Kessen II
Cao Cao’s Walkthrough

Okay, I think the guy with the Asian name, can’t remember what it is, posted a
walkthrough for both Liu Bei and Cao Cao, but Eagles posted one for Liu Bei
that is very good, much better than the one by the Asian guy, and I’m adding a
walkthrough for Cao Cao that is also much more detailed. Just in case anyone
still plays this game and wants the best strategies, I’m going to tell you how
to do it. I’m gonna assume that everyone that reads this knows the basics, etc.
so I’m going to give you the condensed version, just what to do with your
troops, who to fight, where to go, that sort of thing. By the way, I know it’s
missing the last two battles, I’ll get to that this week, hopefully.

Battle of Xu

Choose the plan with Cao Ren and Yu Jin waiting in ambush. When the battle
starts, pull Xiahou Yuan back across the bridge, be sure to put him in a Ring
formation first, though. This will allow him to still use his abilities, but
only have to fight one unit at a time, as there will be three units (four on
expert) coming from that direction. Using this tactic, he should be able to
survive the entire battle. If for some reason he doesn’t, put Cao Cao in his
place when he retreats.
On the other part, simply use Cao Ren and Yu Jin to kill off Mei Sanniang and
Liu Bei as they come across the bridge, one at a time. Easy stuff.

Battle of Ru Nan

Okay, there are two ways to do this. The first one is the one that I would
recommend on a normal difficulty, simply because it’s more fun, and you get to
destroy the supply compound. The second way, use it on expert, unless you
really enjoy sweating through whatever shirt you’re wearing.
The first way: Choose Xun Yu’s idea to destroy the bridge. I strongly
discourage Cheng Yu’s plan because Guan Yu and Zhang Fei will wake up, go up
the canyon, destroy your supply compound, and attack you from behind. Anyway,
once the bridge is destroyed, send her to follow the other units that are
heading for the canyon on the left. Once Cao Ren and Hu Zhi are in the canyon,
place Cao Ren along the left wall, just before the wall sticks out to the
right. Put Hu Zhi right next to him. Then put Cao Cao behind Cao Ren, and Xun
Yu behind Hu Zhi. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are the first one’s up. Kill them
quickly, or else the other three units will come up behind them, and you won’t
have the opportunity to destroy the supply compound. Neither Cao Ren nor Hu Zhi
should lose these battles. Once they are gone (assuming that the other units
have not arrived yet), quickly move your units out of the canyon, spread out,
and head to the right. You should encounter the other three, engage all of them
with one unit each, and send your remaining unit to destroy the supply
compound, which is near the trees by the bridge at the bottom of the screen.
Destroy it, and the rest of the battle should go smoothly. In the off chance
that you lost either Hu Zhi or Cao Ren in the canyon, don’t go after the supply
compound. Instead revert to the second plan.
The second way: This is highly recommended for expert, though you can use it on
normal too. Destroy the bridge, then go to the left, but don’t cross the bridge
into the canyon. Put two or three of your units around the bridge and destroy
Liu Bei’s units one by one as they come across. He’ll have six units in expert.
Remember to rotate your units so that everyone gets battle experience. Trust
me, there’s plenty to go around.

Battle of Bo Wan Po

Make sure you chose the option to build the weapon. You will not need Xu Huang,
trust me. The weapon will make this battle easier. Choose Cheng Yu’s plan.
Reason for this is that Guan Ping is the easiest unit to defeat out of the
three choices you have. So that puts Xiahou Yuan attacking the central gap, and
Yu Jin, Cao Cao, and Himiko breaking through the lowest gap. Cancel Cao Cao’s
and Himiko’s missions for a moment. Once Yu Jin is past them (make sure he and
Cao Ren are heading for Guan Yu), send Cao Cao behind him, as if he’s heading
for the bridge, and then Himiko. Send Cao Cao the long way around the battle
that’s forming up in the middle (by now, Mei Sanniang will have attacked Cao
Ren, Yu Jin is left fighting Guan Yu, Zhang Fei will attack Cao Ren from
behind, and so will Zhuge Liang). Like I said, send Cao Cao around the long
way, around the trees, and attack Zhuge Liang. Send Himiko to attack Mei
Sanniang. When Xiahou Yuan defeats Guan Ping, send him behind Cao Ren to attack
Zhang Fei. The rest of the battle should be cake work.

Battle of Chang Ban Po

This is one of the hardest battles you will ever have to fight, simply because
strategies really can’t accomplish much here. However, I’ll give you what help
I can. Choose Zhang Liao’s plan. Yes, there is a booby trap in the forest. Yes,
there is a unit waiting to ambush you. Doesn’t really matter though. At the
beginning of the battle, send Zhang Liao’s group of four units down the center
to fight Guan Yu and Guan Ping. As those two advance, they leave a gap on the
right hand side to enter the canyon. Send Cao Cao and Xun Yu from the right
hand group to go through the gap and beat Liu Bei to the bridge down at the
bottom. Let Yu Jin and Xiahou Ba go through the forest. If you’re on expert,
there are mines in the canyon, and Huang Zhong will be waiting at the forest’s
entrance. Use your two units to double team him and defeat him. Behind him,
there are mines. Set them off and move on. To avoid the ambush, simply don’t
get too close to the left side of the forest. Li Li is waiting by that canyon
wall. By the time they break through, Zhuge Liang and Mei Sanniang will have
arrived. Fight them with Yu Jin and Xiahou Ba. By this time, Xun Yu and Cao Cao
should be finishing off Liu Bei down by the bridge (assuming you caught him).
DON’T FORGET THE POINT OF THIS BATTLE: Defeat Liu Bei. Do it as quickly as you
can. You will not be able to beat all of his units, but if you stall them and
defeat Liu Bei, then you’ve won. This battle’s all about speed.

Chi Bi

First, when the option comes up, choose to sabotage Liu Bei’s and Sun Quan’s
relations. This will cause Gan Ning and Zhang Fei to get into a fight, and
their units will loose a few thousand men each. Then, in the war council,
choose Himiko’s plan. Zhuge Liang is indeed trying to set fire to your ships.
Don’t let it happen. Also, in a naval battle, it’s not about how many troops
you have; it’s about how many units you have, so that you can surround your
enemies. That’s why you have to get rid of Liu Bei first, because he has more
units than Sun Quan. On normal difficulty, Liu Bei has 5 units. On expert, he
has 6. Even though I just fought this battle, I can’t remember exactly where I
put each unit, so bear with me. Basically, what you’re gonna do is engage each
of Liu Bei’s units, and then surround as many of them as you can with a second
unit. Attack Mei Sanniang with Cao Ren, and then surround her with Xun Yu.
Attack Guan Yu with Zhang Liao, and have Zhang He or whoever’s convenient to
surround him. Attack Zhang Fei with Hu Zhi and surround him with someone. Most
importantly, attack Liu Bei with Cheng Yu, and then have Yu Jin surround him.
Concentrate on Liu Bei’s units and ignore Sun Quan’s. The surrounded unit’s
will fall quickly, leaving you with plenty of firepower to take on Sun Quan.

Battle of Tong Gate

Okay, this is one of those fun, easy battles that will give all of your units a
chance to fight. Choose Sima Yi’s plan, the one that sets up an ambush by the
storehouse. When the battle begins, immediately cancel Cao Cao’s and Himiko’s
orders. Just let them sit there a while. You’ll use them later. Only other
orders you need to change are Cao Ren’s and Xiahou Dun’s. As you’ve noticed,
three units are attacking the southern gate. Let Zhang Liao attack that gate,
and put the other two right next to him, but as far away from the gate as
possible, and make them face Zhang Liao. Let me see if I can give you an
illustration:
				_________
				|   X
				|   \/
				  <Z
				|   /\
				|   C
				----------------
The letters, obviously, stand for the units, and the arrows are the directions
they are facing. Once the gate is down, have Zhang Liao back off a ways, and
once the unit comes through the gate (Pang De), have Xiahou Dun attack him
(make sure he’s ALL the way through the gate). Immediately do a volley, then
duel Pang De, and you should win. Now have Cao Ren and Zhang Liao attack Pang
De. Don’t waste anymore specials, save those. Once he’s gone, repeat the
process of having Zhang Liao attacking the gate and backing off, with the other
two as far from the gate as the limited space allows. If you’re on expert, the
next one through is Ma Su. If normal, it will be Jiang Wei. If it’s Ma Su, let
Cao Ren attack first and do his specials. Then let the other two attack him. If
it’s Jiang Wei, let Zhang Liao attack first so he can duel him. Jiang Wei will
be the third one out on expert. Ma Su isn’t there on normal. Once those three
(or two) are gone, take a breather and let me tell you what to do with your
other troops during this time.
Two units will attack your ambush. The first unit attacks Sima Yi. Leave Xiahou
Ba in ambush for the moment. Sima Yi’s unit seems weak, but you’ll be able to
hold your own. Cast all your spells on the enemy. When that’s done, have Xiahou
Ba come out of ambush and attack that unit. The second unit will come up behind
the first, have Himiko come up and attack it, casting her magic, and let Hu Zhi
do a Raid or a Rush. You’ll quickly dispatch of those two units.
All this time, Yu Jin is taking a hike through the woods. He’ll run into an
ambush in expert, Xu Shu, but this is nothing to worry about. Have Dong
Xuanfeng do a Rush, make sure it’s a really damaging one, then let Guo Jia
finish them off with his spells. By this time, Xu Shu is pretty much dead in
the water.
Once the units attacking your supply compound are destroyed, the units at the
southern gate are gone, and Yu Jin has beaten Xu Shu and located Ma Chao (who
is hiding by the rock between the two gates), you’re ready to finish it up.
Have Cao Cao go in the southern gate and attack him from the rear, Yu Jin
attack him from the side, and then Xiahou Ba attack in the front. It’s all over
now, heh heh heh.

Campaign against Xi
I most frequently choose this battle because you get two generals from this:
Cai Wengi and Deng Ai. Cai Wengi is especially useful because she knows
Lightning, Gale, Duel, and Raid. However, I will go over the other battles as
well.
Anyway...In this battle, choose Hu Zhi’s idea. DO NOT choose Himiko’s. If you
choose Himiko’s plan, she’ll run her mouth at Deng Ai, and he won’t join you.
Using Hu Zhi’s plan causes Deng Ai to join you. I don’t know what happens if
Cao Cao goes alone to negotiate (Xun Yu’s plan), but why bother? Choose the one
that works.
This is how the battle goes: At the start, Cao Cao gets Deng Ai to defect
(provided that you followed my earlier advice). After this, immediately put all
of your units in an attack formation. Most of your enemy units will be in the
Line formation, very weak. Send Hu Zhi to stand beside Himiko on the left side
of the storehouse. Send Cheng Yu to stand beside Xiahou Dun. If you’re playing
on normal difficulty, send Cao Cao to attack Ma Dai along with Deng Ai. If
you’re on expert, just send Deng Ai to attack him, and send Cao Cao beside
Xiahou Dun, because Xu Shu will be coming to attack. Leave Himiko and Xiahou
Dun where they are.
Now, your enemies begin to attack. They are much larger than you, but you have
nothing to worry about. With your units backed up against your storehouse,
their morale will stay high, and your general’s moves, particularly Cheng Yu’s
and Himiko’s, will recharge rapidly. Make use of them. Show your enemy no
mercy. As you defeat units, send your free units to double team your enemies.
It’ll take awhile, but there’s no reason why you should lose.
Once all the fake Cai Wengi’s are defeated, the real Cai Wengi comes up from
the gap to the southeast of your storehouse. Kill!!

Battle of Mt. Dinjun

This is the second battle you can choose. I don’t recommend doing this battle,
I HIGHLY recommend going to Xi, but it’s your choice. If I were you, I’d just
go here to see the pre-battle movie, then reset, watch the one for Fan Zheng
(the next battle I’ll go over), reset, and then fight at Xi. This is the
hardest battle of the three, and you obtain no generals for your effort.
Anyway, here’s how it goes. Funny thing about this is, when I went to fight
this battle, I found that I had never fought it before, and I was getting ready
to fight it on expert, so I was pretty tense. I had reason to be too. You’ll
see why. Choose Sima Yi’s plan to take the mountain road. I chose it on
instinct, and it turned out to be the most strategically sound plan based on
what you’re going to face. What’s going to happen is this: the enemy has 6
units (at least, on expert), and they’re going to split up. One group will come
from the south, and this is the first to arrive. Position both Zhang He and
Zhang Liao facing the south pass, between it and the storehouse. Leave Cao Cao
where he is. Have Zhang He take Huang Zhong, Zhang Liao take one of Zhang Fei’s
daughters and the other will go around and attack Cao Cao. Speed is critical
here. You must take out these three units AS FAST AS POSSIBLE.  The other group
is coming, and you don’t want to be double-teamed.
When Sima Yi and Xiahou Ba show up, have Xiahou Ba destroy the storehouse. Send
Sima Yi up to help out in the fight at your storehouse. He will hit mines,
that’s okay. Just be sure to send Xiahou Ba over the exact same spot so that he
doesn’t hit the other set of mines. If you’ve survived long enough for the
enemy storehouse to be destroyed, you will be able to win this battle.

Siege of Fan Zheng

This is another really easy one, but, the benefits of Xi are better than this
one. Here, you get Dian Wei after the battle, but Cai Wengi is better. Go to
Xi, trust me.
Choose the plan that has the mines inside the castle. This will show you just
how exactly stupid the enemy is, even on expert. At the start of the battle,
the rest of your troops won’t show until all of the mines have been set off.
Once that happens, put Pang De by the bridge near Cao Cao and let him fight Ma
Chao.  Send Yu Jin south, through the woods, to the southern bridge, then send
him to the southwest corner of the map, and you will find the enemy storehouse.
Destroy it. Send Xun Yu and Cao Ren inside the castle. Your enemies are at the
very center, facing each other like idiots. Have Cao Ren attack Guan Yu from
behind, and then have Xun Yu go around the left to attack that unit from
behind. If Cao Ren loses, don’t worry. Guan Yu will be weak at that point. If
this is the case, when Xun Yu wins, simply send her around to where Cao Ren was
and finish him off.
As for what to do with Cao Cao and Pang De, after the latter defeats Ma Chao,
begin a process of luring the successive units across the bridge so that you
can pound them with both units. You will have defeated Guan Yu before you get
done with all the units that try to come across that bridge, but try to defeat
as many as possible for experience.

Battle of Tian Shui

This is one of the few battles in which I will recommend a head on attack with
little in the way of tactics. At the policy meeting, choose the option to build
the weapon, which is Tiger Cannon. This is essential to the battle. At the war
council, choose Xiahou Ba’s plan.
When the battle begins, immediately send Cao Cao to guard your storehouse. I
don’t recall if this happens in Normal, but I know for sure that in expert, Ma
Chao will try to attack it. With the rest of your units, advance, and try to
form as straight a line as possible, with the only exceptions being Li Dian and
Zhang Liao. Keep Li Dian as a backup, don’t use him to fight just yet. Have
Zhang Liao hang back just slightly, so that he has a chance to fire his weapon.
When he fires, it will significantly weaken the enemy’s right flank, and it
will collapse quickly. Then, have him attack Guan Yu, and have Xun Yu come in
to double team him. Let your other units engage as the enemy attacks, and use
all your abilities. When Guan Yu falls, send Zhang Liao to double team the
nearest enemy, but send Xun Yu straight south, then around the cliff to the
bottom center of your map. The enemy storehouse is somewhere down there.
You have reinforcements coming, but so does your enemy. Here’s where Li Dian
comes in. When Jiang Wei comes with his reinforcements, let him reach your
line, then send Li Dian to attack. He’ll be coming from the northwest. Your
reinforcement unit is Guo Shao. Let him attack Liu Bei. After the enemy
storehouse is destroyed, this battle should be easy enough to finish.

Siege of Cheng Du

This is a fun battle. This is also one of the reasons why I like to acquire Cai
Wengi, because you get to see the coolest duel sequence in the game if you duel
Sun Li and win. I’ll get to that later though. Choose Sima Yi’s plan, it works
like a charm. The key in a siege battle is to get inside the castle, and his
plan makes it easy. The only changes you need to make to his plan are these:
send Zhang Liao to join the attack on the north gate, and have Xun Yu and Yu
Jin go slightly to the west of the southern gate (outside of the castle), and
have them facing the southwest corner. Zhu Rong will be coming up from that
direction.
Now, the tactics for taking the castle.
NORTHERN TASK FORCE: Have Xiahou Ba destroy the gate. Position Cao Ren just to
the east of the gate, and Zhang Liao to the north. When Xiahou Ba breaks the
gate and engages Guan Yu, have him retreat to the west to draw Guan Yu into the
open. Have Zhang Liao attack him first, perform all special abilities, then sic
your other units on him. Repeat this process with all units that appear at the
gate, each time letting a different unit attack once they’re out of the gate so
that all generals have a chance to up their stats. Once those units are
cleared, send Cao Ren and Zhang Liao inside, Cao Ren slightly south so that
he’s just before those buildings that surround the palace-looking thing, and
Zhang Liao to the northwest corner of the castle. Leave Xiahou Ba outside.
EASTERN TASK FORCE: Have Sima Yi attack the gate, Cao Cao just to the north of
the gate, and Himiko to the east. Use the same tactic as in the north, and when
Ma Chao come out of the gate, have Sima Yi attack him, use all spells, then use
your other units. If Zhang Ren makes it back by this time, use the same
tactics, but have Himiko attack first. If not, proceed inside the castle, and
he’ll come to you. Use Himiko first. Once those two are gone, send Cao Cao on
ahead to the crossroads in the middle to take on Liu Zhang.
SOUTHERN TASK FORCE: Unlike the other gates, this one is not guarded. Send Guo
Shao in first, and position him on the road immediately left of the gate, and
turn him around to face the east. Position Pang De JUST inside the gate....as
close to the gate as you can get him on the inside. Zhang Fei will be coming,
take him out with both units. Don’t let Cai Wengi (if you have her) duel just
yet. When Zhu Rong comes, attack her with Xun Yu first, use your spells, and
allow Xiahou Dun to duel. Then have Yu Jin join the fight. Once her and Zhang
Fei are gone, send Pang De up the middle to join the fight on Liu Zhang, send
Guo Shao along that road you put him on, and stop just before the end of it.
Send Xun Yu behind Guo Shao, and Yu Jin behind Pang De.
Once all this is done, the rest of it is easy. Send Zhang Liao south to fight
Zhao Yun at the western gate. Do any moves that you have so that his morale is
lowered, then attack him from behind with Guo Shao. As soon as Guo Shao
attacks, have Cai Wengi initiate a duel with Sun Li. I promise, this is the
coolest duel in the game. After Liu Zhang has been defeated, and Guo Shao has
engaged Zhao Yun, send Xun Yu up the road to the left of the palace thing, and
you should see Liu Bei. Attack him from behind, and then send Cao Ren to hit
him in the front.

Battle of Wu Chang

Choose the plan that has only Xun Yu and Cao Cao behind the mines. This is
another perfect opportunity for the enemy to prove his denseness. The first two
units that attack from that direction will take out all of the mines, rendering
them easy targets. Let them attack you, don’t move towards them.
Let the other units go to their assigned areas, with only two changes. Have
Pang De go up to Xun Yu to surround whoever ends up attacking her, and have
Cheng Yu go a little further south than the others because Sun Li will be
coming up in a little bit. Let Sima Yi hang back, there’s no room for him down
there anyway. You’ll use him later. Attack and defeat everyone that shows up in
the channel, as well as up by the mines. Don’t forget to use free units to
surround your enemies. When everyone is defeated, send Pang De and Sima Yi
along the far side of the island to look for Sun Quan. Have Sima Yi attack and
use his spells, and have Pang De surround him.