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Thursday, August 12, 2010

Zhāng Liáo 张辽

Posted by Ricky Chua On 11:35 AM 10 comments
Translated description:
"General of the Front 前将军 (qián jiāng jūn)"

The word "front" here refers to "frontline".

Wikipedia link: Zhang Liao Wiki

Who is he:
Supposedly one of the top 5 generals of the Kingdom of Cao Wei 曹魏, Zhang Liao did not initially intend to follow under Cao Cao 曹操. In fact, Zhang Liao offered his neck for Cao Cao for beheading rather than choose to surrender. While Zhang Liao was serving Lu Bu 吕布, word had already went around of Zhang Liao's combat ability and his righteous character. Guan Yu 关羽 once asked him why he was serving for a man such as Lu Bu and Zhang Liao could only look down in shame. The two later became fast friends, though circumstances dictate they had to be enemies. Zhang Liao achieved renown under Cao Cao as a steadfast and competent general. His title of "General of the Front" was given to him by Cao Pi 曹丕 after Cao Pi succeeded Cao Cao.

Character ability: "Sudden Strike 突击 (tū jī)"
In your drawing phase, you can choose to forgo drawing cards from the deck and, instead, draw 1 on-hand card from other players. Maximum 2 players (2 cards nett intake), minimum 1 player (1 card nett intake).

(Note that Zhang Liao cannot mix "Sudden Raid" with drawing from the deck (ie: he cannot draw one card from the deck and one card from a player). Also note that since this ability is effective in the drawing phase, this ability cannot be used if he falls victim to RATIONS DEPLETED 兵粮寸断.)

Ability's relation to story:
This part of the story occurs in the battle of He Fei 合肥之战 where Sun Quan 孙权, ruler of Sun Wu 孙吴, led a massive army to attack He Fei. Zhang Liao was one of 3 Cao Wei generals guarding He Fei, but they only had a combined army of 7000 men, many times less than the enemy. Leading the troops out, Zhang Liao bravely charged into the enemy and his combat prowess scared the balls off his enemy. Sun Quan's troops started deserting, not really knowing how large Zhang Liao's army was. Sun Quan climbed up a hill and saw that Zhang Liao was vastly outnumbered. He ordered his troops to encircle Zhang Liao. Unexpectedly, Zhang Liao suddenly charged out of the encirclement (thus the name "Sudden Strike") with a handful of troops and made straight for Sun Quan. The rest of Zhang Liao's troops cried out to him, "General! Have you abandoned us?!" Hearing this, Zhang Liao turned back and rescued his troops from certain death. Both parties grew weary and tired, thus they broke battle and headed back to camp.

Additional info based on story:
1. Most famous achievement - His cursing and swearing at Cao Cao and his refusal to surrender. This occurred early on in the story where Zhang Liao's leader Lu Bu had been executed by Cao Cao. In contrast to Lu Bu, who pleaded for mercy, Zhang Liao cussed Cao Cao endlessly and refused to surrender. Cao Cao was pissed off enough to bring a sword and wanted to decapitate him personally. Zhang Liao responded by sticking his neck out and welcoming death. Liu Bei 刘备 and Guan Yu 关羽 intervened and pleaded for Zhang Liao to be spared. Impressed by Zhang Liao's righteousness and courage, Cao Cao then put down his sword and personally unbound Zhang Liao. It was thus that Zhang Liao came to respect Cao Cao the same and, thence, began a great leader-servant relationship.

2. Cause of death - Zhang Liao suffered an arrow wound after rescuing Cao Pi from Wu forces. Though they were all eventually rescued by Xu Huang 徐晃, Zhang Liao succumbed to his wound and died soon after.

10 comments:

  1. Can I use this on the fella who can't be ACADIA or Stolen from?

    ReplyDelete
  2. That would be Lu Xun of East Wu.
    http://sanguoshaenglish.blogspot.com/2010/08/lu-xun.html

    You can draw from his hand as Lu Xun's card specifically mentions that ACADIA and STEAL cannot be played on him. You are not playing those cards on him however.

    ReplyDelete
  3. If he only draws 1 card from another player with his ability, can he still draw 1 card during his drawing phase?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. no he may not. If he choose to use his ability, he may not draw any cards from the deck, he may choose 1-2 targets though. characters with no on-hand cards cannot be a target.

      Delete
  4. No, so basically when he uses his ability, he cannot draw from card pile.
    E.g Only 1 enemy left, and he choose to use his ability, then he only get 1 card instead of drawing 2 cards.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What does "Maximum 2 players (2 cards nett intake), minimum 1 player (1 card nett intake)." mean? Does it mean if there are 3 players I can every turn instead of draw 2, take 1 from each player and therefore steal 2 cards each turn?

    ReplyDelete
  6. ^
    Yes, you`re right.
    And when there are only 2 players left (including yourself) you can only steal 1 card from your opponent, which usually is not as effective as drawing 2 cards from the deck.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Using his ability, can he draw all 2 on-hand cards from just one other player?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No he can't. It is clearly stated that, only ONE card from a player and maximum on TWO players only.

      Delete
  8. The characters for "Sudden Strike" is wrong. It is 突襲 (tu xi), not 突擊 (tu ji).

    ReplyDelete

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