Conquest of Liangdong

The **Battle of Liangdong Castle**or the **Conquest of Liangdong** was the battle that sparked Ti Xiang E's rebellion against the kingdom of Wei. He, alongside his family and any volunteers bravely besieged Liangdong Castle.

## Participating Forces

### **Wei Forces**

* **Xiahou En**
* **Kong Rong**
* Zhang Yan
* Zhang He
* Xu Huang
* Wang Yi
* Cao Hong
* **Cao Zhen**
* Kong Xu
* Xiahou Hui
* Bian Xi
* Ping Kou
* Xia Je
* Lu Qian
* Lu Jian
* Chen Jiao

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

* **Ti Xiang E**
* Ti Xiang
* Yue Li

## In Battle

In late 240 AD, the flags of rebellion were raised outside of Liangdong Castle. Xiahou En, the current commander over Liangdong was informed of the betrayal by Zhang Yan, and sent forth Cao Zhen and Bian Xi out first in order to subdue the rebels. However the vanguard was soon met by Ti Xiang E who led the charge of his army himself. His men almost immediately forced the Wei vanguard to withdraw back to Liangdong Castle. It was now obvious that Ti Xiang E and his men would put up a good fight.

### The Northern Assault

In response to this, Xu Huang and Zhang He were sent to lead an assault on Ti Xiang E's Forces main came from the north by crossing the long bridge path on horseback. Soon one their spies managed to bring this information back to Yue Li, the wife of Ti Xiang E. Immediately she and a small unit of officers set out for the northern bridge and awaited for the enemy cavalry to arrive.

Once the Wei cavalry unit arrived they immediately took notice to Yue Li's unit stationed on the other side of the bridge. While the order was given to hold off on charging through the bridge, some soldiers still rushed through with the intent of overrunning their enemies with their horses quickly. As they stepped onto the bridge, Yue Li then gave the order to her men to cut the ropes holding up the bridge, forcing the cavalry unit back and leaving those that blindly rushed in to fall into the mountain cliffs below.

### Ti Xiang E's Charge

Two garrisons, well-guarded, stood between the main unit led by Ti Xiang E and Liangdong Castle. In order to proceed, Ti Xiang E and his men would have to charge through and drive back Cao Zhen and Zhang Yan from the garrisons. However, with such a small army against the Wei Forces led by Cao Zhen and Zhang Yan, Ti Xiang E's men were slightly discouraged in charging into battle.

Ti Xiang E, in an effort to boost morale in his men, rode out towards the garrisons himself and demanded that the commanders of the two garrisons surrender control or be prepared to die. As natural, Cao Zhen laughed upon hearing this statement while Zhang Yan gave the order to their men to take the commander's head. Soon an army of soldiers charged out from the garrisons as Ti Xiang E stood bravely to face them. With his twin axes in hand the warrior proceeded to down soldiers by the dozens as he stood his ground.

Seeing the determination of their leader, Ti Xiang E's Forces had been rallied into action. Soon they charged up to their commander with the intent of aiding him in his success in rebelling. Ti Xiang E led his small army through the Wei Forces, cutting down hundreds upon hundreds of soldiers. Seeing the skill of this man, Cao Zhen prepared to withdraw from Liangdong to inform the rest of Wei, while Zhang Yan stayed behind to hold them off so that he could escape. However the might of the small army proved to be too much as soon he followed after Cao Zhen and fled.

### Ti Xiang and Wang Yi

As the news of Ti Xiang E's successful rebellion reached, another officer of Wei was sent out to quell it. A unit led by Wang Yi arrived in the south and was headed straight for the enemy main camp from the side. Hearing this, Ti Xiang, a former friend of Wang Yi, set out to meet her in battle.

Upon reaching each other the two officers did not immediately engage in battle. Ti Xiang approached Wang Yi's unit unarmed and unwilling to fight her. Instead he came at her with a talk of negotiation in an attempt to persuade her to defect from Wei and join with them. After several hours of debating and negotiating, eventually Ti Xiang managed to convince Wang Yi to defect and aid them in capturing Liangdong.

### Attack on Liangdong Castle

With a solidified foothold and proper equipment, Ti Xiang E and Ti Xiang began to plan out their attack on Liangdong Castle. The gates inside were closed up tight and there were no materials available to build battering rams or siege towers. However, Ti Xiang E suddenly received an urgent message from one of the enemy soldiers. The Wei strategist Kong Rong was offering his surrender and wishes to defect to his forces. However in order for him to do so, Ti Xiang E's Forces would have to successfully surround Liangdong Castle at all four gates before he would fully surrender to them.

None of the officers were sure if this was a trap to lure them towards the castle for an ambush attack or if Kong Rong truly wished to join them. However, Ti Xiang noted that they had no other options available, and that more reinforcements from Wei might arrive at any time. It was true that this would be their only chance to capture Liangdong Castle and fully declare independence from Wei. His forces all agreed to go through with this plan.

Advancing out towards Liangdong Castle, Ti Xiang E had decided to split his forces into four groups. He himself would besiege the south gate. Yue Li would attack the east gate. Wang Yi would clear out the west gate which left Ti Xiang to the north gate.

With the Wei Forces, not willing to allow Ti Xiang E's Forces to succeed, Cao Hong took control of the defensive unit and set out for the southern gate himself. He ordered Lu Jian and Lu Qian to await for the enemy outside the west and east gates respectively. Bian Xi would command an archer unit from the north gate.

The battle soon commenced as the forces engaged each other. Bian Xi's unit was the first to be driven off as even with the archery advantage he was unable to take care of the archers that were with Ti Xiang. In the west, Lu Jian had been successfully defeated after an ambush attack by Wang Yi. Lu Qian had managed to hold his ground against Yue Li's unit for some time. However, after defeating Cao Hong, Ti Xiang E came to her aid, forcing Lu Qian to withdraw. Soon, all four gates had been surrounded.

Seeing this, Kong Rong had held up his end of the deal as he and his son Kong Xu had announced their defection to Ti Xiang E's Forces and demanded that any other officers that wished to win this battle were to defect as well. This rallied the aid of Ping Kou, a well known officer who was defending the inside of Liangdong Castle. Xia Je, another strategist, also defected to Ti Xiang E's side as well. Having more numbers, Ti Xiang E and his men quickly forced the remaining Wei Forces out of Liangdong Castle and as well defeated Xiahou En, forcing him to withdraw.

## Aftermath

After the battle, Ti Xiang E had successfully managed to raise a flag in rebellion, something which was noticed by all three kingdoms. Thinking Wei would plan to quickly deal with this threat, Wu had begun to plan an attack on Wei as well. Shu on the other hand, remained quiet. And waited for a chance to strike.