Liu Yuzhang (; 11 November 1903 – 11 April 1981), nicknamed the "Bald General", was a prominent Chinese (

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

) general. He was one of the very few KMT commanders who could defeat both the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

and Communist

PLA PLA may refer to: Organizations Politics and military * People's Liberation Army, the armed forces of China and of the ruling Chinese Communist Party * People's Liberation Army (disambiguation) ** Irish National Liberation Army, formerly called ...

in the

Second Sino-Japanese War 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 and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

and

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...

, respectively.

Whampoa Military Academy

Liu enrolled in the fourth cadet class in 1925. Some of his well-known classmates included

Lin Biao ) , serviceyears = 1925–1971 , branch = People's Liberation Army , rank = Marshal of the People's Republic of China Lieutenant general of the National Revolutionary Army, Republic of China , commands ...

Hu Lien Hu Lien (; 1907–1977) was a Kuomintang, Chinese Nationalist general who participated in the Northern Expedition, anti-communist Encirclement Campaigns, Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War. Whampoa Military Academy He graduated al ...

, and

Zhang Lingfu Zhang may refer to: Chinese culture, etc. * Zhang (surname) (張/张), common Chinese surname ** Zhang (surname 章), a rarer Chinese surname * Zhang County (漳县), of Dingxi, Gansu * Zhang River (漳河), a river flowing mainly in Henan * ''Zha ...

. After graduation, he participated in the

Northern Expedition The Northern Expedition was a military campaign launched by the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Kuomintang (KMT), also known as the "Chinese Nationalist Party", against the Beiyang government and other regional warlords in 1926. The ...

and

Central Plains War The Central Plains War () was a series of military campaigns in 1929 and 1930 that constituted a Chinese civil war between the Nationalist Kuomintang government in Nanjing led by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and several regional military commande ...

and was promoted to the commander of the 5th Regiment, the 2nd Division when the Sino-Japan War began.

Second Sino-Japanese War

In fact, Liu had already experienced fighting with Imperial Japanese Army in 1933, during the

Defense of the Great Wall The defense of the Great Wall () (January 1 – May 31, 1933) was a campaign between the armies of Republic of China and Empire of Japan, which took place before the Second Sino-Japanese War officially commenced in 1937 and after the Japanese inv ...

, in which he suffered a minor wound. After the war against Japan broke out in 1937, he distinguished himself in the Battle of Taierzhuang, Battle of Wuhan. In 1939, he was promoted to the brigade commander and also the garrison commander of Changsha and fought against Japanese forces in the First Battle of Changsha. In 1941, his commander

Guan Linzheng Guan Linzheng (; 1905–1980) was a highly successful Chinese general in the Kuomintang who fought against both the Communists and the Imperial Japanese Army, and was a recipient of Order of Blue Sky and White Sun, the highest honor for a Chinese ...

promoted him to the post of the commander of the 2nd Division, the 52nd Army, while the corps stationed in Yunan. In 1945, he led the 2nd Division to

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

to accept the surrender of Japanese forces there. When Chinese communist forces invaded Manchuria, Liu's 52nd Army were sent to

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer Manc ...

to fight with the communist forces under his former classmate, Lin Biao.

Chinese Civil War

Recovery of Shenyang

In September 1945, the

Soviet Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

occupied

Shenyang Shenyang (, ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly known as Fengtian () or by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a major China, Chinese sub-provincial city and the List of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Lia ...

. In March 1946, the Red Army withdrew from Shenyang and the

KMT The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

took over the city. Soon afterward, the

started large offensive operations against Shenyang. Liu was commander of KMT troops, and CPC's commander was

, Liu's former classmate who had now become his enemy. Both men were fighting for the control of the city. Liu defeated Lin Biao's troops and won the battle, recovering Shenyang successfully at last, and after this victory Liu was promoted to

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

. This battle was one of the early engagements in Manchuria where KMT had initial success.

Refusal to obey Chiang's order

When the Liaoshen Campaign broke out in September 1948, Liu's 52nd Army was part of the 9th Army Group. The 9th Army Group was tasked personally by Chiang Kai-shek to relieve the city of

Jinzhou Jinzhou (, ), formerly Chinchow, is a coastal prefecture-level city in central-west Liaoning province, China. It is a geographically strategic city located in the Liaoxi Corridor, which connects most of the land transports between North Chin ...

, and both 9th Army Group commander General

Liao Yaoxiang Liao Yiaoxiang (; 16 May 1906 – 2 December 1968), was a high-ranking Kuomintang commander who successful fought against both the Imperial Japanese Army and Chinese Communist forces. Apart from General Sun Liren, he was one of the few Nationalis ...

and Liu knew that the city was a lost cause, so they suggested to President

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 ...

if the relief effort was not successful that the 9th Army Group should withdraw to Yinkou via sea. Chiang and nationalist overall commander in Manchuria, General

Wei Lihuang Wei Lihuang () (16 February 1897 – 17 January 1960) was a Chinese general who served the Nationalist government throughout the Chinese Civil War and Second Sino-Japanese War as one of China's most successful military commanders. First joinin ...

agreed their proposal. But the 9th Army Group failed both objectives and on 26 October, the Communist Manchurian Field Army captured General Liao and took 100,000 nationalist soldiers as their prisoners.

Yingkou retreat

When CPC won the Liaoshen Campaign, KMT still had 50,000 troops near Yingkou port when CPC began the final

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition warfare, attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity con ...

of the city. Liu's 52nd

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

fought in rear guard actions to help those 50,000 men retreat to friendly territories such as

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

by sea, On 31 October 1948 Liu boarded the last KMT naval ship to leave port when communist rocket and mortar fires fell on the beach. At this point he became extremely emotional and cried because he knew that KMT had lost the whole of

forever.

Trained in Command and General Staff College

Liu succeed his classmate

as commander of Kinmen defense area and was sent to United States to study by Chiang Kai-shek. He was one of the few Chinese generals who graduated from an American military academy besides General

Sun Li-jen Sun Li-jen (; December 8, 1900November 19, 1990) was a Chinese Nationalist (KMT) general, a graduate of Virginia Military Institute, best known for his leadership in the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War. His military achie ...

. He was appointed as garrison commander of Taiwan and head of nationalist security police. Liu retired from the army in 1970 and died in 1981.

Popular culture

In Taiwan, there are two

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war fi ...

s about Liu Yuzhang and his units: *

7-Man Army ''7-Man Army'' is a 1976 Hong Kong historical war action film directed by Chang Cheh and starring Ti Lung, David Chiang, Alexander Fu and Chen Kuan-Tai. It was written by Ni Kuang and Chang Cheh. Chan San-Yat and Hsieh Hsing were the action dire ...

*Da Mo Tian Lin (大摩天嶺): the background of this film was Liaoshen Campaign and Liu's troop had defeated Lin Biao in the hill of Da Mo Tian Lin.

References

*Ministry of National Defense R.O.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Yuzhang 1903 births 1981 deaths National Revolutionary Army generals from Shaanxi Chinese anti-communists People of the Northern Expedition People of the Central Plains War Chinese people of World War II People from Xianyang Non-U.S. alumni of the Command and General Staff College Whampoa Military Academy alumni Recipients of the Order of Blue Sky and White Sun Chinese Civil War refugees Taiwanese people from Shaanxi