Battle of Xiakou The Battle of Xiakou was a battle fought between the warlords Sun Quan and Liu Biao in 203 in the late Eastern Han Dynasty . Sun Quan ' s forces attempted to conquer Jiangxia Commandery ( present - day Yunmeng County , Hubei ) , which was defended by Liu Biao ' s general Huang Zu . The battle was inconclusive as Sun Quan ' s forces were unable to capture Jiangxia even when Huang Zu retreated . The battle is not to be confused with the Battle of Jiangxia that took place five years later , which concluded with victory for Sun Quan over Huang Zu . Background . In 200 , Sun Quan inherited the territories in Jiangdong conquered by his older brother Sun Ce between 194 and 199 . He was confirmed by the Han Dynasty government ' s de facto leader Cao Cao as a legitimate lord of the Jiangdong lands , and was appointed by the Han government as Grand Administrator of Kuaiji . Two years later , Sun Quan suppressed a rebellion by Li Shu and merged Li ' s 30 , 000 troops into his own army . By 203 , Sun Quan had achieved a stable control over his territories in Jiangdong , so he set into motion a strategy proposed by his advisor Lu Su . According to the plan , Sun Quan would take Jing Province ( covering present - day Hubei and Hunan ) , governed by Liu Biao , and take control of all the lands in southern China , then use the Yangtze River as a natural barrier to defend against invading forces from the north . The first obstacle on Sun Quan ' s path to dominating Jing Province was Jiangxia Commandery , which served as the eastern gateway to Jing Province along the Yangtze . In addition , Sun Quan had a personal stake in the campaign on Jiangxia , because Huang Zu , Liu Biao ' s appointed Administrator of Jiangxia , was responsible for causing the death of his father , Sun Jian , at the Battle of Xiangyang 12 years ago . The battle . Sun Quan appointed Ling Cao as leader of the vanguard fleet and ordered him to mobilize first , while he kept the larger vessels with himself for a slower advance . On the other hand , Huang Zu led his army from Jiangxia to Xiakou and set up a defense line in anticipation of the enemy . En route to Jiangxia , Ling Cao ' s fleet encountered Huang Zu ' s navy at the Xiakou riverbank , with Huang ' s large vessels spread out far and wide . Even though Ling Cao was at a numerical disadvantage then , he considered it his duty as a vanguard leader to eliminate any enemy standing in his lord ' s path . Undaunted , Ling Cao charged ahead of his men and dashed uninterruptedly into the heart of Huang Zu ' s fleet . Since Huang Zu did not expect such a small unit to engage his larger force , he was unprepared for Ling Cao ' s attack . Before Huang Zu could react to the situation , Ling Cao had cleared a path in front of him . Fearing for his life , Huang Zu abandoned his flagship and boarded a small boat , leaving his navy impaired to function . When Huang Zu ' s soldiers saw their commander fleeing towards their home base , they started to desert their posts and scrambled to retreat , resulting in a total collapse of the naval formation . Ling Cao gave pursuit to Huang Zu and boarded a light vessel in the midst of chaos and fighting . However , when he was close to claiming Huang Zu ' s head , he was hit by an arrow fired by Huang ' s subordinate Gan Ning and died ; thus Huang was able to retreat to Jiangxia safely . Huang Zu remained in Jiangxia thereafter and did not respond to the challenges of Sun Quan ' s main army . Unable to breach Jiangxia ' s walls , Sun Quan soon withdrew his troops back to Jiangdong to deal with the Shanyue tribes who constantly raided his lands . Aftermath . Even though Gan Ning saved Huang Zu ' s life at a critical moment , Huang was unappreciative of his effort because he despised Gan for his background ( Gan Ning used to be a pirate ) . Gan Ning then heeded the advice of his comrade , Su Fei , to defect to Sun Quan ' s side , bringing along with him confidential intelligence on Huang Zu ' s forces . Sun Quan received Gan Ning warmly and followed Gan ' s suggestion to launch a full assault on Huang Zu again three years later in 208 , starting the subsequent Battle of Jiangxia . Modern references . The Battle of Xiakou was featured as a playable stage in the fourth , fifth , and seventh installments of Koei ' s video game series " Dynasty Warriors " . In the games , the battle was merged with the Battle of Jiangxia . In the later installments , the battle became more significant after Ling Tong ( Ling Cao ' s son ) became a playable character . In " Dynasty Warriors 5 " , it was incorrectly stated that the Battle of Xiakou took place in 208 .