LoCC Chapter 2 Battle for Hebei
Legend of Cao Cao Walkthrough
_______________________ Chapter 2: Battle for Hebei A quick red-blue choice with Liu Bei. Yuan Shu attempts to flee north to his brother’s territory, but Cao Cao sends out Liu Bei to intercept him and Yuan Shu dies. In the meantime, Liu Ye is sent to Wan to talk with Jia Xu. Zhang Xiu surrenders, for real this time. Jia Xu enters Cao Cao’s service. Cao Cao learns of the Jade Belt plot, which Liu Bei was a part of, and swears to get Liu Bei. Note: Sometime during this chapter, you’ll probably reach level 15 with several of your units. Once at that level, you can upgrade your class using the Class Seal item. Simply use the item in battle as you would a normal consumable. You’ll notice that Zhang Liao, Jia Xu, and even Diao Chan are in your army now. Deploy for battle when you’re ready.
Battle 16: Capturing Xiao Pei ———————————– Conditions for Victory: Defeat Guan Yu within 25 turns! Enemies: 8 Soldiers, 8 Cavalry, 3 Mounted Archers, 2 Archers, Catapult, Mi Zhu (Mounted Archer), Jian Yong (Archer), Guan Yu (Special Cavalry), Liu Bei (Ruler), Zhang Fei (Special Cavalry), Sun Qian (Archer) Rewards: 1900 Gold Guan Yu is holding the city across the map and he’s your target for victory here. Jian Yong and Mi Zhu are manning a smaller outpost to your right, so go attack them. Once you kill Mi Zhu (or approach the base of the mountain south of the bridges), Liu Bei and Zhang Fei will arrive to the south and will head for your position, so use a few units to block the bridge while you finish off the outpost. Quickly kill off Liu Bei and Zhang Fei before they can do too much damage. After you kill Liu Bei, Cao Cao will note that Guan Yu is alone and you’ll have a choice; the first choice changes the victory condition to reaching Guan Yu and the second changes it to defeating him. Either way, Guan Yu and his cavalry will now leave the city and move toward you. If you picked the first choice, Guan Yu takes a few turns to run over to where Liu Bei and Zhang Fei were. Wait for Guan Yu to reach you and then just surround him and kill him. Zhang Liao can have a duel with Guan Yu if you want to see that.
Staying low level: Ignore Mi Zhu’s fort and just go south along the river to Xiao Pei. When Liu Bei comes out, kill him and Zhang Fei so Guan Yu will exit the city. Surround him when he gets close and kill him. Between battles: Guan Yu is captured and brought forth to Cao Cao. You’ll get another red-blue choice. He agrees to serve you until he finds out where Liu Bei’s gone. Liu Bei happens to have run away north and joined up with Yuan Shao. There will be several scenes involving Guan Yu, such as when Cao Cao gives him Red Hare. After a few more scenes you’ll learn that Cao Cao and Yuan Shao will be fighting each other. The shop in the camp has more items now, including the +80 HP item and the Class Seals, so stock up and move out for battle.
Battle 17: Yan Liang ———————— Conditions for Victory: Defeat all enemies within 25 turns! Enemies: 9 Cavalry, 4 Mounted Archers, 2 Soldiers, Healing Mage, Status Mage, Yan Liang (Cavalry), Ju Shou (Attack Mage), Yuan Shao (Ruler) Allies: Guan Yu (Special Cavalry) Rewards: 1900 Gold Special Items: Bean Bag (kill Yan Liang) Yuan Shao’s army is camped along the northern bank and Yan Liang is guarding the north bridge. Some generic soldiers try to take him on…yeah, that didn’t work out too well. You’ll have a choice of whether to send additional soldiers to the west or north, so pick the one you think needs the men (or woman, if you’re using Diao Chan) and send Cao Cao’s group to the other bridge. Yan Liang won’t be moving from his spot, therefore sending them west might be best. Notice that Yan Liang has some type of auto-potion ability where he’ll instantly recover 30 HP after getting hit (including counters), so don’t bother fighting him just yet. Have a couple of soldiers wait near him while you send the main army across the west bridge, defeating each squad as they reach you. Guan Yu will arrive on turn three near the castle and will move north to duel Yan Liang, killing him off. Yan Liang will drop his Bean Bag upon death. Have any soldiers who were waiting nearby move north with Guan Yu to help him attack Yuan Shao’s now lightly defended flank while your main army finishes off the enemy in their area. You might want to watch out for Ju Shou (the attack mage) when you reach Yuan Shao, but other than him there are no real threats. Gang up on Yuan Shao and finish him off, then kill any enemies you might not have killed yet for the win.
Staying low level: Another defeat all enemies battle. Just help Guan Yu stay healthy while he kills the enemies, and remember to keep your levels balanced.
Between battles: Yuan Shao and Wen Chou get mad at Liu Bei since it was Guan Yu that killed Yan Liang. At the camp, Cao Cao praises Guan Yu and continues his advance against Yuan Shao. The shop now sells new armor and robes. You might want to give someone the pouch that Yan Liang dropped in order to get the auto-potion ability, although note it does use items from your supply. Deploy and move out for the next battle.
Battle 18: Wen Chou ————————– Conditions for Victory: Defeat all enemies within 25 turns! Enemies: 9 Cavalry, 5 Mounted Archers, 5 Soldiers, Archer, Healing Mage, Wen Chou (Cavalry), Guo Tu (Status Mage), Shen Pei (Attack Mage), Ju Shou (Attack Mage), Yuan Shao (Ruler) Allies: Wooden Oxen, Guan Yu (Special Cavalry) Rewards: 2000 gold Special Items: Silver Mirror Shield (kill Wen Chou) Cao Cao and Guan Yu will talk here and you’ll have a choice of plans again. The first option will have Guan Yu lure Wen Chou and the two enemies close to him south between the forest and the mountain, where your troops will ambush them and the two enemies will become confused. The second option will create some wooden decoys which will lure all of Wen Chou’s group to the same spot, whereupon your troops will ambush them and all of the enemies in the group except Wen Chou become confused. Pick the plan you want, either way you’ll quickly dispatch those enemies. Wen Chou will try and retreat north to his tent, so try and slow him down until Guan Yu can reach him and kill him in a duel. If you picked the second plan and the wooden decoy that Wen Chou left alive makes it back to the city, you’ll get an item. Guo Tu’s group will start moving on the enemy’s third turn Once you’ve cleared out Wen Chou’s army, sweep south and free up the bridge for your other squad to move north if they’re still being held up. Otherwise, help Guan Yu defeat all the cavalry coming your way before you once again gang up on Yuan Shao and beat him, along with anyone else still alive.
Staying low level: Use the second plan so all the enemies are confused, then clear a path for Guan Yu to reach Wen Chou. Have your weaker people kill the confused enemies remaining, then help Guan Yu raid Yuan Shao’s camp.
Between battles: Yuan Shao is pissed that Guan Yu killed Wen Chou too. Liu Bei decides to send Sun Qian to tell Guan Yu where he is. Zhang Liao learns that Guan Yu is getting ready to leave and tells Cao Cao about it. You’ll get another red-blue choice. Cao Cao doesn’t want to lose Guan Yu, but he upholds their agreement and lets him leave (the first choice has them meeting in the field while the second choice is a formal send-off in the court). Guan Yu goes off to be with Liu Bei in Ru Nan. You’ll also learn that Sun Ce has died and Sun Quan has taken his place as head of Wu. Yuan Shao’s advisors fight amongst themselves and so Yuan Shao is indecisive as to what to do, and he throws Ju Shou in jail after Tian Feng slanders him. Cao Cao marches for Guan Du in order to deal Yuan Shao a decisive blow. Stock up if you need to, this is a big one. Deploy your best troops and go.
Battle 19: Guan Du ———————— Conditions for Victory: Defeat Yuan Shao within 25 turns! Enemies: 13 Soldiers, 4 Archers, 4 Cavalry, 3 Monks, 2 Mounted Archers, 2 Bandits, 2 Catapults, Gao Lan (Mounted Archer), Zhang He (Mounted Archer), Chun Yuqiong (Soldier), Guo Tu (Status Mage), Shen Pei (Attack Mage), Yuan Tan (Cavalry), Yuan Shang (Cavalry), Feng Ji (Healing Mage), Yuan Shao (Ruler) Rewards: 2100 Gold, Golden Helmet (kill Chun Yuqiong), Glove (kill Gao Lan) Special Items: Poison Catapult (complete the battle) You’ll hear the “epic” music here for the first time. Xu You will move from Yuan Shao’s main camp all the way to your camp, where he tells Cao Cao about the supply camp that a drunken Chun Yuqiong is guarding. You’ll have three options here; the first and second appear to do the same thing, which is remove Xu You from the battle and cause Yuan Shao not to move. The third choice, on the other hand, sends Xu You back to Yuan Shao’s camp and causes Yuan Shao to send large forces toward his supply camp and to your camp. Either way you’re given 25 turns to kill Yuan Shao. I’m assuming here you pick the first choice. Yuan Shao won’t move for two turns, so make a block of troops to the northwest of your camp to defend while you send a smaller squad northeast to raid the supply camp. Yuan Shao will order Zhang He and Gao Lan to attack you on turn three, and Guo Tu and Shen Pei begin moving on their fifth turn. They’ll reach your block of troops in a couple of turns, so eliminate them as they approach. If Xu Chu is in your defense group, have him stand next to Zhang He; they’ll duel and Zhang He will retreat. Meanwhile your raiders should kill Chun Yuqiong and the other two soldiers in the supply camp. After you kill them, all of Yuan Shao’s troops will have their defense reduced. If Cao Cao is next to Gao Lan at this time, he’ll kill Gao Lan for you. Your raiders should move on to the mountain pass and clear that out, then wait for a bit. Yuan Shao will send a lot of his troops south to your main army, leaving his camp easier to invade. Yuan Shao will freak out once you enter his camp and most of his troops will move to defend him, including some of the ones attacking your defense force. Mop up whoever stays behind down south and have your forces converge on the camp. Destroy anyone who gets in your way and terminate Yuan Shao yet again. You’ll get a new catapult as reward.
Staying low level: Bring Zhang Liao and the Xiahou’s, along with all your mages. Have your cavalry move north to raid the camp while you form a wall with your soldiers. Have the mages pick off the enemies since they’re probably lower-level, and make sure to have Xu Chu duel Zhang He so you don’t get his EXP. You should be able to defeat Gao Lan’s cavalry group before Guo Tu and Shen Pei can reach you. Once the camp is secured, move west to Yuan Shao and assassinate him for the win. You’ll probably get a lot of EXP in this level, but don’t worry; the next level will make up for it.
Between battles: Zhang He switches sides and joins Wei. Ju Shou, who was in prison, is also brought forth but refuses to join. Yuan Shao flees from the battlefield, and has Tian Feng executed. In a meeting his sons and advisors continue to argue. Cao Cao moves to pursue. The next battle is an easy one, so bring your lower level people so they can level up.
Battle 20: Cao Cao’s Pursuit ———————————- Conditions for Victory: Defeat all enemies within 25 turns! Enemies: 8 Cavalry, 4 Mounted Archers, 4 Soldiers, 4 Archers, Yuan Tan (Cavalry), Yuan Xi (Cavalry), Yuan Shang (Cavalry), Yuan Shao (Ruler) Rewards: 2100 Gold Special Items: Wind God’s Shield Yuan Shao’s army is in a long line through the canyon while Cao Cao, Xu Chu, and Cheng Yu are at a dry riverbed to the far south. Xu Chu starts off by running right up to Yuan Shao’s rear guard. Move Xu Chu back towards Cao Cao and, like idiots, Yuan Shao’s entire army will follow him back. If Xu Chu gets hit, have him heal himself as he returns south. Cao Cao will get worried, but pick the first choice and don’t move. Anyway, once Xu Chu is close to Cao Cao, your party will spring up in the forests along the canyon, confusing large parts of Yuan Shao’s army. Go to town on them, and make sure you kill Yuan Shao so he’ll drop his Wind God’s Shield (you may need to put your strongest people in those spots to kill him fast enough). If any enemies lose confusion, they’ll ignore your army and flee north to the area around the tent, which is their escape point and lets them leave the battlefield. Just slaughter the enemy, they won’t bother fighting back. Make sure to let your lower level people get in some kills so they won’t fall behind, and have fun with this easy battle.
Staying low level: Effortless. Just have Xu Chu make it back to Cao Cao so the ambush goes off, then wait for the enemies to flee. Kill Yuan Shao if you want his Wind God’s Shield; otherwise, just sit back and wait until they’re all gone.
Between battles: Yuan Shao dies from his injuries and his sons mourn his death. Cao Cao is sad to hear that his old friend has died, but he presses on to conquer the north. However, Liu Bei is causing trouble in Ru Nan, so Cao Cao moves south to deal with him. Liu Bei hires some old Scarves officers, Liu Pi and Gong Du, to help him out.
Battle 21: Ru Nan ——————— Conditions for Victory: Defeat Liu Bei within 25 turns! Enemies: 6 Soldiers, 4 Bandits, 3 Supply Oxen, 2 Archers, Catapult, Gong Du (Bandit), Liu Pi (Bandit), Mi Fang (Mounted Archer), Sun Qian (Archer), Zhou Cang (Bandit), Guan Ping (Cavalry), Zhao Yun (Special Cavalry), Guan Yu (Special Cavalry), Zhang Fei (Special Cavalry), Liu Bei (Ruler) Rewards: 2200 gold Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun are camped out in the crater-like valley in the middle of the map. More Liu Bei forces are in the southwest city, where one of the officers leads the wooden oxen out the east gate. Gong Du leaves the city with his supplie train. Zhang Liao will ask how you want the ambushes to proceed. The first choice will put three soldiers near the oxen and six near the city; the second choice puts six near the oxen and three near the city; and the third choice calls off the ambushes and just puts everyone at your starting camp. The first choice is obviously the best, so pick it unless you want a challenge. Whatever your choice, your mission here is to kill Liu Bei. If you went ahead with the ambushes, Xiahou Yuan can have a duel with Gong Du and will kill him Indiana Jones style (you’ll know what I mean when you see it). Zhang He can also have a duel with Liu Pi. Take out the oxen for some free items. Your city-taking force should break through the north gate pretty easily. Guan Yu will lead a squad to help the city while Zhang Fei will try to assist the oxen, leaving Liu Bei’s camp at half strength; good news for your main camp, who should be heading that way. Zhang Liao and Zhao Yun can have a duel if they meet up. Your ambush forces might have some problems, seeing as they’ll have strong officers coming after them, but you should be able to use your main force to easily get into Liu Bei’s camp and kill him. Liu Bei might try to run away to the southwest city, so follow him down there and finish him off.
Staying low level: Pick the first choice, and kill off Gong Du and Liu Pi with the duels. You can raid the oxen too if you want. Wait for Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to move south and then have your main camp raid Liu Bei from behind. You’ll still have to deal with Zhao Yun though. Don’t let Liu Bei retreat to the city, or you’ll have a hell of a time killing him.
Between battles: Liu Bei and Zhang Fei retreat while Guan Yu stays behind to hold off Cao Cao. You’ll get another red-blue choice. Cao Cao agrees to let Guan Yu go as thanks for his service, and Liu Bei goes to Jingzhou to stay with Liu Biao. Cao Cao marches back north to assault the Yuan’s at Liyang. Stock up if you need to and move out.
Battle 22: Skirmish at Liyang ———————————– Conditions for Victory: Defeat Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi within 25 turns! Enemies: 18 Archers, 11 Soldiers, 7 Catapults, 4 Monks, Guo Tu (Status Mage), Feng Ji (Healing Mage), Yuan Tan (Cavalry), Yuan Xi (Cavalry) Rewards: 2200 Gold, Class Seal Special Items: Seven Star Sword (kill Feng Ji, even if he escapes and returns he’ll drop it) Yuan Tan’s got his group guarding the castle while Yuan Xi is far north in a camp; you’ll need to kill both to win the battle. If you’ve been leveling up a lot then this might be your first battle with upgraded enemies. You can avoid this by bringing some lower level people to change the level average. Feng Ji will make a beeline to the north end of the battlefield, where he’ll retreat. It’s hard to stop him since he moves so fast. Focus on the castle here and kill everyone inside. Yuan Tan and Guo Tu will try and flee the castle once you’re inside, so send some troops to block the north gate before you enter. Then finish off any enemies that moved south from the camps just north of you. A few turns after Feng Ji retreats he’ll return with some reinforcements up north; pick the second option to keep fighting and they’ll move south toward you. Move north a little and let them come to you, taking them out one by one. Feng Ji drops his sword when you kill him. On turn 15 Shen Pei shows up with even more reinforcements. If you’re starting to get worn out by now, use a couple of strong troops to block the area between the walls while you attack Yuan Xi’s area. Yuan Shang shows up on turn 20 with yet more reinforcements for even more fun, so quickly kill Yuan Xi before you run out of time. Once he’s dead, what’s left of the Yuan family’s army will retreat and you’ll be done. If you’re playing the game at least your third time through, you can make this battle easier: “It’s possible to stop Feng Ji, but you need to have beaten the game at least twice and choose to get all the special items. Have a mounted archer equip Di Lu and then have a healer increase his movement and charge after Feng Ji. This’ll stop the reinforcements from appearing. Again, this is only possible when you play the game a third time (and provided you got all the treasures). ” Thanks to Terranigma Freak for the tip.
Staying low level: Kill Feng Ji if you can, so you won’t have to deal with all those reinforcements. Send some of your troops to the castle’s north gate, then enter the west gate so you can scare Yuan Tan out to where your army can kill him. Then just move north to Yuan Xi’s camp and break through to him so you can kill him too.
Between battles: Yuan Tan and Guo Tu retreat. Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang begin fighting over who Yuan Shao’s successor is, and Yuan Tan leaves Yuan Shang behind to go to Bei Ping. Cao Pi comes of age and joins your forces, and Xin Pi comes to help Cao Cao on Yuan Tan’s behalf. You’ll get another red-blue choice here (this time, blue is the first choice and red is the bottom one). Cao Cao moves forward to Ye, the Yuan’s main city.
Battle 23: Attack on Ye ————————— Conditions for Victory: Defeat all enemies within 25 turns! Enemies: 10 Archers, 8 Soldiers, 4 Monks, 4 Catapults, Ju Gu (Archer), Shen Pei (Attack Mage) Allies: 2 Bandits, Xin Pi (Healing Mage) Rewards: 2300 Gold, Class Seal Special Items: Fire God’s Fan (defend Xin Pi until he can open the castle’s inner gate, then kill Shen Pei) Shen Pei will close off the castle gates so you can’t get at him. You’ll have a choice here on where to attack first, the castle or the fort; pick the first choice and Xin Pi will move toward the castle. Guo Jia isn’t feeling too well, it seems…anyway, start moving towards the castle. Xin Pi will move over to the castle’s south gate and convinces one of the soldiers there to open it. Help protect Xin Pi until he can reach the inner gate, but make sure you leave at least one enemy in the outer section alive. Watch out for the upgraded catapults, they hit in a cross effect attack (target and all directly adjacent targets) so spread out until you’ve demolished them. If you got Xin Pi to open the inner gate, kill Shen Pei so he’ll drop his fan; this will also open the outer east gate. When they’re all dead leave the castle and attack the fort; if the bandits are still alive they’ll tend to stay in the castle for a few turns. Once you’ve killed a few enemies, Yuan Shang’s army arrives across the river from you. Get inside the fort and guard the entrance while you finish off any enemies still inside. Yuan Shang’s forces shouldn’t be too much of a hassle for you to take care of. Ju Gu and his group aren’t too tough either so plow through them for the victory. Note that if you kill all the enemies in the outer castle before Xin Pi can open the inner gate, Shen Pei will light the inner castle on fire, killing himself and his other soldiers. You won’t have to kill them, but you can’t get the Fire God’s Fan this way.
Staying low level: Ignore Xin Pi and attack the fort. Get inside when Yuan Shang shows up and fend off his forces. Now go to the castle and kill all the outer enemies so Shen Pei will burn himself up.
Between battles: Cao Pi runs in first to get his share of the bounty. You’ll get another red-blue choice. Guo Jia shows signs of sickness in the meeting but shrugs it off. With Yuan Shang driven back, Cao Cao cancels his alliance with Yuan Tan and begins his attack on Bei Ping.
Battle 24: Seige of Bei Ping ——————————– Conditions for Victory: Defeat Yuan Tan within 25 turns! Enemies: 12 Soldiers, 8 Archers, 8 Bandits, 6 Catapults, Guo Tu (Status Mage), Xin Ping (Catapult), Yuan Tan (Cavalry) Rewards: 2400 Gold, Class Seal, Blue Hat (kill Guo Tu), Glove (kill Xin Ping) Special Items: Golden Armor (kill Yuan Tan) Another snow map. Yuan Tan has got some serious defense here, including lots of annoying catapults. Your army will split up to break through the gates. Remember to leave your soldiers scattered to avoid letting the catapults do too much damage. When you kill one of the units guarding a gate, four more enemies will pop up in the woods near that gate; this goes for both gates, so watch out. After getting rid of a few more gate guards, Yuan Tan will open the west gate and the enemy will swarm you. You’ll get another choice here; the first option will keep the battle as is, while the second choice opens both gates and eliminates Xin Ping from battle, as well as causes Yuan Shang to charge forward. The third choice will send Xin Ping into the inner castle, opens the south gate, and eliminates four enemies from the battlefield. I went with the third choice as it’s easiest. Guo Tu will drop some gear when you kill him. Hold out until Yuan Tan reaches you, surround him and slay him. You’ll get some armor as reward.
Staying low level: Pick the second choice so Yuan Tan will come to you, then kill him when he gets close.
Between battles: Yuan Tan is dead, but Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi continue fleeing north to the desert. Cao Cao follows them north. Zhang Liao and Guo Jia volunteer to attack the fleeing enemy. You’ll only get seven people on the next battle.
Battle 25: Guo Jia’s Fate —————————– Conditions for Victory: Defeat Yuan Shang/Move Guo Jia to the escape point within 25 turns! Enemies: 5 Soldiers, 4 Bandits, 4 Tiger Tamers, 3 Archers, 2 Monks, Catapult, Yuan Xi (Cavalry), Yuan Shang (Cavalry) Rewards: 2500 Gold, Class Seal (save Guo Jia) Gua Jia’s sickness has grown much worse and Zhang Liao asks you to get him off the battlefield. Another choice pops up. The first option will continue the attack, in which case you’ll need to kill Yuan Shang. The second option will make the victory condition protecting Gua Jia until he reaches the escape point.
Defeating Yuan Shang: Move north across the river and engage the outpost troops. On turn three, Yuan Shang will spring the ambush troops in the forests around you. Watch out for the tigers; their attack works the same as Zhang Fei’s Viper Blade, ie they’ll hit the target and anyone behind them. Don’t worry if Guo Jia dies here, there’ll be some extended dialogue but you won’t lose. Quickly move northeast to the castle and break through to Yuan Shang, then defeat him to win. Having Guo Jia retreat: Yuan Shang will spring up some ambush troops between you and the exit, so this won’t be effortless. Luckily Yuan Shang’s main army won’t move while you’re doing this. The soldiers will easy to take out although the monks can use magic, so get rid of them first so they won’t hurt Guo Jia. On turn three Yuan Shang’s ambush troops will appear in the forests around the fort north of the river. They’ll be down where you are pretty quickly, so form a defense wall against them while you have one or two soldiers escort Guo Jia to the exit. Once Guo Jia retreats you’ve won.
Between battles: If you didn’t have Guo Jia retreat then his condition will become too far gone and he’ll hand over the Heaven’s Manual before he passes away. The northern Gongsuns, who fear Cao Cao, ambush Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi as they retreat, killing them and sending their heads to Cao Cao. With their deaths, the Yuan family has been wiped out and Cao Cao finally controls He Bei.