Zhang Zizhong (; August 11, 1891 – May 16, 1940) was a Chinese general of the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Republic of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Born in Linqing, Shandong, he was the highest-ranked officer and the only Army group commander of the NRA to die in the war. He was killed-in-action during the Battle of Yichang after refusing to retreat from the front lines. He showed great valor in the field and was regarded as one of the most valiant and respectable Chinese generals by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Because he was lieutenant general with the effective rank of full general at the time of his death, and was posthumously promoted to full general, he was also one of the highest-ranked Allied officers killed in action in World War II.Along with Royal Navy Admiral Tom Phillips, killed in the Sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse in 1941, Red Army Army Generals Nikolai Vatutin, mortally wounded by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army in 1944, and Ivan Chernyakhovsky, killed by artillery fire in the campaign leading to the battle of Königsberg in 1945, and US Army Lt. Gen. Lesley J. McNair, killed by friendly fire in France on July 25, 1944. His mausoleum is situated in Beibei District, Chongqing. There are roads named after him in Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Wuhan and Taoyuan City.
Career timeline 1911: Studied law in Tianjin 1914: Assigned to the 20th Army Division near Fengtian (present day Shenyang) as platoon leader 1935–1936: Chairman of the Government of Chahar Province 1937: Mayor of Tianjin 1937: General Officer Commanding 38th Division 1937–1940: General Officer Commanding LIX Corps 1938: General Officer commanding the 27th Army 1939: Commander in Chief Right Flank Army 5th War Area 1939–1940: Commander in Chief 33rd Army Group 1940: Killed in Action at Mount Chang near Yichang, Hubei 1940: Posthumous promotion to Full General1940年國民政府頒佈了褒恤令和追晉張自忠將軍為陸軍上將令「故陸軍上將銜陸軍中將張自忠追晉為陸軍上將。此令。中華民國二十九年七月七日。」 Executive Order issued by the Republic of China on July 7th, 1940 - "Post Posthumous promotion of Lieutenant General Zhang Zizhong to Full General, effects immediately. Date."
Death General Zhang Zizhong, commander of the eight divisions that constituted the Chinese 33rd Army Group, was killed at approximately 4:00 p.m. on May 16, 1940, in fighting at Shilichangshan ('Ten li mountain') near Nanguadian in Northern Hubei. The battle was one engagement of the Zaoyang-Yichang campaign that rumbled through late spring of that year. Surrounded by the Japanese, his forces had refused either to retreat or to surrender. In the ensuing hand-to-hand combat, General Zhang had been wounded seven times in all, by grenade, bullet, and finally by bayonet. The victorious Japanese realized Zhang's identity only when a major discovered, in the left breast pocket of his blood-soaked yellow uniform, a fine gold pen engraved with his name. The major quickly summoned senior officers; they ordered a stretcher brought and the body was carried away from the battlefield. (This was observed, through half-opened eyes, by Zhang's long-time associate, the Chinese major Ma Xiaotang, who lay nearby, bleeding from a bayonet wound, and who later gasped out the story to Chinese as he died.)Waldron, A. (1996). China's New Remembering of World War II: The Case of Zhang Zizhong. Modern Asian Studies, 30(4), 945-978. doi:10.1017/S0026749X00016851
See also Military history of China History of the Republic of China Kuomintang Second Sino-Japanese War World War II Marco Polo Bridge Incident Battle of Tai'erzhuang Battle of Wuhan
References
Further reading Arthur Waldron. "China's New Remembering of World War II: The Case of Zhang Zizhong". Modern Asian Studies 30, 4 (1996): 945–978.
External links A memorial site for Zhang Zizhong (in Simplified Chinese) A commemorative site in English for Zhang Zizhong