Du Yuming (; 28 November 1904 – 7 May 1981), was a Kuomintang field commander. He was a graduate of the first class of Whampoa Academy, took part in Chiang's Northern Expedition, and was active in southern China and in the Burma theatre of the Sino-Japanese War. After the Japanese surrendered in 1945, he was an important commander in the Chinese Civil War.

From 1945 to 1947 Du commanded Nationalist forces in Northeast China and won several important battles against Communist forces there, including defeating the Communist general Lin Biao twice at Siping. Despite his successes, Chiang relieved him from command in 1947, after which Communist forces quickly took control of the region.

Du was captured later in the civil war and spent a decade as a prisoner of war. He was released in 1959, and given a position in the Communist government.

Yang Chen-Ning, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1957, was his son-in-law.

Biography

Early military career
A trusted protégé of Chiang Kai-shek, Du was a graduate of the first cadet class at the Whampoa Military Academy. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, he was the creator and first commander of the 200th Division, China's first mechanized division, and later commanded the KMT 5th Army in the First Changsha Campaign, and Battle of South Guangxi.

During World War II, he commanded the same 5th Army of the Nationalist Central Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force in Burma in the Battle of Yunnan-Burma Road from mid March to early June 1942, during the Burma Campaign under Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell. When the British Army collapsed and abandoned Burma under Japanese pressure, Du was forced to order a hastily planned withdrawal that resulted in the loss of 50,000 Chinese soldiers. Du fell back to China despite General Sun Li-Jen's advice that, because the route back to China was hazardous, he should instead retreat with the British to India. Most of the men who followed Du died in the Burmese jungle of tropical disease and starvation or were killed by Axis forces, while Sun's army retreated in an orderly fashion into India. Because he was acting on the orders of Chiang Kai-shek when he withdrew to China, he was not punished for the outcome of the campaign.

Chinese Civil War
After the war, Du helped strengthen the Nationalist position in the Southwest by removing Long Yun, the local warlord of Yunnan, in October 1945. Du was then transferred to the Northeast Theatre to consolidate Kuomintang control. After the civil war resumed in 1945, Du was able to win a number of victories.

In November 1945 he retook strategic positions around Shanhaiguan from Communist forces. Later, on November 22, he retook the strategic city of Jinzhou, which forced Communist forces to temporarily abandon any attempts to take major cities in the region and to agree to a temporary ceasefire. Fighting resumed in April 1946, and in May Du defeated Lin Biao in the Battle of Siping. Following the Communist withdrawal he pursued them, capturing Gongzhuling on May 21 and Changchun on May 23. His advance was eventually halted at the south bank of the Songhua River due to concerns about overextending his forces. Du's victory in Siping led to a general ceasefire across China brokered by George Marshall, during which Du consolidated his communication and supply lines.

The ceasefire held in Northeast China until January 1947, when Du led the majority of his forces to attack Communist forces on the Korean border in January 1947. When Du led his forces south, Lin Biao ordered 20,000 of his soldiers to cross the Songjiang River, where they staged guerrilla raids, ambushed relief forces, attacked isolated garrisons, and avoided decisive confrontations with strong and well-prepared armies that Du had sent to counterattack them. While the Communists did so they looted large quantities of supplies and destroyed the infrastructure of the KMT-held territories that they passed through, including bridges, railroads, fortifications, electrical lines, and boats. When Du sent forces north, Communist forces in the south advanced and besieged Du's forces at Tonghua. When Du sent his forces back south to attack the Communist headquarters at Linjiang, they fell into an ambush and were destroyed. When Du requested reinforcements from Chiang Kai-shek, his request was rejected.

Following his forces' defeat in the summer of 1947, Du reorganized his forces into six divisions, and focused on the defense of Changchun, Jilin City, Siping (which was already under siege) and West Liaoning, which was necessary to maintain communication with Beiping and Nanjing. By focusing on defense he effectively adopted a reactionary position and lost the initiative of the campaign.

On June 11 Lin's forces returned to Siping and began to engage and besiege it. Du's commander in the siege of Siping was Chen Mingren, who commanded 29,000 soldiers. Before Lin's forces arrived, Chen was able to entrench his forces in strong positions, and the first waves of Communist attackers suffered heavy casualties. The defenders in Siping also benefited from effective air support. The Communists were able to break into the city twice, but were driven back both times with heavy casualties. By mid-June the attackers were beginning to suffer from attrition and exhaustion, and by June 24 Nationalist reinforcements began to arrive from Hebei, and from Du's garrisons in other areas. On July 1 the siege was broken and the attackers were ordered to retreat north of the Songjiang river.

The Communists suffered between 13,000 and 40,000 casualties (depending on the source), while the Nationalist garrison at Siping was reduced to slightly over 3,000 men. Nationalist sources also reported that they had captured 94,000 enemy soldiers, and that 143,000 men in Lin's army had defected. Communist sources confirm slightly lower rates of desertion, with some divisions reporting a desertion rate of over 20%. Chiang Kai-shek interpreted the battle as decisive victory, but recalled Du from the Northeast and replaced him with Chen Cheng, who was one of Chiang's favourite generals. After Du's victory at Siping, Chiang may have sent Chen to the Northeast in order for Chen to have what Chiang believed would be the "final blow" against Lin. Shortly after Du was recalled, Lin Biao defeated Chen, taking control of Manchuria in 1948.

When the military situation in Xuzhou got serious, he was extracted from North East China and flown to Xuzhou as Deputy Commander of Xuzhou Bandit Suppression Headquarters to rescue Huang Baitao's Army Group. He was unable to do so and he himself was besieged as he attempted to breakout to the Yangtze. After 66 days of intense combat, he was finally defeated and Chiang's forces North of the Huai river were completely annihilated.

Capture and exoneration 
After the Battle of Huaihai, Du was taken prisoner and later held in Beijing's Gongdelin Re-education prison until 1959 as a war criminal. In 1959, Chairman Mao pardoned and released him along with Wang Yaowu, Song Xilian and several other former ROC Army generals. He was given a position in government as an official historian and died in 1981.

See also
Sun Liren
New 1st Army
Yang Chen-Ning, once son-in-law of Du

References

External links
 https://web.archive.org/web/20090326011824/http://cgsc.leavenworth.army.mil/carl/download/csipubs/bjorge_huai.pdf

1904 births
1981 deaths
Chinese military personnel of World War II
Chinese prisoners of war
National Revolutionary Army generals from Shaanxi
Whampoa Military Academy alumni
People from Yulin, Shaanxi
Chinese military historians
두위밍(; 1904년 11월 28일 ~ 1981년 5월 7일)은 중화민국의 육군 군인, 정치인이다. 황푸 군관학교의 1기생도로 장제스의 북벌에 참전하였고 중일 전쟁 당시 남중국과 버마 일대에서 활약했다. 제2차 국공 내전기간인 1945년부터 1947년까지 공산당 장군 린뱌오에 맞서 화북 일대에서 승리를 거두었다. 이러한 그의 성공에도 불구하고 1947년 공산당이 화북 지역을 빠르게 점령하자 이를 책임지고 사령관직을 사임하였고 이후 공산당의 포로로 수감되었고, 1959년 석방되어 중화인민공화국에서 정치생활을 하였다.

초기 경력 
장제스의 지원 하에, 두위밍은 황푸 군관학교의 첫 졸업반 생도가 되었다. 그는 북벌에 참여하여 업적을 쌓았고, 중일 전쟁 기간 동안에는 창사 전투에서 제5군단을 이끌었고, 남부 광시 전투에서도 같은 군단을 이끌어 승리를 거두었다.

제2차 세계 대전 동안, 그는 5군단을 맡았는데, 이후 중국 해외원정군 소속 제5군이 되었다. 그는 1942년 3월부터 6월 초까지 윈난-버마 통로 전투에 참여했다. 그는 조지프 스틸웰 휘하의 군대에 편입되어 버마 전역에 참전했다. 영국군이 붕괴되어 버마를 포기하는 동안, 두위밍은 어쩔수 없이 중국군 병사 5만 명을 희생시키며 철수 계획을 지원했다. 순리젠이 중국으로의 철수가 위험하다고 충고했음에도 불구하고 두위밍은 중국으로 철수했다. 두위밍을 따른 대부분의 병사들은 풍토병 또는 기아로 사망했고, 추축군에 의해 공격받기도 했다.

국공 내전 
전후 두위밍은 국민당 정부의 위치를 남서부 중국에서 강화시키는 것을 도왔다. 1945년 10월, 윈난 성의 군벌 룽윈을 제거한 이후 그는 화북으로 이동하여 국민당의 통치를 강화하라는 명령을 받았다. 1945년 국공 내전의 재개 당시 두위밍은 수많은 전투에서 승리를 거두었다. 1945년 11월, 그는 산하이관에서 전략적인 지점을 탈환했고, 11월 22일 그는 진저우를 점령해 공산당이 화북 일대를 재점령하는 것을 막고 휴전을 이루어내는데 성공했다.

1946년 4월, 국공 내전이 재개되었고 5월 시핑 전투에서 그는 린뱌오 장군을 격퇴시켰다. 그는 공주링을 5월 21일 점령하고 이틀 후 창춘시를 점령했다. 그의 공세는 쑹화강 남부에서 정지되었는데, 그의 병력이 지나치게 확대되는 것을 막기 위함이었다. 두위밍의 승리로 조지 마셜이 주도한 내전의 휴전이 성립되었고, 이 무렵 두위밍은 그의 보급선과 통신선을 복구했다.

1947년 1월까지 화북 지방에서 휴전이 성립되었다. 그러나 두위밍의 한만 국경 지대에 있는 중국 공산당을 공격하면서 전쟁은 재개되었다. 그러나 게릴라전, 매복전, 포위전이 발발하면서 린뱌오의 2만 병력은 공산당에 의해 궤멸되었다. 두위밍의 부대가 지나간 지점에서 공산군이 도로, 다리, 철도, 요새, 전선, 보트 등 산업 기반 시설들을 파괴함으로써 국민혁명군의 입지는 약해졌다. 결국 두위밍의 군대가 퉁화 시에서 고립되자 두위밍은 공산당 본부가 있는 린장 일대를 공격했으나 매복으로 패배했다. 이후 그는 장제스에게 원군을 요청했으나 거절당했다

1947년 여름에서의 패배로 그는 창춘, 지린, 시핑, 랴오닝의 방어를 강화했다. 이 지역은 베이징과 난징의 통신을 잇는 요충지였다. 그는 방어이 젭중하여 반격이 가능한 지역을 효율적으로 방어하고, 전역의 초기 계획을 포기했다.

6월 11일, 린뱌오의 병력은 시핑을 탈환하고 두위밍의 군대를 포위했다. 린뱌오의 군대가 도착하기 전 두위밍은 그의 부대를 방어에 유리한 지역으로 이동시켰다. 공산군의 첫 공격에서 공격 측의 사상자가 많이 발생했다. 시핑의 방어 측은 효율적인 공중 지원도 받을 수 있었다. 공산군은 2번이나 시핑을 탈환하기 위해 공격을 감행했으나 패배했다. 6월 중순부터 소모전으로 인해 공산군은 피로에 시달렸고, 허베이 지역에서 6월 24일부터 국민당 측의 지원군이 도착했다. 7월 1일 포위는 뚫렸고, 공산군은 쑹장 강 이북으로 철수했다.

시핑 전투에서 공산군은 13,000명에서 최대 40,000명의 사상자가 나왔지만 국민혁명군은 3,000명을 약간 넘는 병력으로 줄어들었다. 국민당 측의 기록에 따르면 그들이 94,000명을 포로로 잡고 143,000명이나 되는 린뱌오의 병력이 궤멸되었다고 보았다. 공산당은 그들 병력 중 20% 이상 정도가 사상자가 되었다고 보고했다. 장제스는 전투의 승리에 기뻐했으나, 두위밍을 북동부 중국에서 불러들이고 그를 천청으로 교체했다. 천청은 린뱌오에 의해 패배했고 1948년 만주는 공산당의 세력권에 들어갔다.

각주 

1904년 출생
1981년 사망
중화민국의 군인
육군 장교
중화민국의 정치인
중국의 공산주의자
중화인민공화국의 군인
중화인민공화국의 정치인
황푸 군관학교 동문
국공 내전 관련자
위린시 (산시성) 출신