Wei Lihuang 衛立煌 |
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General Wei Lihuang and Lieutenant General Sun Liren
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Nickname(s) | "Hundred Victories Wei" |
Born | 16 February 1897 Hefei, Anhui |
Died | 17 January 1960 Beijing |
(aged 62)
Allegiance |
Republic of China People's Republic of China |
Service/branch | Republic of China Army |
Years of service | 1924-1948 |
Rank | General |
Unit | 14th corps |
Commands held | Y-Force |
Battles/wars | |
Awards | Order of Blue Sky and White Sun |
Other work | politician |
Wei Lihuang (traditional Chinese: 衛立煌; simplified Chinese: 卫立煌; pinyin: Wèi Lìhuáng) (16 February 1897 – 17 January 1960) was a Chinese general who served the Nationalist government throughout the Chinese Civil War and Second Sino-Japanese War as one of China's most successful military commanders.
First joining the Kuomintang (KMT) during the early 1920s, Wei would rise to become general after the Northern Expedition, a two-year campaign to unify China. His later success under Chiang Kai-shek during the Bandit (Communist) Suppression Campaigns from 1930 to 1934 would earn him the nickname "Hundred Victories Wei".
A general during the Second Sino-Japanese War, Wei commanded the First War Area. With the entry of Great Britain and later the United States in the war against Japan, he was transferred to southern China as commander of the Nationalist Chinese XI Group Army. He later replaced General Chen Cheng as commander of the Chinese Expeditionary Forces, known as Y Force. Y-Force consisted of over 100,000 Nationalist soldiers, and participated in major ground operations in support of American General Joseph W. Stilwell's offensive in northern Burma. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Wei was able to work effectively with American commanders.
Beginning his offensive into southern Yunnan on 11 May 1944, Wei's troops captured Tengchung on 15 September after two months of heavy fighting. Proceeding southward despite heavy resistance, his forces eventually linked up with Chinese divisions in Wanting, Burma on January 27, 1945. The success of this offensive allowed the Allies to reopen the former Burma Road supply network to China through Ledo, Burma, now named the Ledo Road. In concert with existing airlift operations over the Hump, the Ledo Road enabled overland transport of military supplies from India to Nationalist bases in China.