張遼

Profile

From Lü Bu’s lieutenant to the first of Wei’s Five Elite Generals. Picked up by Cao Cao after Xiapi, he cut down the Wuhuan khan at White Wolf Mountain — and at Hefei, his 800 volunteers broke Sun Quan’s 100,000, until his mere name frightened the Southland. A surrendered officer who erased the label through sheer ability.

Key events

1. 198

   Siege of Xiapi — the End of Lü Bu

   Cao Cao and Liu Bei flood Lü Bu out of Xiapi. Betrayed by his own men, Lü Bu is captured and executed; Chen Gong dies with him.

   Cao CaoLü BuLiu BeiChen Gong

2. 207

   White Wolf Mountain and the Death of Guo Jia

   Following Guo Jia’s "speed is everything," Cao Cao crushes the Wuhuan at White Wolf Mountain — but loses Guo Jia on the road home.

   Cao CaoGuo Jia

3. 215

   Battle of Hefei — Zhang Liao’s 800

   Zhang Liao’s 800 volunteers shatter Sun Quan’s host of 100,000 in a dawn assault — his very name, it was said, silenced crying children in Wu.

   Sun QuanGan NingTaishi Ci

History vs. the novelHistoryvsNovel

Both novel and history agree on his dominance at Hefei. The friendship with Guan Yu, though, is largely the novel’s embroidery — the histories preserve only his relaying of Guan Yu’s intentions to Cao Cao.