Liu Zhen (; 3 March 1915 – 20 August 1992), or Liu You'an (刘幼安), was a general in the Chinese

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

Biography

Early life

Tang was born into a poor peasant household in Xiaogan County,

Hubei Province Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

. As a youth, he joined the

Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army The Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army or Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, commonly known as the Chinese Red Army or simply the Red Army, are the armed forces of the Chinese Communist Party. It was formed when Communist ...

in 1930. He participated in guerrilla warfare against Nationalist Forces during the 3rd Encirclement Campaign. He joined the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

in August 1932. In 1933, he was transferred into the 25th Red Army. As the political commissar for the 224th Regiment of the 75th Division of the Army, he participated in the assault of Changlinggang and attacking

Taihu County Taihu County () is a county in the southwest of Anhui Province, People's Republic of China, bordering Hubei Province to the west. It is under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Anqing and contains its westernmost point. It has a popu ...

. Following the

Long March The Long March (, lit. ''Long Expedition'') was a military retreat undertaken by the Chinese Red Army, Red Army of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the National Revolut ...

in November 1933, he was appointed as the joint political commissar (with

Han Xianchu Han Xianchu (; 1913–1986) was a general of the Chinese Communist Party. Han participated in many military campaigns and battles such as Battle of Pingxingguan, Liaoshen Campaign, Pingjin Campaign, Hainan Campaign, and the Korean War. In 195 ...

) for the 225th Regiment. The regiment scored various victories and Tang suffered multiple wounds during battle. In 1936 he was enrolled into the

Counter-Japanese Military and Political University Counter-Japanese Military and Political University (), also commonly known as Kàngdà () and Kangri Junzheng University (), was a comprehensive public university located in Yan'an, Shaanxi, the headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party during t ...

and later made the political commissar for the 75th Division.

During the Second Sino-Japanese War

Following the outbreak of war, the 75th Division was reorganized to become part of the 115th Division in the

Eighth Route Army The Eighth Route Army (), officially known as the 18th Group Army of the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China, was a group army under the command of the Chinese Communist Party, nominally within the structure of the Chinese ...

, participating in the

Battle of Pingxingguan The Battle of Pingxingguan (), commonly called the Great Victory of Pingxingguan in Mainland China, was an engagement fought on 25 September 1937, at the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War, between the Eighth Route Army of the Chinese Co ...

. Tang was also appointed as the Director of the Division’s Political Department. He led forces to flank Japanese forces who were encroached in

Taiyuan Taiyuan (; ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; also known as (), ()) is the capital and largest city of Shanxi Province, People's Republic of China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. ...

. Following the

New Fourth Army Incident The New Fourth Army Incident (), also known as the South Anhui Incident (), occurred in China in January 1941 during the Second Sino-Japanese War, during which the Chinese Civil War was in theory suspended, uniting the Communists and Nationalist ...

, Tang was named the Commander of the 10th Brigade under the reformed Fourth Army. The Brigade would later be reorganized into the 3rd Division. In September 1942 he held various commands, such as being the Huaihai Army Division Commander, deputy secretary of the CPC Northern Region, Huaihai prefecture's party secretary. He participated in counter-offensives against 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 ...

in Northern China.

Formation of the PRC

After the founding of the

People's Republic of 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 participated in the Guangxi Campaign. During the Korean War, he was appointed Air Force Commander of the

Chinese People's Volunteers The People's Volunteer Army (PVA) was the armed expeditionary forces deployed by the People's Republic of China during the Korean War. Although all units in the PVA were actually transferred from the People's Liberation Army under the orde ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Zhen 1915 births 1992 deaths Chinese revolutionaries People of the Chinese Civil War People from Xiaogan People's Liberation Army generals from Hubei Victims of the Cultural Revolution