In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Guan Yu, Ma Chao, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, and Huang Zhong are the strongest five tiger generals under Liu Bei, while Xu Chu and Dian Wei are the strongest generals under Cao Cao. Although Dian Wei died too early and failed to compete with the Five Tiger Generals, Xu Chu was fortunate to fight against Zhao Yun, Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, and Guan Yu, with a record of 2 draws and 2 losses. In fact, Xu Chu has a super-first-class level, after all, he and Ma Chao are evenly matched. Because of this, those who can beat Xu Chu should also be not weak in martial arts. Gao Ran once leveled Xu Chu, but later he was seconded by Zhao Yun, so his specific level still needs to be carefully analyzed to get an answer.
Gao Ran was originally a general under Yuan Shao. He, along with Zhang He, Yan Liang, and Wen Chou, are listed as the four court pillars of Hebei. Everyone knows that Yan Liang abused Xu Huang in 20 rounds, Wen Chou also defeated Xu Huang, Zhang He later became Cao Cao's five good generals, and Gao Lan's ability to be as famous as them also shows that his strength is not bad. In addition, Yuan Shao was the largest separatist force in the world at that time. Yuan Shao owns the land of the four states of Qing, You, and Hebei in the north. These four states cover most of the territory in the north, and it can be said that they cover a wide area. Gao Ran can be famous on such a large scale, so it is certainly not a general person.
Gao Lan's highlight moment was the draw with Xu Chu. Originally, Yan Liang and Wen Chou could abuse Cao Cao's fierce generals, but during this period, Guan Yu lived in Cao Ying, so Yan Liang and Wen Chou became Guan Yu's experience package, and they all died under the Qinglong knife. Although Yan Liang and Wen Chou were gone, Guan Yu also successfully completed the task and later left Cao Cao. At the same time, the war did not end with the departure of these three people, and the battle between the two bosses Yuan and Cao continued. In the battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao fought again. At that time, Zhang Liao and Zhang He fought for 50 rounds, and Cao Cao was secretly surprised. Later, Xu Chu saw that Zhang Liao couldn't take Zhang He, so he also went up to help, and Gao Ran went out to fight against Xu Chu at this time.
At that time, Gao Ran confronted Xu Chu head-on, and the two sides were tied. However, the duel between Gao Ran and Xu Chu was interrupted, because Cao Cao saw that the four people were deadlocked, and directly let Cao Hong lead 3,000 soldiers to rush forward. Later, Yuan Shao's side also ordered the soldiers to go up and attack. The battle between Xu Chu and Gao Ran came to an end. The exact timing of the matchup is also unknown, with some saying it was 50 rounds long, while others believe it was only a few rounds. However, judging from the actual situation of the fight, Xu Chu and Zhang Liao should not have bargained, otherwise Cao Cao would not have let Cao Hong rush into battle. In addition, if Gao Ran is very weak, he will also be allowed to be seconded. But nothing like that happened.
Judging from Cao Cao's move of sending Cao Hong to rush into battle, Xu Chu and Gao Ran should have been fighting for a while, at least for more than 20 rounds. In the battle of Puyang, Xu Chu singled out Lu Bu for 20 rounds, Cao Cao immediately asked Dian Wei to help, and later Xiahoudun and others did not talk about martial arts together, so they defeated Lu Bu. Zhang He blocked Ma Chao for 20 rounds and ran away, Xu Huang and Yan Liang also ran after 20 rounds, and Xiahou Yuan, Zhang He and Huang Zhong all fought 20 rounds of draws. Generally, the master has a move, and the bottom is guaranteed for 20 rounds. From this point of view, Gao Ran and Xu Chu should have also played for 20 rounds, and this level guarantee is higher than that of the first-class.
Referring to Zhang He, he can't beat Ma Chao for 20 rounds, Xu Huang lost to Yan Liang for 20 rounds, and Gao Ran guarantees that he can fight with Xu Chu for 50 rounds, Xu Chu and Ma Chao are basically at the same level, so Gao Lan's martial arts are not even lower than Zhang and Xu 2 people. However, Gao Ran did not have the "protagonist halo", and later became Zhao Yun's experience package, and finally died in Yushan. If there is a fair duel, Gao Ran will not be defeated by Zhao Yun's move, and he should be able to fight him for dozens of rounds. is also because Gao Ran died too early, and at the same time there are not many opportunities to perform, so it is easy to be ignored. Judging from these, Gao Ran is second only to Dian Wei, Xu Chu, Pang De, and Cao Zhang in Cao Ying, and is not necessarily worse than Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, and Shuangxiahou, at least ranking in the top 10.
Of course, these are all descriptions in the romance, and what is discussed here is also romance, which will be discussed separately in the official history. The official history of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is slightly different from these: Gao Ran did not die at the hands of Zhao Yun.
(Information from "Romance of the Three Kingdoms")