Sishui Gate

The Battle of Sishui Gate (汜水関の戦い, rōmaji: Shisuikan no Tatakai) was one of the first in a series of battles to topple the tyrant Dong Zhuo. In the novel and the games, Sishui Gate and Hulao Gate are treated as two different locations. The games make it a likely adaption of the Battle of Dagu Gate, where Sun Jian defeated Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu in a more southern location.

In the novel and games, it is also the well known battle where Guan Yu made himself well-known in terms of presence, as he was often said to be the one famous for slaying Hua Xiong, who was historically guarding the gate at the time (even though Sun Jian was the one who lead the successful assault on the gate historically).

Dynasty Warriors
After Dong Zhuo had seized power in the imperial court, he started a despotic reign which drew the ire of local warlords. Cao Cao initially allied himself with Dong Zhuo, but then tried to assassinate him which failed and Cao Cao was forced to flee. He soon gathered together others who were opposed to Dong Zhuo together in a coalition, and asked his childhood friend Yuan Shao to lead the fledgling Allied Forces.

The Allies forces then made an advance on Sishui Gate guarded by one of Dong Zhuo's fearsome generals, Hua Xiong. Initially, Sun Jian made a strong advance, and camped to rest his men, sending a request for supplies to Yuan Shu. Out of jealousy, Yuan Shu refused to send the supplies, causing Sun Jian to be defeated by an enemy counterattack. Meanwhile, Hua Xiong had defeated several officers of the allies in single combat, until Guan Yu volunteered to fight him. Despite Yuan Shu objecting due to the unit Liu Bei's forces were in charge of, Cao Cao had high expectations and let Guan Yu charge out into battle. As many did not expect and with Cao Cao, Zhang Fei and Liu Bei's foresight, Guan Yu emerged with news of Hua Xiong's defeat and death, and the allies were victorious. The aftermath left Guan Yu a well-known warrior with high respect.

In the third installment, the gate is mistranslated in the Western ports as "Fan Shui Gate", while the Asian script still refers to it as Si Shui Gate. Most notably, during this battle, Yuan Shu's ire for Sun Jian causes him to not provide aid to him in the battle, but all while also Lu Bu is assaulting Yuan Shu's forces. Both Cao Cao and Sun Jian converge on the gate in two fronts, with Cao Cao taking a path that travels right onto the gate itself, while Sun Jian as per tradition goes in front of it.

During the fourth game, Si Shui Gate onwards becomes a stage separate from Hu Lao Gate, which is defended by Li Jue and Hua Xiong (the former is the actual commander of the stage). This stage is part of the Xuchang series of stages, with Guan Yu's Escape and Xuchang itself, as well as this stage being notable for having several walls placed in front that must be jumped over by the player. The stage starts much similar to its novel counterpart, with Sun Jian making a position outside the gate's front (along with both Cao Cao and Liu Bei respectively tackling the gate's camp from the south and north), and with Yuan Shu refusing to send the supplies. Should enough time pass, Sun Jian will question where the supplies are as their morale dwindles and Hua Xiong charges out for an assault. Yuan Shao will frantically question if anyone can defeat Hua Xiong, and from there, Hua Xiong will challenge the player to a duel (and if defeated, a cutscene will play with Yuan Shao receiving news of the fight and wondering who had slain Hua Xiong, with the player's character making a unique declaration to the cutscene).

However, it's possible to avert the aforementioned event by taking a path in the north where Liu Bei's forces are moving, and to find a wall in order to leap over. Yuan Shao will comment on this and it will reveal that a supply depot exists, where Fan Chou and Wang Fang will be standing guard inside. Defeating them soon enough (before Yuan Shao gets frantic) will trigger a variable cutscene involving the player's character finding the depot, and wondering who needed the supplies from it (as well as opening the locked depot's gates). This will allow Sun Jian to regain his morale and cause an early assault initiated by Hua Xiong. Either way, if the battle lasts long enough, then Zhang Liao (or Dong Min if Zhang Liao is already unlocked before another Musou Mode playthrough) will arrive as reinforcements. It should be noted that the south side of Si Shui Gate's camp is inaccessible to NPC officers to the wall that must be jumped over, and the south gate must be opened by itself as a result.

If this stage is played before Hu Lao Gate during Musou Mode, then during Hu Lao Gate, Sun Jian will have high morale (if supplies are delivered to him on time) or he will not be as active (if has not gotten any supplies during the battle at all). Skipping Si Shui Gate to play Hu Lao Gate will result in an eventual reinforcement ambush on Yuan Shao's deserted camp by Li Jue during an all-out attack on the allied forces' scenario, where he'll comment that they may have avoided him, but he won't attempt to let them escape. In both Dong Zhuo and the Allied Forces' scenarios, if the battle goes badly for Dong Zhuo's forces, Li Jue will signal a retreat. However, on Dong Zhuo's forces Li Jue will take longer due to hesitation and need to prepare for said retreat and if Dong Zhuo is played on the stage, he'll threaten Li Jue with each comment he makes about the thought of fleeing.

Dynasty Warriors 5's version of the map is similar, but with a few alterations, first off, Yuan Shu's forces are instead blocked off from even sending supplies in the first place due to an enemy base in their way (as opposed to Yuan Shu not giving supplies to Sun Jian himself). Taking out the base will allow the supplies to get through. Hua Xiong is also the commander of the stage as opposed to Li Jue, and he will often be waiting past the gate instead of charging out himself. However, depending on the events of the battle, things may take a turn for the worse for the allied forces and the player alike if Lu Bu arrives as reinforcements on this stage.

In Dynasty Warriors 8, Sishui Gate is placed within the same battlefield as Hulao Gate. Players must help Sun Jian attack the enemy army's supply depot to compensate for their insufficient rations. Once this is accomplished, Hua Xiong must then be eliminated for Sishui Gate to open. Dong Zhuo's sole scenario has the player cross through Sishui Gate from the other side in order to locate Diaochan near Yuan Shao's main camp.

Warriors Orochi
The Sishui Gate battle appears in Warriors Orochi as a dream stage for Nobunaga's forces. Hideyoshi Toyotomi, Okuni, and Zhang Jiao set out to stop shipments of gold from reaching Dong Zhuo. Ina and Lu Bu must be defeated before breaching the enemy's main camp. If all gold shipments are seized, Dong Zhuo will leave Orochi and join the Oda forces.

In Warriors Orochi 2, Cao Cao and his forces came to assist the Xiahou clan and defeat Lu Bu. while Lu Bu's huge army attack from the center, Xiahou Yuan take a shortcut to prepare a fire attack while Kunoichi and Xiahou Dun hold of the enemy attack. The fire attack was successful, and the enemy forces was defeated, so Lu Bu charge at Cao Cao, but was easily defeated. At the end of the battle, the Xiahou clan join with Cao Cao to prevent Orochi from reviving.

Historical Information
Historically, it was Sun Jian who killed Hua Xiong. He also forced Lu Bu to retreat.