Lü Bu faction 呂布

Lü Bu was a native of Jiuyuan in Wuyuan Commandery. He was Registrar to Ding Yuan, Inspector of Bing Province, but, enticed by Dong Zhuo, he killed Ding Yuan and swore to be Dong Zhuo's son. Later, together with the Minister over the Masses Wang Yun, he stabbed Dong Zhuo to death, became General of Vehement Might and Marquis of Wen, and shared control of the court's government, but he feared and hated the men of Liang Province and earned their resentment. When Li Jue and others came back to attack Chang'an, he could not hold them off, and sixty days after Dong Zhuo's death he left through Wu Pass with several hundred horsemen. Records, Wei 7 §2–6

Yuan Shu, disliking Lü Bu's fickleness, would not take him in. Lü Bu went to Yuan Shao; he had a fine horse called Red Hare, and constantly charged into the enemy lines with his close followers, defeating the army of Zhang Yan at Changshan. But because Lü Bu asked for more troops and his officers and men took to plundering, Yuan Shao came to fear him, and when Lü Bu said he would leave, Yuan Shao tried to have him killed by night but failed. Lü Bu then went to Zhang Yang in Henei, and on the way he called on Zhang Miao, Administrator of Chenliu, and when they parted they clasped hands and swore an oath. Records, Wei 7 §7–8 · 10 · 12

In the 1st year of Xingping (194), when Cao Cao again went to attack Tao Qian, Zhang Miao's younger brother Zhang Chao plotted rebellion together with Cao Cao's officer Chen Gong and the Attendant Gentlemen Xu Si and Wang Kai. Chen Gong persuaded Zhang Miao that, with Yan Province left empty, they should welcome Lü Bu, govern Yan Province together and wait on the times, and leading the troops stationed in Dong Commandery he welcomed Lü Bu, made him Governor of Yan Province and took Puyang. The commanderies and counties all responded, and only Juancheng, Dong'e and Fan held out for Cao Cao. Cao Cao said that since Lü Bu had not taken Dongping to cut the roads but had stationed himself at Puyang, he knew he could accomplish nothing. Records, Wei 7 §12–13Records, Wei 1 §29

In the fighting at Puyang, Lü Bu first charged the Qingzhou troops with his cavalry, and Cao Cao, his formation thrown into disorder, broke out through the flames, fell from his horse and burned the palm of his left hand. The two armies faced each other for more than a hundred days, but locusts swarmed, the people starved badly and Lü Bu's food also ran out, so each withdrew. Lü Bu was defeated at Chengshi by Li Jin, a man of that county, and went east to station himself at Shanyang. Records, Wei 1 §30–31

In the summer of the 2nd year of Xingping (195), Cao Cao attacked and beheaded Lü Bu's generals Xue Lan and Li Feng, who were stationed at Juye, and when Lü Bu came to fight again with Chen Gong and more than 10,000 men, Cao Cao crushed him with an ambush. Lü Bu fled by night and went east to Liu Bei. Zhang Miao followed Lü Bu and had his younger brother Zhang Chao hold Yongqiu with their families, but in the 12th month Yongqiu fell and Zhang Chao killed himself, while Zhang Miao, on his way to ask Yuan Shu for help, was killed by his own men. Records, Wei 1 §33–34Records, Wei 7 §14–15

In the 1st year of Jian'an (196), while Liu Bei was facing Yuan Shu for more than a month, Cao Bao, the general guarding Xiapi, rebelled and let Lü Bu in. Lü Bu seized Xiapi and captured Liu Bei's wife and children, returned them to Liu Bei when he asked for peace, had Liu Bei stationed at Xiaopei and styled himself Inspector of Xu Province. Zhang Liao also followed Lü Bu to Xu Province and was serving concurrently as Chancellor of Lu. Records, Shu 2 §12Records, Wei 7 §16Records, Wei 1 §41Records, Wei 17 §3

When Yuan Shu's general Ji Ling attacked Liu Bei with 30,000 infantry and cavalry, Lü Bu, saying that if Yuan Shu defeated Liu Bei he himself would fall inside Yuan Shu's encirclement, went to the rescue with 1,000 infantry and 200 cavalry. Lü Bu hit the small blade of a halberd set up inside the camp gate with a single arrow and had both sides withdraw their troops. Records, Wei 7 §16–18

When Yuan Shu asked for Lü Bu's daughter as a wife for his son and sent the envoy Han Yin to tell him of his intention to usurp the imperial title, Chen Gui, Chancellor of Pei, persuaded Lü Bu that an alliance between Xu and Yang provinces would be a disaster for the state and that he should join forces with Lord Cao. Lü Bu called back his daughter, who was already on the road, and sent Han Yin to Xu County to be beheaded and his head displayed. Appointed General of the Left, Lü Bu sent Chen Gui's son Chen Deng to Cao Cao, but Chen Deng told Cao Cao that Lü Bu was brave but without plans and should be dealt with early, and Cao Cao made Chen Deng Administrator of Guangling and entrusted him with the affairs of the east. Records, Wei 7 §19–21

Yuan Shu, enraged, allied with Han Xian and Yang Feng and sent his chief general Zhang Xun to attack Lü Bu. Following Chen Gui's plan, Lü Bu persuaded Han Xian and Yang Feng, promising them his military supplies, and had them attack Yuan Shu's army together with him, and Zhang Xun was heavily defeated. Records, Wei 7 §24

In the 3rd year of Jian'an (198) Lü Bu again sided with Yuan Shu and sent Gao Shun to defeat Liu Bei at Pei, and Xiahou Dun, who came to the rescue, was also defeated by Gao Shun. The Annals of Emperor Wu record that when Lü Bu defeated Liu Bei, Zang Ba, Sun Guan and others of Taishan all followed Lü Bu. In the 9th month Cao Cao set out east in person, and in the 10th month, when he massacred Pengcheng and reached Xiapi, Lü Bu came out to meet him and was heavily defeated, losing his valiant general Cheng Lian. Lü Bu wanted to surrender, but Chen Gong and others blocked his plan, asked Yuan Shu for help and had him go out to fight, and when he lost again he returned to the city and held it fast. Records, Wei 7 §25Records, Wei 1 §48–49

Yuan Shu could not come to the rescue. Chen Shou wrote that Lü Bu lacked plans and was suspicious, so that he could not control his followers, and his generals each harbored their own intentions. On the advice of Xun You and Guo Jia, Cao Cao breached the Si River and the Yi River to flood the city, and after a three-month siege Hou Cheng, Song Xian and Wei Xu bound Chen Gong and surrendered with their men. Lü Bu, who had climbed Baimen Tower, also came down and surrendered, but when Liu Bei cited his service to Ding Jianyang and Grand Tutor Dong, Cao Cao had him strangled, and the heads of Lü Bu, Chen Gong, Gao Shun and others were displayed at Xu County. Zhang Liao surrendered with his men, and Zang Ba and the others were entrusted with the coastal lands of Qing and Xu provinces. Records, Wei 7 §26–27Records, Wei 1 §49Records, Wei 17 §3

In his assessment in Records of Wei 7, Chen Shou said that Lü Bu had the valor of a roaring tiger but lacked outstanding strategy, and that, rash, crafty and fickle, he looked only to gain; from ancient times to the present, no one like this had escaped destruction. Records, Wei 7 §62