Zhang Zizhong (; August 11, 1891 – May 16, 1940) was a

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

of the Chinese National Revolutionary Army (NRA) during 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 ...

. Born in Linqing, Shandong, he was the highest- ranked

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...

and the only Army group commander of the NRA to die in the war. He was killed-in-action during the Battle of Yichang after refusing to retreat from the front lines. He showed great valor in the field and was regarded as one of the most valiant and respectable Chinese generals by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Because he was lieutenant general with the effective rank of full general at the time of his death, and was posthumously promoted to full general, he was also one of the highest-ranked Allied officers killed in action in

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 opposing ...

. His mausoleum is situated in

Beibei District Beibei District () is a district in the Chongqing municipality, People's Republic of China. A satellite town in the north of central Chongqing, Beibei got its name because of the huge rock that extends to the middle of Jialing River, and is k ...

, Chongqing. There are roads named after him in

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 flowin ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...

and

Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the 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 ninth-most populous Chinese city an ...

Career timeline

* 1911: Studied law in Tianjin * 1914: Assigned to the 20th Army Division near Fengtian (present day Shenyang) as platoon leader * 1935–1936: Chairman of the Government of

Chahar Province Chahar ( mn, , Чахар; ), also known as Chaha'er, Chakhar or Qahar, was a province of the Republic of China in existence from 1912 to 1936, mostly covering territory in what is part of Eastern Inner Mongolia. It was named after the Chahar ...

* 1937: Mayor of Tianjin * 1937: General Officer Commanding 38th Division * 1937–1940: General Officer Commanding LIX Corps * 1938: General Officer commanding the 27th Army * 1939: Commander in Chief Right Flank Army 5th War Area * 1939–1940 : Commander in Chief 33rd Army Group * 1940: Killed in Action at Mount Chang near

Yichang Yichang (), alternatively romanized as Ichang, is a prefecture-level city located in western Hubei province, China. It is the third largest city in the province after the capital, Wuhan and the prefecture-level city Xiangyang, by urban populati ...

Hubei 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 ...

* 1940: Posthumous promotion to

Full General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...

Death

General Zhang Zizhong, commander of the eight divisions that constituted the Chinese 33rd Army Group, was killed at approximately 4:00 P.M. on May 16, 1940, in fighting at Shilichangshan (‘Ten li mountain’) near Nanguadian in Northern Hubei. The battle was one engagement of the Zaoyang-Yichang campaign that rumbled through late spring of that year. Surrounded by the Japanese, his forces had refused either to retreat or to surrender. In the ensuing hand-to-hand combat, General Zhang had been wounded seven times in all, by grenade, bullet, and finally by bayonet. The victorious Japanese realized Zhang's identity only when a major discovered, in the left breast pocket of his blood-soaked yellow uniform, a fine gold pen engraved with his name. The major quickly summoned senior officers; they ordered a stretcher brought and the body was carried away from the battlefield. (This was observed, through half-opened eyes, by Zhang's long-time associate, the Chinese major Ma Xiaotang, who lay nearby, bleeding from a bayonet wound, and who later gasped out the story to Chinese as he died).Waldron, A. (1996). China's New Remembering of World War II: The Case of Zhang Zizhong. Modern Asian Studies, 30(4), 945-978. doi:10.1017/S0026749X00016851

References

External links

A memorial site for Zhang Zizhong
(in Simplified Chinese)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Zizhong National Revolutionary Army generals from Shandong People of the Northern Expedition People of the Central Plains War Mayors of Tianjin People from Liaocheng 1891 births 1940 deaths Military personnel of the Republic of China killed in the Second Sino-Japanese War Recipients of the Order of Blue Sky and White Sun Burials in Chongqing

Career timeline

Death

See also

References

Further reading

External links