During the Three Kingdoms period, each country had its own elite army, and the first person to do so was Cao Cao, who established the world-famous "Tiger and Panther Horse" in the early three kingdoms, although this unit rarely left its name in the history books, and did not often appear in the wars of Shu and Wu, and was ridiculed by Zhuge Liang as the "end of the strong crossbow", but Cao Cao still attached great importance to this army, only handed over to the Cao family to manage, the tiger and leopard riding did not disappoint Cao Cao, not only defeated Liu Bei's army several times, did not fall behind in the face of foreign WuHuan, and even beheaded Shan Yu Dun's head.
Since Cao Cao was betrayed in his youth, he developed a suspicious personality, because Cao Cao attached great importance to the tiger and leopard riding, and was afraid that this elite army would be controlled by generals with different surnames, so the commanders had always been Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Cao Chun, Xiahou Huan, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Zhen, Cao Xiu, and Xiahou Shang.
Since Cao Cao's father was originally a member of the Xiahou family, Xiahou Huan, Xiahou Yuan, Xiahou Shang, and others had the opportunity to command this army, and these 8 people became the "Eight Tiger Riders". This army is recorded in the canonical history of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but it is not mentioned in the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
The "Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and the Book of Wei" records that "the soldiers who can become tigers and leopards who can become tigers and leopards from a hundred people" must be good at picking one out of a hundred, or generals of other troops, that is to say, Cao Cao is not heavy, although the number of tiger and leopard riders is small, but it is the most elite and trustworthy unit under his command.
In the tenth year of Jian'an (205), Yuan Shao's eldest son Yuan Tan changed from Lian Cao to rebel Cao, and Cao Chun led the tiger and leopard to surround Nanpi and behead Yuan Tan, which was the battle for Nanpi. In the same year, his brothers Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang, who were vying for power with Yuan Tan, defected to the northern people of Wuhuan, after which Cao Chun led the tiger and leopard to ride the northern expedition to the three counties at the Battle of White Wolf Mountain and captured Wuhuan's leader Jiandun.
In the thirteenth year of Jian'an (208), Liu Biao, who was in charge of Jingzhou, died, and Liu Bei led more than 100,000 people and thousands of vehicles to attack Jiangling a day; for this reason, Cao Cao sent Cao Chun to lead 5,000 tigers and leopards to ride in a hurry, traveling more than 300 miles a day and night, rushing to Dangyang to trigger the Battle of Changshanpo, and finally defeated Liu Bei, gaining his second daughter, Yuanzhong, and collecting his scattered pawns.
In the sixteenth year of Jian'an (211), Cao Jun and Xiliang Machao and other ten guanzhong departments showed signs of tiger and leopard riding in the confrontation at Tongguan, and beheaded the Western Liang generals ChengYi and Li Kan.
As for how strong this force was, according to the Book of Wei and the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, in 204 AD, the first battle of the tiger and leopard riding was the Battle of Nanpi, in which the tiger and leopard rode to kill Yuan Shao's eldest son Yuan Tan and won the first victory.
Three years later, the tiger and leopard rode in 207 AD, the northern expedition to the foreign Wuhuan, in the Battle of the White Wolf Mountain, beheaded the first rank of Shan Yu Indun, the following year the tiger and leopard rode, grew to the size of 5,000 cavalry, and together with Cao Cao's army went south to pursue the fleeing Liu Bei, and won a great victory in the Battle of Changshanpo.
In 211 AD, the tiger and leopard rode to conquer Ma Chao's Western Liang Iron Horse, beheading Cheng Yi and Li Kan, and the last time the tiger and leopard rode was recorded in the history books was in 218 AD, when this elite army killed Liu Bei's general Wu Lan.
According to the Book of Later Han, when the tiger and leopard horses did not send troops, they would be divided into 2 teams, one team was responsible for defending Cao Cao and the highest command organ of the army called "Bafu", and the other team was responsible for staying in the imperial palace, although Kong Ming once said that the tiger and leopard riding was the end of the strong crossbow, but this army often killed Liu Bei's army almost completely destroyed, if Guan Yu did not arrive, there may not have been Shu Han in history, after Cao Cao's death, Cao Pi called the emperor, he incorporated the tiger and leopard riding into the central forbidden army, so that this legendary army slowly faded out of the stage of history.