Liu Zhen ( zh, c=, s=刘震, t=, p=Liú Zhèn; 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 military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

Biography

Early life

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

Hubei Province Hubei is a province in Central China. It has the seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland provinces. Its provincial capital at Wuhan serves as a major politi ...

. As a youth, he joined the

Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army The Chinese Red Army, formally the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army( zh, labels=no, t=中國工農紅軍) or just the Red Army( zh, labels=no, t=紅軍), was the military wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1928 to 1937. I ...

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

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

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, 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 population of and an are ...

. Following the

Long March The Long March ( zh, s=长征, p=Chángzhēng, l=Long Expedition) was a military retreat by the Chinese Red Army and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from advancing Kuomintang forces during the Chinese Civil War, occurring between October 1934 and ...

in November 1933, he was appointed as the joint political commissar (with Han Xianchu) 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 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 titled as the List of Army Groups of the National Revolutionary Army, 18th Group Army, was a Field army, group army nominally under the banner of the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Republic of Ch ...

, participating in the Battle of Pingxingguan. 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: (Jin Chinese, Taiyuan Jin: /tʰai˦˥ ye˩˩/) is the capital of Shanxi, China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. It is an industrial base foc ...

. Following the

New Fourth Army Incident The New Fourth Army Incident (), also known as the South Anhui Incident or Wannan 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 Commun ...

, 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 Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

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. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

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

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 Members of the 11th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party