Qiu Qingquan
Encyclopedia
Qiu Qinquan was a Kuomintang
general who excelled himself in Northern Expedition, anti-communist Encirclement Campaigns
, Second Sino-Japanese War
, and Chinese Civil War
. In the determining battle of the Chinese Civil War, the Huaihai Campaign
he failed to save General Huang Baitao
's 7th army and later committed suicide on the battlefield.
province, but he was very talented as a youth and very hardworking. In 1922, he was enrolled in the University of Shanghai, majoring in sociology. In 1924, he went to Guangdong Province and was admitted into the newly founded Whampoa Military Academy
, and chose military engineering as his major. He participated a series of local wars in which the nationalist government became the dominant political authority in the area of Pearl River Delta
. In 1926, Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek became the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition, and Qiu was promoted to captain, and was involved in some of the bloodiest fighting of the entire war. When the KMT-CCP split
occurred, he was arrested along with other Chiang proteges by the Communist government in Wuhan under Premier Wang Jingwei
and they somehow managed to escape to Nanjing. Qiu was then promoted to the rank of major
by Chiang. In 1928 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and battalion commander, and participated in the Central Plains War
on Chiang's side. In 1931 he was promoted to regimental colonel of the 10th division, and in 1933 he was promoted to major general. In 1934 he was sent to Germany to study tank warfare and was became a student of Heinz Guderian
in the Prussian Military Academy, when he returned to China he became a founding member of the nationalist armored troops, and was assigned as chief of staff of the training division, one of Chiang's elite units.
, Qiu was trapped in the besieged Chinese capital, and conscripted by the Japanese forces a laborer, but managed to escape the following year, and was appointed deputy commander of the elite 200th Division (National Revolutionary Army)
, China's only armoured division. In 1939, Qiu led the New 22nd division, now part of the 5th corps to participate in the Battle of Kunlun Pass
, he succeeded in cut off the Japanese retreat route, and killed the Japanese commander, Major General Masao Nakamura
, for his actions he was awarded the Order of Precious Tripod and a promotion to deputy commander of the 5th corps; he earned his nickname "Qiu the Mad " from this battle. In 1942, after working as staff officer for Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek, he was promoted to lieutenant general, and became the commander of the 5th corps and participated a number of actions against the Imperial Japanese Army
in Yunnan province. The 5th corps became the garrison of Kunming in early 1945 until the Second World War was over.
from power, General Qiu Qingquan and his old superior officer, General Du Yuming
surrounded the warlord in his provincial headquarters and forced him to resign. In 1946, his unit was moved to Nanjing, and he quickly launched a series of military offensives that occupied most of the communist-controlled area in Central China. In 1948, he saved General Huang Baitao's 25th corps from Communist encirclement in the Eastern Henan Campaign, but he was not promoted or awarded for his actions while General Huang was promoted to the command of the 7th army. The Communist moles inside nationalist high command, which included the deputy chief of staff and director of the war planning board start to spread rumors that resulted a complete breakup of any working relations between the two generals.
of Chinese Civil War
broke out. However, because of intelligence leaks and bad decisions from Chiang Kai Shek, the 7th army was besieged in Nianzhuang village, east of Xuzhou. General Qiu Qingquan's newly formed 2nd army and General Li Mi
's 13th army were tasked to relieve their beleaguered colleague, General Huang Baitao. But after 11 days of seesaw fighting, 160,000 nationalist troops were unable to break the defense lines of the opposing 170,000 communist soldiers, On November 22, General Huang Baitao
committed suicide in his headquarters and the 7th army was lost. The nationalist high command ordered Xuzhou to be abandoned and the 2nd, 13th and 16th armies were to withdraw to the south of the Huai River
, but their retreat route were blocked by massive numbers of refugees from Xuzhou. While en route to the Huai River, they received new orders from Chiang Kai Shek to make a turn to the southeast to save General Huang Wei
's 12th army, and in turn they were surrounded by the communist Eastern China Field Army. After a month of winter siege, the nationalist troops lost the ability to breakout on their own, General Qiu Qingquan led his army headquarters to breakout from the communist encirclement on January 10, 1949. http://cgsc.leavenworth.army.mil/carl/download/csipubs/bjorge_huai.pdf After learning that breakout was impossible, he shot himself in his stomach and died. http://www.generals.dk/general/Qiu_Qing-quan/_/China.html He was posthumously promoted to General and awarded Order of the Blue Sky and White Sun.
, the Order of the Cloud and Banner
, the Order of the Precious Tripod and Presidential Medal of Freedom
from the Americans. The Qingchuangang airport in Taichung, Taiwan is named after him in his memory.
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
general who excelled himself in Northern Expedition, anti-communist Encirclement Campaigns
Encirclement Campaigns
Encirclement Campaigns is a term used to describe several different campaigns launched by forces of the Chinese Nationalist Government against forces of the Communist Party of China during the Chinese Civil War. The campaigns were launched between the late 1920s to the mid-1930s with the goal of...
, Second Sino-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
, and Chinese Civil War
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
. In the determining battle of the Chinese Civil War, the Huaihai Campaign
Huaihai Campaign
Huaihai Campaign or Battle of Hsupeng was a military action during 1948 and 1949 that was the determining battle of the Chinese Civil War. It was one of the few conventional battles of the war. 550,000 troops of the Republic of China were surrounded in Xuzhou and destroyed by the communist...
he failed to save General Huang Baitao
Huang Baitao
Huang Baitao was a Nationalist general active in the Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War, for which he was twice awarded the Order of Blue Sky and White Sun, the highest honor a Chinese commander can achieve.-Early years and career:...
's 7th army and later committed suicide on the battlefield.
Early life and career
Qiu was born in a poor rural family in ZhejiangZhejiang
Zhejiang is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. The word Zhejiang was the old name of the Qiantang River, which passes through Hangzhou, the provincial capital...
province, but he was very talented as a youth and very hardworking. In 1922, he was enrolled in the University of Shanghai, majoring in sociology. In 1924, he went to Guangdong Province and was admitted into the newly founded Whampoa Military Academy
Whampoa Military Academy
The Nationalist Party of China Army Officer Academy , commonly known as the Whampoa Military Academy , was a military academy in the Republic of China that produced many prestigious commanders who fought in many of China's conflicts in the 20th century, notably the Northern Expedition, the Second...
, and chose military engineering as his major. He participated a series of local wars in which the nationalist government became the dominant political authority in the area of Pearl River Delta
Pearl River Delta
The Pearl River Delta , Zhujiang Delta or Zhusanjiao in Guangdong province, People's Republic of China is the low-lying area surrounding the Pearl River estuary where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea...
. In 1926, Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek became the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition, and Qiu was promoted to captain, and was involved in some of the bloodiest fighting of the entire war. When the KMT-CCP split
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
occurred, he was arrested along with other Chiang proteges by the Communist government in Wuhan under Premier Wang Jingwei
Wang Jingwei
Wang Jingwei , alternate name Wang Zhaoming, was a Chinese politician. He was initially known as a member of the left wing of the Kuomintang , but later became increasingly anti-Communist after his efforts to collaborate with the CCP ended in political failure...
and they somehow managed to escape to Nanjing. Qiu was then promoted to the rank of major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
by Chiang. In 1928 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and battalion commander, and participated in the Central Plains War
Central Plains War
Central Plains War was a civil war within the factionalised Kuomintang that broke out in 1930. It was fought between the forces of Chiang Kai-shek and the coalition of three military commanders who had previously allied with Chiang: Yan Xishan, Feng Yuxiang, and Li Zongren...
on Chiang's side. In 1931 he was promoted to regimental colonel of the 10th division, and in 1933 he was promoted to major general. In 1934 he was sent to Germany to study tank warfare and was became a student of Heinz Guderian
Heinz Guderian
Heinz Wilhelm Guderian was a German general during World War II. He was a pioneer in the development of armored warfare, and was the leading proponent of tanks and mechanization in the Wehrmacht . Germany's panzer forces were raised and organized under his direction as Chief of Mobile Forces...
in the Prussian Military Academy, when he returned to China he became a founding member of the nationalist armored troops, and was assigned as chief of staff of the training division, one of Chiang's elite units.
Second Sino-Japanese War
During the Battle of NanjingBattle of Nanjing
The Battle of Nanking began after the fall of Shanghai on October 9, 1937, and ended with the fall of the capital city of Nanking on December 13, 1937 to Japanese troops, a few days after the Republic of China Government had evacuated the city and relocated to Wuhan...
, Qiu was trapped in the besieged Chinese capital, and conscripted by the Japanese forces a laborer, but managed to escape the following year, and was appointed deputy commander of the elite 200th Division (National Revolutionary Army)
200th Division (National Revolutionary Army)
The 200th Division was the first mechanised division in the National Revolutionary Army. It was created in 1938 by General Du Yuming, who was also its first commander...
, China's only armoured division. In 1939, Qiu led the New 22nd division, now part of the 5th corps to participate in the Battle of Kunlun Pass
Battle of Kunlun Pass
The Battle of Kunlun Pass was a series of struggles between the Japanese and the Chinese in contention for Kunlun Pass, a stragetically important position in Guangxiprovince, which the Imperial Japanese Army hoped to cut off aid through China from French-controlled Vietnam and resulted in a...
, he succeeded in cut off the Japanese retreat route, and killed the Japanese commander, Major General Masao Nakamura
Masao Nakamura
- Notes :...
, for his actions he was awarded the Order of Precious Tripod and a promotion to deputy commander of the 5th corps; he earned his nickname "Qiu the Mad " from this battle. In 1942, after working as staff officer for Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek, he was promoted to lieutenant general, and became the commander of the 5th corps and participated a number of actions against the Imperial Japanese Army
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
in Yunnan province. The 5th corps became the garrison of Kunming in early 1945 until the Second World War was over.
Chinese Civil War
After the war with Japan was over, President Chiang Kai Shek decided to removed the local warlord general Long YunLong Yun
Long Yun was governor and warlord of the Chinese province of Yunnan from 1927 to near the end of the Chinese Civil War, when he was overthrown in a coup by Du Yuming under the order of Chiang Kai-shek in October, 1945.-Life:Long Yun was an sinicized ethnic Yi , a non Han Chinese people native to...
from power, General Qiu Qingquan and his old superior officer, General Du Yuming
Du Yuming
Du Yuming was a Kuomintang field commander active in the Sino-Japanese War theatre of World War II and in the Chinese Civil War from 1945 to 1949....
surrounded the warlord in his provincial headquarters and forced him to resign. In 1946, his unit was moved to Nanjing, and he quickly launched a series of military offensives that occupied most of the communist-controlled area in Central China. In 1948, he saved General Huang Baitao's 25th corps from Communist encirclement in the Eastern Henan Campaign, but he was not promoted or awarded for his actions while General Huang was promoted to the command of the 7th army. The Communist moles inside nationalist high command, which included the deputy chief of staff and director of the war planning board start to spread rumors that resulted a complete breakup of any working relations between the two generals.
Huaihai Campaign
In November 1948, the Huaihai CampaignHuaihai Campaign
Huaihai Campaign or Battle of Hsupeng was a military action during 1948 and 1949 that was the determining battle of the Chinese Civil War. It was one of the few conventional battles of the war. 550,000 troops of the Republic of China were surrounded in Xuzhou and destroyed by the communist...
of Chinese Civil War
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
broke out. However, because of intelligence leaks and bad decisions from Chiang Kai Shek, the 7th army was besieged in Nianzhuang village, east of Xuzhou. General Qiu Qingquan's newly formed 2nd army and General Li Mi
Li Mi (ROC general)
Li Mi , was a high-ranking Nationalist general who participated in the anti-Communist Encirclement Campaigns, Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War. He was one of the few Kuomintang commanders to achieve notable victories against both Chinese Communist forces and the Imperial Japanese Army...
's 13th army were tasked to relieve their beleaguered colleague, General Huang Baitao. But after 11 days of seesaw fighting, 160,000 nationalist troops were unable to break the defense lines of the opposing 170,000 communist soldiers, On November 22, General Huang Baitao
Huang Baitao
Huang Baitao was a Nationalist general active in the Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War, for which he was twice awarded the Order of Blue Sky and White Sun, the highest honor a Chinese commander can achieve.-Early years and career:...
committed suicide in his headquarters and the 7th army was lost. The nationalist high command ordered Xuzhou to be abandoned and the 2nd, 13th and 16th armies were to withdraw to the south of the Huai River
Huai River
The Huai River is a major river in China. The Huai River is located about mid-way between the Yellow River and Yangtze River, the two largest rivers in China, and like them runs from west to east...
, but their retreat route were blocked by massive numbers of refugees from Xuzhou. While en route to the Huai River, they received new orders from Chiang Kai Shek to make a turn to the southeast to save General Huang Wei
Huang Wei
Huang Wei was a Chinese Nationalist military general who fought in the Encirclement Campaigns, Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War.-Early life and career:...
's 12th army, and in turn they were surrounded by the communist Eastern China Field Army. After a month of winter siege, the nationalist troops lost the ability to breakout on their own, General Qiu Qingquan led his army headquarters to breakout from the communist encirclement on January 10, 1949. http://cgsc.leavenworth.army.mil/carl/download/csipubs/bjorge_huai.pdf After learning that breakout was impossible, he shot himself in his stomach and died. http://www.generals.dk/general/Qiu_Qing-quan/_/China.html He was posthumously promoted to General and awarded Order of the Blue Sky and White Sun.
Honor and Family
General Qiu Qinguan married twice and had two sons, his family now lives in Taiwan, throughout his career, he decorated with the Order of Blue Sky and White SunOrder of Blue Sky and White Sun
The Order of Blue Sky and White Sun with Grand Cordon is the Republic of China's second highest military award. Created in 1929, it is awarded for "outstanding contributions to national security under foreign invasion" and is second only to the Order of National Glory...
, the Order of the Cloud and Banner
Order of the Cloud and Banner
The Order of the Cloud and Banner is a military award of the Republic of China. It was instituted on June 15, 1935 and is awarded in nine grades for contributions to national security. It is also sometimes referred to as the Order of the Resplendent Banner....
, the Order of the Precious Tripod and Presidential Medal of Freedom
Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with thecomparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States...
from the Americans. The Qingchuangang airport in Taichung, Taiwan is named after him in his memory.