Wang Yaowu

Wang Yaowu 王耀武
General Wang Yaowu
Born	1904 Tai'an, Shangdong
Died	1968 Beijing, PRC
Allegiance	Republic of China
Years of service	1924-1948
Rank	general
Unit	First division
Commands held	74th corps, 2nd pacification zone, fourth area army
Battles/wars	Northern Expedition Encirclement Campaigns Central Plains War Second Sino-Japanese War Battle of Wanjialing Battle of Changsha (1939)Battle of Changsha Battle of Shanggao Battle of West Hubei Battle of Changde Battle of West Hunan Chinese Civil War Battle of Jinan
Awards	Order of Blue Sky and White Sun
Other work	politician, author, businessman

Wang Yaowu (Chinese: ; pinyin: , 1904–1968) was a high-ranking KMT general and the Governor of Shandong Province who successfully fought against both the Imperial Japanese Army and the Chinese Communists. In September 1948 Communist forces launched the Battle of Jinan and Wang was captured and held as a prisoner of war until his pardon in 1959. During the Cultural Revolution he came under attack by the Red Guards for being a former nationalist commander and died of a heart attack in 1968.

Wang was born into peasant family in Shangdong province. He lost his father and elder brother when he was young, and his mother raised him into adulthood. When Sun Yat-Sen opened the Whampoa Military Academy, Wang was working as a shop keeper. He immediately borrowed money from his employer and traveled to the South to join the national revolution. Some of his notable classmates included Du Yuming, Fan Hanjie, Hu Lien, Liu Yujian, Guan Linzheng and Lin Biao. After his graduation he joined the Northern Expedition under Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek against the northern warlords. After Chiang purged the communists in Shanghai on April 12, 1927, he stayed with the Kuomintang as a regiment commander in the National Revolutionary Army. In 1930 he fought in the Central Plains War as a colonel in the central army against an anti-central government coalition under Yan Xishan, Feng Yuxiang and Li Zongren. In 1932, he was received by Chiang Kai-shek after successfully defend his position under communist attacks during the Fourth Encirclement Campaign against Jiangxi Soviet. He was promoted to brigade commander and later as commander of the 51st division. Two years later he participated the Fifth Encirclement Campaign against Jiangxi Soviet and captured Chinese communist leader Fang Zhimin and killing another red army commander in battle around September 1934. In 1935 he scored yet another victory at Jiangxi province by capturing the entire officer corps of the Red Army's 10th corps and was promoted to major general.