Battle of Kuzhou Province

The **Battle of Kuzhou Province** is an important battle for both Ti Xiang E's Forces and Wei Forces, occurring in 242 AD in southern Kuzhou. This battle was also Ti Xiang E's first defeat in his rebellion against Wei.

## Participating Forces

### **Ti Xiang E's Forces**

* **Ti Xiang E**
* Ti Xiang
* Yue Li
* **Kong Rong**
* Kong Xu
* Wang Yi
* Bian Xing
* Bao Fu
* Bao Zu

### **Wei Forces**

* **Guo Jia**
* Guo Huai
* Xu You
* Wei Xu
* Han Hao
* **Xiahou Wei**
* Yu Jin
* Cao Hong
* Cao Yu
* Tian Yu
* Xu Shang
* Gao Lan
* **Wang Shuang**
* Cai Mao
* Xiahou Mao
* Zhang He
* Xu Yi
* Dian Man
* Cao Chun
* Xiahou Hui
* **Xiahou Yuan**
* Xiahou Ba
* Lu Qian
* Lu Jian
* Bian Xi

## In Battle

In the year 241 AD, Cao Ren and his men had been defeated during the Battle of Anding Castle, and as well had to witness the Zao Tribe led by Bian Xing join ranks with Ti Xiang E and his forces. While he returned to Wei, Ti Xiang E's Forces worked to build up their strength even further, solidifying their hold over the region of Liangdong. As advised by Guo Jia, Wei had decided not to move against Ti Xiang E again, and waited for him to make the next move.

During this time, Kong Rong and Ti Xiang were both looking to expand their territory, and knew that the only way to do so would be to clash with the armies of Wei once again. As suggested by Ping Kou who knew the land well, their target should Kuzhou Province, specifically its stronghold located in the south. Ping Kou had even gone as far as to provide Kong Rong with a detailed map of the layout of Kuzhou Province to aid in his strategies. Agreeing to this, Kong Rong began to raise an army and prepare to march southward. Ti Xiang E himself also agreed and was prepared to lead the assault himself.

Meanwhile, Guo Jia of Wei had also received word of this advance on Kuzhou Province. He himself prepared to lead the advance into Kuzhou and combat against Kong Rong and his strategies. Kong Rong had later heard of Guo Jia's involvement in this upcoming battle and was also prepared to place his strategies up against Guo Jia. Showing this, one of his first moves were to have Ping Kou, Bian Ding, Bian Zang and Xia Je as guards over their escape route,

### Wang Shuang's Offensive

Wang Shuang set out first for the Wei army, intending on leading an assault straight towards Ti Xiang E's main camp. He led a large army of mounted warriors towards Ti Xiang E's Forces, hoping to catch them off guard with his raid and defeat them quickly. Word of this reached Ti Xiang E and Kong Rong, who had Bao Fu and Bao Zu lead the defensive unit to stop their advance. Bao Fu assembled a large unit of mounted archers and lined up in front of the pathway to the main camp. As Wang Shuang's Forces came charging forth, the archers fired a hail of arrows across the battlefield, killing off many of the cavalrymen in the process. Wang Shuang attempts to withdraw after this, but was then ambushed from behind by Bao Zu, leading to he and the rest of his troops being killed.

### Ti Xiang E's Assault and Guo Jia's Plan

Following Wang Shuang's defeat, Ti Xiang E quickly led out his forces on an offensive against, Wei. Having high morale, they began to cut through many bases and officers, defeating Xiahou Wei's forces in the process. However, upon arriving in the central garrisons, a fire attack by Guo Jia broke out. Afterwards, Xiahou Yuan led a surprise attack on Ti Xiang E's Forces, forcing them to fall back.

Kong Rong managed to plan out an escape route to head back northward into Fort Liansheng. Following this, Ti Xiang E's Forces escaped with minimum casualties.

## Aftermath

Having bested Ti Xiang E's Forces, Guo Jia sent off Han Hao to lead an offensive against them at Fort Liansheng.