Tong Gate

The Battle of Tong Gate (潼関の戦い, rōmaji: Dōkan no Tatakai) was a rebellion raised against Cao Cao after the Battle of Chibi. Historically, the battle occurred because Cao Cao ordered an expedition against Zhang Lu, but the warlords of Xiliang misinterpreted Cao's behavior, and mistakenly thought that Cao was trying to attack them instead.

In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the conflict's reasoning is distorted to portray Cao Cao as a malicious individual. The rebellion's reason is that Ma Chao wants to avenge the death of his father. It was on this battlefield where Ma Chao famously dueled Xu Zhu.

Role in Games

Dynasty Warriors

In Dynasty Warriors 4, the map is divided in half, separated by the Wei Shui River. After battles between Ma Chao's unit and Cao Hong, Dian Wei, and Xu Zhu in the south, Xu Huang crossed the Wei Shui River in the north via a bridge layer. If he disintegrated Han Sui's unit morale and numbers too much, Cao Cao offers Han Sui the chance to rejoin him. Han Sui can defect due to Ma Chao's suspicion towards him, but Xu can be defeated and this will not happen. Either playing as Shu or Wei, a castle in the northeast manned by Cao Ren will appear out of nowhere. This will prove an obstacle to the southernmost units heading northwards, but crossing the bridge layer could prove a great attacking post for Ma Chao's Forces. Cao Cao is right across there, easy to defeat.

The battle appears exclusively in Wei's story at Dynasty Warriors Vol. 2, and Ma Chao will be blocked by his various officers. Early on, Jia Xu will order the capture of areas near Han Sui in order to isolate him. If Han Sui is isolated, he will defect to Cao Cao's side and will reveal a hidden side path.

In Dynasty Warriors 8, the player initially has to repel the surrounding enemies to make way for the rams. Jia Xu will suggest Cao Cao to persuade Han Sui while Ma Chao will send Pang De to prevent his defection. Defeating enough enemy reinforcements will distract Ma Dai and Pang De, allowing the plan to succeed. If not, the player will have to face Han Sui himself. Ma Chao shall ambush the main camp, only to be stopped by Xu Zhu, Xiahou Yuan, and Wang Yi. Also, the opposing army's ballistae must be destroyed to help the rams destroy the first two gates. The last one has to be penetrated by using captured catapults.

In Dynasty Warriors 9, the stage appears exclusively in Wei's story shortly after Ma Teng's death. Ma Dai will lead Ma Chao's vanguard and must first be defeated to keep Chang'an safe. Once Ma Dai is defeated, Ma Chao must be dealt with at the main battle at Tong Gate. The player may meet Han Sui in order to agitate Ma Chao, who positions Han Sui to the rear. Pang De's forces will also be protecting the nearby port and must be defeated to ensure the success of Zhang He's pincer attack. If the plans are successful, Han Sui will believe he will be eliminated and will defect to Cao Cao while Zhang He is able to surprise Ma Chao's forces and lower his morale.

A revised version of the stage appears during Zhou Yu's DLC scenario where Ma Teng is the one leading the Xiliang forces instead. Hoping to make an alliance, the Wu forces choose to rescue Ma Teng, and he gratefully forms a coalition together with his rescuers and Liu Bei. In Chen Gong's scenario, Ma Chao and Ma Dai's attack on Wei territory is put down, but they are contacted afterwards by the strategist and Liu Bei to join their secret alliance against Cao Cao.

Warriors Orochi

The Samurai forces encounter Dong Zhuo's army here in Warriors Orochi. Wanting to assist Sun Ce, Nobunaga convinces Sakon to work for the Little Conqueror. Their path is obstructed by the Orochi army with Zhang Liao, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei also present for assistance. Nobunaga's army escorts Sakon's escape from the field and cover him from further attacks. They must also defeat Dong Zhuo as well, who is leading the army. If Dong Zhuo is defeated before Sakon arrives at the escape point, Sakon will automatically arrive and the battle is won.

Warriors Orochi 2 gives the battle to the Wei forces. Here, Xiahou Dun, Cao Cao and his army must fight the Serpent forces who have sorcerers that can constantly resurrect their men. They are almost beaten, when Nobunaga, Mitsunari, and Katsuie come to the rescue. Though they are able to put certain demons under their control and kill Kiyomori, they are too late to stop Orochi's full resurrection. To prepare for the fight against Orochi, Nobunaga, Mitsunari, and Katsuie joins Cao Cao's forces.

Warriors Orochi 3 has the coalition from the future participate this battle on Da Ji's side. While fighting the Wei forces on the frontlines, they fail to notice Lu Bu and Diaochan struggling with Nezha. The confrontation ends with Diaochan's death and Lu Bu's retreat. Susano'o soon makes his appearance, but is stalled by Keiji long enough for the alliance to drive Cao Pi and Sima Yi. Before leaving, they order Xu Zhu, Sima Shi, and Mitsunari join the coalition. Later, Sima Shi, who received the report of Diaochan's death, decides to return to a previous battle at Tong Gate involving the demon army. In the battle, Sima Zhao holds out against an assault by the demon forces, and Sima Shi arrives with a large fleet to assist Sima Zhao. Leaving the boats behind, the coalition returns back to Tong Gate, where the boats are still present. Using the boats as a path to retreat to, Diaochan is eventually rescued from Nezha's wrath, and she joins the coalition in gratitude.

In Ultimate, the hypothetical version of this stage allows players to fight under the Wei army's side. Seeing that Da Ji has holed herself at Tong Gate, Mitsunari first orders the protection of the frontline garrisons to buy for the engineers to build arrive. After defeating Kiyomasa, the engineers report to have had their path blocked by Sima Wang, forcing the Wei army to clear the path for them. Cao Pi proceeds to move to the front to provide space for the engineers. Once the engineers arrive, they are spotted by Zhang He, and he mobilizes to attack them. Once Zhang He has been repelled, the engineers finish the siege ladders, but their attempt to set them is impaired by Wang Yuanji's attack, and she must be defeated. Once the Wei forces reach Da Ji's main camp and defeat Sima Zhao, Susano'o, and Nezha arrive, vowing to capture Da Ji themselves, and attack both parties. Defeating Da Ji will end the stage.

Kessen

The struggle is depicted during a similar time frame in Kessen II and can only be played during Wei's story. After Cao Cao wins the Battle of Chi Bi, he makes plans to invade Wu. His plans are interrupted when Ma Chao attacks Xu Chang so Wei moves to intercept.

The landscape for the battle is a barren desert that is separated by mountains and stone built gates. A slim river to the north can also be crossed to avoid using the gates; the northern bank of the river has a forested area. Ma Chao's army is stationed to the west and is defending two gates. One gate is near the bottom of the map and the other is between this gate and the river. Wei's army is on the eastern side and can easily access the bridge close to them from the north.

During the war council, Cao Cao is given the opportunity to use one of three strategies. Cheng Yu suggests attacking the gates with the entire army. Xun Yu advises to distract the enemy at the gates while Yu Jin swings to the enemy's rear from the north. The new strategist, Sima Yi, opts to lure the enemy out from the gate facing the ally storehouse and ambush them. The rest of the army attacks the southern gate. They need to route Ma Chao and Ma Dai to be victorious. In the end, Cao Cao drives the rebels back and claims their lands for his own.

After the conflict, Ma Chao rides the remnants of his army to join Liu Bei's siege against Liu Zhang. Before his arrival, Zhuge Liang expressed his concern of being caught in a pincer between Ma Chao's army and Liu Zhang's forces.

Historical Information

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Following Ma Teng's failed attempt to assassinate Cao Cao and his subsequent execution alongside his younger sons, Cao Cao placed a bounty over Ma Chao's head as a direct relative of Ma Teng. Ma Chao then knelt and asked Han Sui to send him to Cao Cao and evade complicity, but Han was unable to bring himself to harm his sworn brother's son and vowed to fight beside Ma Chao.

Seeing that Liang Province's forces were united, Cao Cao advised Cao Hong and Xu Huang to stay put at Tong Gate and that he would come with reinforcements in a few days. Ma Chao's men would hurl insults that enraged Cao Hong, but Xu Huang often attempted to dissuade the general from leaving. Having had enough, Cao Hong finally departed outside Xu Huang's notice and was subsequently ambushed by Ma Chao. Upon hearing Cao Hong had left, Xu Huang also went out to rescue his peer. By the time they returned to Tong Gate, Ma Dai and Pang De had already taken the pass.

Cao Cao was outraged when he learned that Cao Hong had ignored Xu Huang's warning and left without permission and would nearly execute his relative had it not been for the pleas of other officers. Seeing that Ma Chao had now taken the pass, Cao Cao assembled his generals to face the forces of Liang. Ma Chao would duel the likes of Zhang He, Xiahou Yuan and Xu Huang but none were able to match Ma's fervor, and Ma Chao used this momentum to break Wei's formation.

Cao Cao attempted to flee with Ma Chao hot on his trail. Ma initially shouted for his men to chase the man in the red robe, and Cao Cao quickly discarded his robe. When Ma Chao called to chase the man with the long beard, Cao cut his beard, but Ma responded for his men to chase the one with the short beard, which forced Cao to cover his chin with a flag. The pair would eventually race in the forest, but Cao Hong would arrive to rescue his relative and kept Ma Chao at bay.

For his effort, Cao Hong was richly rewarded and pardoned for his previous defeat. With the season now getting colder, Cao Cao was perplexed at how to properly maintain his encampment. A local hermit would advise him to erect a wall of sand and mud and sprinkle water which would freeze and solidify. When Ma Chao came out the next day to challenge Cao Cao's men, he was startled by his enemy's new walls.

Nonetheless, Xu Chu rode out to answer Ma Chao's call, and the pair dueled with neither budging. Xu Chu was so roused by their duel that he eventually stripped off his upper garments and continued to fight bare-chested. During their duel, Cao Xiu attempted to help Xu by firing an arrow towards Ma Chao. Ma Chao avoided the attack, but this act enraged both Ma Dai and Pang De, who took their troops to charge at Cao Cao. In response, Cao Cao's men also mobilized. During the chaos, Xu Chu was struck by two arrows at the back and was forced to flee. The sight of Xu Chu fleeing was enough to rally Ma Chao's men to rout the Wei forces once more.

With his direct methods failing, Jia Xu advised his lord to use his friendship with Han Sui to sow discord in the alliance. Cao Cao agreed and sent a letter to have a private meeting with Han Sui. The pair merely exchanged small talk and reminisced of their past days in Luoyang before they returned to their respective camps. When Ma Chao heard of this, he asked his foster uncle if they discussed military matters, but Han Sui denied this. Over the course of the next days, Han would continue exchanging casual letters with Cao Cao which further aggravated Ma Chao's suspicions.

Growing increasingly agitated, Ma Chao demanded Han Sui to show his loyalty by inviting Cao Cao into a trap. Han agreed and asked Cao to come over to camp for another talk, but Cao Cao, aware that Han Sui was now held under scrutiny, instead sent Cao Hong with the statement "The Prime Minister wishes for you to come over as planned". Believing that Han Sui had betrayed him, Ma Chao attacked Han and the fight was eventually broken up by the coalition's officers. Fearing for his life, Han Sui now began making contact with Cao Cao over his future if he defected. Ma Chao heard this and barged into Han Sui's tent, hacking off Han's arm and killing Cheng Yi. This uproar caused a battle between the former allies, and Cao Cao took advantage by cleaning up Ma Chao's forces.

Ma Chao would flee and seek refuge with Zhang Lu while Han Sui would keep his position as Liang Province's governor.