Chinese Name: Han Tao

Japanese Name: Hyakushōshō Kantō

Rank: 42nd of the 108 Stars of Destiny

Nickname: Ever Victorious General  

Colonel Han Tao was a highly skilled military instructor from Shandong. His weapon of choice was an eighteen foot lance made of date tree wood.

Grand Marshal Gao Qiu gave Huyan Zhuo (plate 55) a force of 5000 cavalry and 5000 infantry men, and appointed him the task of taking down the Liangshan bandits once and for all. Huyan Zhuo requested Han Tao and Peng Qi (plate 72) to be his lieutenants. 

Huyan Zhuo’s cavalry men and their horses wore heavy armor and were chained together in groups of thirty. The combined power of the linked horses made them nearly unstoppable and the armor rendered Liangshan’s spears and arrows useless. The Liangshan leaders recruited drill instructor Xu Ning (plate 59) to help them fight Huyan Zhuo. Xu Ning knew the secret of using hooked spears to fight against a linked-armored-cavalry. When Liangshan’s army implemented this new tactic, Huyan Zhuo’s men were caught off guard and their horses toppled. About 1500 horses were killed, which Liangshan took for food, another 1500 horses were captured, and 5000 men were taken prisoner including Colonel Han Tao.

When Han Tao arrived at the stronghold, he and several other captured officers were convinced to join with the forces of Liangshan.

Han Tao is depicted here holding his lance made of date tree wood.  

Isaac Nichols Original