#well done gongsun li

[ellsieee]

The four times Gongsun Li hid behind Shen Song

and the three times he didn't.

[the-archlich]

After the time of the death of Cao Shuang who be the best person to make into a playable character in a new game to make a hypothetical scenario about the Cao Clan managing to stop the Sima Clan from taking over power?I say new playable character cuz I know almost 100% certain nobody else who is already playable is about to stop the Sima from taking over for the Cao.

That really depend son the direction you want to take the narrative.

In my opinion, Dowager Guo (Cao Rui’s widow) was involved with virtually all of the plots against the Sima, if she was not their primary architect. The attempt to assassinate Sima Shi, Guanqiu Jian’s revolt, Cao Mao’s attempt on Sima Zhao . . . She was almost certainly involved with those plots, if she didn’t plan them. The efforts of Wang Ling, Zhuge Dan, and Zhong Hui are more questionable but it’s a possibility.

In my opinion, you’d see a narrative where Dowager Guo (working through proxies) tried to thwart the attempts of the Sima to take power but ultimately could not stop them. All of that said, if we’re talking about Dynasty Warriors specifically, I can suggest a few significant characters:

Dowager Guo. As discussed above, she was Cao Rui’s widow and was almost certainly involve din various plots against the Sima (and possible against Cao Shuang depending on what accounts you believe). I think she’d be great as the persistent enemy of the Sima family, the one who’s behind everything but they just can’t quite prove it.

Wang Ling: He was a very accomplished general with many decades of service and experience. It wouldn’t be outside the realm of possibility to suggest that his planned revolt was orchestrated by Dowager Guo (although it’s impossible to say for sure). His long years of service would make him a valid addition to the cast whatever direction the narrative took.

Xiahou Xuan: A friend to Cao Shuang and Sima Shi, he was one of the most praised scholars of his generation. He served in the court under Cao Rui (even after his friends were expelled) and achieved high rank under Cao Shuang, helping oversee the failed invasion of Shu. He became one of the Nine Minister sunder the Sima regime but plotted to kill his brother-in-law Sima Shi, which ende din his execution.

Li Feng: The primary name associated with the plot to kill Sima Shi, he had many years of service in the imperial court, and under Dowager Guo directly. His daughter Li Wan was married to Jia Chong. Given his prominence in the Wei court and the significance of his attempt to kill Sima Shi, he could certainly be a playable character.

Guanqiu Jian: One of the most accomplished commanders of his generation. He was a personal friend to Cao Rui and served under Sima Yi at several points, in Jing and during his campaign against Gongsun Yuan. His revolt was almost certainly done with the Dowager’s approval and making him a playable character prior to that (like Zhuge Dan) would really help emphasize how significant his revolt was.

Wen Qin: Adding some muscle to the group, Wen Qin was a high-ranking commander. Although disliked by his superior, he was close to Cao Shuang and achieved major command under him. He was in charge of several failed operations against Wu, but he was noted as a brave and talented fighter who served particularly well defending Xiapi from Zhuge Ke. He joined with Guanqiu Jian to rebel, then defected to Wu. He returne dnorth to assist Zhuge Dan against Wei after he defected but was killed by Zhuge Dan because Zhuge Dan was a bitch. You probably know his son Wen Chu, who is frequently called by his child name Wen Yang.

Wang Jing: He was Inspector of Yang during one of Jiang Wei’s invasions. He was disgrace don the battlefield and removed from his position. After that he helped Cao Mao try to kill Sima Zhao but was executed when that failed. He spent osme time on the battlefield so that works in his favor, and giving a more persistent face to Cao Mao’s attmept gives it a bit more emotional resonance.

Those are the main ones who come to mind. I think with those people you get a pretty solid narrative, seeing people slowly turn against the Sima over time as Dowager Guo attempts to keep the Cao family in power.

[zirroxas]

Jieqiao Stage 3 - Operational Map Prototype

We return to the world of mapping today to show off what I should have had done on Monday, but came out looking awful so I started over and tried some new techniques.

This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because the original map had the scaling completely off by an entire decimal place, and I only noticed when going for round 2.

The purposes of this map in particular, as opposed to the previous or subsequent maps, is to show the operations in the area of the eventual battle before the actual engagement itself, such as local terrain, landmarks, and settlements. This kind of map will hopefully show what the commanders were trying to accomplish in the locality and why they approached the battle in the way they did.

In this particular case, the main features to keep track of are the Qing River, Jieqiao (aka Jie Bridge), and Guangzong County. The area was probably mostly flat farmland with no mentions of meaningful changes in elevation.

The Qing River started up in the mountains west of Ji Province and ran parallel to the Huang River before emptying out into Bohai Bay, making it something of a southwest-northeast highway across the province. It also seemed to be the border between the areas of Ji that Gongsun Zan already had a degree of influence over and the areas that were either loyal to Yuan Shao or not yet decided on their loyalties.

Jieqiao was a major crossing over the Qing River. While other crossings probably existed, it seems that Jieqiao was of particular significance, probably due to size and sturdiness, perhaps being situated on a major road. That would make it ideal for crossing over with a large army. It also lay on the most direct route from Gongsun Zan’s starting location on the Pan River towards Yuan Shao’s new capitol at Ye.

Guangzong County lay almost directly west of Jieqiao, and may have been the hub that serviced the crossing. Gongsun Zan stopped in Guangzong to cement his declaration of war by appointing his own administrators and inspectors. The sources get somewhat confused about the timeline of events during all of this, but Gongsun Zan’s Sanguozhi biography and the annotation to Yuan Shao’s Sanguozhi biography from the Yingxiong Ji seem to be in agreement that Gongsun Zan didn’t start handing out offices until after crossing at Jieqiao. At this point, there was a mass amount of defections across the province to the Gongsun banner, though who exactly defected is left spotty.

The wording of the sources seems to imply that Yuan Shao did not formally begin a counter campaign against Gongsun Zan until after this blatant usurpation of authority. The reason may be due to trying to buy peace until the last minute, but it also may have had to do with the fact that Yuan Shao had just recently usurped power in Ji Province from Han Fu and needed time to consolidate what strength he could muster at Ye. The defections show that Yuan Shao’s influence in the area was anything but stable

Likewise, the fact that Gongsun Zan stopped at Guangzong rather than continuing his march through Yuan territory (which had not yet offered meaningful resistance) may have been to see what would happen after he staked his claim on the province. Leaving his only way back into his territory undefended if the nearby administrators weren’t secure in their loyalty would have been a grave mistake. Indeed, the commandery immediately to his rear, Ganling, failed to turn entirely as Yuan Shao’s officer Zhu Ling managed to recapture one of its cities from the turncoat Ji Yong. While this alone wouldn’t be cause for too much concern, it does show that there were plenty of Yuan partisans in other parts of the province who would be willing to contest his local influence. The stop also may have had to do with the fact that his troops had just marched halfway across a province during winter and needed to rest.

The turn in the year from 191 to 192 brought spring, which brought campaigning season. Yuan Shao advanced up from the southwest, and it seemed that Gongsun Zan had been waiting for him to make a move. It’s stated that the two faced off some 20 li (about 8.2 kilometers) south of Jieqiao specifically, which seems to indicate that they were fighting near the river.

The numbering of Gongsun Zan’s army is fairly clearly stated at 40,000 in the Yingxiong Ji (30,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry). Yuan Shao’s army has to be inferred though. It is stated that he had “tens of thousands” of infantrymen, but no mention is given of cavalry, so their numbers must not have been very impressive. Since Yuan Shao’s army was just recently mustered and the area he could immediately call upon confined to only one corner of Ji Province, he probably didn’t have quite the numbers that Gongsun Zan had. However, he probably still had a competitive amount, since he was going on the offensive, though he may have also realized that Gongsun Zan’s advantage was going to get bigger the longer he waited (as defectors began to rally to him), and couldn’t afford to waste time. I’ve numbered him at 30,000 here, but I’d wager anywhere between 30,000-40,000 would be a likely scenario.

Well, that’s it for now. Next time, we’ll get into the tactical deployment of the armies themselves and the progression of the main engagement.

As always, feedback, suggestions, commentary, and questions are all welcome and encouraged.