Cai He (162-208) was the brother of Cai Mao and a general who served under Liu Biao and Cao Cao. He was used by Cao Cao against Zhou Yu in a failed defection ploy at the Battle of Chibi, after which Zhou Yu had him beheaded.
Biography[]
Cai He was born in 162, the same year as his brother Cai Mao; he was also brothers with Cai Zhong and Cai Xun. All of the brothers served the warlord, Liu Biao, and Cai He served as a general of his brother, Cai Mao's domain. In 208 AD, Cai He guarded the Xian Hills in an attempt to assassinate Liu Bei on hs brother's orders, as his brother supported Cao Cao's takeover of Jing Province.
The brothers came to serve Cao Cao at the Battle of Chibi, where Cai Mao was executed after he was accused of treason. Cao Cao then sent Cai He and Cai Zhong to pretend to defect to Sun Quan's army, hoping to have them spy on Wu. However, Zhou Yu saw through the ploy and informed Cai He that Huang Gai, Kan Zhe, and Gan Ning intended to defect to Cao Cao, which Cai He passed along to his commander.
However, before the attack began, Zhou Yu had Cai He imprisoned and informed him that he had ordered his own generals to "defect", causing Cai He great dismay. He then ahd Cai He beheaded and used his blood as a sacrifice to bless his army's black flag.
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