The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is one of the four well-known classic ancient Chinese masterpieces, and the Battle of Guandu can be regarded as one of the most classic battles in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, in which the protagonists are Yuan Shao and Cao Cao. The two fought a major battle at Guandu (present-day Henan), which eventually led to Cao Cao defeating Yuan Shao and unifying northern China. However, yuan shao's soldiers, horses and generals at that time were considered to be the best among the heroes of the late Han Dynasty, and there were those who were called the "Four Court Pillars of Hebei" by posterity: Zhang Gao, Yan Liang, Wen Ugly, and Gao Lan. These four powerful warriors have unique advantages in both literary and martial arts, and are also called by Yuan Shao as their right and left arms, and today we will understand them:
Yan Liang
The first is Yan Liang, the character Gongji, is Yuan Shao's most important military general, invincible on the battlefield, heroic and good at fighting, made countless meritorious achievements, can be said to have laid half a piece of the country for Yuan Shao, the former university scholar Kong Rong also praised his bravery, but in the eyes of others, although Yan Liang is good at war, but only the courage of a puppet, not enough to take on a big responsibility. However, this was indeed the case, in the Battle of Guandu, when Yan Liang was ordered to lead an attack on Cao Cao's army, he was unexpectedly ambushed by Cao Cao's design, and was very surprised and flustered in the face of Cao Cao's reinforcements, and finally was taken by Guan Yu, who was then attached to Cao Cao, to the first rank of the rebel army.
Ugly
The second was Wen Ugly, who was also known as Yan Liang and was one of Yuan Shao's most cherished generals. He led his army to fight against Gongsun Zhan and capture Youzhou. After Yuan Shao destroyed Gongsun Zhan that year, he wanted to continue his campaign against Cao Cao with high morale, and Wen Ug was also appointed as a forward general. In the first battle between the two armies, Cao Cao skillfully used the strategy of luring the enemy to disperse Yuan Shao's soldiers and horses, and Wen Ugly was also beheaded under the horse in the rebel army.
High view
Next is Gao Lan, zi yuanbo, there are not many historical records of Gao Lan, he was initially ordered to attack Cao Cao's base camp with Zhang Gao, the result was seen through by Cao Cao and designed to make it a big defeat, and finally Gao Lan and Zhang Gao were afraid of being disposed of by Yuan Shao in the art of war, so they discussed surrendering to Cao Cao together, and later with Cao Cao's conquest of the battlefield, he made countless achievements, and was worshiped as a partial general, and was named the Marquis of Donglai, and the final outcome was not known, and there are also documents that said that he was assassinated by Zhao Yun in the process of capturing Liu Bei, which is only rumors, not enough evidence.
Zhang Gao
The last one is Zhang Guo, the character 儁乂, Zhang Gao can be said to be the most complete of the four people, and the early merits in assisting Yuan Shao in his conquest can be described as innumerable. Later, in the Battle of Guandu, he was calculated by the scheming Cao Cao, was deeply ambushed by the enemy and defeated miserably, and was framed by the villain, fearing that he would be disposed of by Yuan Shao's art of war, so he consulted with Gao Lan and surrendered to Cao Cao. As one of the "Five Sons and Good Generals", he used his troops flexibly and changeably, and his methods of war were elusive, and in the series of subsequent battles, he fully demonstrated his extraordinary courage and strategy to the world. Eventually, he was ambushed by the Shu army at Mugu Gate and died by an arrow. In the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao lost to Cao Cao not by soldiers and horses, but by his mind and ability to send troops and generals, and through this battle, he also witnessed Cao Cao's legendary character color and unique historical status in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
bibliography:
Romance of the Three Kingdoms