Song Zheyuan (; October 30, 1885 – April 5, 1940) was a Chinese general during the Chinese Civil War and

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

(1937–1945).

Biography

Early life and education

Born in the village of Zhaohong, northwest of the seat of Laoling County,

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

, he was educated under his uncle from his mother's side, a teacher of a traditional Confucian private school in Yanshan County. At the age of 20 (1904) he began studying in the military institute founded by Lu Jianzhang at Beijing and had since become Lu's favorite. In 1912 the troops of Lu and Feng Yuxiang, now subordinates of Yuan Shikai, were regrouped and Feng had then been Song's superior.

Military career

In 1917, a year after being appointed the head of 1st battalion of Feng's 2nd

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

, his battalion spearheaded the removal of Zhang Xun from his imperial restoration in 1917. As part of the

Guominjun The Guominjun (), also known as the Kuominchun, abbreviated as GMJ and KMC, was a military faction founded by Feng Yuxiang, Hu Jingyi and Sun Yue during China's Warlord Era. The KMC had control of much of Northwest China, including Shaanxi ...

he became Governor of Jehol Province in 1926. Following the defeat of the Guominjun in the Anti–Fengtian War Feng Yuxiang participated in the Northern Expedition, Sòng assumed the Chairmanship of

Shaanxi Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...

province in November 1927 and in April of the same year the head of 4th division under the II Corps of the National Revolutionary Army. Switching sides to the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

after the abortive coup d'état in 1930 of Feng against Chiang Kai-shek, his troops were designated as the 29th Army and garrisoned in southern

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

province where he was responsible for the frontiers of the Rehe and Chahar provinces against the Japanese in Manchukuo.

Chair of Chahar province

Song was the chairman of Chahar province when Japan invaded the provinces in the end of year 1932. Though poorly equipped compared to the better armed Japanese, Song led the 29th army to resist the aggression in a war known as the Defense of the Great Wall (熱河長城之戰). Japanese troops then entered the suburbs of Beijing and

Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

after the predictable victory. Song was relieved from his post but reinstalled as commander after the He–Umezu Agreement.

Later years

In the Battle of Lugou Bridge, his 29th Army bore the brunt of the Japanese Kwantung Army. His troops were halved after the defeat and chased by the Japanese along the Jinpu Railway into

Province during the Beiping–Hankou Railway Operation. However Han Fuqu, chairman of the province and suspected for his clandestine Japanese liaison, forbade Song to retreat across the

Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...

, resulting in the 29th Army being shattered at Shijiazhuang in December 1937 and January 1938. Remaining forces suffered various losses against the Imperial Japanese Army and were delegated to guerrilla combat after retreating into the mountainous regions at the borders of Henan and

province in February 1938. He soon suffered various illnesses and died at the age of 54 in Mianyang County, Sichuan province after several unsuccessful medical treatments in

Guilin Guilin (Standard Zhuang: ''Gveilinz''), postal map romanization, formerly romanization of Chinese, romanized as Kweilin, is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of China's Guangxi, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It is situated on the we ...

Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...

, and

Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...

References