World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseSun Lianzhong was born in Xiongxian, Hebei Province. He enlisted in military service with the regional warlord army in 1912, and rose through the ranks steadily, becoming brigade and deputy divisional commander by 1924. In 1927, he was appointed the commander of warlord Feng Yuxiang's Northwest Army 14th Division with military government duties in Qinghai and Gansu Provinces, and later led troops against Nationalists forces during the Northern Expedition and the Central Plains War. In 1930, after warlord Zhang Xueliang allied with the Nationalist government, Sun accepted a commission with the military and fought Chinese Communist forces in Jiangxi as the commander of the 26th Route Army.

ww2dbaseWhen the Second Sino-Japanese War began in Jul 1937, Sun was named the commander of the 1st Army Group near Beijing, then he was transferred to head up the 2nd Army Group where he commanded troops during the Battle of Shanxi and then the Battle of Xuzhou. He went on to lead troops at the Wuhan, Suixian-Zaoyang, the Winter Offensive, Zaoyang-Yichang, and South Henan battles. In Jan 1939, he was promoted as the deputy commander of the 1st War Area, then in Jun 1939, the deputy commander, later Commander-in-Chief, of the 6th War Area. In the latter role, he participated in the Battle of West Hubei and the Battle of Changde. In Jun 1945, near the end of the war, he became the Commander-in-Chief of the 11th War Area.

ww2dbaseAfter WW2, Sun was the Chairman of the Hebei Province between 1945 and 1947 with a second role of the Director of Paoting Pacification Headquarters. In 1947, he was transferred to capital city Nanjing as Chiang Kaishek's personal advisor. In 1948, he took on an additional role as the commander of the Presidential Palace Army and the Senate Army in Nanjing. In Jan 1949, he retired from active service as the Communists were on the verge of winning the Civil War. Two months later, he arrived in Taiwan and continued to serve Chiang as a military adviser with concurrent roles as member of the Nationalist Party Central Committee and member of the Nationalist Party Central Disciplinary Board. He also opened a restaurant with retired general Pang Bingxun. He passed away in 1990.

Sun Lianzhong Interactive Map

Photographs

Sun Lianzhong Timeline