The Fall of Xiangyang is the third scenario of the Domination chapter and overall ninth scenario of the The Mongol Empire campaign in Age of Empires IV. It depicts the final stages of the Battle of Xiangyang, in which the Yuan dynasty under Kublai Khan captured one of the last major strongholds of the Chinese Song dynasty, leading to the final conquest of Southern China by the Yuan in the following years.
Intro[]
Scenario description[]
The mighty stone walls of Xiangyang met the immense power of the Great Trebuchet in the final stand of the Song fortress.
Opening cinematic[]
Crippled by the loss of their supply route… the twin cities of Xiangyang and Fancheng were ready to fall. The Mongols' new long-range trebuchets would test the mighty walls of the Song fortress. And Kublai Khan would not stop the bombardment until he sat on the throne of all China.
Loading screen[]
Kublai Khan's siege engineer, Ismail, brought with him a devastating new trebuchet. With this mighty weapon, he could strike at the fortress with a force like no other.
Start of scenario[]
After years of resisting Kublai Khan's siege, Fancheng and Xiangyang still refused to submit to Mongol rule. To take the cities, Kublai Khan would harness the full power of his empire by enlisting an ally from the Illkhanate of Persia.
Ismail, a siege expert, would lead the Mongol army in the construction of the Huihui Pao, an immensely powerful counterweight trebuchet.
Scenario instructions[]
Starting conditions[]
- Age:
Imperial Age - Starting units:
- Liu Zheng
- Ismail
- 8 Man-at-Arms
- 16 Elite Palace Guard
- 18 Elite Fire Lancer
- 20 Elite Zhuge Nu
- 20 Veteran Archer
- 20 Veteran Spearman
- 6 Trader
- 9 Villager
- Resources: 2,200 food, 1,000 wood, 1,200 gold, 15 stone
Objectives[]
- Prepare your siege engines
- Use Ismail to construct a Huihui Pao
- Optional: Have enough active traders to trigger Silk Road stone income
- Defend your allies to maintain trade income
- Assault Fancheng
- Optional: Use Ismail's Imperial Falcon to peer into the enemy city
- Build at least one bridge across the moat
- Storm Fancheng with your army
- Sack Fancheng
- Defeat Fancheng's defenders
- Destroy the Barbican
- Sack Xiangyang
- Repair the bridge to Xiangyang
- Destroy the Imperial Palace
Players[]
- Kublai Khan (Mongols): The player begins with a sizeable army of Chinese and Mongol units and a large camp in the center of the map, across the moat from Xiangyang in the southwest. They also have several Outposts along the various trade routes leading past the allied Chinese villages, which are outfitted with Cannon Emplacements and provide the player's Traders with the Yam speed aura boost. The camp contains several production and technology buildings, including a Barracks, two Stables, an Archery Range, a Blacksmith, an Arsenal, and an Ovoo, and there several Villagers collecting food and wood. There are no Gold Mines in the direct vicinity of the camp, however one can be found in the small allied settlement in the northwest, beside a large Stone Mine, as well as in the southernmost village. The player also has the The Silver Tree landmark and several Traders trading with the nearby allied Chinese settlements which must be protected from enemy attacks, as these will be the player's main source of gold and stone income. The player must use Ismail to build a Huihui Pao and then storm and sack the Song cities of Fancheng and Xiangyang by destroying their landmarks. They begin in the Imperial Age.
Allies[]
- China (Chinese): The allied Chinese have five settlements located around the map, as well as a collection of religious buildings in the northwest. Their two larger settlements in the far west and south of the map will come under attack by Song forces and must be protected to maintain the player's trade income. While they begin with mid-sized armies of infantry at both settlements, these will not be able to hold off the Song for very long without the player's support, and they will not produce additional units. Their forces consist of Elite Spearmen, Crossbowmen, and Palace Guards.
Enemy[]
- Song Dynasty (Chinese): The Song control the twin cities of Fancheng and Xiangyang in the southwest of the map, which are protected by Stone Walls with Stone Wall Towers outfitted with Cannon Emplacements. The city of Xiangyang also contains a Keep with an unusually high range (21.60 tiles). Until the player enters Fancheng with their army, they will continually spawn groups of Elite Horsemen, later accompanied by Mangonels, from the western and southern corners of the map, which will attack towards the nearby allied Chinese settlements in order to disrupt the player's trade. Inside the twin cities, the Song forces consist of Elite Spearmen, Archers, Crossbowmen, Grenadiers, Zhuge Nu, Palace Guards, Lancers and Fire Lancers. They will also spawn large groups of Militia to protect the Imperial Palace in Xiangyang, but will otherwise not produce any additional units, despite having military production buildings in the twin cities. Their two landmarks, the Barbican of the Sun and the Imperial Palace, must be destroyed in order to obtain victory.
Strategy[]
Note: This strategy is intended for the Hard difficulty. Lower differences may differ slightly from what is described below.
The initial challenge will be from the attack parties that the Song will send to attack the player's Chinese allies and disrupt their trade, originating at the western and southern ends of the road that encircles the twin cities around the moat. These will at first consist of mid-sized groups of Elite Horsemen, which will become larger and include Mangonels in successive attack waves. The attacks come at regular intervals at each end and only stop once the player has penetrated Fancheng with their army, so the player should endeavour to build the Huihui Pao as quickly as possible to reduce the number of enemy units they have to deal with.
The player's first move should be to begin producing additional Villagers. They should then divide their starting Spearmen and melee cavalry into two groups and send them to each of the two road ends to intercept the first attacks, followed by a couple of Villagers to build at least one Barracks and Monastery near each end, along with one of the starting Stables. When sending any units or buildings to the western end, it is important to stay far away from the moat, as the enemy Stone Wall Towers have very long range and will quickly take out any units that come too close. With these, the player can set up a defensive force at each end, consisting of Spearmen, melee cavalry, and Monks for healing, while awaiting for enough stone to be accumulated to allow Ismail to construct at least one Huihui Pao. Although not stated, Liu Zheng's Construction ability also affects Ismail when building siege engines, so can greatly speed up the otherwise slow process.
Once the Huihui Pao are built, the player will be tasked with rebuilding one of the damaged bridges leading to Fancheng. To do this, the Huihui Pao must first be used to take out the Stone Wall Towers guarding the moat. Ideally, the player should take out as many of the twin cities' Stone Wall Towers as they can reach before proceeding (those on Xiangyang's southern wall can be ignored), so it is helpful to build more than one Huihui Pao to speed up the process. Ismail's Imperial Falcon ability can be used to help the Huihui Pao find their targets. Once the bridge is repaired and the defenses on that side of Fancheng are destroyed, the player should make a quick foray into the city with their army, ideally using melee cavalry, so as to complete the next objective before retreating. This will put an end to the Song attacks on the trade routes and allow the player to withdraw the defending units there and group them together for the assault on Fancheng. Using the Huihui Pao to destroy the Barbican of the Sun landmark, as well as any Stone Walls on which enemy units are positioned, the player can now rush in their entire army to occupy the city.
When moving the Huihui Pao into the city, it is important to be careful not to bring them too close to Xiangyang, as the Song Keep in Xiangyang has an abnormally long range and can easily take out one the player's siege engines in one hit. Once in control of Fancheng, the player should first take out the Stone Wall Towers closest to the Keep, before targeting the Keep itself, using Ismail's Imperial Falcon ability to gain a clear view. The Huihui Pao can next take out Xiangyang's gate and other defenses, before the player repairs the bridge between the cities. Rather than using Villagers, Ismail's Grunt Work ability allows nearby infantry to repair bridges instead. The defenders in Xiangyang include Elite Spearmen, Lancers, Fire Lancers, Palace Guards, and Springalds, as well as several Elite Spearmen and Archers on the grounds of the Imperial Palace. Groups of forty-six Militia will also continually spawn from the south of Xiangyang until the Imperial Palace is destroyed. Once the hit points of the Imperial Palace drop below 2,000 and it catches fire, the scenario will complete.
Achievement[]
Not losing any of Huihui Pao the grants the Boom Boom Pao achievement.
Outro[]
End of scenario[]
Xiangyang, the great bastion of the Song Dynasty, had fallen. Kublai Khan had finished what his grandfather, Genghis Khan, had started. And now, he could establish his own great dynasty and sit on the throne of all China.
Post-game screen[]
The walls of the great Song fortress finally fell to Kublai Khan's unrelenting will. He took his place as Emperor of China, adding the southern Chinese lands to the vast extents of his new dynasty.
Closing cinematic[]
The Mongol army smashed through Xiangyang's defenses and captured the city. Kublai Khan then pursued the remnants of the Song Dynasty across Southern China. In 1279, at the Battle of Yamen, the Mongols destroyed the last defenders of the Song. Kublai Khan now ruled over all China – founding the Yuan Dynasty.
His royal court in Shangdu welcomed scholars, traders and religious leaders. The Mongols demonstrated civility and religious tolerance… but also, brutality and violence… typifying the contradictions within the Mongol Empire.
Since Genghis Khan first united the Mongolian tribes, they had made incredible advances in technology and trade. And they created indelible connections between East and West. At its height, almost a hundred million people lived under Mongol rule – a quarter of the world's population. The Mongol Empire endured for less than 200 years… before fragmenting into smaller territories… but its legend continues to this day.
Genghis Khan's mission was to unite the world into one empire. Yet he always returned to the Mongolian steppe, where the endless grasslands lay beneath the Eternal Sky… and from where he created one of the largest Empires the world has ever known.
Page From History: Mongol Capitals[]
| “ | In just two centuries of conquest and adaptation, the Mongol way of life evolved dramatically. Traditionally a nomadic population, they adopted permanent structures, and even capital cities. The old Mongolian capital at Karakorum grew from a collection of gers into a walled city with its own palace, its courtyard built around a gleaming silver fountain that dispended mare's milk and wine. Genghis Khan's descendants captured the Rus lands and chose Sarai as the capital of the Golden Horde. And the great city of zhongdu became Khanbaliq, the "City of the Khan", the seat of Kublai Khan's own Yuan Dynasty. Despite embracing the grandeur of cities and the comfort of indoor living, the Mongols' nomadic heritage would always be close at hand. Within the city walls, a ring of traditional gers could be found, standing as a link to the roots of their legacy. |
” |
Unlockable content[]
- Campaign Video: The Fall of Xiangyang
- Campaign Video: Legacy of the Mongols
- Page from History: Mongol Capitals
- Kublai Khan Portrait
Trivia[]
- Since the previous scenario is played as the Chinese, this is the first scenario of the campaign where the player plays as the Mongols in the Imperial Age.
Gallery[]
