Nie Fengzhi (; 7 September 1913 – 3 April 1992) was a

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

of the

People's Liberation Army Air Force The People's Liberation Army Air Force, also referred to as the Chinese Air Force () or the People's Air Force (), is the primary aerial warfare service of the People's Liberation Army. The PLAAF controls most of the PLA's air assets, includi ...

(PLAAF) 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 ...

Biography

Nie was born in Dawu County, Hubei in 1913 or 1914. He belonged to the dominant Han

ethnic group An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...

Nie Fengzhi group photo during Second Sino-Japanese War

Nie served in the

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 ...

(PLA) from 1929 until his retirement. He was involved in founding the PLAAF, and commanded the PLA's first aerial unit, the 4th Mixed Aviation Brigade, which was established on 19 June 1950 in Nanjing and consisted of 155 aircraft in one attack, one bomber, and two fighter regiments. He attained the

rank A rank is a position in a hierarchy. It can be formally recognized—for example, cardinal, chief executive officer, general, professor—or unofficial. People Formal ranks * Academic rank * Corporate title * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy ...

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank 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 battlefield, who was norma ...

in 1955.

Korean War

In 1951, following China's entry into the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, Nie commanded the East China Military Region Air Force and the

People's Volunteer Army The People's Volunteer Army (PVA), officially the Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV), was the armed expeditionary forces China in the Korean War, deployed by the History of the People's Republic of China (1949–1976), People's Republic of Chi ...

's short-lived Bomber Command at Dongfeng in

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province. After Liu Zhen returned to China in July 1952, Nie commanded the PLAAF in Korea.

Taiwan Strait Crises

At the time of the

First Taiwan Strait Crisis The First Taiwan Strait Crisis (also known as the Formosa Crisis, the 1954–1955 Taiwan Strait Crisis, the Offshore Islands Crisis, the Quemoy-Matsu Crisis, and the 1955 Taiwan Strait Crisis) was a brief armed conflict between the People's Rep ...

, Nie commanded the

East China East China () is a geographical region in the People’s Republic of China, mainly consisting of seven province-level administrative divisions, namely the provinces (from north to south) Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, ...

(Huadong) Air Force. During the Crisis, he served as vice-commander of the

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Front Command (ZFC)—established in 1954 by order of

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

and led by Zhang Aiping—and commanded the ZFC air force. He was one of the architects of the campaign to capture the

Dachen Islands The Dachen Islands, Tachen Islands or Tachens form an island group off the coast of Taizhou, Zhejiang, China, in the East China Sea. They are administered by the Jiaojiang District of Taizhou. Before the First Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1955, t ...

from the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. During a meeting of the ZFC commanders on 31 August 1954, Nie opposed the "majority opinion" favoring an immediate amphibious invasion of Dachen, and instead supported the "limited piecemeal tactics" proposed by Zhang. The resulting "Zhang-Nie plan" involved a focus on Yijiangshan Island, north of Dachen, and led to the

Battle of Yijiangshan Islands The Battle of the Yijiangshan Islands occurred during the First Taiwan Strait Crisis in January 1955 when the China, People's Republic of China (PRC) attacked and captured the islands from the Taiwan, Republic of China (ROC). The loss of the Yiji ...

in January 1955. During the course of the campaign, Nie personally spoke with every PLA pilot participating in operations in order to convey the order issued by the

Central Military Commission Central Military Commission may refer to: *Central Military Commission (China), the highest national defense organization in the People's Republic of China. *Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the highest body in Vietnam ...

to avoid direct confrontation with American air forces. During the

Second Taiwan Strait Crisis The Second Taiwan Strait Crisis, also known as the 1958 Taiwan Strait Crisis, was a conflict between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Taiwan, Republic of China (ROC). The PRC shelled the islands of Kinmen (Quemoy) and the Matsu Is ...

in 1958, Nie served as commander of the

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

Front Command air force..

Nanjing Military Region

From 1975 to 1977, Nie served as Deputy Commander of the PLA's

Nanjing Military Region The Nanjing Military Region () was one of the former seven military command regions for the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Its jurisdiction covered all military and armed police located in Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, and Shangh ...

and was a member of the Standing Committee of 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 ...

Committee of the Nanjing Military Region. He became the Commander of the military region and Secretary of the Standing Committee in 1977, and remained in these posts until 1982. He was also a member of the

11th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The 11th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was in a five-year session from 1977 to 1982. The 10th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party preceded it. It held seven plenary sessions in the five-year period. It was formally ...

, which was in session from 1977 to 1982.

Death

Nie died in 1992.

Selected publications

* . * *

References

Citations

Works cited

* ** ** * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nie, Fengzhi 1913 births 1992 deaths Chinese military personnel of the Korean War Commanders of the Nanjing Military Region Deputy commanders of the Nanjing Military Region Members of the 11th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party People's Liberation Army Air Force generals People's Liberation Army generals from Hubei