Battle of Yangcheng The Battle of Yangcheng was a battle fought between the warlords Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu as the coalition against Dong Zhuo fell apart in 191 in the late Eastern Han Dynasty . Sun Jian , Yuan Shu ' s nominal subordinate returning from his triumphant capture of the abandoned capital of Luoyang , became involved in Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu ' s personal feud as the former allies turned against one another . Yuan Shao ' s forces , under Zhou Yu , first got an upper hand against Sun Jian ' s forces , but was beaten back by Sun ' s counterattack . Background . In 190 , regional warlords and officials from across China formed a coalition against Dong Zhuo , who controlled state power and held Emperor Xian hostage . Yuan Shao was elected leader of the alliance . To participate in the campaign against Dong Zhuo , Sun Jian led an army north to join Yuan Shu , who was part of the coalition . Yuan Shu appointed Sun Jian as Acting General Who Smashes the Caitiffs ( 破虜將軍 ) and Inspector of Yu Province ( 豫州刺史 ) , and sent him to attack Dong Zhuo at the capital city of Luoyang . Sun Jian defeated Dong Zhuo ' s forces , causing Dong to set fire to Luoyang and force its people to move to Chang ' an , where the new capital was situated . Sun Jian ' s capture of Luoyang , in ruins , was militarily untenable since the other members of the alliance had no mind to reinforce his position , while they themselves were on the verge of dissolution . Sun abandoned Luoyang and made his way back south . Yuan Shu , apparently dissatisfied that his cousin Yuan Shao was elected coalition leader and received all the prestige that came with his appointment , insulted his cousin as " a family slave " and " not a true son of the Yuan clan " . Yuan Shao was predictably angry at this . In 191 , he named Zhou Yu ( Renming ) as Inspector of Yu Province , a title to which Sun Jian was entitled , and sent him to attack Sun ' s territories in Yu Province while Sun was away . Zhou Yu decided to attack Yangcheng of Yingchuan Commandery ( 潁川 ; southeast of present - day Dengfeng , Henan ) . Originally , an outpost was set up here by Sun Jian during his march north against Dong Zhuo , and the outpost remained to watch for possible attacks from Dong Zhuo from the west after Sun Jian left Luoyang . Although the city of Yangcheng belonged under Sun Jian ' s government in Yu Province , it was also within Yuan Shao ' s sphere of influence in Ji Province ( 冀州 ) , and thus it was a sensible target for Yuan ' s aggression . The battle . Not expecting an attack from a nominal ally , Yangcheng was taken by surprise . When Sun Jian heard of the attack , he sighed and commented : The northern warlord Gongsun Zan sided with Yuan Shu , and sent his cousin Gongsun Yue with a 1 , 000 horsemen to Yuan Shu . Gongsun Yue and his horsemen were to accompany Sun Jian in the battle to retake Yangcheng , but in the initial skirmishes Gongsun Yue was killed by an arrow . Despite the setbacks , Sun Jian recovered some time later and defeated Zhou Yu in several battles . Then Yuan Shu led an attack southeast on Zhou Yu ' s brother Zhou Ang in Jiujiang , which compelled Zhou Yu to abandon Yangcheng to go to his brother ' s aid . There Zhou Yu was defeated again , and he abandoned the campaign to return to his hometown of Kuaiji . Aftermath . The first battles between Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu ended in the latter ' s favour : he had engaged and defeated Yuan Shao ' s forces in both Yangcheng and Jiujiang , restored the position in Yingchuan under Sun Jian , and eliminated Zhou Yu ' s as a threat once and for all although Jiujiang was not yet conquered . For Yuan Shao , on the other hand , the situation was extremely difficult : besides the failure in the south , he was also under threat from Gongsun Zan , who held Yuan Shao responsible for the death of Gongsun Yue and declared war against him , rejecting all of Yuan Shao ' s protestations of goodwill . This led to the clash between Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan in the Battle of Jieqiao . The battle of Yangcheng , being the first moves in the struggle between the two Yuans , marked the beginning of a new stage in the confusion of wars which brought the end of the Han Dynasty . The battle was notable as a confirmation of the death of the alliance against Dong Zhuo as the warlords of the North China Plain start to battle each other for the ultimate dominion of China .