Yan Gang 嚴綱

In Chapter 7 of the Romance, Yuan Shao sends Gongsun Zan a letter proposing that they attack Ji Province together, then secretly informs Han Fu of it, and takes over Ji Province from the frightened Han Fu. When his younger brother Gongsun Yue, whom Gongsun Zan sent to propose dividing the territory, is killed on his way back by the arrows of a band of troops calling themselves 'the household generals of Chancellor Dong', Gongsun Zan, saying that Yuan Shao has deceived him, raises all his own troops and marches on Ji Province, and the two armies face each other across the bridge over the Pan River. Romance, Ch. 7 §2–4 · 7–10

In the first battle Gongsun Zan, pursued by Wen Chou, is saved with Zhao Yun's help, and the next day he divides his horsemen, most of them on white horses, into left and right wings. Yuan Shao puts Yan Liang and Wen Chou in charge of crossbowmen and stations them on the left and right, and gives Qu Yi 800 archers and 15,000 foot soldiers to draw up in the center of the formation. Gongsun Zan, not yet knowing the true mind of Zhao Yun, whom he has only just gained, keeps him separately in the rear, and sends his senior general Yan Gang forward as the vanguard. Romance, Ch. 7 §12–15

Though the drums beat from the hour of chen, Yuan Shao's troops do not advance until the hour of si. Qu Yi has his archers lie down beneath arrow-screens and shoot only when they hear the signal gun. Yan Gang, drumming and shouting, charges straight at Qu Yi, but Qu Yi's troops lie still without moving until he comes very close, and then at a single report of the gun the 800 crossbowmen shoot all at once. As Yan Gang hastily tries to turn back, Qu Yi gallops up and cuts him down with his blade so that he falls from his horse, and Gongsun Zan's army is badly defeated. After this, Yan Gang's name does not appear again in the Romance. Romance, Ch. 7 §16