Rise of Cao Wei (Rise of Three Kingdoms Mod)

Rise Of Cao Wei

• Mod: Rise of Three Kingdoms v3.0
• Faction played: Cao Clan
• Year: 194 CE

The tyrant Dong Zhuo has been slain by the dishonourable general Lu Bu at Chang'An and the coalition of the Eastern Pass has come to an end. The court had been rendered ineffective and now the regional warlords vied for power. Cao Cao moved to secure Xu Chang, a beautiful and populous city that was under threat from bandits, as well as secure his own territory around Chenliu, where the people celebrated Cao Cao's kindness. Cao Cao was surrounded by potential enemies on all sides but his position allowed him afforded him many options to restore Han rule to rebellious warlords. In 193, Cao Cao established a base of operations in Yan province and invited his father, Cao Song to come join him from Xu province. However, Cao Song and his family were murdered on the border of Xu province on Tao Qiao's orders who wanted to seize their assets out of greed. Cao Cao mobilised his force and dealt a swift defeat to Tao Qiao.

Despite having a smaller army and unfavourable terrain, Cao Cao was able to soundly defeat Tao Qiao's army in the field and capture a number of cities. Tao Qiao fled Cao Cao like a cowered and barricaded himself away whilst he got Liu Bei to fight his battles for him but with a cowards army, Liu Bei was soundly defeated. As Cao Cao marched to bring the murderer Tao Qiao to justice he received news of Zhang Miao's betrayal in Yan, he and Chen Gong conspired to take Yan for themselves and invited Lu Bu to take part in this treachery. Cao Cao called off his attack of Tao Qiao (who was struck down by the gods for his crimes) and returned to Chenliu to reorganise his army and resupply before taking on the new threat that was Lu Bu.

Welcome to TWC, jbutton, and to the Writers' Study! A lovely start to your AAR, it sets the stage well with a bit of backstory informing us of the current situation. It's good to see another Three Kingdoms AAR in the forum!

If you have questions about AAR writing, you may find answers in Critic's Quill articles or by asking on the Writers' Study chat thread.

I'd encourage you to comment on other active AARs in the Study. If you encourage other writers, this may encourage them to make comments on your story. I would also recommend you to take a look at Shankbot's Unofficial Guide for New Members. Here you will find a lot of information regarding posting, coding and other miscellaneous things that will help improve your experience on TWC considerably.

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Originally Posted by Turkafinwë

Welcome to TWC, jbutton, and to the Writers' Study! A lovely start to your AAR, it sets the stage well with a bit of backstory informing us of the current situation. It's good to see another Three Kingdoms AAR in the forum!

If you have questions about AAR writing, you may find answers in Critic's Quill articles or by asking on the Writers' Study chat thread.

I'd encourage you to comment on other active AARs in the Study. If you encourage other writers, this may encourage them to make comments on your story. I would also recommend you to take a look at Shankbot's Unofficial Guide for New Members. Here you will find a lot of information regarding posting, coding and other miscellaneous things that will help improve your experience on TWC considerably.

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Thanks for the welcome! i'll be sure to read through those help threads, thank you!

Welcome to the Writer's Study!! Hope you have a great stay :D A tyrant slain by a dishonorable general...hmm I don't know which one I hate more.

I agree with Turkafinwë and Swaeft, this is a great start! I look forward to seeing how Cao Cao will deal with the new threat.

The Meeting at Chenliu

Cao Cao's forces withdrew from Xu Province and sent messengers to summon his great generals to a emergency meeting at Cheliu where he was bringing his force to. Chen Gong and Zhang Miao were considered friends by Cao Cao and the betrayal hurt him deeply. Both men were among the most capable in his army and Chen Gong had fast became his closest and most trusted advisor. Cao Cao was troubled by the news, Zhang Miao had convinced Lu Bu to join the revolt and with that came a veteran army filled with famed generals and warriors, among them Zhang Liao, Gao Shun, Zang Ba, Wei Xu and Song Xian. There was an uneasy silence as Cao Cao gathered his most loyal and able men to a hastily drawn up meeting at Chenliu, which lay as the first line of defence against Lu Bu's forces. Cao Ren, one of the first men to join Cao Cao's call to arms back in 190AD and Cao Cao's second cousin, was the first to speak. "Lu Bu is a reckless man but he has smart advisors, two of which know us inside and out. We must be cautious, sit back for now and prepare for a long drawn out war. We cannot take this threat lightly." Murmurs broke out as some men agreed with what Cao Ren was saying, others not so much and one of the most vocal opposition to Cao Ren's plan was Xiahou Dun, Cao Cao's cousin and the first man to take up his sword and join Cao Cao. "Cousin, allow me to take Puyang for you and bring you the head of Lu Bu, there is no time for caution. We must deal Lu Bu a swift and decisive defeat otherwise we look weak!".

Cao Cao rose to his feet, the murmurs stopped suddenly and Xiahou Dun returned to his seat, all eyes in the room looked towards their leader. Cao Cao looked each man in the eyes before he spoke. "Cousins, friends, I did not call you here to hear your grand plans, I called you here to apologise. I allowed my rage to consume me and for that the heavens punished me. I lost my friend, Chen Gong, and Yan province as a result of my folly and for that I am sorry. This is the last mistake I make, if I had heeded the advice of Chen Gong perhaps none of this would have happened. Guo Jia, Xun Yu, Xun You and Cheng Yu have already met and spoken prior to this meeting. Cao Ren, you will head west and secure Luoyang. Li Dian, you will head south and secure our borders against Yuan Shu. Yue Jin, you will head east and secure our borders against Tao Qiao. Xiahou Yuan, you will head north and secure the river crossing at Guandu. Xiahou Dun will lead the vanguard against Lu Bu, Xu Chu will command the reserves and I will command the main force. Cao Ang, you will stay behind and raise a new host to join us when ready." Cao Cao scanned the room and each man was nodding his head before kowtowing to the great lord.

I liked hearing about the different perspectives of Cao Ren and Xiahou Dun on the way to respond to the threat of Lu Bu. The moment when Cao Cao reveals the reason why he called everyone to the meeting is nicely done.

I hope that this plan will succeed. It sounds like Cao Cao's forces are divided into different forces, marching in at least four different directions. Will there be enough of Cao Cao's troops together to handle Lu Bu's forces? I look forward to finding out.

Hello again jbutton,

Glad to see you back! A short but sweet update, I did not expect Cao Cao to apologize. It seems that he has united his allies for now, but I wonder how long that will last, and whether the generals he has sent out will remain loyal to him.

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Originally Posted by Turkafinwë

Welcome to TWC, jbutton, and to the Writers' Study! A lovely start to your AAR, it sets the stage well with a bit of backstory informing us of the current situation. It's good to see another Three Kingdoms AAR in the forum!

If you have questions about AAR writing, you may find answers in Critic's Quill articles or by asking on the Writers' Study chat thread.

I'd encourage you to comment on other active AARs in the Study. If you encourage other writers, this may encourage them to make comments on your story. I would also recommend you to take a look at Shankbot's Unofficial Guide for New Members. Here you will find a lot of information regarding posting, coding and other miscellaneous things that will help improve your experience on TWC considerably.

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Ahh...so that's the welcome message I was searching for! Didn't remember until I saw it. :doh:

Thanks for the kind messages, was hoping for a longer post but cut it down. Sorry for the late update, Xmas period gets super busy in work. Next one should be a bit longer, hoping to post Saturday.

I agree with both Alwyn and Swaeft, a lot of perspectives and set-up. Cao Cao's apology came as a surprise to me (which is a good thing I might add). Interested to see where this goes next!

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Originally Posted by jbutton

Thanks for the kind messages, was hoping for a longer post but cut it down. Sorry for the late update, Xmas period gets super busy in work. Next one should be a bit longer, hoping to post Saturday.

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Don't worry about the 'lateness' or 'short length' of your update. Sometimes a chapter will be long, sometimes short, sometimes with a lot of screenshots, sometimes without. I would say do what your gut tells you, it's what I personally do. Do what feels right and you can't go wrong.

Due to the limitations of MTW2 I shall be leaving this AAR and creating a new one on ROTK11. I will probably revisit this when the new Total War releases.

Sad, but your warning is most appreciated! Good luck with the new release!