forces while his liege made his escape. He was promoted to colonel of the bodyguard unit known as the Tiger Warriors and later met his death against Zhang Xiu in 197. While echoes of Han organization continued through the formal titles of military structure, in effect the wars of the Three Kingdoms were fought between armies of bands led by individuals selected by dint of violence and charisma. Training Military training programs for the general populace in the inner provinces were mostly discontinued after 30 AD to reduce the risk of rebellion. The total number of professional soldiers in standing armies in the Eastern Han, including all the smaller groups, amounted to approximately 20,000 soldiers. Expeditions and campaigns relied upon tens of thousands of troops from local militia armies and non-Chinese auxiliaries, supplemented by professional and semi-professional troops. The men in the inner provinces of the empire could be called to serve during emergencies or serve in local militias to fight against bandits, but these men received no formal training or regular exercise. On the other hand, men of the frontier provinces were liable for conscription and military service as before. This had a negative impact on the performance of the Han army, as noted by Ying Shao, who remarked that "sending [such] men into battle without training is just throwing them away". The majority of soldiers recruited during the early stages of the Three Kingdoms period were thus "neither disciplined nor well trained in the use of arms". Formations and drill still existed, but these were the exceptions rather than the norm, and there is no evidence of troops engaging in a regular training system or large scale exercises. Most commanders favored simple rather than complex formations and maneuvers. An example of a formation that did exist is Zhuge Liang's Eight Formation Plan, which included different configurations named after Heaven, Earth, Wind, and Clouds. It is not clear what these designations mean, but the Eight Formation Plan was traditionally a square formation composed of nine divisions in three sections. The lack of training severely constrained the kind of orders a commander could give for his troops to follow. As a consequence of the limited tactical flexibility at their disposal, the majority of battles were carried out in one of two ways: a head on charge by elite shock troops followed by the loosely organized army of incoherent and disparately