The Struggle at Hebei (河北掃討戦, rōmaji: Kahoku Sōtōsen; lit. "River North Mop-Up Battle") is an alternate coverage to the aftermath of Guandu where Cao Cao's forces attempt to defeat Yuan Shao's sons including Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi. It was introduced in Dynasty Warriors Vol. 2. To follow with his father's ambitions to subjugate the province, Cao Pi leads an army to crush the Yuan family after the Battle of Guandu.
Historically, Hebei Province was one of Yuan Shao's most influential bases and home to many of his family members. It was one of the final battle grounds of the campaign against the Yuans. It's also noted that Guo Jia died shortly after his contributions in these campaigns.
Role in Games
In Dynasty Warriors Vol. 2, the battle is known as "Battle of Liyang". The stage starts out with Cao Cao being separated from the main unit, with Guo Jia ordering the rest of the troops to find a hidden path leading to their lord. After some time, Cao Cao will soon be attacked by Tadun's forces, and will be defeated if not aided. When Tadun's forces are defeated, a full assault on Yuan Shao's camp is ordered. As Cao Cao's forces near the enemy main camp, Yuan Shao's sons all appear and charge the player's character. Defeating Yuan Shao will end the battle.
While given a passing mention in other titles, the fall of the Yuan family becomes its own battle in Dynasty Warriors 6: Special as Cao Pi's second Musou Mode stage. His father wins Guan Du, but Yuan Shao escaped death from the battle. With the Yuan family still a looming threat on the horizon, Cao Pi volunteers to exterminate them for his father. He plans to experience how it feels to end a once reputable family, in hopes of better improving his future leadership.
Yuan Shao stations himself on the northern mountain castle and has three gates to defend himself from Cao Pi's advance. The young leader has himself and several talented generals -such Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, and Zhang He- at the bottom of the mountain. While Yuan Shao orders his army to strengthen the defenses and wait for reinforcements, Cao Pi orders his army to eradicate the gates and take down the castle walls as quickly as possible. If Yuan Shao is defeated quickly, his sons will arrive too late to save their father. Realizing that the fate of the family is now up for grabs, Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan will bicker with one another over the right to lead(For Yuan Tan Forces will defect to yellow team). Their unwillingness to cooperate with one another makes Cao Pi's job easier to accomplish.
Should Cao Pi take too long to defeat the father, Yuan Shao's sons will appear on the eastern side of the map and outnumber Cao Pi's troops or Yuan Xi arrives when their father almost dying. Cao Pi remarks that his plan has failed and orders his men to pull back and rebuild the defenses. Ally morale will suffer and Cao Pi will need to face the entire Yuan family at once. Yuan Shao will also be in hyper mode if this occurs, declaring that his family shall never fall so long as he lives.
Waiting a little longer in the battle has Yuan Xi and his wife Zhen Ji appear in the upper right corner of the map, exclude if Yuan Shao becomes dying, along with his sons stayed on the map will fail Cao Pi's plan. If Cao Pi approaches them, he will be taken by the maiden and flirts with her. Both members of the couple are insulted by his impulsiveness and will be enraged as a result. If Cao Pi defeats both of them, Zhen Ji will be impressed the strength he possesses over her husband and swears to be with him from then on. When Yuan Xi is still alive after his wife defeated, his fighting spirit will be reduced. The battle will won if Cao Pi defeats Yuan Shao alogside his sons and Cao Cao Forces returning to Xu Chang triumphly.
In Dynasty Warriors 7: Xtreme Legends, this appears under the name of Mt.Bailang as a legend scenario for Guo Jia. He invites the Xiliang forces led by Ma Chao to join Cao Cao's army and uses dissent between the Yuan sons to make them hesitant and allows raids on two mountains to isolate Yuan Tan and make him easier to defeat. Reinforcements led by Liu Bei make the effort harder to go through than anticipated but a victory is eventually earned by the Wei forces who parry off the threat. After the battle, Guo Jia laments that he does not have much time left.
In Dynasty Warriors 8, Mt.Bailang appears after Guandu. In Cao Cao's ranks includes Zhang He and Zhenji. It's a fairly straightforward battle where the garrisons at the foot of the mountain are swiftly captured. Jia Xu leads a diversionary unit who gain the enemy's attention while Guo Jia and Zhang Liao scale the eastern mountains, fighting wolves and defeating the Yuan brothers one at a time until only Yuan Shang is left. The Wuhuan tribes lead reinforcements to complicate matters and when he goes to engage them, Guo Jia gets injured and succumbs to his wounds. To avoid this from happening, the player needs to defeat the Wuhuan officers quick enough, doing so is a requirement to unlock the hypothetical route.
In Dynasty Warriors 9, this doesn't appear in any of the main story modes nor Guo Jia's hypothetical. However, it does appear in Chen Gong's hypothetical where he attempts to recruit these forces after Cao Cao had decimated the Yuan's reputation and strength at Guandu. Leading a unit with Liu Bei and backed by Cao Cao, Chen Gong conspires to get the two brothers to join him in his rebellion against Cao Cao. The battle consists of defeating supply units, repelling the Wuhuan and getting rid of bandits from Liaodong. Surrounding Mt.Bailang and doing all missions causes the two to surrender without a fight, while not completely surrounding them leads to them rallying. Regardless, either way leads to their defection into Chen Gong's forces and he soon breaks out against Cao Cao.
Historical Information
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
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