Chen Mingen

Early years

Born April 7, 1903 in Hunan in a peasant family. He graduated from a private school, on November 19, 1924 he was enrolled in the Wampu Military Academy. Member of the Northern Campaign , in 1928 he was promoted to colonel of the Chinese army ^[1] . During the War of the Central Plains, he commanded the 24th Revolutionary Army, which won Pyrrhic victory over the Shi Yusan army . In 1932 he was appointed commander of the 88th division, participated in battles against the Chinese communists on the Yangtze and Fujiang rivers during campaigns to encircle the communists ^[1] . In 1934, after the battle of Shasyan, Lusyan was sent to the military academy, during the training he gained great confidence from Chiang Kai-shek and was appointed head of the Republican Senate Committee on Military Affairs, as well as head of the Kuomintang military department ^[1] .

War against Japan

In 1937, at the time of the outbreak of war with the Japanese, Chen was a lieutenant general of the 2nd Army Reserve Division. In 1937-1939, he commanded the garrisons of the cities of Changsha , Hengyang , Leyang ^[1] . In the winter of 1941, he was appointed deputy commander of the 71st revolutionary army, which participated in the battles in Burma against the Japanese invaders. In 1946, the 71st Army was delivered on American ships to northeast China, where Chen took part in the civil war against the Communists ^[2] .

After the Communists launched an offensive in the northeast under the command of Lin Biao in the summer of 1947 , the 71st Army retreated to Siping (Jilin). Under the command of Chen, 30 thousand people remained, and he was waiting for reinforcements. From May 22 to June 30, 1947, he repelled the advance of the Chinese Red Army, which was led by Li Tianyu . For 40 days he held back the superior forces of Lin Biao, for which he was awarded the Order of the Blue Sky and White Sun by the Kuomintang Government and was appointed commander of the 7th Corps ^[3] . Nevertheless, the Sypinskaya campaign Communists ended in taking after a nine-month siege of Kuomintang positions.

When did the Huaihai Campaign begin Bai Chunxi recommended that Chen Mingheng be appointed commander of the Wuhan garrison ^[3] . In October 1948, Chen was sent to Wuhan , becoming commander of the 29th Army, and then commander of the 1st Corps and head of the government of Hunan Province ^[1] . August 4, 1949 Chen Mingen and Cheng Qian in the city of Changsha surrendered to the Communists ^[4] , and at the suggestion of Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai Chen continued to serve in the PLA until his death ^[1] .