Qin's Wars of Unification

Qin's wars of unification were a series of military campaigns launched in the late 3rd century BC by the Qin state against the other six major Chinese states — Han, Zhao, Yan, Wei, Chu and Qi.

Between 247 BC and 221 BC, Qin had emerged as one of the most powerful of the Seven Warring States in China. In 230 BC, Ying Zheng, the King of Qin, unleashed the final campaigns of the Warring States period, setting out to conquer the remaining states one by one. Following the fall of Qi in 221 BC, China was unified under Qin control. Ying Zheng declared himself "Qin Shi Huang" (meaning "First Emperor of Qin") and established the Qin dynasty, becoming the first sovereign ruler of a unified China.

Historical Scenarios

The Rise of the Qin Dynasty

Chu-Han War

The Chu–Han Contention (楚漢相爭), also known as the Chu–Han War (楚漢戰爭), was an interregnum period in ancient China between the fall of the Qin dynasty and the establishment of the Han dynasty. After the third and last Qin ruler, Ziying, unconditionally surrendered to rebel forces in 206 BCE, the former Qin Empire was divided by rebel leader Xiang Yu into the Eighteen Kingdoms, which were ruled by various rebel leaders and surrendered Qin generals. A civil war soon broke out, most prominently between two major contending powers – Xiang Yu's Western Chu and Liu Bang's Han. Some of the other kingdoms also waged war among themselves but these were largely insignificant compared to the main conflict between Chu and Han. The war ended in 202 BCE with a Han victory at the Battle of Gaixia, during which Xiang Yu committed suicide after making a last stand. Liu Bang subsequently proclaimed himself emperor and established the Han dynasty as the ruling dynasty of China.

Historical Scenarios

Campaigns of Liu Bang for the Unification of China

Sino-Korean War (109–108 BCE)

The Han conquest of Gojoseon was a campaign launched by Emperor Wu of Han China against Wiman Joseon between 109 and 108 BCE. It resulted in the fall of Gojoseon and the establishment of the Four Commanderies of Han in the northern half of the Korean Peninsula.

Historical Scenarios

Han conquest of Gojoseon

Sino-Xiongnu War

The Han–Xiongnu War, also known as the Sino–Xiongnu War, was a series of military conflicts fought over two centuries (from 133 BC to 89 AD) between the Chinese Han Empire and the nomadic Xiongnu confederation, although extended conflicts can be traced back as early as 200 BC and ahead as late as 188 AD.

The Chinese civilization initially clashed with nomadic tribes that would later become the Xiongnu confederation during the Warring States period, and various northern states built elongated fortifications (which later became the Great Wall) to defend against raids from the Mongolian Plateau. The unified Qin dynasty, who conquered all other states under the First Emperor, dispatched General Meng Tian in 215 BC in a successful campaign to expel the Xiongnu from the Ordos region. However, the subsequent civil wars following Qin dynasty's collapse gave the Xiongnu tribes, who were then unified into a large confederacy under Modu Chanyu, the opportunity to reinvade the Ordos region. After the Western Han dynasty was established in 202 BC, Emperor Gao tried to fight off Xiongnu invasions but had himself trapped in an ambush during the Battle of Baideng, and a truce was negotiated. Decades of de jure "peace" then ensued then followed with the Chinese gifting "marriage alliance" to appease the Xiongnu, who still raided Chinese borderlands routinely.

However, starting from the reign of the seventh Han ruler, Emperor Wu, the Han Empire began to change from a relatively passive foreign policy to a proactively offensive strategy seeking to permanently remove the northern threat. The tension fully escalated in 133 BC when the Han army unsuccessfully tried to ambush Xiongnu raiders at Mayi, and retaliatory raids intensified. Emperor Wu then started deploying newer generations of military commanders and launched several expeditions to control the Ordos Loop, Hexi Corridor and Western Regions, eventually pushing the Xiongnu north beyond the Gobi Desert with a decisive campaign in 119 BC. After the death of Emperor Wu in 87 BC, the war winded down to mostly smaller border conflicts, although Emperor Xuan and Yuan had each sanctioned major offensives against the Xiongnu during their reigns. The overall strategic Han successes against the Xiongnu allowed the Chinese to project their influence deeply into Central Asia, which eventually led to the establishment of a regional protectorate in 60 BC. For the Xiongnu, the situation deteriorated with each setback, leading to erosion of the chanyu's prestige and dominance, and the subsequent internal power struggles further weakened the confederation, fracturing it into various self-ruling factions. Han Empire then began adhere to a divide and rule strategy, using marriage alliances (such as that of Wang Zhaojun to Huhanye) to recruit some against others.

During the interregnum Xin dynasty, Wuzhuliu chanyu waged war in 11 AD after Wang Mang, who usurped the Han throne, attempted to split the Xiongnu by instating 15 new chanyu. Wang Mang mobilized 300,000 troops against Xiongnu and forced Goguryeo, Wuhuan and various Western Regions city-states to send conscripts and provisions, which led to the mass defection of these vassal states. After the Eastern Han dynasty was established in 25 AD, the Chinese initially found their hands full after the chaotic civil war and could not afford any full-scale mobilizations against the Xiongnu raids, therefore resorted to continue lobbying among different Xiongnu faction rulers instead. This continued for another two decades until 46 AD, when repeated natural disasters severely weakened the Xiongnu and forced them to flee north from an attack by Wuhuan. Xiongnu then permanently split in 48 AD into two groups, known as the Northern and Southern Xiongnu, respectively. The Southern Xiongnu eventually submitted to the Han Empire and became auxiliaries/mercenaries against the Northern Xiongnu, who continued to resist and was eventually evicted westwards by the further expeditions by the Han Empire and its vassals, as well as the rise of other hostile Donghu states like Xianbei. In 89 AD, General Dou Xian led 50,000 cavalries on an expedition that decisively defeated the Northern Xiongnu main force, causing it to split further. In 91 AD, Northern Chanyu was defeated in the Battle of the Altai Mountains, and the Northern Xiongnu fled west into Dzungaria, where they continued causing sporadic troubles until 151 AD when a 4,000-strong Han militia was enough to defeat them, causing them to flee further west into Central Asia and since disappeared from historical records. Southern Xiongnu, on the other hand, continued cycles of "rebel then resubmit" under the Eastern Han dynasty til as late as the Yellow Turban Rebellion, but from 89 AD onwards the Han Empire's main concern had already switched to the Qiang people, who had become an increasingly bigger headache than the Xiongnu.

Historical Scenarios

Sino-Xiongnu War

Sino-Vietnamese War (40-43 AD)

The Trưng sisters' rebellion was an armed civil uprising in the south of Han China between 40 AD and 43 AD. In 40 AD, the Vietnamese leader Trưng Trắc and her sister Trưng Nhị rebelled against Chinese authorities in Jiaozhi (in what is now northern Vietnam). In 42 AD, Han China dispatched General Ma Yuan to lead an army to strike down the Yue rebellion of the Trưng sisters. In 43 AD, the Han army fully suppressed the uprising and regained complete control. The Trưng sisters were captured and beheaded by the Han forces, although Vietnamese chronicles of the defeat records that the two sisters, having lost to Han forces, decided to commit suicide by jumping down the Hát Giang river, so as not to surrender to the Han.

Historical Scenarios

Trưng sisters' Rebellion

Yellow Turban Rebellion

The Yellow Turban Rebellion, alternatively translated as the Yellow Scarves Rebellion, was a peasant revolt during the late Eastern Han dynasty of ancient China. The uprising broke out in c. March 184 CE, during the reign of Emperor Ling. Although the main rebellion was suppressed by 185 CE, it took 21 years for full suppression of resistant areas and emerging rebellions by 205 CE. The weakening of the imperial court and the rising political influence of ultra-autonomous regional military-governors, who helped suppress the rebellion, eventually led to rampant warlord dominance and the resultant Three Kingdoms period.

The rebellion, which got its name from the color of the rebel headwear, marked an important point in the history of Taoism due to the rebel leaders' association with the then secret Taoist societies. The revolt was also used as the opening event in the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Historical Scenarios

Yellow Turban Rebellion

War Against Dong Zhuo

The Campaign against Dong Zhuo was a punitive expedition initiated by a coalition of regional officials and warlords against the warlord Dong Zhuo in 190 in the late Eastern Han dynasty. The members of the coalition claimed that Dong had the intention of usurping the throne by holding Emperor Xian hostage and by establishing a strong influence in the imperial court. They justified their campaign as to remove Dong from power. The campaign led to the evacuation of the capital Luoyang and the shifting of the imperial court to Chang'an. It was a prelude to the end of the Han dynasty and, subsequently, the Three Kingdoms period.

In the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the campaign is memorable for at least two famous incidents: one is Guan Yu's slaying of Hua Xiong; the other is the three-on-one duel between the three sworn brothers (Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei) and Lü Bu. The two scenes are often reenacted in Chinese opera along with other famous scenes from the novel. Both incidents however, are fictional; Hua Xiong was captured and executed by Sun Jian after a brief battle. Liu, Guan and Zhang did participate in the campaign although their actions are not further described, with no mention that they dueled with Lü Bu, who, historically, was defeated by Sun Jian in battle.

Historical Scenarios

Campaign against Dong Zhuo

Conquest of Jiangdong

Sun Ce's conquests in Jiangdong were a series of military campaigns by the warlord Sun Ce to conquer territories in the Jiangdong and Wu regions from 194 to 199 towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty. The conquered lands served as a foundation for the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period (220–280).

Historical Scenarios

Sun Ce's conquests in Jiangdong

War Against Lu Bu

The Battle of Xiapi was fought between the forces of Lü Bu against the allied armies of Cao Cao and Liu Bei from the winter of 198 to 7 February 199 towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty in China. The battle concluded with victory for Cao Cao and Liu Bei, with Lü Bu being subsequently executed.

Historical Scenarios

Xiapi-Shouchun Campaign

Fall of the Yuan Family

The Battle of Guandu was fought between the warlords Cao Cao and Yuan Shao in 200 AD in the late Eastern Han dynasty. Cao Cao's decisive victory against Yuan Shao's numerically superior forces marked the turning point in their war. The victory was also the point at which Cao Cao became the dominant power in northern China, leading to the establishment of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period.

Historical Scenarios

Cao Cao-Yuan Shao War

Red Cliffs Campaign

The Battle of Red Cliffs, also known as the Battle of Chibi, was a decisive naval battle in the winter of AD 208–209 at the end of the Han dynasty, about twelve years prior to the beginning of the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history. The battle was fought between the allied forces of the southern warlords Sun Quan, Liu Bei, and Liu Qi against the numerically superior forces of the northern warlord Cao Cao. Liu Bei and Sun Quan frustrated Cao Cao's effort to conquer the land south of the Yangtze River and reunite the territory of the Eastern Han dynasty.

The allied victory at Red Cliffs ensured the survival of Liu Bei and Sun Quan, gave them control of the Yangtze, and provided a line of defence that was the basis for the later creation of the two southern states of Shu Han and Eastern Wu.[5] Attempts to reconstruct a timeline of the battle's events greatly differ, and the precise location of the battlefield remains widely debated. Most academics consider candidate sites located either southwest of present-day Wuhan on the southern bank of the Yangtze, or northeast of Baqiu in present-day Yueyang, Hunan.

Historical Scenarios

Red Cliffs Campaign

The Taking of Yizhou

Liu Bei's takeover of Yi Province was a military campaign by the warlord Liu Bei in taking control of Yi Province (covering present-day Sichuan and Chongqing) from the provincial governor, Liu Zhang. The campaign took place between the years 211 and 214 in the late Eastern Han dynasty; although the conflict between Liu Bei and Liu Zhang started in January or February 213 when the latter discovered the former secret communications and subsequently executed Zhang Song. It concluded with victory for Liu Bei and his successful takeover of the province from Liu Zhang in July 214. Yi Province (specifically, its capital of Chengdu and its nearby commanderies) would serve as the foundation of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period.

After the Battle of Red Cliffs, Sun Quan invited Liu Bei to take Yi Province with him, but the latter strongly rebutted the former, saying: "if you're going to conquer the land of Shu, I will loosen my hair and become a hermit in the deep hills. Earth under Heaven can hear my promise, and I'll live up to my words!" Believing Liu Bei, Sun Quan aborted his plan; however, Liu Bei was actually trying to take Yi Province for himself and negotiated Yiling County and Nan Commandery from Sun Quan. In 211, Liu Zhang, the Governor of Yi Province, heard that Cao Cao was planning to attack Zhang Lu in Hanzhong Commandery. As Hanzhong Commandery was a strategic location and the "gateway" into Yi Province, Liu Zhang sent Fa Zheng to form an alliance with Liu Bei after Zhang Song convinced him to do so. Liu Bei then led his men to Yi Province under the pretence of helping Liu Zhang conquer Hanzhong Commandery.

Historical Scenarios

Liu Bei's Conquest of Southern Jingzhou
Liu Bei's Conquest of Yizhou

Wu's Attempted Conquest of Hefei

The Battle of Xiaoyao Ford, also known as the Battle of Leisure Ford, Battle of Hefei, and Hefei Campaign, was fought between the warlords Cao Cao and Sun Quan between 214 and 215 in the late Eastern Han dynasty. The two contending sides were fighting for control over a strategic fortress at Hefei, which was defended by Cao Cao's general Zhang Liao. Towards the end of the campaign, Zhang Liao made use of force concentration and launched a sneak counteroffensive on Sun Quan at Leisure Ford, where Sun only had 1,000 soldiers with him at the time. Amidst the chaos, Sun Quan barely escaped capture with the aid of his general Ling Tong. This action raised Zhang Liao to primacy among Cao Cao's generals.

Historical Scenarios

Hefei Campaign (214-215)

The King of Wei's Offensive against Liu Bei

The Hanzhong Campaign was a military campaign launched by the warlord Liu Bei to seize control of Hanzhong Commandery from his rival, Cao Cao. The campaign took place between December 217 and August 219 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period. Although Cao Cao's forces had settled in Hanzhong Commandery two years prior after the Battle of Yangping, they were worn out by an overall Fabian strategy employed by Liu Bei's forces, who used targeted attacks to capture strategic locations from the enemy. One of these attacks resulted in the death of Xiahou Yuan, one of Cao Cao's top generals, delivering a huge blow to the morale of Cao Cao's forces. Due to logistical and other issues, Cao Cao was eventually forced to abandon Hanzhong Commandery and order a retreat in June 219. Liu Bei emerged victorious in the campaign and occupied Hanzhong Commandery, after which he declared himself "King of Hanzhong" in August of that year.

The campaign would ultimately prove to be the final military campaign that Cao Cao participated in before his death in March of 220.

Historical Scenarios

The King of Wei's Offensive against Liu Bei

Shu's Attempted Conquest of Northern Jingzhou

In 218, imperial physician Ji Ben, along with minor treasurer Geng Ji and minister Wei Huang began an insurrection against Cao Cao in his capital of Xuchang, but were quickly quelled and executed. In November 218, Cao Cao sent general Cao Ren to Wan (宛; in present-day Nanyang, Henan) in preparation to launch a strike against Guan Yu. However, due to Cao Ren's wanton policy of conscription and forced labor, Hou Yin (侯音), a military officer under Cao Cao, started a rebellion in with his deputy Wei Kai (衛開) and several thousand troops from Wan's citizenry, and requested help from Guan Yu. By February 219, Cao Ren had crushed the rebellion and killed Hou Yin and Wei Kai, and massacred the citizenry of Wan.

In the meantime, tired and angered by forced conscription and labour, a peasant revolt also broke out in Luhun-county (陸渾, located southeast of present-day Song County, Henan) led by rebel leader Sun Lang (孫狼), who killed the county registrar and defected to Guan Yu, receiving military command to work as raiders for Guan Yu.

After taking Hanzhong Commandery by defeating Cao Cao in the Hanzhong Campaign in May 219, Liu Bei further expanded his territorial gains in June 219 by sending Meng Da and Liu Feng to take Fangling (房陵; present-day Fang County, Hubei) and Shangyong (上庸; north of present-day Zhushan County, Hubei) commanderies. Cao Cao was temporarily forced to be on the defensive after these continuous setbacks.

Realising the imminent attacks of Liu Bei and possibly Sun Quan, Cao Cao planned to launch a preemptive strike on southern Jing Province (covering present-day Hubei and Hunan), the eastern part of Liu Bei's territory defended by Guan Yu. The plan reasoned that Liu Bei could not continue his offensive in the north due to the need to consolidate his new gains, and so an attack into southern Jing Province would not be hindered by Liu Bei's invasion elsewhere. However, the plan was called off because Cao Cao's troops still needed time to recover, regroup, and re-supply from the campaign to suppress the rebellion of Hou Yin and Wei Kai, as well as from earlier setbacks in the struggles for Hanzhong Commandery. The worn-out troops were not ready for another campaign.

This will be Guan Yu's last battle as he is executed, along with Guan Ping and Zhao Lei, by Wu's army after the battle.

Historical Scenarios

Siege of Fancheng
Guan Yu's Escape from Jingzhou