Cao Hong

Cao Hong
A Qing dynasty illustration of Cao Hong
General of Cao Wei
Born	(Unknown)
Died	232
Names
Traditional Chinese	曹洪
Simplified Chinese	曹洪
Pinyin	Cáo Hóng
Wade–Giles	Ts'ao Hung
Courtesy name	Zilian (Chinese: 子廉; pinyin: Zǐlián; Wade–Giles: Tzu-lien)
Posthumous name	Marquis Gong (Chinese: 恭侯; pinyin: Gōng Hóu; Wade–Giles: Kung Hou)

Cao Hong (died 232),courtesy name Zilian, was a military general of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. He started his career in the late Eastern Han dynasty under the warlord Cao Cao, who was also an older second cousin of his.

Cao Hong's uncle, Cao Ding (曹鼎), served as the Prefect of the Masters of Writing (尚書令) in the Han central government. Because of this connection, Cao Hong gained an official appointment as the Chief (長) of Qichun County (蘄春縣; northwest of present-day Qichun County, Hubei).

Around 190, when the warlord Cao Cao raised an army to participate in the campaign against the tyrannical warlord Dong Zhuo, who controlled the Han central government, he engaged Dong Zhuo's general Xu Rong at the Battle of Xingyang. Xu Rong defeated Cao Cao in battle and forced him to retreat. While fleeing from the enemy, Cao Cao lost his horse so Cao Hong got off his own horse and offered it to him. When Cao Cao declined, Cao Hong said, "The world can do without (Cao) Hong, but it can't do without you." He then escorted Cao Cao on foot to the bank of the Bian River. As the river was too deep for them to wade across, Cao Hong swam around in search of a boat and finally found one. They crossed the river and returned to Cao Cao's hometown in Qiao County (譙縣; present-day Bozhou, Anhui) safely.

Chen Wen (陳溫), the Inspector of Yang Province, was on friendly terms with Cao Hong. At the time, Cao Hong had about 1,000 men from his own militia. He asked for troops from Chen Wen, who provided him with 2,000 of his best soldiers. Cao Hong then went to Danyang Commandery (丹楊郡) and managed to recruit about another 1,000 men with help from the commandery's Administrator, Zhou Xin. He brought along his 4,000 troops to meet Cao Cao at Longkang (龍亢; in present-day Huaiyuan County, Anhui) and became one of Cao's subordinates since then.