Battle of Dongkou The Battle of Dongkou was a naval battle fought in late 222 and early 223 between forces of the states of Cao Wei and Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history . The battle concluded in a Wu Pyrrhic victory . Background . After the Shu emperor Liu Bei was defeated by Sun Quan ' s forces at the Battle of Xiaoting , Sun benefited from his submission to the Wei ruler Cao Pi ; who would help Sun in the conflict against Liu Bei . However , on both sides of the two forces , this was never a popular concept , especially in the ranks of Sun Quan , who defeated Cao Cao at the Battle of Red Cliffs 14 years ago after resisting surrender . To make matters worse , Cao Pi and his officers were uneasy about Sun ' s titles and ranks ( such as King of Wu ) because it was quite inappropriate since they were considered a vassal state under Wei . It was even considered within Sun Quan ' s forces that the alliance with Wei was futile , because the defeat they caused Liu Bei at Xiaoting was so critical that it meant that their alliance with Wei was no longer an asset for survival . Sun Quan also appeared as if he was planning to have this alliance go not much longer than it was supposed to . In a matter of time , Cao Pi ' s plan to keep Sun Quan and Shu ' s relations sour backfired as Sun Quan and Liu Bei rekindled their alliance . In an attempt to improve his own relations with the Sun clan , he demanded Sun Deng ( Sun Quan ' s eldest son ) to be sent to the Wei capital Luoyang as a hostage . However Sun Quan declined this request , and later apologised to Cao Pi , stating his son was still very young and vulnerable in his health to be away from his home and family . Cao Pi did not bring up or press the matter . However Cao Pi demanded Sun Deng as hostage soon again . This was also declined . Diplomatic ties between the two continued to sour until finally , Cao Pi would attack Sun Quan . Sun Quan would repetitively send envoys to negotiate peace between the two , but resulted in failure . Soon after , Sun Quan would proceed into declaring independence in November 222 . The battle . First moves . In autumn ( ninth lunar month of 222 ) Cao Pi ordered Cao Xiu , Zhang Liao and Zang Ba to attack Dongkou ( 洞口 ) ; Cao Ren to attack Ruxu ( 濡須 ) ; and Cao Zhen , Xiahou Shang , Zhang He and Xu Huang to besiege Nan Commandery ( 南郡 ) . In response , Sun Quan put Lü Fan in command of five armies to resist Cao Xiu ; Zhuge Jin , Pan Zhang and Yang Can ( 楊粲 ) were dispatched to relieve the siege on Nan Commandery , Zhu Huan to defend Ruxu from Cao Ren . Wei offensive . The Wei forces were initially easily penetrating the Wu front lines , no doubt because of their strength . In addition , Lü Fan ' s forces were hit by a storm , causing serious damage though Cao Xiu , because of the storms , achieved little out of his initial efforts . He was hot - headed , and he had to be advised strongly by his troops . Dong Zhao also assured to Cao Pi that Cao Xiu ' s troops would do this . Sun Quan was afraid when he heard that Zhang Liao was participating in the campaign , and said to his subordinates , " Even though Zhang Liao is ill , we should not underestimate him . Be careful ! " Zhang Liao and the Wei generals later defeated Lü Fan . When Cao Xiu , Zhang Liao and Zang Ba launched their attack , Lü Fan , along with Xu Sheng , Quan Cong and Sun Shao , led naval forces to resist the enemy at Dongkou . By this time it was early 223 , and Cao Xiu ordered Zang Ba to attack Sun ' s small stronghold at Xuling . Though , Zang Ba achieved nothing and was quickly defeated . However , Cao Xiu eventually managed to gain the advantage as Lü Fan ' s forces were beginning to struggle . Turn of events and Wei retreat . Miraculously , reinforcements arrived and Lü Fan ' s generals Sun Shao and Xu Sheng managed to put out a resistance against the Wei forces , continuously gaining morale due to the Wei struggle at Nan commandery and other locations along the western area of the Yangtze . Eventually , Cao Xiu and the Wei forces at Dongkou were ultimately repelled and withdrew to the Wei capital Luoyang . Aftermath . Following the Wei defeat at Dongkou and failed invasion of the western Yangtze region , Sun Quan took his chance to launch an offensive during the summer of 223 , successfully destroying the new Wei commandery at Qichun . The success of Sun Quan during his resistance against the Wei invasions would soon inspire Sun Quan to declaring himself emperor of Eastern Wu , being the last to establish the three dynasties during the Three Kingdoms period . Sun Lang , also was banished from the Sun clan , and had to change his name to Ding Lang and was expelled from the army . In fiction . In the historical novel " Romance of the Three Kingdoms " , the Wei general Zhang Liao was killed in this battle while defending Cao Pi from an attack by the Wu general Ding Feng . He was hit in the waist by an arrow fired by Ding Feng and died from his wound not long after the battle . Cao Pi held a grand funeral for Zhang Liao . Historicity . Zhang Liao ' s biography in the " Sanguozhi " stated that he died of illness . In 222 , he participated in the Battle of Dongkou against Wu forces even though he was ill . When Sun Quan heard that Zhang Liao was involved in the battle , he warned his men to be careful . Zhang Liao and other Wei generals defeated the Wu general Lü Fan in that battle . However , Zhang Liao ' s condition worsened and he died later that year in Jiangdu ( 江都 ; present - day Jiangdu District , Yangzhou , Jiangsu ) . In modern references . The battle is a playable stage in the seventh instalment of Koei ' s " Dynasty Warriors " video game franchise . The stage is the final stage of the Wu story mode , and the player uses Sun Quan , and Sun Quan kills Zhang Liao . In the stage , though Cao Pi surrenders , later the game reveals in a following Wu cinematic clip that Sun Quan was dreaming .