Zhang He () (died July or August 231), courtesy name Junyi, was a military general serving under the warlord Cao Cao in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He continued serving in the state of Cao Wei under its first two rulers, Cao Pi and Cao Rui, during the Three Kingdoms period until his death.
Zhang He began his career under Han Fu, the governor of Ji Province, in the 180s when he joined the Han imperial forces in suppressing the Yellow Turban Rebellion. He became a subordinate of the warlord Yuan Shao in 191 after Yuan Shao seized the governorship of Ji Province from Han Fu. Throughout the 190s, Zhang He fought in the battles against Yuan Shao's northern rival, Gongsun Zan. In 200, Zhang He initially fought on Yuan Shao's side at the Battle of Guandu against Cao Cao, a warlord who controlled the Han central government. However, he defected to Cao Cao after Yuan Shao's defeat at Guandu in the same year. Since then, he had fought in several wars under Cao Cao's banner, including the campaigns against Yuan Shao's heirs and allies (201–207), the expeditions in northwestern China (211–214), and the battles around Hanzhong (215–219). After Cao Cao's death in 220, Zhang He served in Wei and fought in battles against Wei's rival states, Shu Han and Eastern Wu. His best known victory was at the Battle of Jieting in 228, in which he defeated the Shu general Ma Su by cutting off the enemy's access to water supplies and then attacking them. In 231, he was killed in an ambush laid by Shu forces during the Battle of Mount Qi while he was reluctantly pursuing a retreating enemy force.
Chen Shou, who wrote the third-century historical text Sanguozhi, named Zhang He as one of the Five Elite Generals of his time, alongside Yu Jin, Yue Jin, Zhang Liao and Xu Huang.
Service under Han Fu and Yuan Shao
Zhang He was from Mao County (鄚縣), Hejian State (河閒國), which is in present-day Maozhou, Hebei. Towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, when the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out, he responded to the Han government's call for volunteers to serve in the army and help suppress the revolt. He was commissioned as a Major (司馬) and placed under the command of Han Fu, the Inspector of Ji Province (present-day southern Hebei).
In 191, after Han Fu relinquished his control of Ji Province to the warlord Yuan Shao, Zhang He came to serve Yuan Shao and was promoted to the rank of Colonel (校尉). Between 191 and 199, Zhang He fought on Yuan Shao's side in the war between Yuan Shao and his rival Gongsun Zan. In 199, after Yuan Shao had eliminated Gongsun Zan at the Battle of Yijing, Zhang He was further promoted to General of the Household Who Brings Peace to the State (寧國中郎將) for his achievements in battle.
Battle of Guandu
In the year 200, Yuan Shao fought the Battle of Guandu with Cao Cao, a warlord who controlled the Han central government and the figurehead Emperor Xian. When Yuan Shao having a few advantages like a far larger army in the initial stages of the campaign, Zhang He suggested that he avoid direct confrontation with Cao Cao and instead send a light cavalry force south to attack the rear of Cao Cao's camp. Yuan Shao did not heed Zhang He's suggestion and attacked his foe's main force instead. In the first few battles of the campaign, Cao Cao's forces won several victories in which two of Yuan Shao's generals, Yan Liang and Wen Chou, were killed and no progress was made in overrunning Cao Cao's defenses.
Raid on Wuchao
Yuan Shao had sent his general Chunyu Qiong to guard his army's supply depot at Wuchao (烏巢; southeast of present-day Yanjin County, Henan). One night, Cao Cao led a raid on Wuchao to destroy Yuan Shao's supplies.
When news of the attack on Wuchao reached Yuan Shao's camp, Zhang He advised Yuan Shao: "Cao Cao's forces are well-trained so they will definitely defeat Chunyu Qiong. If Chunyu Qiong is defeated, all is lost for you, General. You should immediately dispatch forces to reinforce Wuchao." Yuan Shao's adviser Guo Tu disagreed with Zhang He: "Zhang He's idea isn't right. Why don't we attack Cao Cao's main camp instead? He will definitely head back to defend his camp. In this way, we can stop the attack on Wuchao without having to send reinforcements there." Zhang He replied: "Cao Cao's camp is well-defended and can't be conquered easily. If Chunyu Qiong is taken captive, we will all become prisoners-of-war."
Yuan Shao dispatched a detachment of light cavalry to reinforce Wuchao and sent heavily armed forces to attack Cao Cao's main camp. Cao Cao succeeded in destroying Yuan Shao's supplies at Wuchao, while his main camp successfully resisted Yuan Shao's attacks. Cao Cao scored an overall decisive victory over Yuan Shao in the battle.
Defecting to Cao Cao's side
Guo Tu felt embarrassed after seeing that his suggestion had resulted in Yuan Shao's defeat, so he attempted to divert attention away from himself by accusing Zhang He of displaying schadenfreude upon learning of their defeat. Zhang He became afraid when he heard about this, so he defected to Cao Cao's side.
Cao Cao was very pleased when Zhang He came to join him and he told Zhang He: "In the past, Wu Zixu failed to understand the situation and met his downfall. What if he had abandoned Yin like Weizi and defected to Han like Han Xin?"
The fifth-century historian Pei Songzhi pointed out a discrepancy between Zhang He's biography and the biographies of Cao Cao and Yuan Shao about the time when Zhang He defected to Cao Cao's side. According to Cao Cao's and Yuan Shao's biographies, Yuan Shao sent Zhang He and Gao Lan (高覽) to attack Cao Cao's main camp per Guo Tu's suggestion. They defected to Cao Cao when they learnt that Wuchao was lost, and their defection resulted in Yuan Shao's defeat. Based on these two accounts, Zhang He defected to Cao Cao before Yuan Shao's defeat at the Battle of Guandu. On the other hand, Zhang He's biography mentioned that Zhang He defected to Cao Cao after Yuan Shao's defeat at Guandu and after Guo Tu slandered him.
Service under Cao Cao
After his defection, Zhang He was appointed by the Han imperial court (under Cao Cao's control) as a Lieutenant-General (偏將軍) and enfeoffed as a Marquis of a Chief Village (都亭侯). Between 200 and 207, he fought on Cao Cao's side against Yuan Shao's heirs and allies at the battles of Ye (204), Bohai (205) and Liucheng (207). He was promoted to General Who Pacifies the Di (平狄將軍) for his contributions.
In 206, Zhang He participated in the campaign against pirate forces led by Guan Cheng (管承) in Donglai Commandery (東萊郡; around present-day Yantai and Weihai, Shandong).
In 209, after the Battle of Red Cliffs, Chen Lan (陳蘭) and Mei Cheng (梅成) started a rebellion in Lu County (六縣; in present-day Lu'an, Anhui). Cao Cao ordered Zhang Liao to lead a force to suppress the revolt. Zhang He and Niu Gai (牛蓋) served as Zhang Liao's deputies and succeeded in eliminating the rebels.
Campaigns in northwestern China
In 211, Zhang He participated in the Battle of Weinan against a coalition of warlords from the Guanzhong region led by Ma Chao and Han Sui. The coalition broke up after Cao Cao defeated the warlords in the battle. Cao Cao sent Zhang He to lead a force to attack one of the warlords, Yang Qiu, at Anding Commandery (安定郡; covering parts of present-day Ningxia and Gansu), and Zhang succeeded in forcing Yang Qiu to surrender.
In 212, Zhang He accompanied Xiahou Yuan on a campaign against another of the warlords, Liang Xing (梁興), and the Di tribes in Wudu Commandery (武都郡; in present-day Longnan, Gansu). In 214, Xiahou Yuan and Zhang He defeated Ma Chao, who had borrowed troops from the warlord Zhang Lu in Hanzhong Commandery after being driven out of Guanzhong. They also eliminated rebel forces led by Song Jian (宋建).
Battles in Hanzhong
In 215, when Cao Cao launched a campaign against Zhang Lu in Hanzhong Commandery, he first sent Zhang He to lead an army ahead to attack Liang Xing (梁興) and the Di tribal king, Dou…