perspective in their story as Zhuge Liang, Zhao Yun, and Zhang Fei work together to guide their lord and the peasants to safety. Each character has an individual perspective and different objectives to fulfill depending on who you play as. Zhao Yun, after routing some of the frontlines, heads to the northeastern village in order to receive Adou from a local handmaiden and must fight Xiahou En and repel an ambush from Zhang Nan on his way back to Liu Bei. Zhang Fei simply has to defend Changban Bridge, should he defeat enough enemies, Xiahou Yuan and Zhang He will also begin the advance on Liu Bei and can be defeated for a substantial morale boost. If playing as Zhuge Liang, they act as an escort for Liu Bei in the south and must defeat various ambushes and siege weapons set up by some of Cao Cao's officers including Xun Yu. Once the respective tasks are fulfilled, the player must rendezvous with Liu Bei and defeat Zhang Liao on the south docks to escape.

Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends features a hypothetical scenario for the Battle of Changban where Xu Shu follows Zhuge Liang in joining Shu as a strategist and is present for the battle. The peasants are too exhausted to continue fleeing from Cao Cao's forces, so Xu Shu devises a plan to capture Wei garrisons. Once this is done, Shu ambush units are hidden within the garrisons and attack Cao Cao's forces as they arrive. Sun Quan provides token aid for the battle, although he is not vital and is little more than a frontline unit in the battle. This allows Shu to take control of the battlefield and rout Cao Cao's forces.

The Wei perspective for this battle is available in free mode, where the player has to first rout Shu's frontline and push back the Shu forces in the center. Once that happens, Xu Shu orders the ambush to happen and the player must rescue their allies, who can be defeated quickly due to the low morale suffered by the ambush.These also include a few Wu officers as well in the east, though there is no distinction between them and the other ambush units deployed by Shu. Once the allied army regains their equilibrium, Cao Cao orders an all-out advance which may prove to be difficult due to Zhang Fei defending Changban Bridge. He is one of the hardest officers in the game to defeat, being of similar strength to Lu Bu at Hulao Gate. Contrary to previous incarnations of the battle, Liu Bei does not try to flee, and only stays in the south with Xu Shu and a few peasants, observing the battle and can be defeated at the player's leisure.

The DLC stage "Search for Red Hare" takes place here. Lu Lingqi scours the area looking for Red Hare; She starts by saving Wei forces who are fighting an uphill battle with a Shu troupe led by Xu Shu. The Wei forces form a temporary alliance with her as she rescues them. North of the Changban Bridge, Lu Lingqi races to find Red Hare stationed, only for Zhuangzi to abduct Red Hare trying to keep animals out of the wars before sicing his minions at her forces. Lu Lingqi and the player must check the garrisons next, only to find Huang Gai, Zhang Jiao, Zuo Ci and Huang Zhong in the four northern garrisons. She and the player next find Red Hare in the central garrison but it suffers a fire attack thanks to Zhu Ran's training causing Red Hare to flee. After clearing them out, Lu Lingqi and the player corner Zhuangzi in the northernmost garrison. When he is defeated, Lu Lingqi will regain Red Hare and the stage is cleared.

Warriors Orochi

This battlefield serves as second stage in the Wu storyline in Warriors Orochi. Ordered by Da Ji to sever the resistance led by Lu Xun, Sun Ce is ordered to fight against his former comrades from Wu. Rather than feel distressed by the ordeal, he enjoys testing his might against them. Zhou Yu warns his friend to be careful of Lu Xun and Sakon's tactics. Lu Xun orders a fire attack on Sun Ce's main camp and, when that fails, he orders a simultaneous attack from Ling Tong and Gan Ning. Sakon, who is more interested in testing the Little Conqueror, withdraws if he is defeated. When the rebellion is stopped, Sun Ce is rewarded by having Taishi Ci freed from Orochi's imprisonment.

In Warriors Orochi 2, Shingen and Kanetsugu face Masamune's army here during the Samurai story. Their goal is to convince the upstart to join their cause against Orochi. Shingen's army is located in the south western position while Masamune is stationed in the north. To counter the ferocity of the Date rifles and Sima Yi's tactics, Shingen conspires to ignite a fire attack by using the boats in the area. Kanetsugu volunteers to do the deed and travels east towards the docks, pushing past several Orochi loyalists and Keiji. Once the fire attack succeeds, Shingen's army gains a substantial advantage and Masamune loses his means to counter the Takeda cavalry. They fail to convince him to defect but gain Sima Yi as an ally after the battle's conclusion.

Warriors Orochi 3 has the stage use the Shu and Oda army as opponents for the Coalition. While Hanbei, Jia Xu, and company try to fend off a fire attack and a musket assault planned by Mitsuhide, they fail to notice a village full of civilians under siege by the Oda. The village is destroyed and the civilians killed, Dian Wei arrives too late and goes on a rampage attacking Coalition and Shu-Oda troops alike. While Jia Xu and Kanbei use their strategies to throw their enemies off, Ujiyasu, Sun Ce, Zhou Yu, and Daqiao arrive to save them, but soon have to deal with Zhuge Liang's backup plan as ambush troops attack them. The reinforcements must be rescued before leading a final charge against the Shu-Oda camp. After their defeat Zhuge Liang and Mitsuhide retreat.

In the redux stage where the past was altered, Jia Xu uses his foreknowledge of the battlefield to prepare countermeasures in advance. The fire attack is extinguished before it can do damage and the musket assault is countered by an ambush unit. Dian Wei arrives in time to save the villagers and joins the Coalition in the fight. When Ujiyasu, Sun Ce, Zhou Yu and Daqiao arrive, Zhuge Liang's ambush units are counter-ambushed by additional Coalition forces. With all of their tactics failing Zhuge Liang and Mitsuhide open the main camp gates for a direct assault and must be defeated.

This stage is reused for the DLC stage "The Search For Liu Shan" where Xingcai, Jiang Wei, and Zhao Yun are looking around the area for their lord who's trying to avoid training.

Kessen

In Kessen II, Cao Cao prepares to march on Jing Province with Zhang Liao and Liu Bei decides to leave for Xia Kou. However, Liu Bei is unexpectedly abandoned by Zhao Yun, Zhuge Liang, and Mei Sanniang. In despair, he tells his brothers to leave him as well. An enraged Guan Yu hits him and reminds him of the oath they had took. The two brothers swear to never forsake him and Liu Bei agrees to not give up.

Shu's account provides three strategies for the player to choose. One allows Zhang Fei to hold a bridge to delay Cao Cao's army. Another has Guan Yu guarding the fastest and straightest path to escape. The final one is the longest, but possibly the safest route through the nearby forest. Zhuge Liang will appear mid way as reinforcements in the battle after attempting to assassinate Cao Cao. Mei Sanniang will appear near the end as well. In this version of the encounter, Himiko guards the escape point and must be defeated in order to win the battle.

Wei's version of the stage counters the three strategies mentioned in Shu's narrative. The player must succeed in routing Liu Bei's army to score a victory. Regardless of whether or not Cao Cao captures Liu Bei, the fleeing army will be rescued by Sun Quan.

Historical Information

With the death of Liu Biao, Liu Cong heeded the advice of Kuai Yue and Fu Xun and surrendered to Cao Cao. Liu Cong failed to inform Liu Bei of this development, which left Liu Bei unprepared for when Cao Cao began moving his forces south, towards Jing Province. Zhuge Liang and other officers under Liu Bei recommended that he march on Xiangyang and sieze Jing from Liu Cong. Liu Bei, however, replied, "as Liu Biao was dying, he entrusted his orphans to me. I cannot turn from this obligation and seek my own advantage. How am I to face Liu Biao after I die?". Having rejected such a suggestion, Liu Bei had little choice but to flee south. Many of the people of Xinye and Xiangyang itself chose to accompany Liu Bei then stay and submit to Cao Cao, fearing the northern warlord's reputation of cruelty.

Alongside his limited forces, Liu Bei had over 100,000 civilians and a massive supply train to lead south as he fled Cao Cao. When some of his commanders recommended he abandon them and flee with light cavalry, Liu Bei couldn't bring himself to desert so many people relying on him. Xuande sent Guan Yu to secure a fleet on the Han River so they could escape quicker once he rendezvous with them. This slow speed for Liu Bei's forces created a weakness Cao Cao took advantage of as he entered Jing. Cao Chun was sent with 5,000 elite tiger heavy cavalry to catch up and destroy Liu Bei before he could escape. Cao Cao's forces first caught up with Liu Bei at Changban, Dangyang. These elite forces immediately scattered Liu Bei's lesser forces and made him flee for his life, keeping only a few soldiers at his side, including Zhang Fei, Zhuge Liang, and Zhao Yun.

Zhang Fei took up the rearguard with twenty odd riders. He instructed them to drag branches around in the woods on the east side of the river to kick up dust to appear they possessed far greater numbers then their meager group. To cement his ploy and ensure its success, Zhang Fei took up position alone on the main bridge across the river, calling challenges and insults to all who could hear. He convinced Cao Chun's soldiers that he was laying a deadly ambush and was trying to lure them into it. As a result, the men hesitated and Zhang Fei was able to destroy the bridges and delay Cao Chun's forces even further as they needed to build pontoon bridges in order to cross the Han River.

At the same time, Zhao Yun had also split off from Liu Bei's forces, making his way north, towards Cao Chun's forces. While some believed he was deserting, Liu Bei believed Zhao Yun must have had a good reason for moving towards the enemy on his own. This faith in Zhao Yun was rewarded when cavalry captain returned with Lady Gan and A Dou, the infant Liu Shan under his protection. Zhao Yun had braved the enemy lines to rescue as much of Liu Bei's family as possible, managing to see the two out safely (the escort also went smoothly due to a number of Cao Cao's forces being unable to recognize their enemy and merely let Zhao Yun and co. stroll along).

Liu Bei and those who he managed to keep near him in his flight escaped Cao Cao when Guan Yu arrived with the fleet as Cao Cao's forces were still building their pontoon crafts. As a result, Liu Bei united with Liu Qi and took up residence at Xiakou. Cao Chun managed to capture most of the civilians who had been accompanying Liu Bei, as well as the supplies and soldiers who surrendered when overwhelmed. He even managed to capture two of Liu Bei's daughters. Even then, Cao Cao merely ordered his men to help escort the civilians back to their original housing areas.

Lu Su, who had been sent by Sun Quan to express condolences to Liu Cong over Liu Biao's death, had joined Liu Bei's forces upon seeing arriving at Xiangyang and learning of Liu Cong's surrender. He asked Liu Bei about his plans after such a defeat and when he heard that he planned on uniting with Wu Ju of Cangwu, recommended instead that he seek alliance with Sun Quan. He even took Zhuge Liang back with him to plead their case and plan for dealing with Cao Cao's incursion into Jingzhou.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

With Liu Bei losing his foothold at Xinye along with lacking the manpower to fully establish a base, Liu took his followers with him further south in the hopes of reaching Jingzhou. Cao Cao personally led the pursuit against his rival. During the struggle, Zhang Fei and Liu Bei were separated from Zhao Yun's unit. One soldier reported that the general was heavily surrounded, and would likely surrender, but Liu Bei angrily dismissed it as hearsay, having faith in his retainer.

Due to the potential arrival of the other pockets of Liu Bei's forces, Zhang Fei volunteered to lead the defense of Changban Bridge, AKA the Dangyang Bridge (當陽橋). Meanwhile, Zhao Yun had been searching for Lady Mi and Liu Bei's son, A Dou. During the search, he killed the enemy general, Xiahou En and took the fabled Qinggang Sword, and also rescued Mi Zhu, who informed the general of Lady Mi's whereabouts. Finding her in a village, Lady Mi passed A Dou to the general. Seeing that Zhao Yun only had one horse, Lady Mi given she had injured her thigh then flung herself into a well to keep herself from being a burden to him any further; Zhao Yun formed a makeshift grave out of the well before departing with A Dou in his arms.

Zhao Yun then attempted to reach Changban Bridge on his own. Unfortunately, he soon became trapped by Zhang He's pitfall trap and was surrounded subsequently. A bright red aura engulfed Zhao Yun and his horse immediately leaped out of the ditch however, and broke through most of Zhang's men. Fighting valorously and slaying several soldiers all on his own, Zhao Yun's struggle earned Cao Cao's attention, who commanded his troops to capture the enemy alive. Drawing out the aforementioned Qinggang Sword, Zhao Yun killed more soldiers in his path, and was eventually able to break out of the encirclement with troops chasing him in tow.

Zhang Fei upon noticing Zhao Yun's bravery would later greet the general and allow him passage before making his stand in front of the bridge. Seeing Zhang Fei alone, Cao Cao remembered the tales Guan Yu told fellow Wei officers about Zhang Fei's prowess matching that of around or over 1000 men on his own. He then started to fear for an ambush and did not dare make a move, but also believed in an outcome where Zhang Fei was merely stalling for time and hiding the fact that his own numbers were few. Taking a deep breath with an unshaken front, Zhang Fei began shouting loudly at the Cao troops, daring them to come and fight him. Zhang Fei's voice alone frightened the-already-unwell-Xiahou Jie to death, causing widespread panic among Cao Cao's forces (on top of Zhang Fei having ordered his own men beforehand to flap mats to cause dust to emerge which gave off the illusion of reinforcements in the distance), causing him and his forces to momentarily retreat in fear of his numbers in reserve combined with Zhang Fei's might.

Upon arriving, Zhao Yun offered the young A Dou over to his lord. Liu Bei, however, threw his child onto the ground, angrily cursing him for nearly killing his vassal. Zhao Yun, in response, picked the child up and offered him once again to his lord, insisting that this was his thanks to his lord.

Fearing for their return, Zhang Fei and his men destroyed the bridge to rejoin Liu Bei. But afterwards, Zhuge Liang and the others reprimanded him for doing such a thing and why it was such a detriment. Cao Cao correctly deduced Zhang Fei's shouting was a bluff and that he had no extra men around; the destroyed bridge was evidence of Zhang Fei's belief in being unable to hold off Cao Cao's overall force for long. And furthermore, they also pointed out the small size of the prior bridge would prevent Cao Cao's massive army from being able to even make a swift advance through such a crowded-space as the bridge being destroyed would also raise more incentive to have his forces lay their own bridges to pave way. In spite of Zhang Fei's disappointment at his own error and much to everyone else's annoyance, they decided to press on regardless.

Though before Cao Cao's forces could reach them after he realized Zhang Fei's bluff and ordered his own army to chase them down further, Liu Qi and Guan Yu's fleet arrived in Liu Bei's aid, and they were able to sail to Jingzhou successfully.

Trivia

In Dynasty Warriors 4, Liu Bei himself does not have a variable cutscene for breaking open Liu Chan's box on horseback.
- Sun Ce is also the only character unable to trigger this cutscene himself, due to his small hitboxes for his mounted moveset where Wind Scroll and/or his higher tier weapons cannot affect said reach. The only way for Sun Ce to appear in said cutscene is to have a second player in co-op break open the box while both players are mounted (the event will always prioritize player 1 in the cutscene).