Battle of Fancheng

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The Battle of Fancheng (樊城之戰) was fought between the Shu Han and Cao Wei Kingdoms during the Three Kingdoms period of ancient China. It is named after Fancheng, a city which is now a part of the city of Xiangfan.

Guan Yu, military general of the Shu kingdom, served as its commander during the battle. Cao Ren, cousin of the warlord Cao Cao, commanded the troops of the Wei kingdom.

The battle itself occurred in the spring of 219 AD. Pang De, a prominent Wei general, was captured and executed by Guan Yu. After several weeks of fighting, heavy rains caused flooding in the area of Fancheng. This hindered the forces of Wei because they had camped in the lower plains, while the Shu forces had taken the highlands. Many Wei soldiers drowned, and the Wei armies outside the city walls were defeated.

In Romance of the Three Kingdoms

In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the flooding was dramatized to have Guan Yu damming the rivers beforehand and opening the dam when the dam was full, thus flooding the armies in the lower plains in an event named "Drowning of the Seven Armies" (水淹七軍). Pang De was captured afterwards and showed no fear of execution, contrasted to Yu Jin's begging for his life.

Several weeks thereafter, the Kingdom of Wu, which had secretly allied itself with Wei, attacked Shu's army at Jiangling. Wu, a previous ally of Shu, surprised and defeated the Shu forces there, forcing Guan Yu to lift the siege on Fancheng and retreat.

Guan Yu and his son, Guan Ping, while fleeing to Sichuan, were caught and executed by soldiers of Wu. Guan Yu's death was one of the major reasons why the Battle of Yiling was fought in 222 AD, between the Shu and Wu kingdoms.

Relation to Video Games

In the video games Dynasty Warriors 4 and 5, Shu commander Guan Yu is depicted as simultaneously defending the lands of Jing and besieging 'Fan Castle', as it is named. The second location is the focus of the stage. Cao Ren of Wei is the defending commander, and Wu forces usually appear as anti-Shu reinforcements. Notably, Pang De takes a prominent role, and proves to be a dangerous opponent for Guan Yu and his allies in this stage.

References

Kongming's Archives

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Last updated on Wednesday December 05, 2007 at 20:16:03 PST (GMT -0800)
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