Zhang Zhizhong

Not to be confused with fellow general Zhang Zizhong.

Zhang Zhizhong (simplified Chinese: 张治中; traditional Chinese: 張治中; pinyin: Zhāng Zhìzhōng) (October 27, 1895 - April 1969) was a general in the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China. He was born in Chaohu, Anhui, and attended the Baoding Military Academy from which he graduated in 1916. He then served in the local warlord armies of Yunnan and Guangxi before heeding the call of Nationalist leader Sun Yat-sen and moving to Guangzhou to became an instructor at the Whampoa Academy. He participated in the Northern Expedition, and after the Nationalists established the new republican government in Nanjing, became the commandant of the Central Military Academy. He joined in Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's campaign against Yan Xishan and Feng Yuxiang, and led the 5th Army in the 1932 battle at Shanghai against Japan. Later as the head of the 9th Army Group (第九集團軍), Zhang supervised the defence of Shanghai against Japan in 1937. Zhang is generally regarded as one of Chiang's close confidants, he has been accused by one historian of acting as a mole for the Chinese Communists.

Later in the Second Sino-Japanese War, Zhang was later appointed Governor of Hunan and was responsible for the Great Fire of Changsha, a fire that got out of hand when he ordered key buildings razed in anticipation of a coming Japanese attack (which failed to materialize on time). He was relieved of his duty after this event and several individuals responsible for bad intelligence were executed. In 1940, he became the political director of the National Military Council.

In 1949 Zhang chose to remain on the mainland when Chiang and the remaining KMT forces fled to Taiwan. He joined the Communists afterwards.

Military career

1929 - 1937 Commandant of the Central Military Academy
1932 General Officer Commanding V Corps
1937 General Officer Commanding Nanking-Shanghai Garrison
1937 Commander in Chief 9th Army Group
1937 Commander in Chief Central Forces 3rd War Area
1940 Chief Aide-de-Camp to the Generalissimo
1940 - 1945 Minister of Political Training
1940 - 1945 Member of the National Military Council
1940 - 1945 Secretary-General of the Youth Corps San Min Chu I
1945 - 1949 Director of Nationalist North-western Headquarters
1946 - 1947 Chairman of the Government of Xinjiang Province
1954 Vice-Chairman of the National Defence Council, Chinese People's Republic

Sources:

http://www.generals.dk/general/Zhang_Zhizhong/_/China.html

Translation

The phrase "Zhang Zhizhong" occurs as such in the following languages: English, German.

Translation(s) in other languages: Japanese: 張治中, Chinese: 張治中.