Zhang Liao - Deceased

[Shen Ha]

"You grew up with politicians and spiders. You learned their craft and you learned it well. But I grew up with soldiers. I learned how to die a long time ago."
- Zhang Liao, to Sun Quan, accepting his death. 219

Name: Zhang Liao, Wenyuan
Age: 50
Gender: Male
Style: Canon

Residence: Shouchun

Personality:

A man of unwavering loyalty and honor, his very voice carries with it an aura of perfection that common men shatter under. He is calm and brave under immense pressure and mighty in battle. He would perform any task for his lord, regardless of the cost, and he would gladly give his life in defense of the kingdom he serves. Given all this, one of his most admirable qualities is his humility and humble attitude.

Appearance:



Zhang Liao is a striking presence on the battlefield due to his decorated appearance as well as might. He stands taller than most, roughly 6', and commands a rough bone structure and defined brows, as well as a sharp pointed goatee. His stern stare could break a weaker man.

Outside of battle he wears simple robes, but to battle he wears a mixture of leather and iron armors, bleached a bright red to look nearly orange in sunlight. He covers most of this armor with blue cloth and has a blue cloak that also covers his shoulders. His helm has a horned cap atop it and a blue plume that falls behind it.

He also wears silver armor of a similar fashion on occasion, but the expense of that armor keeps him wearing it to every battle. Instead, that armor is used for ceremony and the most important of battles.

Weapon(s):

Zhang Liao wields a spear and hook swords.

History:

A local of Mayi, he served as a local administrative officer during his younger days. Towards the end of the Han Dynasty, Ding Yuan, governor of Bing Province favored Zhang Liao's martial skills and recruited him.

In 189, Ding Yuan and his trusted aide, Lu Bu, led troops into Luoyang to assist He Jin to eliminate the Ten Eunuchs. However, He Jin was soon assassinated by the eunuchs and the capital fell into chaos. Dong Zhuo, a warlord from Liang Province intended to place in the throne a puppet emperor. This move deteriorated the relationship between Ding Yuan and Dong Zhuo, and induced the latter to plot against the former. After Lu Bu was persuaded to defect and kill Ding Yuan, Zhang Liao followed him to serve under Dong Zhuo, who had become the de facto head of government.

Soon, regional warlords formed a coalition against Dong Zhuo, who was therefore forced to move the capital west to Chang'an.

Having an affair with one of Dong Zhuo's concubines, Lu Bu was apprehensive to his adopted father, and again turned on his master and slayed Dong. Zhang Liao then assisted Lu Bu in an attempt to stabilize the capital and rebuild imperial authority. However, the new government was destroyed by Dong Zhuo's former subjects Li Jue and Guo Si when they breached the city gate of Chang'an.

Zhang Liao fled with Lu Bu, and joined Yuan Shao temporarily. During their short stay in Yuan Shao's camp, they helped performing raids on the Heishan Bandits' camp, and had dealt major damage to latter.

Following Lu Bu, Zhang Liao and other Bing Province warriors wandered the land, and finally were given a chance to gain a foothold. In 194, Lu Bu was welcomed by Chen Gong of Yan Province, while the warlord of the province, Cao Cao, was dwelling on causing calamities in Xu Province.

For more than a year, the two forces were wrestling over Yan Province and Lu Bu's forces were able to defeat Cao Cao initially, but Cao managed to gradually regain his control over the province. After a famine outbreak, Lu Bu was finally ousted from the area to Xiaopei. There, Lu Bu joined the Xu Province warlord, Liu Bei, who would be betrayed by Lu Bu and lost the province to him. Zhang Liao was made a county minister of Lü Bu when the latter gained Xu Province.

In 198, Cao Cao defeated Lu Bu at the Battle of Xiapi, and most of his men either defected or surrendered. Lu Bu was executed and Zhang Liao led his men to Cao Cao. Since then, he participated in many of Cao Cao's campaigns, including the decisive Battle of Guandu and the subsequent northern expeditions against Yuan Tan, Yuan Shang, and the Wuhuan tribes.

After Cao Cao lost the Battle of Red Cliffs in 208, he placed Zhang Liao, Yue Jin and Li Dian at Hefei fortress with 7,000 men to guard against advances of the southern warlord Sun Quan. Soon Sun Quan led a much larger force upon Hefei. Under instructions from Cao Cao, Zhang Liao and Li Dian recruited 800 vanguard troops to deter the enemy outside the city.

As dawn broke, the force moved out with Zhang Liao in the forefront. Zhang Liao galloped into the enemy ranks and single-handedly killed tens of men. Proclaiming his own name, Zhang Liao then went straight for Sun Quan, who sought refuge on top of a knoll. At least three of Sun Quan's generals tried to intercept him, but all failed. After seeing Zhang Liao had much fewer men on a slope, Sun Quan calmed down and ordered his troops to surround the enemy.

Leading scores of men, Zhang Liao soon broke through the encirclement. Those who were still caught within then cried, "General, are you going to forsake us?" Spinning around, Zhang Liao rode into the circle again and rescued his men, by when it was already noontime. Sun Quan's demoralized soldiers then retreated for the time being.

Returning to the city, Zhang Liao supervised the reinforcement of the defense works. After two weeks of siege, Sun Quan could not take Hefei and had to turn back because of a wide spread plague within his army. At Xiaoyao Ford, Eastern Wu's main army retreated first while the rear army of only one thousand men led by Sun Quan and a few generals stayed behind. Knowing Sun Quan had made such an arrangement, Zhang Liao immediately led several thousands of elite cavalry to capitalize on his foe's fatal blunder. On a number of occasions, they almost captured Sun Quan if not resisted desperately by Sun's general, Ling Tong.

Upon hearing Zhang Liao had accomplished this nearly impossible deed, Cao Cao was stunned, and personally arrived Hefei, where he took a look on the battlefield for a long time. Zhang Liao was promoted to the rank of General Who Conquers the East for his deed in Xiaoyao Ford.

After his victory in defending Shouchun from the south a second time, Zhang Liao ordered the construction of the Bronze Spire. Strong walls formed the castle, but the gilded tower at the center was a bastion of Zhang Liao's might. So long as he defended it, Wu would never cross into the Central Plains.

The strings of fate played at Zhang Liao's life when Sun Shang Xiang came as a southern envoy to their northern enemy. Despite a courtly calling, the two found themselves cherishing each other's company. She voiced that she intended to take their trip to Xuchang and meet Cao Cao.

In Xuchang, Sun Shang Xiang became a prisoner, despite Zhang Liao's pleading to release her. The two also succumbed to their desires and shared a bed, and the result left Sun Shang Xiang with child.

Upon returning to Hefei and his spot defending his bronze tower, Zhang Liao felt uneasy. One morning he saw the fleet of Wu cross the Chang Jiang, and Sun Quan himself offered parley to Zhang Liao. However, Liao could not kill Sun Quan, his lover's brother, and suffered many wounds to the king's hand, and was taken captive.

After a short stay in Jianye's dungeon, Sun Quan called for him. Despite the tricky game of prisoners, with his sister in Wei and Zhang Liao in Wu, Sun Quan fell a sword on Zhang Liao, taking his head and his life.

Statistics:

Strength - 10
Perception - 5
Endurance - 8
Charisma - 10
Intelligence - 6
Agility - 9
Luck - 1 (Maybe if this stat was higher, he wouldn't have gotten executed!)

Gold: 2,175

Alignment: +4

Reputation: 120

Entourage Units: None

Personal Army:

200 Light Cavalry
200 Levy Spearmen

[Mikey]

Awesome Brian, just can't wait for the kickassery. You actually have one more SPECIAL point to distribute, so you could get 10 strength. Just saying.

[Storyteller]

Approved, welcome back to the community Brian.

[Shen Ha]

Name: Li Dian, Mancheng
Age: 27
Gender: Male
Style: Canon

Residence: Shouchun

Personality:

I loyal retainer of Mengde who took up arms early in the Hero of Chaos' rise to power, he serves his lord valiantly. He is often passed over due to his unimpressive record in battles, but serves as a perfect lieutenant due to his smart tact and ability to lead men well enough. He is no great general, but he is a good soldier and a fine tactician, and speaks his mind, even to those who hold rank on him. Even when questioning the leadership of the mighty Xiahou Dun in the past, he has yet to be lashed for such actions.

Appearance:



A simple looking man who is neither strong nor weak, handsome nor ugly. Li Dian wears leather and steel armor to battle and a blue cloth wraps his long black hair in order before he places a tiger-head helm over his head.

Weapon(s):

A spear and a broadsword

History:

A local of Juye, Li Dian's father Li Qian had strong influence in the region. In the early 190s, Li Qian and his followers joined Cao Cao and participated in the warlord's subsequent campaigns against the Yellow Turban rebels, Yuan Shu, and Tao Qian.

During conflicts with Lü Bu in 194, Cao Cao bade Li Qian return to Chengshi to reaffirm local support. Lü Bu's subjects Xue Lan and Li Feng tried to persuade Li Qian to defect but were rejected. Hence they killed Li Qian. Cao Cao then gave command of Li Qian's former troops to Li Dian's older brother Li Zheng , who was tasked with avenging Li Qian. After the forces of Xue Lan and Li Feng were quelled, Li Zheng was appointed Inspector of Qing Province.

Following the death of Li Zheng, Li Dian took over command of his father's former troops, although he was rather uninterested in military affairs. Recognizing Li Dian's intellects, Cao Cao appointed him Administrator of Lihu, primarily in charge of interior affairs.
In 200, Cao Cao confronted rival warlord Yuan Shao at the Battle of Guandu. Leading his clansmen and subjects, Li Dian took charge of supplying the frontline troops with food and clothings.

After Yuan Shao was defeated, Cao Cao launched his northern campaigns against Yuan's heirs. Li Dian was again entrusted with logistics along with Cheng Yu. They struck out and eradicated an enemy force guarding the waterway to ensure the smooth delivery of military necessities.

In 205, Li Dian was sent to aid Xiahou Dun in the Battle of Bowang where he was to help defend against the attacks led by Liu Bei. Liu Bei burned his encampment and retreated abruptly, whereupon Xiahou Dun gave pursuit despite Li Dian's warnings. True enough, Xiahou Dun was ambushed by the enemy, who dispersed when Li Dian came to rescue with a relief force. In the same year, Li Dian and Yue Jin were also deployed to lay siege on Gao Gan at Hu Pass. Again Li Dian prevailed. He was then promoted to General who Destroys Barbarians.

After Cao Cao lost the Battle of Jiangling in 208, he placed Zhang Liao, Yue Jin and Li Dian at Hefei with approximately 7,000 men to guard the strategic Hefei fortress against advances of the southern warlord Sun Quan. Sun Quan later led a much more massive force upon Hefei. Under instructions from Cao Cao, Zhang Liao and Li Dian should lead troops to deter the enemy outside the city, while Yue Jin stayed inside the castle for defense.

However, Zhang Liao feared that long-running uncordial relationships among the three might jeopardize their mission, Li Dian assured him that affairs of the state should be placed before oneself. Thus, they picked 800 cavalry with them and dashed out, successfully lowered the enemy's morale by killing two of Sun Quan's generals on the field.

After the army was infected with a plague, Sun Quan had to withdraw from the siege he laid upon Hefei castle, and to avoid being infected, Sun Quan stayed at the northern part of Xiaoyao Ford with only 1,000 soldiers and generals, while waiting for the main army to board the ships in the southern part of the ford. Seizing the opportunity, Zhang Liao led several thousand cavalry to surprise attack Sun Quan, while Li Dian volunteered to break the bridge which connected the northern and southern part of the ford.

Sun Quan was immediately surrounded by Zhang Liao's cavalry, but was recused by his general Ling Tong when the latter fought desperately and opened a route. Once Sun Quan was out of the thick of encirclement, Ling Tong turned back to hold the enemies, and urged Sun Quan to go for the bridge. However, Sun Quan was nearly captured when he found out the bridge connecting the southern part was destroyed. Not knowing the identity of Sun Quan, Li Dian and Zhang Liao focused their attack on Ling Tong, and Sun Quan miraculously leaped over the broken bridge and fled to the southern side, where his main force was returning to save him.

Afterwards, Li Dian and Zhang Liao asked a surrendered soldier about the identity of the "purple beard general" who was good at archery, the soldier replied them that was indeed Sun Quan, and the three generals greatly lamented on slipping away such an opportunity. When Cao Cao heard that Sun Quan was nearly captured, he could hardly believe the intelligence right away, and personally travelled east to take a look at the battlefield. Having observed on the field, Cao Cao lamented for some time and greatly praised the merits and bravery of the three; as a result of his performance, Li Dian was rewarded handsomely.

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[Shen Ha]

Name: Yue Jin, Wenqian
Age: 28
Gender: Male
Style: Canon

Residence: Shouchun

Personality:

Yue Jin is a mighty warrior and capable commander. He serves Cao Cao with loyalty but has an uncordial relationship with his commander, Zhang Liao, and holds resentment to Mengde for placing him under Wenyuan's command at Xiaoyao Ford. He is brash, but backs up his harsh attitude with stalwart performance.

Appearance:



Yue Jin strikes a fierce presence on the battlefield and off alike. He is a tall man, standing roughly under six feet tall, and has broad shoulder and is built wide and strong. His face never cracks a smile, rather always showing the same stern glance. He wears tough leather armor and a helm framed with ornate steel decor.

Weapon(s):

Trident Halberd and broadsword.

History:

Yue Jin was originally a local of the Yangping Commandery, and little was known about him before he joined Cao Cao's army. Being a small-framed young man, he was initially made a clerk who handled paperworks in a camp. When Cao raised troops to join the coalition against Dong Zhuo, he was tasked to recruit soldiers for Cao's camp, in which he brought back 1,000 men from his hometown. For his effort, Yue was put into test as an acting Marshal and Formation Breaking Commandant. Thereafter, Yue assumed military positions and followed Cao in his futile war with Dong Zhuo. Although being defeated, Yue's physical strength and bravery earned him much trust from Cao, who would use him as the vanguard from time to time.

The famed warrior, Lu Bu, stormed Cao Cao's base, Yan Province, when the latter was on his expedition against Tao Qian. Yue was assigned as the vanguard with Cao Hong for the returning army. The two forces fought several bitter battles around Poyang, resulting in largely Cao's defeat, but Yue's merit in those battles was still recognized by Cao. Lu led his elite troops away for food when a large-scaled famine broke out around the area, and Yue took the opportunity to attack Lu's ally and subordinates, Zhang Chao at Yong Slope and Qiao Long at Ku. He acted as the vanguard and was the first to break the enemy's defense in both battles; he was thus granted a title of Marquis, and highly valued in Cao's camp. Yue Jin was the first among the five top generals of Wei to receive a Marquis title.

In AD 198, Yue followed Cao to subdue Zhang Xiu, who feigned surrender and casted calamity over Cao Cao when the latter was sleeping with Zhang's aunt. Many hardships were experienced during the campaign, but Yue, along Yu Jin, was recorded to earn merit during the battles. Due to the fact that Zhang was backed by Liu Biao of Jing Province, Cao realized Zhang could not be taken care of within a short period of time. Under the rationale that Liu Bei was asking for help in Xiaopei to fight Lu Bu, Cao finally relinquished his war against Zhang, but sent envoys to ask the latter to form an alliance, which Zhang agreed upon the term that a marriage be arranged between the two families. During the siege of Xiapi, Yue led a separate command and defeated Lu's deputy general outside the city before he joined the encirclement.

After Lu's demise, Cao focused on preparation to the upcoming war with Yuan Shao (who was still Cao's ally), and Yue was assigned to the border. When the warlord of Bing Province, Zhang Yang, hesitated on the predicament upon choosing Cao or Yuan as ally, his subordinate, Yang Chou murdered him and took his head to Cao, but another general, Sui Gu, vindicated his lord when Yang was on his way to Xuchang. In order to merge Zhang Yang's remnants, Yue intercepted Sui when the latter attempted to go back north, and successfully hunted down his prey and took control of the Bingzhou troops. He then brought his troops to join Cao's eastern campaign against the traitor, Liu Bei, who just usurped and killed the Governor of Xu Province. Within a very short time, Liu was defeated, and his aide, Guan Yu, was captured alive.

Yue had also participated in the pivotal Battle of Guandu, in which Cao Cao pitched his forces against those of rival warlord, Yuan Shao. Before Cao led the main army to the frontline, Yue was assigned several thousand soldiers to reinforce Yu Jin at Yan Ford. After joining up with Yu, they selected 5,000 elite soldiers composed of infantry and cavalry, and raided Yuan Shao's detached encampments along the Yellow River southwest from Yan fortress. They snaked up as far as Ji, and crossed the river to raid Huojia to the north. In all, they had set fire to some thirty enemy camps, decapitated several thousand heads, captured several thousand men alive, and forced the surrender of some 20 generals including He Mao and Wang Mo.

However, the war was far from over because the ones that Yue destroyed were just some expendable pawns of the powerful northern regime of Yuan. Cao then ordered Yu to camp at Yuanwu, and summoned Yue back to his side. A series of battles were fought, and several famed generals of Yuan had been killed, but the latter still possessed a huge army, which applied much pressure to Cao. The battle had been dragging on for months, and Cao's supplies nearly depleted. When Cao thought about relinquishing resistance, he received a piece of intelligence concerning the whereabouts of his enemy's food storage, guarded by Yuan's most prominent general, Chunyu Qiong. Determined to bet on the information, he picked Yue Jin as his van in this desperate mission, and sneaked their way to Wuchao with a 5,000-strong mixed force composed of mainly horsemen.

Under the cover of night, they were unopposed until they arrived the enemy encampment, where they set a fire upon. Chuyu attempted to fight back with his larger force, but was slain by Yue Jin in the chaos. The success of this raid in Wuchao enabled Cao to overcome his archrival when Yuan was out of stock.

After the ultimate defeat and subsequent death of Yuan Shao, Cao marched his troops northwards into Jizhou and Youzhou to stamp out Yuan Shao's heirs and supporters. Cao's progress was checked at Liyang, where the war entered a stalemate when two forces fought on the open field. Yue then targeted the unit of Yuan's general, Yan Jing, and had it routed. The defeat of Yan frightened the Yuan brothers, who went back into the city and fled during the night. Yue was promoted to Guerilla General. He then followed Cao to besiege Ye city, and had it breached. During the battle of Nanpi, Yuan Tan personally led a counteroffensive, and inflicted considerable damage to the elite mounted force of Cao Cao – the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. Nevertheless, Yue climbed the city and opened the east gate, and the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry took its revenge by taking Yuan's head. For his efforts in the northern campaign, Yue Jin was promoted to General Who Breaks Conflicts

When a local gentry and relative to the Yuans, Gao Gan reneged on his surrender and revolted, Yue was dispatched to cleanse the rebellion. He outflanked Gao by adopting a circuitous route to the north of Gao's position. However, Gao outmaneuvered his opponent by retreating to Hu Gate, where he relied on its strong defense. Several battles were fought on the field, resulting in defeats on Gao's side, but Hu Gate remained defiant, and Yue was unable to take it alone. When the reinforcement led by Cao arrived, they breached the fortress and had every defenders killed. Then, Yue, along Li Dian was assigned as vanguards to strike the pirate, Guan Cheng , who was broke by them, and was forced to surrender later.

After Cao Cao successfully congregated central and northern China, he assembled a grandiose force upon Yangtze river, only to be destroyed by the southeastern warlord, Sun Quan, who formed an alliance with Liu Bei. The result of the Battle of Red Cliffs would lead to the development of the Three Kingdoms.

As a result of the disastrous defeat at the Red Cliffs, Cao Cao's huge army was scattered around the Northern plain above the Yangtze River. Yue was ordered to station inside the city of Xiangyang, in anticipation of Zhou Yu's counterstrike. When Guan Yu was attempting to cut the connection between Jiangling and Xiangyang, he was stymied by Yue, who led his army out and defeated him. During Guan's second attempt to block the waterway of Xiangyang, Yue again spiked Guan on the water at Xiukou.

The war dragged on and Cao Ren had suffered high casualties in Jiangling fortress. Knowing Cao's position in Nanjun became worse, Yue raised an army in Xiangyang and hurried down to Jiangling, where he attacked and won several skirmishes over the forces of Liu Bei. Yue forced the barbarians of southern Jing to surrender, and mimicked Guan's infiltration strategy to attack Liu's Prefect of Linju, Du Pu and Prefect of Xinyang, Liang Dai. Du and Liang were unable to repel Yue, and were totally routed. When Cao Ren was ordered to give up Jiangling due to continuous loss of materiel, Yue slithered back to Xiangyang.

After Cao Cao lost the Battle of Jiangling in 208, Sun Quan attacked Hefei, prompting the former to personally led reinforcements to the scene. Yue Jin was specifically granted the staff of authority on the way to Hefei. Receiving intelligence Cao had come in person, Sun retreated, and Yue, alongside Zhang Liao and Li Dian were left for the defense of Hefei fortress with 7,000 soldiers. However, Sun soon led 200,000 troops to lay siege on the fortress. Following a direct order from Cao Cao, Xue Ti led a sizable relief force into the city, and also served as a monitoring system to the 3 generals who were not in good terms with each other.

Yue was ordered to stay behind to defend the city, while Li and Zhang led a force of 800 men out to meet the enemy. The overconfident Sun Quan lost two generals on the first encounter, but his forces managed to force Zhang and Li back into the fortified citadel. Sun Quan's forces were unable to climb the high walls of the Hefei Castle, and were subsequently infected with a plague. Thus, Sun grudgingly withdrew; in order to avoid being infected, Sun only had 1,000 troops with him on the northern part of Xiaoyao Ford. This news was received by Zhang Liao, who immediately led several thousand elite cavalry to pursuit the enemy commander.

During the chaos, Sun Quan was nearly killed if not saved by his general, Ling Tong, and the siege of Hefei Castle came to a complete victory for Cao Cao's side. Yue was then promoted to General of the Right for his contributions in the miraculous defense of Hefei, along Zhang, they would later be labeled as two of the five top generals of the Kingdom of Wei.

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