In "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Xu Rong is a complete miscellaneous fish character who was stabbed under the horse after a few friends with Xiahoudun, and in historical records, he did not describe much, and was basically ignored by everyone, but is Xu Rong really such an insignificant and incapable small character? Xu Rong has only been recorded in three battles in history, against Cao Cao, Sun Jian, Li Dao, and Guo Yan. Below we are reviewing those three encounters.

The first Cao Cao vs Xu Rong

In the first year of Chuping (190), Dong Zhuo moved the capital to Chang'an, and Cao Cao took the opportunity to lead his army to attack. At this time, Cao Cao led the soldiers and horses of his headquarters and a group of soldiers and horses brought by Zhang Miao's generals Wei Zi, Cao Cao originally recruited about 5,000 soldiers, and Wei Zi's reinforcements were estimated to be several thousand, and the overall strength was about 10,000 people (it could not be too little, too little Cao Cao would be unrealistic to attack Dong Zhuo), but most of them were new soldiers, and the equipment was not very good. And Xu Rong's army is estimated to be more than Cao Cao's army, but as a partial army, there will not be more than 100,000 people, but there are still 10,000 or 20,000 people, and the Xiliang army has been on the battlefield for a long time, well-equipped, and its combat effectiveness is not comparable to Cao Cao's new army.

Although Cao Cao also participated in the battle against the Yellow Turban Army, the disadvantage of his own army was too obvious, and he was completely defeated by Xu Rong, the army was not only defeated, Wei Zi was killed in battle, and he was also hit by stray arrows. In this battle, Cao Cao overestimated himself and underestimated Dong Zhuo's Xiliang army, and was completely defeated; Although Xu Rong won, his advantage is too obvious, and it can only be said that this is normal.

The second game, Sun Jian vs Xu Rong

In the second year of Chuping (191), after Sun Jian and Yuan Shu reconciled, after a period of supply and recuperation, he reorganized the army and stationed troops in Liangdong to prepare to conquer Dong Zhuo, at this time Dong Zhuo also ordered Xu Rong and Li Meng to attack and plunder, and the result was that Sun Jian was surrounded by Xu Rong and his troops in Liang County (some people think it was an encounter).

The strength of both sides in this battle is unknown. It is recorded that Sun Jian's army had reached tens of thousands of troops before he joined Yuan Shu (some of them may have been cut later), and Sun Jian did not march blindly, he began to march after a period of repair in the army, Sun Jian was engaged in Zhang Wen before, and had a considerable understanding of the Xiliang Army, and even proposed to Zhang Wen to kill Dong Zhuo, it can be said that Sun Jian was very well prepared for this battle.

But Sun Jian still lost, in order to be able to run away and even let his subordinates be stand-ins, Li Tao, the Yingchuan Taishou who was traveling with him, was also arrested by Xu Rong, and was finally killed by the people of the Xiliang Army, and the result was not much better than Cao Cao's classmates. This battle can completely show that Xu Rong's military level is quite high, especially after Sun Jian collected the defeated army, he relied on those remnants of the defeated generals (and maybe some of Yuan Shu's reinforcements) to win three battles and three victories, defeated Lu Bu, Dong Zhuo and others in a row, and actually recovered Luoyang. If you want to say that Xu Rong has a clear advantage in the military quality of the Xiliang Army, I'm afraid that Lu Bu and Dong Zhuo behind will not be happy.

In the entire history of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Cao and Sun Jian are definitely super-first-class military commanders, but these two people have been abused by Xu Rong one after another, not simply lost but completely abused in the real sense, the army was defeated by Xu Rong, his teammates were killed, and he only relied on his subordinates to escape, which has proved that Xu Rong's military level is definitely not covered, and Cao Cao and Sun Jian are already good if they survive. It's a pity that God no longer gives Xu Rong a chance to prove himself, on the contrary, black and white impermanence has come to Xu Rong.

In the third game, Li Dao, Guo Yan vs Hu Zhen, Xu Rong

In the third year of Chuping (192), after Dong Zhuo was killed by Lü Bu and Wang Yun, Li Dao, Guo Yan and others marched into Chang'an in the name of revenge for Dong Zhuo, and Wang Yun sent Hu Zhen and Xu Rong to lead the army to crusade against the two of them, and the two sides fought in Xinfeng.

Although there is no record in history, Hu Zhen and Xu Rong should have led their old troops (think about Wang Yun's attitude towards the Xiliang army), and the difference in the strength of the two sides is estimated to be not large. On both sides were the Xiliang army, and the number was about the same, but the result was that Hu Zhen surrendered and Xu Rong died in battle.

That's right, Xu Rong knelt like this, it can be said that he died very unjustly, and it can also be said that he died very clearly. Due to Wang Yun's series of unfavorable measures against the Xiliang army, the minds of the people in Xiliang have changed. Xu Rong's military level has not decreased, but his command power has been reduced by half, and Xu Rong's soldiers are also his old troops, but they are even more Xiliang people! And Xu Rong is not. Before this war started, the outcome had actually been decided, the Xiliang Army would win, and Xu Rong was no longer a Xiliang soldier, so he died, and it was natural that he died, not because of ability, nor because of the name, but because the military heart of the Xiliang Army was still in the Xiliang Army!

As I mentioned earlier, below Dong Zhuo, the second echelon of the Xiliang Army is those Zhonglang generals, mainly including Lu Bu, Niu Fu, Dong Yue, Duan Xuan, Hu Zhen, Xu Rong and other six people. Among them, Niu Fu and Dong Yue are Dong Zhuo's relatives, Niu Fu is Dong Zhuo's son-in-law, and Dong Yue is Dong Zhuo's relative; Duan Xuan and Hu Zhen are both from Xiliang, and they are both veterans, among which Hu Zhen is still a famous family in Liangzhou; And Lu Bu is not to mention, although he is not from Xiliang, he is superior in personal force, and he also helped Dong Zhuo kill Ding Yuan, and was regarded as a righteous son by Dong Zhuo. So why did Xu Rong, a native of Liaodong, be promoted to Zhonglang by Dong Zhuo and be on the same level as these people? How can he compare to Li Dao, Guo Yan, these old men of Xiliang and Dong Zhuo's other relatives?

Although there is no clear record in history of how Xu Rong became a lieutenant general, we can guess that there is only one possibility——— relying on strength.

Xu Rong is very tragic in history, he obviously has a superhuman military level, but he can't get the heavy responsibilities he deserves, like the two battles with Cao Cao and Sun Jian are basically fought by Xu Rong himself. Later, Dong Zhuo simply forgot about him, and even when Sun Jian won consecutive battles, he didn't remember him. When Dong Zhuo died, Xu Rong returned to the court but was idle because of Wang Yun's distrust, and when Li Dao and Guo Yan called, Wang Yun sent him out with a dog-eat-dog mentality, and finally sent him to death, Xu Rong did not surrender in the end, he died in the chaos, this may also be the final destination of the general.

Name: Rong Xu

Attributes: Commander (A-) has a brilliant record, but too little historical record

Armed forces (B+) As an excellent general, although he is not known for his outstanding force, his personal strength will not be low

General comment (B) Xu Rong is indeed very powerful, but he is not the core figure in history

Gender: Male

Ethnicity: Han

Class: General

Official position: Zhonglang General

Family Origin: ???

Birth and death: ??? －－－192

Place of birth: A native of Xiangping, Liaodong

Main social relationship: Friend Gongsun Du

Major Experiences:

??? Born in Liaodong in 189, he later followed Dong Zhuo

From 189 to 191, he entered Luoyang with Dong Zhuo, and was later named Zhonglang General, successively defeated Cao Cao and Sun Jian, and once elected Gongsun Du as the Taishou of Liaodong

After Dong Zhuo's death in 192, he took refuge in the imperial court and was sent by Wang Yun to crusade against Li Dao and Guo Yan, but was defeated and killed

Summary: Although you are a general, Dong Zhuo and Wang Yun can't use people.