Yang Ang

Yang Ang (楊昂, onoyomi Yan'an) was a general of Zhang Lu during the Late Han Dynasty. He fought against Cao Cao at Yangping Gate and was killed in action by the latter's forces.

Roles in Games
Romance of the Three Kingdoms portrays Yang Ang as one of Zhang Lu's generals. Military-wise, he is decent with his Leadership and War stats in the high 60s to low 70s. His other stats however fall low, ranging in the mid 30s to low 40s. Domestically and Politically, he is a terrible choice.

Historical Information
Nothing was known about Yang Ang's year of birth and place of origin. His earliest mention in historical records was in the year 213. When Ma Chao borrowed troops from Zhang Lu to attack the city of Jicheng in Liang Province, Yang Ang was sent with a detachment to support the former. After Ma Chao seized Jicheng and forced it's governor Wei Kang to surrender, Yang Ang was ordered by Ma Chao to assassinate Wei Kang and others to eliminate them as possible threats. Ultimately, Ma Chao and Yang Ang were forced to retreat when Yang Fu and others started a mutiny on behalf of Cao Cao in order to expel Ma Chao from Liang.

2 years later in 215, after the warlord Liu Bei took control of Yi province from Liu Zhang. Cao Cao decided to start a campaign against Zhang Lu to take Hanzhong to guard against Liu Bei. Zhang Lu prepared beforehand in advance of Cao Cao's coming assault and dispatched Yang Ang and Zhang Wei to guard Yangping Pass and block Cao Cao's army from advancing into Hanzhong. While the two were initially successful in beating off Cao Cao's attacks, Cao Cao pretended to retreat to bluff Zhang Lu's forces into lowering their defences, then he launched a Night assault catching Zhang Lu's army off guard. During the Night battle, Yang Ang was slain in the fighting while Zhang Wei was said to have fled or also been slain.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Yang Ang makes his first appearance in Chapter 67, where like in history he is sent along with Zhang Wei and Yang Ren to defend Yangping Pass. They scored initial success when attacking Xiahou Yuan and Zhang He's camp, forcing the 2 to retreat. Later however, when Cao Cao feigned retreat, Yang Ang wished to attack the former's rear whereas Yang Ren opposed. Yang Ang ignored Yang Ren and took the majority of the passes defenders to attack Cao Cao, and got lost due to fog and fell in with Xiahou Yuan. During the confused fighting in the fog, Yang Ang's camp was taken, seeing trouble in his rear, Yang Ang returned to his camp and found himself trapped between Cao Cao's army. He was slain by Zhang He after a short duel. His death was reported by Yang Ren to Zhang Wei who abandoned Yangping pass shortly after. When Zhang Lu threatened to execute Yang Ren for his failure, Yang Ren shifted the blame to Yang Ang for disregarding his advice.