Song Shilun

Song Shilun (; 1907–1991), né Song Jiyao (宋际尧, named from Chinese legendary King Yao), was a Chinese general in the People's Liberation Army. He graduated from Whampoa Military Academy and participated in the Chinese Civil War, Second Sino-Japanese War, Second World War and the Korean War.

Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945)

Song commanded the 716th regiment of the 358th brigade of the Eighth Route Army's 120th division at the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War. In September 1937, he participated in operations north of the Yanmen Pass and was appointed commander and commissar of the North Yanmen detachment. In less than a month, he managed to recapture several villages and threatened Japanese control over the important railway juncture Datong. This action was highly praised by the Eighth Route Army high command.

In May 1938, the North Yanmen detachment merged with the Deng Hua detachment to form the 4th column, with Song as commander with 5,300 men. He then launched an attack on the Japanese-controlled East Hebei Autonomous Government and captured the cities of Yanqing, Yongning, Sihai, and Xinglong. He subsequently launched the by mobilizing local civilians and the forces under his command quickly exceeded 100,000 men and controlled most of East Hebei. However, because the mobilized forces received little training, it was quickly repulsed by a Japanese counterattack and forced to retreat west of Beiping. The Central Military Commission commended Song for his achievements, reporting that "Song and Deng's column reached deep into East Hebei for several months, fomented a rebellion in coordination with local party elements, restored Chinese administration in the area, established an operation zone with the help of the masses, expanded our army's influence far behind enemy lines, and dealt damage to the enemy. It can be said that there was achievement."

Song returned to Yan'an in 1940 and received further training at the Central Party School.

Chinese Civil War

Song joined Chen Yi in Shandong in September 1945 and served as chief of staff of the local formations. He was appointed to operational commander of the in January of 1946 and assisted Ye Jianying in negotiating with nationalist military representatives. During this period, he successfully resolved several skirmishes between communist and nationalist forces and escaped an assassination attempt. After the outbreak of the Second Chinese Civil War, he served as chief of staff of the communist Shandong Field Army, but was removed from command after suffering a defeat in Si County. He was then appointed deputy commander of the Bohai Military District, then was promoted to commander of the 10th column of the East China Field Army and defeated Qiu Qingquan in a blocking action during the Battle of East Henan. He continued to lead the 10th column in the Battle of Jinan and Huaihai Campaign. During the latter, he and Liu Shanpei commanded the 7th, 10th, and 11th columns and successfully intercepted attempts by Qiu Qingquan and Li Mi to relieve the encirclement of Huang Baitao, thus ensuring that Huang's force would be fully annihilated.

In 1949, the East China Field Army was reorganized into the Third Field Army, and Song was promoted to commander of the 9th Army. He participated in the Yangtze River Crossing Campaign and the 27th Corps under his command was one of the first communist formations to penetrate the nationalist defenses along the Yangtze River. He then encircled 7 nationalist corps and destroyed 5 in the area of Langxi and Guangde. In May 1949, Song participated in the Shanghai Campaign and subsequently served as commander of the Shanghai garrison.

Korean War

During the Korean War, Song commanded the People's Volunteer Army 9th Army. His armies fought against the US Army 31st Regimental Combat Team and the 1st Marine Division at the Chosin Reservoir in November–December 1950. He and the 9th Army later participated in the Chinese spring offensive. He returned to China in 1952.

Subsequent career

Song was the President of the PLA's Academy of Military Science.

In 1980, China adopted a new Military Strategic Guideline that envisioned using a combined arms approach and positional warfare to defend against a potential invasion by the Soviet Union. In Song's view the Soviet Union's nuclear arsenal would not give it significant leverage over China, because China's less urbanized population meant that there would be fewer strategic targets for Soviet nuclear weapons.

Reaction to the government's response to the Tiananmen Square protests

During the Tiananmen Square protests of spring 1989, Song joined former minister of defense Zhang Aiping and five other retired generals in opposing the enforcement of martial law by the Army in Beijing.

Notes

1907 births
1991 deaths
People's Liberation Army generals from Hunan
Politicians from Zhuzhou
Chinese Communist Party politicians from Hunan
People's Republic of China politicians from Hunan
Members of the 11th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party

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