1. Sun Li-jen was a Chinese Nationalist general, a graduate of Virginia Military Institute in the United States, best known for his leadership in the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War.
25 Facts About Sun Li-jen
1. 2.
Sun Li-jen was charged with conspiracy in 1955 and spent his last thirty years under virtual house arrest.
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Sun Li-jen was known as Sun Chung-neng and had the courtesy name Fu-min.
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Sun Li-jen was born in Jinnu, Lujiang, Chaohu, Anhui, with ancestry in Shucheng County.
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Sun Li-jen led the Chinese team to a gold medal at the 1921 Far Eastern Championship Games.
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Sun Li-jen worked briefly for Chicago Bridge and Iron Company in Chicago as an engineer.
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Sun Li-jen decided that he could better serve his divided nation as a soldier rather than an engineer.
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In 1927 Sun Li-jen toured Europe and Japan to see the latest military organization and strategic thinking, then returned to China and became a corporal in the National Revolutionary Army and the Central Political Institute.
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Sun Li-jen led his troops fighting the Japanese during the Battle of Shanghai in 1937 and was badly wounded by mine fragments.
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Sun Li-jen led the 113th Regiment as part of the 38th Division through difficult terrain to relieve 7,000 British forces trapped by the numerically superior Japanese in the Battle of Yenangyaung.
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Sun Li-jen's command included British artillery and 7th Armoured Brigade tanks temporarily placed under his command by General Slim.
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The battle discipline of Sun Li-jen's divisions reaffirmed Stilwell's respect for the Chinese soldier.
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Sun Li-jen's troops spearheaded the Burma Campaign, Stilwell's 1943 drive to reconquer North Burma and re-establish the land route to China by the Ledo Road.
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In 1945, at the invitation of American General Dwight D Eisenhower, Sun toured the battlefields of Europe.
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Sun Li-jen returned to China to lead the New First Army to Canton to accept the Japanese surrender.
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On May 20,1946, Sun Li-jen's troops defeated the People's Liberation Army to take a key railroad junction in the Battle of Siping, but only after a month of fighting.
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Sun Li-jen was returned to a command post in Nanjing in July 1947, as the deputy commander-in-chief of the Army and commanding general of the Army Training Command.
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Sun Li-jen trained new officers and troops for the Nationalist government, hoping to change the tide of the civil war.
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In 1950, Sun Li-jen was named Commander in Chief of the Republic of China Army, while serving as commander of the Taiwan Defense Command and of the Army Training Command.
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Sun Li-jen was well respected by the Americans, and rumors that the CIA sought a coup to replace Chiang Kai-shek with Sun Li-jen made Chiang and his son Chiang Ching-kuo eager to remove him from power.
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Sun Li-jen, who was educated at the American Virginia Military Institute, opposed this system.
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The CIA allegedly wanted to help Sun Li-jen take control of Taiwan and declare its independence.
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Sun Li-jen remained under house arrest for more than three decades: his charge was not relieved until March 20,1988, shortly after the death of Chiang Ching-kuo.
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Sun Li-jen's funeral was conducted with full military honors and with the presence of the Minister of National Defense and top generals.
25.
In 2001, Sun Li-jen's reputation was cleared after a government investigation into the purported coup attempt.