Cao Chun

Cao Chun (died 210),courtesy name Zihe, was a cavalry general serving under the warlord Cao Cao in the late Eastern Han dynasty. He was the younger brother of Cao Ren, a better known general who also served under Cao Cao. He commanded the elite mounted force – the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry (虎豹骑) – in several campaigns against Cao Cao's rivals Yuan Tan, Tadun and Liu Bei.

Life

Cao Chun was a younger brother of Cao Ren. When Cao Chun was thirteen, their father died and the brothers took over the family estates and several hundred servants in their employ, whom Cao Chun managed well. Being well-learned himself, Cao Chun also befriended scholars, who flocked to him.

At seventeen, Cao Chun entered the Han imperial court in Luoyang as the Attendant at the Yellow Gates (黄门侍郎, a spokesman for the emperor). In 189, Cao Chun joined his elder cousin Cao Cao's army and followed him to war against Dong Zhuo, the tyrannical warlord who held the emperor hostage.

During the siege of Nanpi against Yuan Tan in early 205, Cao Chun commanded the elite mounted force – the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. In the initial stage of the confrontation, Cao Cao's troops suffered significant losses to skirmishes by the enemy but eventually prevailed. Cao Chun's men took the head of Yuan Tan.