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 the notable 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 guarding the gate at the time.

Role in Games

Dynasty Warriors

In the second and third installments, 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 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 Xu Chang series of stages, with Guan Yu's Escape and Xu Chang 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. Even then, Dong Zhuo's forces still end up with a detriment in Musou Mode for Hu Lao Gate should this stage be played first, as defeating Cao Cao makes him feign a defeated-state to then set fire to Luo Yang in Hu Lao Gate which in turn can devastate overall morale. Sun Jian however will only move if a messenger deployed for his sake reaches him on time, which can be slain to allow Sun Jian to start with lower morale at Hu Lao Gate. Even then, Yuan Shao's AI is known to be crafty in this stage where he will move his forces away from the player if they march in on him.

The Dynasty Warriors 5 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. It is to note that Cao Cao is absent in the Allied Forces' version of the stage, but comes in as reinforcements on Dong Zhuo's side.

In Dynasty Warriors 7 and Dynasty Warriors 8, Sishui (now one word) Gate is once again placed within the same battlefield as Hulao Gate. In the former, Hua Xiong will start the battle with a rampage, slaying multiple subordinate officers. Slaying him will force him to retreat temporarily. Players must help Sun Jian attack the enemy army's supply depot to compensate for their insufficient rations. Once this is accomplished, Hua Xiong should 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.

During Xtreme Legends, an alternate version of Hulao and Sishui Gate where Yuan Shao seizes the power of the Eunuchs, Dong Zhuo's forces have to break through the gate, defended by Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. In Dong Zhuo's side of the battle, Chen Gong will ambush Lu Bu as he attempts to pass the gate.

In Dynasty Warriors 9, Sishui Gate acts as the first defensive barrier to Luoyang when approaching it from the east due to the game's open world design, with Hulao Gate further west from it. Once Dong Zhuo takes over Luoyang in the second chapter of Shu, Wei, and Wu's Story Modes, Hua Xiong is positioned at Sishui Gate to protect it from the Allied Forces, supported by Xu Rong, Cheng Lian, Zhang Xiu, and Zhang Ji. When his support officers are defeated, mainly Zhang Ji, he personally joins the battle, but upon defeat, is left shocked that he lost and thus has to surrender Sishui Gate to the Allied Forces, hoping that Lu Bu would be able to stop the allied coalition at Hulao Gate before they reach Luoyang. During Cao Cao's attempt to evacuate Emperor Xian to Xuchang, Sishui Gate becomes the site for another big battle as Yuan Shao attempts to break through it to take over custody of the Emperor from Cao Cao, but is swiftly routed, leaving the gate in Cao Cao's control and allowing his troops to advance to Xuchang to defeat Yuan Shu and secure the Emperor's evacuation there until further notice as Cao Cao prepares for future battles against Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, Lu Bu, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan.

Warriors Orochi

The Si Shui 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, Sun Jian led the assault on the gate and slayed Hua Xiong, rather than Guan Yu. He also forced Lu Bu to retreat.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

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 Allied 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 one of the novel's most highlighted scenes, Cao Cao offered some wine for Guan Yu before he set out to fight Hua Xiong. Guan Yu, however, stated that he would not take too long with the task and quickly left. True to his word, Guan Yu returned in quick manner with Hua Xiong's head, and the wine was still warm.