Suo Cang

Suo Cang is a fictional character. His first appearance was in Dynasty Warriors 5, and he later appeared in Dynasty Warriors 6, and appeared as a special guest in Samurai Warriors 2: Empires. He is one of the protagonists of The Halberd of Destiny, and is a minor antagonist in Crimson Blood and the God of War. In the Dynasty Warriors series, he is 25 years old.

Role in Games
In Dynasty Warriors 5, Suo Cang does not appear in any of the battles until the fictional Battle of the Great Wall, against the Mongolian king, Mang Yachang. Suo Cang's role is minor in this battle. He advances towards the wall to face Shozu Lasa, one of the generals, and is forced to retreat back to the gates in order for Suo Yuan to complete the banquet ploy. When it is done, Suo Cang returns to fight Mang Yachang's now belittled forces by sieging Shang Castle in the north. Then, he and his father lead the vanguard and after usurping Mang Yachang's armies in the castle, corner Mang Yachang in the maze behind him. Suo Cang joined his father on pacifying the western kingdom, however, realised the battle was dedicated to winning the love of the kingdom's princess. After expressing his anger at Suo Yuan for killing so many soldiers simply to marry a woman, Suo Cang decides to lead his own campaign against Tui Kang, Suo Yuan's former ally and current enemy. Suo Yuan returns from the battle victorious although Bing Cao perished from a wound he recieved in the war against the mongolians. Suo Cang defeats the Shang forces in a series of battles. When Suo Yuan arrives to cross a long bridge in order to assist Suo Cang in defeating the Shang, Kai Rue routs Suo Cang and destroys the bridge, forcing Suo Yuan's forces back. Suffering this defeat, Suo Yuan brandishes his son as reckless and sends him to assist Jou Yun at Shouchun. The battle goes well and Suo Cang pushes the enemy back. He is able to show Tui Kang his brute and tactics, defeating them in the battle. However, he does not enjoy serving Jou Yun and betrays him quickly after, taking Shouchun for his empire and staying there. Suo Yuan orders him to return to the empire, so Suo Cang abandons the city and obeys his father. He then leads an army to attack Xu Yen, the South Korean Emperor, and defeats them at Taifu Castle. He is then sent by his father to co-lead the battle with some of his brothers, which is against Sun Quan of Wu. They take the land of Dongcheng in the eastern side of Wu. Suo Cang then heads on to Jianye, where they conquer the armies under Sun Quan. Suo Cang then declares a rebellion against his father, conquering Liu Bei's forces at Yiling and later Chengdu, before heading to Cao Pi's territory and defeating Xiahou Yuan and Cao Ren at Mt Dingjun and Fancheng respectively. He then crushes the rebellion led by Ma Chao and Zhao Yun at Tong Gates before defeating Sima Yi and Cao Pi's defensive forces at Changan. Cao Pi calls the warlords together to defeat Suo Cang, and they are all killed. Suo Cang then returns to the empire to defeat Suo Yuan, who has allied with Xu Yen, who is killed. As Suo Yuan dies, Suo Cang sees the error of his ways and promises to lead the land to its best.

In Dynasty Warriors 6, he starts his musou shortly before the Great Wall battle. He helps his father to search for Kai Rue's sister, Kai Swe, who they find dead surrounded by tigers. Suo Cang has to fend off attacks from Kai Rue and save his father. He then has to lure Shozu Lasa from the gates so that Li Kiren could enter and defeat Han Shao. Suo Cang then continues uphill, rejecting the banquet ploy and attacking Mang Yachang head on. If Li Kiren has been defeated by Han Shao, the gates will close and Suo Cang has to continue his march and defeat Mang Yachang, with the odds against him. Suo Cang defeats Mang Yachang, and kills him. If Li Kiren defeats Han Shao, all the gates will open and Suo Cang returns to his father's side to do the banquet ploy, defeating Mang Yachang and crushing his forces in the maze. After the battle, he joins the campaign against the western kingdom but does not want to fight them simply so his father can win the princess over, so he leaves them and instead wages war against Tui Kang. He attacks a strategic location and crosses a bridge over the valley. Suo Yuan returns victorious to aid him, but Bing Cao is killed by a stray arrow on the field. Suo Cang then retreats when the bridge is destroyed by Kai Rue and instead faces Tui Kang's collected troops at Shouchun, where Suo Cang supports Jou Yun. However, Suo Cang quickly gets the two forces to face each other and crushes them both. He then takes Shouchun as a stronghold but is called to quickly battle the South Korean army. He fights Xu Yen at Taifu Castle and wins the battle. He then heads to Dongcheng in the eastern territory in Wu and captures it but they lose it soon after Suo Cang's return. Suo Cang then takes part in another battle supporting Jou Yun, but this time against rebels. Suo Cang destroys the rebel leader Cui Yong but is knocked from his horse and almost killed. Suo Cang returns to camp where Suo Yuan is still mourning his daughter's death. Jou Yun takes advantage by striking Suo Yuan's armies and burning his fleet. Suo Yuan retaliates in a vengeful assault on Shouchun, seizing the city and turning Jou Yun over to Cui Yong. Suo Cang then suggests they strangle him. When he returns back to his empire, the people are suffering major defeats at Nuamke. Suo Cang attacks the city and pushes the South Koreans away, retrieving the city for the first time in half a century. He then pushes them back to the south, crushing Xu Yen's million man army at Yeubi, before executing the general.

In Samurai Warriors 2: Empires, on Empire Mode, choosing the free scenario on Chaos difficulty and completing it twice will lead to Suo Cang, a new officer, becoming an Edit character, if the player has space. If not, he becomes a non-playable unique officer, and sometimes may have his own territory. His officers consist of Liang Shan, Li Kiren, Bing Cao, Yuan Ang and Je Zue. If his army is destroyed, whatever its size, the generals will split up and join five different armies. Suo Cang will join the player. After two turns, Suo Cang will revolt, and his five generals will usurp their armies and fight the player. Suo Cang will then appear one more time and take half of your lands after the wars are completed, unless you make an oath or marry him, where the five generals will rebel without him.

Early Life (196-212)
Suo Cang's mother, Lady Shi, was the niece of Jiao Province ruler Shi Xie and the teen lover of the soldier Ma Chao. Suo Cang's father, Suo Yuan, escaped to Cao Cao's forces in 193. In 195, Yuan Shao learns of his betrayal (which was kept secret by Tian Feng and Kai Zhen, Suo Yuan's close friends) and attempts to murder Lady Shi, who resides with Kai Zhen. Yuan Shao discovered Suo Yuan on the battlefield aiding Cao Cao's escape and tells the general that his wife is to be executed. Suo Yuan returns to Lady Shi's side. In 196, she falls pregnant Suo Yuan's son and gives birth to Suo Cang. However, Suo Yuan is still discontent with serving under Yuan Shao. With Tian Feng and Kai Zhen's help, Suo Yuan once more flees to Cao Cao's capital with his wife and son by his side. In 199, Suo Yuan and Lady Shi briefly fell out and began threatening one another over custody of Suo Cang, due to Suo Yuan's return to Yuan Shao and his love for Diao Chan. They reunited in 200 shortly before Guandu, however, when she learnt of his conspiracy, she feared it would place her and Suo Cang in danger and she attempted to escape to Liang to rendezvous with her ex-lover Ma Chao. As she escaped, her carriage was attacked and Suo Yuan, who was tailing them, rode to their rescue. The carriageman, fearing that Suo Yuan was an attacker, fled with them, however, another carriage approached and Lady Shi's carriage swerved to avoid it, crashing the carriage and killing her. Suo Yuan rescued Suo Cang from the debris, however, Lady Shi and the carriageman died in the accident.

Suo Cang was initially a scholar, attempting to become one of Liang Shan's apprentices. In his youth, Suo Cang admired Liang Cui and thought of him as his "second father", therefore, was willing to train under his intellectual brother. When Suo Yuan became Emperor of North Korea, his new wife Lady Shan was created principle wife, a role previously taken by Lady Shi. In 211, Suo Cang realised that he was not capable of matching his master's intelligence and instead asked Li Kiren to train him in becoming a soldier.

War Against Mongolia and Shang (212-217)
In 212, Suo Cang subscribed to join his father's army but his father rejected him several times, out of fear his heir would be slain. In 213, Suo Cang became one of his father's subordinates and joined in the war against Mongolia, where he joined Li Kiren in an attack on the Mongolian forces at the Hunjao River. The Mongolians destroyed Li Kiren's troops and surrounded them at the base of the river. As the river was on high ground, Li Kiren and Suo Cang, along with their few surviving soldiers, were able to survive being surrounded for two months with the water from the river and rationing their short food supply. Suo Cang and Li Kiren, upon spotting Suo Yuan's troops, broke out of the encirclement and reached Suo Yuan. Suo Cang duelled with the Mongolian general Han Shao but Suo Yuan, remembering his father's death at Huang Yong's hands in 174, did not leap in the way of Han Shao's spear and instead threw his own spear at Suo Cang and knocked him away from Han Shao's blow, saving his son's life. When they returned to their camp, Suo Yuan ordered Suo Cang to resign from the military however his son, having been a student, devised a plan to lower the Mongolian morale on a large scale. As the North Korean troops were dehydrated, Suo Cang, despite injury, dug into the land with a thousand soldiers to create large streams of water leading to the camps of all the generals, so they recieved water. He also built two glass walls which were barely visible to Han Shao's troops in the water. He then built deep wells connected by an underwater system whch allowed them to have enough water to survive the five hundred thousand man army for few years. Suo Cang then took twenty thousand men to attack the Mongolian front lines before encircling Han Shao's men. Suo Cang cut off the streams to his own army and poisoned the river between the two glass walls before firing at Han Shao's men, wounding many. The injured troops went to the river for water to drink and soften their wounds, but they were poisoned and infected, leading to Han Shao's retreat of the river. Suo Cang then drained the water between the two glass walls and removed the walls, recreating the streams and restocking the North Korean supplies.

Suo Yuan congratulated his son's success by banqueting. Suo Cang was given a higher position as a Lieutenant General. In 214, after a stalemate at the Great Wall, due to Han Shao and Shozu Lasa's defensive tactics, Suo Cang discovered there were roads passing through one of the gates would could lead to a hidden route to Shang Castle, a large castle behind the wall. Liang Shan decides to lead the attack and defeats the general Shozu Lasa on the road. At the end of the road, there are two bridges leading over the Hunjao River to a large maze, which then leads to Shang Castle. Liang Shan sends eight hundred men to camp on the other side of the river, with Zhao Ang being the one who camps. Shozu Lasa destroys the bridges and traps Zhao Ang inside the area. Liang Shan sends requests for reinforcements to Bing Cao, who sends his subordinate Yuan Ang to relieve Zhao Ang. Yuan Ang takes twelve ships and sails across the river, padding them all and ties them together, convincing Zhao Ang and his men to leap from the cliff where they are trapped and onto the ship. Zhao Ang falls but Yuan Ang and two other men grab Zhao Ang's arm and pull him up onto the ship.

Suo Cang is then ordered by Liang Shan to ask Li Kiren to retreat, believing Li Kiren would refuse. Li Kiren, however, obeyed Suo Cang, who he viewed as a superior, and retreated with him to the wall. Li Kiren, while withdrawing, spotted a Mongolian unit, who, besides a few guards, were all asleep, and climbed a ladder up to the wall and set fire to it. Han Shao leaped from the flames to duel Li Kiren. Han Shao was defeated and as Liang Shan arrived and ordered Li Kiren to behead the general, Li Kiren offered Han Shao an opportunity to join Suo Yuan's ranks. Han Shao took the chance to get his spear and throw it towards Suo Yuan's camp. The spear narrowly missed Suo Yuan's head. Suo Cang drew his sword but Han Shao agreed that he would go over the offer in his mind. Suo Cang then convinced Liang Shan and Li Kiren to withdraw to the main camps. Suo Cang was given command of thirty thousand troops. Suo Yuan, pushed into the main gate of the wall, and after weeks of clearing out enemy soldiers, managed to get their troops to the gates of Shang Castle. Suo Cang defeated Kulu Ao at the gates and laid siege on the Mongolian troops for six months. Despite the fact that the Mongolian capital was hundreds of miles away, Suo Yuan insisted he could conquer the entire country in ten days. Suo Cang then withdrew from the frontlines to guard the camp. Later, Suo Cang was included in Suo Yuan's Great Banquet Plot. As the Mongolian forces had been under siege until October 214, Suo Yuan had began to spot signs of fatigue in the enemy forces, as they were starved. Suo Yuan ordered his entire army to retreat south of the wall, angering Liang Shan and Li Kiren, who were both certain the North Koreans would lose the war if they didn't press the attack. Li Kiren angered Bing Cao later during the retreat after Bing Cao was injured by Shozu Lasa, telling him to resign as he is old and weak. Suo Cang set up the banquet as his father had ordered and two hundred thousand of the four hundred thousand troops remaining joined the meal. Suo Yuan's table was at the front, where he had his most trusted generals, including Suo Cang, seated. Shozu Lasa, the vanguard of the Mongolian army, led the assault against Suo Yuan. When the Mongolian troops halted, as the North Koreans showed no sign of fear at the charging Mongolians, Suo Yuan convinced Shozu Lasa to surrender the entire army in order to eat. Shozu Lasa initially rejected but Suo Cang convinced Shozu Lasa that his troops were too tired to continue marching and wanted to eat. Shozu Lasa then surrendered and were given food and water.

Suo Cang then joined the final attack north to Shang Castle and after the castle was taken, acted as its keeper until Suo Yuan had captured Mang Yachang, the king of the Mongolians. After Mongolia was absorbed into North Korea' territory, Suo Cang advised his father to wait a few months so the troops could regather. Suo Yuan agreed to temporarily create peace with the Kingdom of Shang, in order that he could borrow three bases to recover his army. Kai Rue convinced Tui Kang to refuse the alliance but Suo Yuan ignored the rejection and took the three bases anyways. Suo Yuan left the Mongolian general, Han Shao, in charge of the North Korean army, against the words of Bing Cao, who believed Han Shao would seize the army in vengeance of his fallen country, but Suo Yuan knew otherwise. Suo Yuan had met a mysterious girl and was dedicated to finding her. When Suo Yuan learned she was the princess of a kingdom in the west, Suo Yuan decided to ask her hand in marriage. The western kingdom, known as the Unknown Kingdom, was led by the King, who rejected Suo Yuan's offer. Suo Yuan declared war against him and transferred all his troops from the bases in Shang from Han Shao to a few abandoned outposts on the Unknown Kingdom's borders. On Suo Yuan's journey to the borders, he was attacked by Kai Rue on several occassions. On one of these occassions, Suo Yuan was challenged by Kai Rue's younger brother to a duel. With ease, Suo Yuan slew him, causing Kai Rue to go to war with him. Suo Cang attempted to convince his father to abandon his desire of the princess and instead lead an attack on the Shang. Suo Cang took ten thousand men and withdrew from the road to the Unknown Kingdom and led the army towards the Mongolian border. He took an extra forty thousand men led them against Shang. After a few confrontations with the Shang in late 214, Suo Cang eventually captured the city of Nan'an, which was in a very strategic location. Kai Rue and Suo Cang agreed to duel for control of the city but Kai Rue attempted to assassinate Suo Cang in revenge for his brother's death. Suo Cang killed the assassins and after several months of war, was defeated and retreated to the city of Luweihuan. Kai Rue convinced the East Koreans, who were under the control of Shang, to wage war against the North Koreans and ally with the South Koreans. However, the East Korean people, who were once part of the North Korean people, refused. The South Korean Emperor, Xu Yen, feigned sadness by this betrayal and sent his general Dei Xing to China in order to crush the Kingdom of Shang, while his other general, Huang Yong, would lead the attack against East Korea.

Suo Yuan, conquering the Unknown in 215, was surprised to see that due to the joint co-operation between Suo Cang and Dei Xing, the Shang were being greatly defeated. At a peaceful location by a river, Suo Cang led his army to cross the large bridge and attack Tui Kang's forces. Bing Cao, who had passed away during the attack on the Unknown, had given his entire faction to Liang Shan. Suo Cang's creation as Suo Yuan's Crown Prince occured during the battle after Li Kiren warned him about Yuan Shao and Liu Biao not choosing their eldest children as successors and running their kingdoms into the ground. Suo Cang soon ordered Li Kiren to lead the attack north across the shallow river while he attacked the reinforcements in the mountainous region. Suo Cang destroyed the enemy's main forces led by Bian Xue and Tui Kang, while Li Kiren defeated his sister Li Ang. Kai Rue led his men to rescue the three generals before losing the city of Hebou. Suo Cang retreated across the river in order to join his father, who decided to retreat to North Korea to look after the people and tell them of his victories over the Mongolians and the Unknown Kingdom. Suo Cang, during the retreat, spotted Kai Rue charging at him across the bridge alone. As he waited for Kai Rue to reach him, he severed the bridge and caused it to collapse, throwing Kai Rue towards the other end of the cliff, as Kai Rue's leg was caught in the bridge. Suo Cang remained in North Korea to act as its regent. He returned in 217 to defeat Shang's general Xi Xen in a duel, as he had been challenged, but Xi Xen was slain by Tei Qian earler and Suo Cang fought with Xi Xen's student Mai He instead. The duel, which lasted seventeen hours was fought to a draw. Suo Cang returned to North Korea.

As Prince Regent of North Korea (217-237)
Suo Cang was given the rank as Prince Regent, but he was not keen in protecting the city and looking after his younger brother and sisters, born to Suo Yuan's new wife, Tia Mae (the Unknown Princess). Suo Cang spent the first seven years warring with the East Koreans and managed to subdue their riots in 224. Suo Cang had grown bored with leading the empire and had soon began to want to return to China to assist his father in the main battles against Kai Rue and the Tai king, Jou Yun. Suo Cang spent the rest of his days as regent tidying the corrupt government left behind after Suo Yuan left for Mongolia. As Suo Yuan had been away, the clans were unsure when he would return and decided to take power. The clans were all weakened by the growing Liang and Li factions, led by Liang Shan and Li Kiren, which were eventually strengthened by the recruitments of Zi Ren, Je Zue, Suo Chou, Suo Yan, Suo Shizai and Zhao Qu into the armies. Suo Cang sought to endue balance in the army and managed to secure peace between the clans. Order was reinstated in the empire. Suo Cang soon left North Korea once again to join his father in the mourning of the death of Suo Cang's sister, Suo Xiao. This death devastated Suo Yuan who led a campaign against Shang to kill Nui Bu, his daughter's murderer. Li Chong, the father of Li Kiren, who served Shang, understood Suo Yuan's pain as his daughter had also been murdered a decade beforehand, and tried to persuade Nui Bu to commit himself to imprisonment for his crime. Nui Bu killed Li Chong and led a coup de'tat in Shang but was ultimately defeated by Tui Kang. Suo Yuan then broke into Shang's prison, where Nui Bu was being held for execution, and killed him. Suo Cang joined his father again to return to Shouchun and the docks. Jou Yun, believing he had defeated Shang and the rebels, seized Suo Yuan's fleet and took over Shouchun. Suo Yuan, angered by the betrayal, set fire to his own fleet, killing Jou Yun's men, and took Shouchun. He gave Jou Yun to the rebels before returning to North Korea.

Suo Cang and his father, along with some of his brothers, took arms against South Korea, who were invading them. In 231, Suo Yuan's seventh son Suo Chou joined the army during the battle against Xu Chao, the new emperor of South Korea. Suo Chou was killed by Huang Yong in the battle. Suo Yuan wrecked havoc in the enemy camps and defeated the South Koreans, before cancelling the war and returning to China to war with Shang and Tai, assisting Wei in their attacks. Suo Cang was reinstated as Prince Regent until his father returned once again.