Background
Peng-chu Feng was born in Yenmen, Shanxi, China, in 1884.
Peng-chu Feng was born in Yenmen, Shanxi, China, in 1884.
He became a member of Kuomintang when a youth. Feng Peng-chu attended the Taiyuan Military School in the closing years of the Ching (Manchu) Dynasty and later the Beijing (Peking) Military Academy.
Upon the outbreak of the Revolution, in 1911, Gen. Feng hurriedly left Beijing (Peking) for Shanxi (Shansi) and took part in the revolutionary uprising against Manchu troops in his native province, for which service, he was appointed a company commander in Shanxi (Shansi) Revolutionary Army.
After the overthrow of the Manchu Regime, he returned to the Beijing (Peking) Military Academy and because of his excellent record, was sent to the Baoding (Paoting) Military Officers' College for advanced training, from which he graduated. Following graduation, Gen. Feng Peng-chu again entered army service and was successively appointed as company commander, battalion commander, staff officer, adjutant officer, instructor and other posts.
In 1922, he was entrusted by the Shanxi (Shansi) Provincial Government to train up a new army at the famous Wutai Mountains in Shanxi (Shansi). When a civil war broke out in the Yenmen district, he assumed the command of a regiment and with a force of 6 battalions, successfully held out against the enemy for more than half a year. In 1927, when the Shanxi (Shansi) Army joined the Northern Expeditionary Forces, he served as commander of the artillery corps of the Left Wing Army of the Shanxi (Shansi) Force and successively captured Zhangjiakou (Kalgan) and Hsuanhua from the Fengtian (Fengtien) troops of the late Marshal Chang Tso-lin.
During the Civil War in 1931 (against Nanjing (Nanking)), Gen. feng Peng-chu was promoted Commander of the 9th Army and fought many battles in Henan (Honan) and Shantung with credit. In 1931, his Army was reorganised as the 4th Division and later as the 67th Division of which he remained as Commander. In 1933, when the Headquarters of the Pacification Commissioner of Shanxi (Shansi) and Suiyuan was organized, he was appointed by Gen. Yen Hsi-shan, Director of the Headquarters, as Chief of the Adjutants' Office of the Headquarters.
He descended from a family historically distinguished for public services.