Xu Huang 徐晃

He became a commandery clerk, and for his merit in suppressing bandits under Yang Feng, General of Chariots and Cavalry, he was made Chief Commandant of Cavalry (qi duwei). When Li Jue and Guo Si threw Chang'an into turmoil, he persuaded Yang Feng to escort the Emperor back to Luoyang, and when the Emperor crossed the Yellow River and reached Anyi, Xu Huang was enfeoffed as Marquis of a Chief Village (duting hou). In Luoyang, as Han Xian and Dong Cheng quarreled day after day, he urged Yang Feng to submit to Cao Cao; Yang Feng was inclined to follow the advice but later regretted it. When Cao Cao attacked Yang Feng at Liang, Xu Huang finally went over to Cao Cao. Records, Wei 17 §57

He crushed the bandits of Juan and Yuanwu counties and became Assistant General (pi jiangjun); in the campaign against Lü Bu he separately brought about the surrender of Lü Bu's officers, and together with Shi Huan he beheaded Sui Gu in Henei. He took part in the battles that defeated Liu Bei and Yan Liang, capturing Baima, and he defeated Wen Chou at Yanjin, becoming Lieutenant General (pian jiangjun). Together with Shi Huan he attacked Yuan Shao's supply wagons at Gushi and won the greatest merit, for which he was enfeoffed as Marquis of a Chief Village; the Annals of Emperor Wu record that Cao Cao, following Xun You's plan, sent Xu Huang and Shi Huan to burn several thousand grain wagons. Records, Wei 17 §58Records, Wei 1 §68

During the siege of Ye, when Han Fan, Magistrate of Yiyang, feigned surrender and then held out, Xu Huang shot arrows into the city explaining what made for success and failure, and when Han Fan repented, he accepted his surrender. He then said to Cao Cao, "If we destroy Yiyang today, tomorrow everyone will defend to the death; accept Yiyang's surrender and show it to the other cities," and Cao Cao approved. He went on to defeat Yuan Tan at Nanpi and followed the campaign against Tadun, becoming General Who Sweeps the Plains (hengye jiangjun); in the campaign in Jing Province he attacked Guan Yu at Hanjin together with Man Chong, and Zhou Yu at Jiangling together with Cao Ren. Records, Wei 17 §59–60

In the 15th year of Jian'an (210) he attacked the rebels of Taiyuan, took Daling and beheaded Shang Yao, though the Annals of Emperor Wu place this in the 1st month of the 16th year (211). When Han Sui and Ma Chao rebelled, he was stationed at Fenyin to pacify Hedong. When Cao Cao, at Tong Pass, worried that he might not be able to cross the Yellow River, Xu Huang said that the enemy's failure to guard Puban separately showed they had no plan, and offered to cross at the Puban ford with picked troops and cut off the enemy's rear. He crossed the ford with 4,000 men, and before the trenches and palisades were finished Liang Xing attacked by night with more than 5,000 men, but Xu Huang drove him off, and Cao Cao's army was able to cross. Later, together with Xiahou Yuan, he pacified the remaining bandits and beheaded Liang Xing. Records, Wei 17 §61–62Records, Wei 1 §109

In the campaign against Zhang Lu he brought the Di of various mountains to surrender and became General Who Pacifies Bandits (pingkou jiangjun). He stayed at Yangping with Xiahou Yuan to hold off Liu Bei, and when Liu Bei sent Chen Shi and others, more than ten encampments, to cut the Mamingge plank road, Xu Huang crushed them, and many of the enemy threw themselves into the mountain gorges and died. Cao Cao was overjoyed and lent him the tally of authority, saying that this plank road was the throat of Hanzhong and that thwarting the enemy's plan was "the best of the best." Records, Wei 17 §63–64

Cao Cao sent Xu Huang to help Cao Ren attack Guan Yu, stationing him at Wan. In the 8th month of the 24th year of Jian'an (219) the Han River overflowed and Yu Jin's army was submerged, and Guan Yu besieged Cao Ren at Fan and Lü Chang at Xiangyang. Judging that most of his troops were new recruits and that it would be hard to meet Guan Yu head-on, Xu Huang stationed himself at Yanglingpo, and Cao Cao sent Xu Shang, Lü Jian and others, ordering them to advance together once all the troops and horses had assembled. The Biography of Dong Zhao records that when Cao Cao had Xu Huang shoot Sun Quan's letter by arrow into the besieged city and into Guan Yu's camp, the morale inside the city rose a hundredfold and Guan Yu hesitated. Records, Wei 1 §165 · 168Records, Wei 17 §65Records, Wei 14 §69

Guan Yu's army was stationed at Yancheng; by digging a great trench as if to cut off its rear, Xu Huang made the enemy burn their camp and flee. After taking Yancheng he advanced with camps linked on both sides to within three zhang of the enemy's siege lines, and twelve encampments, including those of Yin Shu and Zhu Gai, were added to his force. Spreading word that he would attack the camp at the head of the siege lines, he secretly attacked Sizhong, and Guan Yu came out in person with 5,000 infantry and cavalry; Xu Huang drove him back, then pursued him into the siege lines and broke them. Some of the enemy threw themselves into the Mian River and died. Records, Wei 17 §66

Of his breaking through the enemy's siege lines, ringed tenfold with trenches and abatis, Cao Cao issued an order saying, "I have commanded troops for more than thirty years, and among the skilled commanders of old that I have heard of, none drove deep and straight into an enemy's siege lines," and declared that the general's achievement surpassed that of Sun Wu and Rangju. When Xu Huang returned to Mobei, Cao Cao went out seven li to meet him and held a banquet. When Cao Cao inspected the camps, the soldiers all left their ranks to watch, but in Xu Huang's camp alone they stayed in formation, orderly and unmoving, and Cao Cao exclaimed, "General Xu may be said to have the bearing of Zhou Yafu." Records, Wei 17 §67–68

When Cao Pi became King of Wei, Xu Huang was made General of the Right and Marquis of Luxiang, and when Cao Pi ascended the imperial throne he was raised to Marquis of Yang. With Xiahou Shang he defeated Liu Bei's army at Shangyong; the Biography of Liu Feng records that at this time Xiahou Shang and Xu Huang, together with Meng Da, made a surprise attack on Liu Feng. Afterward he guarded Yangping and was transferred in fief to Marquis of Yangping, and when Cao Rui took the throne he held off the Wu general Zhuge Jin at Xiangyang. Records, Wei 17 §69Records, Shu 10 §6

He was frugal and cautious by nature. He always sent his scouts far ahead and fought only after first making himself unbeatable, and when pursuing a fleeing enemy his soldiers had no time even to eat. Saying, "The men of old worried that they would not meet an enlightened ruler; now that I have been fortunate enough to meet one, I will simply repay him with deeds of merit, and what use is private renown?", he never widened his circle of associates. When he fell gravely ill he left instructions to be shrouded in ordinary clothes, and he died in the 1st year of Taihe (227). His posthumous name was Marquis Zhuang, and his son Xu Gai succeeded him. Records, Wei 17 §69–70

In his assessment, Chen Shou said that when Cao Cao achieved his martial feats, five men stood foremost among his fine generals, and wrote that the deeds of Yu Jin, Zhang He and Yue Jin falling short of their reputations might be because something had been omitted from the records, so that they were not as detailed and complete as those of Zhang Liao and Xu Huang. Records, Wei 17 §74