Pang De



Pang De is one of the generals of Ma Teng and later Cao Cao in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

History
Pang De initially worked as a clerk in his hometown, Nan'an. During the Liangzhou rebellion, he volunteered to follow Ma Teng's army, which at that time was still under the leadership of the Liang provincial overseer. After the supervisor was killed during the rebellion, he continued to follow Ma Teng. Later Ma Teng would combine the strength of his forces with Han Sui's forces who had been rebels two years earlier. They used Wang Guo as a leader they could control, then together attacked the areas around Chang`an. After the huge defeat they suffered in the Chencang battle in 188, there were fights between the rebels. During the battle, Pang De also contributed by defeating Qiang and Di's forces. Thanks to his efforts, Ma Teng could become one of the great rulers of Liangzhou and Han Sui was crowned colonel by Ma Teng.

In 202, Yuan Shang sent his general, Guo Yuan, to lead a joint army of Yuan Shang and the Xiongnu tribe to invade Hedong. Pang De and Ma Chao were sent by Ma Teng to help general Cao Cao, Zhong Yao, to fight the enemy who was about to attack. In the battle, Pang De led the front row of troops to attack the enemy who was crossing the lower plains at the time. With the destruction of the enemy army formation, Guo Yuan became easily attacked. Seeing this opportunity, Pang De immediately slipped in the middle of the panic to decapitate Guo Yuan. Recorded in Wei's Brief History, that after the battle was over, Cao Cao's victorious side could not find Guo Yuan's head. At night when the generals were gathering to celebrate their victory, Pang De threw a head out. Zhong Yao who was an uncle of Guo Yuan immediately recognized the head. He sadly said that it was Guo Yuan's head. Pang De immediately apologized to Zhong Yao, but Zhong Yao said to Pang De, "Even though I am Guo Yuan's uncle, he is still a traitor to the country, why are you apologizing?"

After Ma Teng was summoned to Xuchang, his son Ma Chao had temporarily taken over the leadership of the army. Ma Chao then decided to make peace with Han Sui for a while. Together they created an alliance consisting of leaders within the same border area, including Yang Qiu, Li Kan, Cheng Yi, and several other leaders, to fight Cao Cao from the east of the Tong border. Pang De also followed Ma Chao to Hanzhong, where they fought under the leadership of Governor Zhang Lu. When the ruler Liu Zhang was attacked by Liu Bei, Ma Chao was sent by Zhang Lu to suppress Liu Zhang's territory. But because he was instigated by Liu Bei, Ma Chao was framed to kill his colleague Yang Bai. After that he escaped from Zhang Lu and brought his troops under his command to join Liu Bei. At that time Pang De was sick so he was forced to stay in Hanzhong. Later when Cao Cao captured the city of Hanzhong, Pang De volunteered to surrender. Amazed by the courage of Pang De while in the battle against Guo Yuan in previous years, Cao Cao appointed him as "General Who Has Honor".

When Hou Yin rebelled and took over Wan city, De Pang was sent with Cao Ren to drown the rebellion. After they finished the task, Cao Ren was ordered to settle in Fancheng. Meanwhile Pang De was placed under Yu Jin's command who would be sent to fight the invasion of Liu Bei. The leader of the enemy forces at that time was one of the enemy generals respected by many people, Guan Yu. At that time Guan Yu had divided a number of his troops surrounding the cities of Xiangyang and Fancheng to suppress enemy movements. Given the Pang De's older brother, Pang Rou and previous masters, Ma Chao was on Liu Bei's side, many people in Fan's city doubted Pang De's loyalty. In order to prove his loyalty, Pang De volunteered to lead a small army to confront Guan Yu. On one occasion, Pang De fired an arrow and hit Guan Yu's head protector. Because of this incident, Pang De became known by enemy forces as "General of White Horse Riding" from the white horse he often rode. With Pang De feared by enemy forces, subsequent attacks on the formation of enemy forces began to have a significant impact.

After two weeks of heavy rain, the Han River beside Fancheng began to overflow, causing Yu Jin's troops to be swept away by the overflowing river water. De De and several of his people were forced to seek refuge in the nearest dam. Guan Yu's troops began shooting at them with arrows from their large ship. Meanwhile, Pang De also fired back with incredible accuracy. At that time, many of Yu Jin's troops who were in the river, surrendered to the enemy and were helped by Guan Yu's troops. Seeing this, Pang De, Dong Heng and Dong Chang's colleagues suggested that Pang De also surrender. Hearing this, Pang De became angry and immediately executed them on the spot, then he resumed his resistance. The battle continued from morning to evening, and the attack from Guan Yu's troops slowly became more intense. Because of running out of arrows, Pang De and his troops were forced to advance against the enemy for close combat. Meanwhile, the water level is still increasing and almost all of Pang De's troops have surrendered to the enemy. With the remaining three people, Pang De used a small ship trying to pedal back into the city. But unfortunately the ship was reversed so that Pang De was easily captured by enemy forces.