The Battle of Dongxing (東興の戦い, rōmaji: Tōkō no Tatakai) is a new battle in Dynasty Warriors 7. Historically, it was an area that Zhuge Dan tried to capture due to its strategic placing near Ruxukou.
During the battle, the elderly Ding Feng was able to take the Wei army by surprise and handed them a humiliating defeat after he prevailed even after ordering his small contingent to strip off most of their armor and long range weapons.
Role in the Game
The battle recycles the Wu Territory map from Dynasty Warriors 6 and consists of two halves in Dynasty Warriors 7. The first half is played from Zhuge Dan's point of view as he tries to capture two enemy castles at once. Nearing the western castle, Zhuge Dan's regiment encounters a fire attack and ambush party. Wu reinforcements will also appear to strike the undermanned main camp. Once the western castle is surrounded, Zhuge Dan will then proceed to head towards the eastern castle via the bridge. Ding Feng destroys the bridge leaving Zhuge Dan isolated.
The second half of the battle focuses on Wang Yuanji as she moves forth to recuse all allies on the battlefield. She and Sima Zhao first head to the western castle to save the Wei units there from Ding Feng's unit. Wang Yuanji then moves east to bail out Zhuge Dan which causes Sima Zhao a full scale retreat to the southwest. Wu reinforcements appear all over the battlefield to hunt down the Wei forces while Lian Shi and Zhuge Ke block the escape point and will need to be defeated to finish the battle.
The battle reappears in Ding Feng's legendary battles, where he is also accompanied by earlier heroes of Wu such as Ling Tong and Lu Xun to aid him in defending Wu.
During the Xtreme Legends expansion, the stage returns once again as Ding Feng's Hero Scenario, though portrayed more closely to its appearance Jin's story mode, where only Ding Feng and Lian Shi are the only notable officers in the Wu army.
In Dynasty Warriors 8, it is called "East Gates Battle" and uses the same map as Wujun. Moving out from the main camp Sima Zhao, Wang Yuanji, Zhuge Dan, Jia Chong, and Xiahou Ba (who will appear if the player kept him from joining Shu) confront Wu's frontline troops just north of the western garrison. When the enemy retreats suspiciously, Sima Zhao decides to lead a unit east while Zhuge Dan carries out the pursuit on his own. Both groups encounter ambushes as they make their way to the enemy main camp and make the tough choice to retreat after regrouping together. The Wei army breaks through Ding Feng's fire attack and the main unit led by Lianshi and Zhuge Ke to get to the escape point. If least at least one ally officer is defeated, Zhuge Dan blames it on Sima Zhao and Jia Chong advises not to trust the former lightly. Should all ally officers make it to safety, it will unlock the battle of Hefei Castle.
During Wu's perspective of the battle, Sima Zhao will have already signaled the retreat and has already commenced the march to the escape point and it is up to the Wu forces to cut them down before they reach their destination. Midway through their trip, Lianshi and Zhuge Ke will launch an ambush to try and stall them. Defeating Sima Zhao will end the battle in a Wu victory.
Historical Information
As early as Sun Quan's reign, Ruxukou and its nearby areas would be a hotly-contested spot between the Wei and Wu forces at Yang Province, with clashes between both sides resulting in numerous battles at both Ruxukou and Hefei.
At 230, Sun Quan decided to build a dam for the nearby Lake Chao, but this project would only be completed during Sun Liang's reign during late 252. Zhuge Dan felt that the dam, alongside its fortifications, would be an essential key-point for the Wu forces and requested a campaign to seize Dongxing, which was approved by Sima Shi.
Zhuge Dan and Hu Zun were then sent to attack Dongxing as one of three assaults on Wu. To reach the two castles at Dongxing, Hu Zun was forced to build pontoon bridges before separating the forces into two to attack the castles simultaneously. Zhuge Ke would later march for Dongxing with his 40,000 strong reinforcements.
While many officers believed that the Wei forces would turn back once Zhuge Ke arrived, Ding Feng disagreed and made immediate preparations for engagement. Catching the Wei army during a drinking party, Ding Feng further played along with their stupor by having his men discard most of their arms and armor until left with only a shield and a short weapon.
The Wei forces began laughing at the ridiculous decision by Ding Feng, but the Wu forces immediately charged at their foes and the Wei forces were taken aback and were struggling to keep up. Meanwhile, another general, Lü Ju, arrived to aid Ding Feng's attack. Thanks to this development, the Wei forces fled to the bridges, but too many attempted to cross at the same time, and the bridges collapsed, leaving many Wei soldiers to drown in the winter cold or trampled by their allies in the scramble.
During the battle, Huan Jia, the administrator of the Le'an Commandery, was killed alongside Han Zong, the disgraced son of famed Wu general, Han Dang. When Zhuge Ke found Han Zong's body, he promptly decapitated it and sent the severed head to Sun Quan's altar as an offering.
As a result of the defeat, Sima Zhao attempted to mitigate his punishment as the battle's supervisor by executing a subordinate who demanded that the commanding generals be the ones to to take responsibility. In response to this, Sima Shi openly lamented his failure to properly heed Zhuge Dan during the battle and did not punish the generals for their defeat. He did, however, punish Sima Zhao harshly, stripping him of his noble rank.
On Wu's end, Zhuge Ke was enoffed "Marquis of Yangdu" and was appointed Governor of Jing and Yang provinces. Ding Feng was promoted "General Who Eliminates Bandits" and became the "Marquis of a Chief Village".
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