Cen Zeliu (; 1912–1941), also Shum Tsak-lau ''(

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...

)'': was born in

Enping Enping, alternately romanized as Yanping, is a county-level city in Guangdong province, China, administered as part of the prefecture-level city of Jiangmen. Enping administers an area of and had an estimated population of 460,000 in 2005 ...

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. He trained in the Guangdong provincial aviation academy as a fighter pilot, graduating in 1934, and attached to the provincial warlord air force of General

Chen Jitang Chen Jitang () (January 23, 1890 – November 3, 1954), also spelled Chen Chi-tang, was born into a Hakka Chinese family in Fangcheng, Guangxi. He joined the Chinese Revolutionary Alliance in 1908 and began serving in the Guangdong Army in 19 ...

. With the imminence of war between China and the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...

brewing ever since the Manchurian Incident of 1931, Cen Zeliu and his compatriots were indignant on taking the fight back to the Imperial Japanese invasion and occupation. In May 1936, General Chen Jitang conspired to join the warlord regiment of the New Guangxi Clique in an affront against the hope of joining with the

central government of China The State Council, constitutionally synonymous with the Central People's Government since 1954 (particularly in relation to local governments), is the chief administrative authority of the People's Republic of China. It is chaired by the p ...

under Generalissimo

Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...

for a unified national front against the ambitions and aggressions of the Imperial Japanese invasion; this set the stage for Cen Zeliu and members of the Guangdong Air Force under General Huang Guangrui, the air force's Commander-in-Chief, to embark on the "''Northern Flight"'' (''北飛'') defection to the centralized Nationalist Air Force of China in midst of the Guangzhou-Guangxi Incident in June–July 1936.

Career

With the outbreak of the

War of Resistance The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in Asia following the 7/7 Incident, then-Lieutenant Cen Zeliu along with his ex-Guangdong warlord air force squadron mates were all assigned to their station at Jurong Airbase as the 8th Pursuit Squadron of the 3rd Pursuit Group of the Nationalist Air Force of China equipped with the

Fiat CR.32 The Fiat CR.32 was an Italian biplane fighter used in the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War. Designed by the aeronautical engineer Celestino Rosatelli, it was a compact, robust and highly manoeuvrable aircraft for its era, leading to i ...

fighter planes; they would engage the Imperial Japanese in aerial combat for the first time on 15 August 1937 when

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

G3M bombers of the Kisarazu Kokutai raided Jurong, and Lt. Cen Zeliu and Lt. Huang Chuku would each share a G3M kill each with their 8th PS squadron mates in this battle. A total of fourteen G3Ms were shot down by various pilots of the 3rd, 4th and 5th groups (flying Hawk IIs/ Hawk IIIs and P-26 Model 281s) in this engagement over the Nanjing area, and this was a severe blow to the Japanese Naval Air command whom were strongly influenced with the idea that they could simply neutralize the Chinese Air Force and the Nationalist government with the blitz of their ''schnellbomber'' (fast bomber) attack, based on the aerial warfare theories of

Giulio Douhet General Giulio Douhet (30 May 1869 – 15 February 1930) was an Italian general and air power theorist. He was a key proponent of strategic bombing in aerial warfare. He was a contemporary of the 1920s air warfare advocates Walther Wever, Billy ...

as exemplified a few months prior in the

Bombing of Guernica On 26 April 1937, the Basque town of Guernica (''Gernika'' in Basque) was aerial bombed during the Spanish Civil War. It was carried out at the behest of Francisco Franco's rebel Nationalist faction by its allies, the Nazi German Luftwaffe's ...

in Spain, but unbeknownst to the Japanese, the Chinese Air Force had the advantage of an effective early air raid-warning net, and fighter aircraft that were almost as fast as the modern and sleek G3Ms (G3M max-speed of 232 mph vs CR.32 max-speed of 220 mph, or 225 mph and 234 mph of the Hawk IIIs and P-26/281s respectively in primary use by the CAF), but can still engage the fleeing G3M bombers with the proper vectoring and diving maneuvers. Lt. Cen Zeliu attacked the cruiser

Izumo Izumo (出雲) may refer to: Locations * Izumo Province, an old province of Japan * Izumo, Shimane, a city located in Shimane Prefecture ** Izumo Airport * Izumo-taisha, one of Japan's most ancient and important Shinto shrines Ships * ''Izumo ...

on 8 September 1937, although his bombs didn't not hit the ship. He was then transferred to Gongxingdun Aerodrome in

Lanzhou Lanzhou (, ; ) is the capital and largest city of Gansu Province in Northwest China. Located on the banks of the Yellow River, it is a key regional transportation hub, connecting areas further west by rail to the eastern half of the country. H ...

to train in, and help other Chinese Air Force fighter pilots with conversion into Soviet-made Polikarpov I-15 and I-16 fighters supplied under the new Sino-Soviet Treaty of 1937. His next battles would take place with the

close-air support In military tactics, close air support (CAS) is defined as air action such as air strikes by fixed or rotary-winged aircraft against hostile targets near friendly forces and require detailed integration of each air mission with fire and movem ...

Fenglingdu Fenglingdu () is a town in Ruicheng County, Yuncheng, Shanxi, China. , it administers Fenghuang Residential Community () and the following 34 villages: *Zhao Village () *Xiwang Village () *Puzi Village () *Dongzhang Village () *Tianshang Village ...

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

province on 8 March 1938, and participated in an air-battle over the city of

Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by #Name, other names, is the list of capitals in China, capital of Shaanxi, Shaanxi Province. A Sub-provincial division#Sub-provincial municipalities, sub-provincial city o ...

on 11 March 1938 as the new commander of the 17th Pursuit Squadron. Lt. Cen would then be dispatched to the defense of the provisional wartime capital of

Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei, Hubei Province in the China, People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the List of cities in China ...

, at the

Xiaogan Xiaogan () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Hubei province, People's Republic of China, some northwest of the provincial capital of Wuhan. According to the 2020 census, its population totaled 4,270,371, of whom 988,479 lived in the built ...

Airbase, where he fought alongside the

Soviet Volunteer Group The Soviet Volunteer Group was the volunteer part of the Soviet Air Forces sent to support the Republic of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War between 1937 and 1941. After the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, the Sino-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact w ...

aviators in the massive 100-plane air-battle against the IJN A5M fighters and G3M bombers over Wuhan on the 29 April 1938; shooting down 21 of the enemy aircraft.

References

Bibliography * Cheung, Raymond. ''Osprey Aircraft of the Aces 126: Aces of the Republic of China Air Force''. Oxford: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2015. . * 徐 (Xú), 露梅 (Lùméi). ''隕落 (Fallen): 682位空军英烈的生死档案 - 抗战空军英烈档案大解密 (A Decryption of 682 Air Force Heroes of The War of Resistance-WWII and Their Martyrdom)''. 东城区, 北京，中国: 团结出版社, 2016. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Cen, Zeliu Republic of China Air Force personnel Chinese aviators Chinese World War II flying aces Aviators killed by being shot down 1912 births 1941 deaths Chinese military personnel killed in World War II