Jieqiao

The Battle of Jieqiao (界橋の戦い, rōmaji: Kaikyō no Tatakai) or literally, "Battle of Realm Bridge", was a battle fought between the forces of Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan in 191 AD. Following the death of Gongsun Yue at Yangcheng, Gongsun Zan made Yuan Shao responsible for his death and conquered some of his territory. Yuan Shao himself decided to march against Gongsun Zan when the latter was abusing his power in You out of corruption. He led his forces eastward and the two faced each other at Jie Bridge, which was one of their many lasting scuffles.

Dynasty Warriors
The battle serves as the stage for Yuan Shao's Legend Mode in Dynasty Warriors 4: Xtreme Legends, using the southern central portion of the He Fei map. He faces his adversary Gongsun Zan and his feared "White Riders" cavalry. Gongsun Zan orders his men to charge through Yuan Shao's ranks, but Yuan Shao insists on holding the lines and repel the enemy. Yuan Shao eventually decides to counter Gongsun Zan's cavalry himself. Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun (the former three out of obligation to Liu Bei being close to Gongsun Zan) will try to stop Yuan Shao's forces from attacking Gongsun Zan. Through out the battle, Yuan Shao must "uphold his prestige" by dealing with threats as quickly as possible that will deter his forces' morale if left unattended, especially due to the many taunts Gongsun Zan's forces will lob Yuan Shao's way.

Once they are defeated, only Gongsun Zan remains. Also in this particular game, Gongsun Zan rides on the Shadow Runner, which may make him impossible to knock-off and/or combat on a normal horse, but it works as a double-edged sword in that he will always take full-grounded damage without any aerial-penalty-damage; the player can use this trait to their advantage to rack up massive damage on Gongsun Zan especially with Musou Attacks that possess favorable hitboxes.

In Dynasty Warriors Vol. 2, the area appears as one of the starting stages of Shu's story mode. As an ally of Gongsun Zan, Zhao Yun and Liu Bei move their troops to fight Yuan Shao. In the central area, Wen Chou and Yan Liang will damage the roads, making them passable from only one end to the other. Defeating Yuan Shao or capturing all the bases will give Gongsun Zan the victory.

Jieqiao returns in Dynasty Warriors 7: Xtreme Legends as Yuan Shao's Hero scenario. He is aware of the reputation of Gongsun Zan's cavalry and prepares his defenses. The player has to defeat Gongsun Zan's generals in the south quickly in order to decimate the Baima cavalry. Should he succeed, the morale of Gongsun Zan's forces will decrease greatly and Yuan Shao's forces attack. Liu Bei and his brothers attempt to defend Gongsun Zan's main camp once Yuan Shao's forces attack it. Defeating them will leave Gongsun Zan as the last obstacle.

Historical Information
After the death of Gongsun Yue, Gongsun Zan declared war on Yuan Shao. He led his army south into Ji Province, causing many of Yuan Shao's cities to surrender immediately. Yuan Shao attempted to prevent a war against Gongsun Zan, so he gave his position of Administrator of Bohai to Gongsun Zan's younger brother Gongsun Fan. The latter, however, stationed his troops in Bohai and sided with his relative.

Yuan Shao decided to fight against Gongsun Zan and led his men to Qing River, stationing his troops south of Jie Bridge. Gongsun Zan's army consisted of Infantry and Cavalry, the center of its formation was made up by Gongsun Zan's experienced Baima cavalry. Yuan Shao placed Qu Yi in charge of the van with 800 crack troops and 1,000 crossbowmen. Gongsun Zan ordered his cavalry to charge the enemy lines and break them. Qu Yi's men formed a shield-wall and when Gongsun Zan's cavalry arrived, the crossbowmen shot them down with the infantry raising their spears to hold the cavalry off. Many of Gongsun Zan's men were killed during the onslaught, including his general Yan Gang. Gongsun Zan ordered his men to retreat to Qing River. His rear guard clashed with Qu Yi at Jie Bridge and was defeated, with his camp being overrun.

Seeing this, Yuan Shao decided to advance himself. He was ambushed by around 2,000 horsemen of Gongsun Zan, who had previously left the main corpse to lay in wait. Yuan Shao's advisor Tian Feng urged him to hide behind a wall, but Yuan Shao refused, saying that a leader should die with his men on the front lines and not hide behind a wall. Gongsun Zan's men withdrew when Qu Yi returned, resulting in the latter capturing Gongsun Zan's left-behind territory with ease.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms
In the novel, Yuan Shao faces Gongsun Zan at Pan River. Gongsun Zan duels Wen Chou but is defeated and flees. He is only rescued by Zhao Yun. Later, after Yan Gang is killed by Qu Yi, Zhao Yun manages to slay Qu Yi and helps Gongsun Zan escape after their defeat.