Hanzhong

The Battle of Hanzhong (漢中攻防戦, rōmaji: Kanchū Kōbōsen, lit. "Hanzhong Offense & Defense Battle") entails a series of conflicts fought in the Hanzhong area between Cao Cao and Zhang Lu, then later Liu Bei and Cao Cao. Both vied for the land to expand their respective territories. In the first battle, Cao Cao aimed to take Hanzhong due to its strategic value in attacking the Chengdu. Shortly after Zhang Lu's surrender, Liu Bei patched an agreement with Sun Quan on a two pronged attack on Wei, with Liu Bei attacking Hanzhong and Sun Quan attacking Hefei. Most titles tend to focus on Battle of Mt. Dingjun, which was a part of the power struggle in the area.

After Liu Bei's death, Zhuge Liang used the area as his one of his safe havens for a majority of his Northern Campaigns. When Wei launched its campaign against Shu, Zhong Hui led his forces to reclaim the area and succeeded in forcing Jiang Wei out.

Role in Games

Dynasty Warriors

Dynasty Warriors 4 sets this battle as an optional battle for Shu. The player controls two gate garrisons to defend against the massive army of Dong Zhuo who survived at Hu Lao Gate. Players divert attacking units until either Ma Chao and Yue Ying arrive or the players personally defeat Dong Zhuo.

As another side stage, it serves for the Return of the Yellow Turbans. Zhang Jiao allies with Zhang Lu who is another sorcerer. In Shu, the player's army will have Guan Yu and Zhang Fei; In Wei, Xiahou Dun and Xu Huang; In Wu, Sun Shang Xiang and Huang Gai. In the first attempt to stop Zhang Lu, the player is to use forts to block his advance, but he warps past it. To stop Zhang Lu fully, the player must kill all of his troops, weakening him. Zhang Bao will use rocks to try and slow down the player's army, while Zhang Liang uses wind to block the entrance to Zhang Jiao's camp. If Zhang Lu reaches him, he and Zhang Jiao will use magic to brainwash the army including the officers. In the event Zhang Lu dies before reaching him, Zhang Jiao will brainwash the soldiers.

Dynasty Warriors 5: Xtreme Legends deals with one of the final conflicts between these forces at the Battle of Han Shui (漢水の戦い, rōmaji: Kansui no Tatakai). The stage acts as a Legend Mode for Zhao Yun and Huang Zhong. In the former's story, Zhao Yun is stationed in the south and is determined to keep soldiers from entering the main base by guarding the bridge leading to it. He alone beats back dozens of enemy Task Masters as well as Sun Li and Yue Jin. If he is successful, Zhuge Liang will appear with reinforcements and they drive back Wei together. Failing to defend the base leads to an all-out charge by Cao Cao's army.

The latter scenario has Huang Zhong simultaneously sneak through the mountain path to ambush Cao Cao's main camp in the north. For him to succeed, the player must use stealth and snipe any scouts using the archery feature. If he successfully enters the base undetected, Huang Zhong may swiftly defeat Cao Pi and Zhen Ji standing inside the base. Depending on how quickly the player has finished the mission, they may have a chance to coordinate with the southern forces. Being detected during the ambush greatly decreases Zhao Yun's zeal and the main camp is more likely to be taken.

In Dynasty Warriors 6, the battle may replace Mt. Ding Jun or follow it immediately afterwards to lead to Shu's establishment. If either one of the oath brothers survive Fan Castle, it acts as the final campaign to unite the land under Shu. The main objective of Shu's forces is to drive out or defeat Cao Cao's army who have already taken control of the region. Sima Yi acts as the mastermind for the battle, starting by ordering an ambush at the cliffs with Zhang He. The ambush endangers the main camp if left unattended. Meanwhile, the rest of the army divides to either circle to the west or east.

The eastern forces encounter difficulty from the reinforcements awaiting them if they take too long to conquer the northeastern garrison. Yue Ying will also taunt Zhen Ji when they encounter one another, which may lead to her defeat on the field. The western forces quickly conquer the camp in their way and try to attack the castle's main gates. Sima Yi orders a rock slide to cut off ally support and unleashes an ambush on the isolated troops. Those stranded from the rock slide then try to circle around using the lengthier northwestern path. If the player takes too long dealing with the first ambush or taking the southern bases in the map, they may have to rescue both sides at the same time. Using either one of the northern paths on the map leads to the rear castle gates to defeat the Wei guards waiting within. Although they may choose to defeat the strategist to meet an objective, the player needs to only take out Cao Cao to claim victory.

Wei's side of the battle defends Hanzhong Castle by countering Shu's army in the south. During this scenario, Cao Pi acts as the army's commander in his father's absence. The immediate danger just outside the castle's main gates is a brigade that includes Zhao Yun. Once he is dealt with, Sima Yi orders the ally army to abandon the western garrison on the map to lure the Shu army to the trap he has set in place. Zhang Fei charges from the east this time so it may be prudent to deal with him before he gets too close to the castle gates. If the trap succeeds, the Shu army will suffer a huge drop of morale and they will be easier to defeat. Western troops arrive as well but if morale is high, they won't pose much threat to the main camp. Cao Pi orders the whole army to charge when all of the enemy generals outside the main camp have been defeated, leaving Liu Bei an isolated target to take down. He is still defended by Zhuge Liang, who gives his compliments to Sima Yi if they should meet in battle.

A third imaginary encounter takes place in Diao Chan's scenario as she and Lu Bu flee from Cao Cao to the west. Chen Gong suggests that their army find a place to rest and suggests to take the nearby castle defended by Liu Zhang's troops. While Lu Bu and company try to take the castle, Cao Cao's generals gradually appear on the battlefield in the east to end the chase. Cao Ren, Zhang He, Cao Pi, and Zhen Ji arrive with their subordinates for such a purpose and place Lu Bu in a dangerous spot in the east. Ally morale will increase dramatically once the Wei pursuers are beaten. The victory requirements states the player only needs to claim the castle, rather than defeat any particular general on the map. While easy to complete once morale is high, it's trickier to complete all of the map's objectives before the ally army wins the battle for the player.

Hanshui, now one word, returns as a DLC scenario taking place in Dynasty Warriors 8. Similar to before, the outnumbered Shu army led by Zhao Yun must repel the engineers sent by Cao Cao to the main camp, so the allied reinforcements led by Zhuge Liang can arrive, allowing the Shu forces to start a counterattack. Xu Huang appears from the east to attack the main camp, and aside from a larger enemy army, the battle remains similar to before. Players cannot play from Huang Zhong's perspective however, even when playing as him, he'll get the same objectives and starting position as Zhao Yun, with Chen Shi replacing him for the ambush. Players can also experience the Wei army's perspective here, where Zhuge Liang has already arrived with a larger Shu force and the outnumbered Wei army must fight back. By taking the southeast garrison and repelling Huang Zhong's assault, the Wei army can rally and start advancing. However, reinforcements led by Ma Chao arrive in the west, followed by Guan Ping in the east, making it difficult for players to neglect the defense of their main camp. Should the player defeat Zhuge Liang, the battle can be quickly won, however.

An animal battle also appears for this field; the Wu army is deployed against the Wei army, and the player has to save the trapped Wu officers, which are being faced down with pyrocannons and several reinforcements led by Wang Yi and Pang De then retreat with Sun Quan. By heading to the northwest, they must defeat Xiahou Dun who blocks the escape point in order to claim the rare animal and win the battle. In the stage select screen, Hanzhong will be used for the "Battle of Mt. Dingjun" in Shu and Wei's stories, and as "Battle of Jiange" in Jin's story, but in Shu and Wei's version of the stage, the area in the far south will be completely inaccessible. The area is reused when both Shu and Wei provide new versions of Mt. Dingjun in their stories.

Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends gives it the Defeat Wei Yan stage using the Mt. Dingjun map. For this map, the Shu army is to hunt down Wei Yan for the death of Zhuge Liang. Yueying leads a detachment to the west of the mountain while Ma Dai and Yang Yi head to the center to block off Wei Yan's escape route. Some Shu officers had decided to take Wei Yan's side including Zhang Yi and Liao Hua. Once the two Shu officers get into positions, the rebels will converge on the player and must be defeated to draw Wei Yan to the central garrison; However Wei forces lead by Xiahou Ba try to catch the main camp by surprise and must be stopped too. When Wei Yan reaches Ma Dai, the former is remorseful of having to kill the former Shu officer and the rebels fall into panic. After Wei Yan is defeated, it looks like victory for Shu until another Wei force lead by Sima Yi arrives to take advantage of the situation.

Warriors Orochi

The Han Shui map (misspelled as "Han Sui") acts as the dream stage for Cao Pi, Guan Ping, and Gracia in Warriors Orochi 2. The three youths band together to impress their fathers, charged with defending Liu Chan in the midst of their fathers' test.

Mitsuhide Akechi, Gracia's father, starts off by testing the youths to see if they can rescue the three peasants in time, who is under attack from master thieves. As the peasants get rescued, Hideyoshi then shows up with his army to attack the peasants as well. If all peasants are rescued, Shigetomo Akechi, Toshimitsu Saito, and Magoichi Saika will arrive to support them as Mitsuhide is impressed by Gracia's skills. Guan Yu, Guan Ping's father, then tell Guan Ping to impress him by defeating 200 enemy troops while guarding Liu Chan. As the youths continue defeating enemies, Zhang Fei also shows up to test Guan Ping as well. If the youths is able to defeat the enemy troops, Guan Xing, Guan Suo, and Xing Cai will arrive to support them as Guan Yu is impressed by Guan Ping's skills. Cao Cao, Cao Pi's father, then test Cao Pi to see if he can defeat Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, and Zhang Liao personally. Cao Ren also shows up to guard the enemy main camp as well. If all of them are defeated personally, Cao Xiu, Cao Zhang, and Zhen Ji will arrive to support the youths as Cao Cao is impressed by Cao Pi's skills. After arriving at the enemy main camp with their allied officers, the youths faces off against their fathers and defeats them, resulting in a victory for the allied forces.

During Warriors Orochi 4, Dian Wei scouts the area when he hears that a local village is being attacked by the Demon army. His search leads him to find Motonari Mōri and Takakage Kobayakawa helping the defenders. After they push the demons back, both men accompany Dian Wei back to the Coalition camp.