Black Flag

They were cultivated by the Zhou and is one of Zhou clan’s trump cards to survive these times of war.

Structure
Competition in the Zhou clan's private army is very intense. Only the top ranking soldiers can gain recognition from the master. The Black Flag soldiers are usually scheming against each other, after all they are competitors. Even at the time, when their numbers still were 5,000 troops, they killed each other without mercy.

If they perform meritorious deeds they can be given freedom by their master, no longer slaves and become truly independent. When that time comes, one can truly bring honor to his ancestors. When their leader is injured, their first response is not that of concern, but of happiness. How can a crippled person still block their advancement? When one obtains five heads for their promotion. The next five head can get him 100 taels of gold and if one does not want a promotion, their promotion can be exchanged with 500 taels of gold.

Personnel

 * Cheng Quan: Team Leader
 * Gu Jun: Vice Leader

History
The Zhou clan secretly picked up 5,000 orphans to train to become the Black Flag. They are the Zhou clan's private property. Each Black Flag soldiers was trained from their childhood. Originally there were 5,000 orphans who were trained but in the end, they only 3,000 troops were left. The others died during training.

They were trained by the Zhou clan from childhood. They are children of commoners that were picked personally by Zhou clan. The Black Flag soldiers ate until full from their childhood and their fate was much better than those of other commoners who joined to become soldiers.

These Black Flag soldiers originally were reserved by the Zhou clan to be used by Sun Ce to fight for hegemony and also in order to raise the Zhou clan's importance in Jiangdong. They were never able to merge with Sun Ce’s army after being deployed in order to retake this Wancheng city.

They were given by Zhou Cheng by Zhou Yi. They infiltrated Wancheng city at the time Lu Bu’s main army was still in there. They were dressed as merchants and commoners to enter Wancheng city and after that they were quickly gathered in the Zhou clan’s mansion. 3 of 4 gates of Wancheng city were taken thanks to them.

Liu Mang laid a big net in order to destroy these elites. Otherwise these 3,000 heavy infantries would sooner or later be big trouble. If they were allowed to gain experience and grow, in the future one division would trade their life in order to destroy them.

Liu Mang deduced that these heavy infantries had a strong offense and defense. His Urban Army’s potential is only 1/4 that of the Black Flag and he could only form a very small Phalanx Formation with these soldiers which comprised of 300 great shield soldiers along with 300 spearmen and 300 archers. Liu Mang was not a stupid person, if he attacked them heads-on, then his Urban Army would definitely perished. Even if he somehow won, the Urban Army would be left with only 10% of its original roster and would be unable to form the Urban Army again. Liu Mang could not afford this loss. Therefore, he implemented a feign retreat. These heavy infantries' offense and defense were very good, but there is one fatal flaw to these heavy infantries. The burden on their armor was around 50 kg.

These elites chased the Urban Army across Wancheng city, from the West Gate to East Gate. The Black Flag's stamina had already been drained from the cat and mouse chase. From the start was burdened with 50 kg of helmet and armor. Adding Cheng Yu’s attack, further strained their bodies. Liu Mang made the great shield soldiers discard their great shields, helmet and armor in order to pick up the pace with the retreat. Therefore this 15-li distance was only regarded as warm-up to them and none of them were in condition like those of Black Flag.

Zhou Cheng is the Zhou clan's little lord. Since his childhood he had been involved in military matters. But Zhou Cheng is a person who only exceled in theory not in actual practice.

Abilities
They all wear black heavy armor and wield heavy weaponry. They could be compared to the Formation Breakers of Lu Bu’s army. These 3,000 troops are all elites with heights over 180 cm, so they definitely can put on heavy armor.

The Black Flag's body armor and weaponry was also built by the Zhou clan. Shucheng County's foremost natural resource is iron ore. The Zhou clan mined and refined iron ore for a lot of years in order to make these 3,000 armors and weaponry. Their armor and weaponry were about 50 kg, with upper body having 25 kg, and lower body also having 25 kg also. Their defensive power is very strong but they placed much burden on the soldiers. But their speed is really fast when forming its formation. They are in another class of their own.

The Black Flag's soldiers' stamina is pretty high. They are professional soldiers from childhood whose battle experience are very rich. They needed more than ten years to develop their stamina and skills until they became so skilled.

They are heavy infantry, and their method of attack is crushing their enemies with sheer strength. Although they are slow, every step they take strikes fear in their opponent’s hearts. The imposing look of their heavy armor would make anyone cower.

If the battle is in open-field, the Black Flag would not be so good, because they simply did not have enough speed to attack and any enemy can avoid them.

Volley-fire is futile against the Black Flag. The volley-fire simply cannot penetrate their heavy armor and they occasionally deflected the arrows using their own weapons.

The fatal flaw of these heavy infantries lies on the stamina of their soldiers. They can attack and defend, but they cannot fight an endurance battle because of the weight of their armor.