Sections
Battles
Six battles that moved the map. If a fire attack, a lone ride, or an empty fort is absent from the Records, it stays on the stratagem page and out of the outcome.
Hulao Pass
The eastern coalition met Dong Zhuo’s army east of Luoyang. The three heroes against Lü Bu are the novel’s centerpiece. In the Records the alliance is loose, and Cao Cao’s own westward march is defeated.
197RecordsBattle of Wancheng
Cao Cao took Zhang Xiu’s aunt. Zhang Xiu attacked at night. The histories record it. The novel lengthens the desire and the revenge.
198–199RecordsSiege of Xiapi
Cao Cao flooded Xiapi. The city opened from inside. Lü Bu’s plea failed. The long dialogue at White Gate Tower is the novel.
Jian’an 5 (200)RecordsBattle of Guandu
Cao Cao held Guandu with the smaller force, then burned Yuan Shao’s supplies at Wuchao. The battle decided the north. The frame is the Records, not a plot invented by the novel.
208BothBattle of Changban
Cao Cao’s cavalry broke Liu Bei at Changban in Dangyang. The rescue and the bridge are in the Records. Seven charges are the novel’s count.
Winter of Jian’an 13 (208)BothBattle of Red Cliffs
After taking Jing province, Cao Cao met Sun Quan and Liu Bei. Huang Gai’s fire attack is historical. The beating, the stolen letter, the borrowed arrows, and the east wind are the novel’s additions to the same battle.
213, with later fightsRecordsBattle of Ruxu
A repeated fight where Chao Lake meets the Yangzi. Sun Quan built a fort. Cao Cao is said to have sighed that a son should be like Sun Quan.
Jian’an 20 (215), with later campaignsRecordsBattle of Hefei
Sun Quan repeatedly tried to break the Huainan line. The famous action is Xiaoyao Ford in 215. Cao Cao was not in the city. He had left Zhang Liao, Li Dian, and Yue Jin. The battle is history, expanded by the novel.
Jian’an 22–24 (217–219)RecordsBattle of Hanzhong
Liu Bei and Cao Cao fought for the north gate of Yi. Xiahou Yuan’s death at Dingjun Mountain is the turn. Zhao Yun’s open camp is in a separate biography quoted by Pei. The campaign itself is history.
219RecordsXiangfan campaign
Guan Yu attacked Fan, captured Yu Jin, and killed Pang De. Lü Meng then took Jiangling. Guan Yu died near Maicheng. The flood is history. The bone surgery is the novel.
Zhangwu 2 (222)BothBattle of Yiling
Liu Bei’s eastern campaign after he became emperor. Lu Xun waited, then used fire. The fire and the rout are historical. Seven hundred li of camps, and Zhuge Liang foreseeing it from Chengdu, are the novel’s scale.
Shu Jianxing 6 / Wei Taihe 2 (228)RecordsBattle of Jieting
The defeat that stopped Zhuge Liang’s first advance from Qishan. The Wei commander was Zhang He, not Sima Yi. Zhao Yun’s loss at Jigu is a separate action and is often confused with Jieting.
Winter 228–229RecordsSiege of Chencang
The expedition after Jieting. Hao Zhao held the city against a much larger Shu army. The northern war was not only one defeat.
263RecordsYinping march
The path by which Shu actually fell. Zhong Hui could not break Jiang Wei at Jian’ge. Deng Ai came through the Yinping paths onto the Chengdu plain.