Background
Mr. Ho was born in Xingyi, Guizhou, China, April 2, 1890.
Mr. Ho was born in Xingyi, Guizhou, China, April 2, 1890.
Ho Ying-chin graduated from Guizhou (Kweichow) and Wuchang junior military schools. When young he went to Japan where he entered the Japanese Military Academy in Tokyo, 1909. After graduation from that Academy, Mr. Ho was appointed principal of the Guizhou (Kweichow) Military Institute.
Mr. Ho was a chief of Staff of the Guizhou (Kweichow) Army, Commander of a mixed-brigade, and Chief of the Guiyang (Kweiyang) Police Department. In 1924 he was appointed chief instructor and dean of the Whampoa Military Cadets' Academy, Guangdong (Kwangtung). In 1925 Ho Ying-chin became a Commander of the First Brigade of the Nationalist Army in Guangdong (Kwangtung). He was suppressed the insurrection of certain Canton merchant groups and that of Yang Hsi-min and Liu Ch'en-huan. Mr. Ho rendered distinguished service in the Weichow, Mienhu and Pelo expeditions.
Ho Ying-chin was promoted a Division Commander and later an Army Commander, concurrently he served as Pacification Commissioner of Tongxiang (Tungkiang), Guangdong (Kwangtung), was in charge of the police forces at Chaozhou (Chaochow) and Meihsiian, Guangdong (Kwangtung), in 1926, when the Nationalist Revolutionary Army began its Northern Expedition. Later, he was in command of the East Route Revolutionary Army, and marched his forces into Fukien the same year. After the pacification of Fukien, Mr. Ho was appointed Chairman of the Fukien Provincial Government. advancing into Zhejiang (Chekiang), he subdued all resistance there.
Pretending to lead the East Route Army on a drive against Shanghai, he ordered General Pei Tsung-hsi, its Field-Commander, to bring part of the Army over there, while he himself marched the main force by narrow paths to Nanjing (Nanking), attacked and defeated Sun Chuan-fang by surprise, and entered Nanjing (Nanking). With the establishment of the National Government in Nanjing (Nanking), 1927, Ho Ying-chin was elected a member of the Central Political Council and of the State Council. Towards the end of August, 1927, Sun Chuan-fang and Chang Tsung-ch'ang crossed the Yangtze river by night with a large army about 100,000 strong, and occupied Lungtan with the intention of retaking Nanjing (Nanking).
He was in association with other Nationalist Military Commanders gave battle, and after a fierce engagement lasting seven days and nights, repulsed Sun's and Chang's last attempt to block the northward advance of the Nationalist Expeditionary Army and averted a serious crisis to the Capital. Continuing his advance northward, he captured Pengpu and Stichow and was then appointed Chief of Staff of the Nationalist Generalissimo's Headquarters.
In 1928 Mr. Ho became a Chairman of the Zhejiang (Chekiang) Provincial Government. The following year he was appointed Director-General of Military Training and later Chief of Staff. Ho Ying-chin was elected Minister of Military Affairs March 10, 1930. He was appointed Resident Representative of the Executive Yuan at Beijing (Peking) in November 1935, but did not accept the appointment.
After 1929, he was at times concurrently Director of the Field Headquarters of the Generalissimo of the National Army at Wuhan (Wuchang and Hankou (Hankow)) Hubei (Hupeh), at Kaifeng, Honan, at Canton, "Guangdong (Kwangtung) and„ at Nanchang, Jiangxi (Kiangsi). He worked also as a Field Commander in Jiangxi (Kiangsi), and later Field Commander in Jiangxi (Kiangsi), Guangdong (Kwangtung) and Fukien Provinces in the drive against the Communists. He was elected member of the Central Executive Committee at both the Third and Fourth Plenary Sessions of the Kuomintang National Congress, 1929 and 1931. Mr. Ho was appointed acting Chairman of the Beijing (Peking) Branch of the National Military Affairs Commission in 1938. In the summer of 1934, he was appointed concurrently Director-General for the Self-government of Inner Mongolia. In November 1935 Ho Ying-chin was appointed Resident Representative of the Executive Yuan inBeijing (Peking), but did not accept the appointment.
With the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in 1937, Ho Ying-chin was appointed as chief of staff and worked with Chiang for drafting military plans. In 1944, when his title of Minister of War was taken over by Chiang's favorite, Chen Cheng, Mr. Ho was appointed as General Commander of the Chinese Military Area, which was an honorable title instead of real power, and was sent to Yunnan to train the Chinese Expeditionary Army, which was set up under the proposal of Joseph Stilwell, for assisting in Allied operations in Southeast Asia.
With the defeat of Japan in August 1945, Mr. Ho was appointed as representative of both the Chinese Government and the Southeast Asia Allied Forces at the September 9th ceremony in Nanjing (Nanking) to accept the statement of surrender submitted by General Yasuji Okamura, who was Commander of Japanese troops in China at that time. host the surrender of Japanese troops in China. This historic moment put Ho Ying-chin under the spotlight of the world, and was the peak of his career.
In 1946, the KMT government set up the Defense Department to take charge of military operations against CCP forces in the Chinese Civil War, but Ho Ying-chin lost to Chen Cheng and Bai, who were appointed as Chief of Staff and Defense Minister respectively. He was sent instead to the United Nations Security Council as director of the Chinese military delegation. One year later, Mr. Ho was called back to be a senior military advisor, and regained the position of Defense Minister in 1948, in time to witness the collapse of KMT power.
In 1949, Chiang had to resign for the third time, when Li Zongren was voted as acting president. In order to contain Li's power and influence, Chiang asked Mr. Ho to take the job of Speaker and later the head of the Executive Yuan of Li's cabinet, and was also named as acting Defense Minister. Ho Ying-chin took the job and proposed the plan of cease-fire first and peace negotiations later, for KMT to win time for its governance in China. The Communists exploited the cease fire to cross the Yangtze River and capture Nanjing (Nanking), the capital of KMT government. Although the KMT still had huge numbers of troops, they were poorly armed and equipped and thus no longer had the combat power to turn the tide, especially after the United States refused to supply any more military aid. In May, Ho Ying-chin resigned with his cabinet members in Guangzhou (Canton).
When Mr. Ho arrived in Taiwan, he said he would leave politics for introspection of the failure of the KMT. When Chiang was reelected as president of the Republic of China in 1950, Ho Ying-chin lost his election as member of the central committee of the KMT, and only gained the honorary title of senior advisor.
He took charge of several clubs and associations working for the KMT, and spent most of his time playing sports, bridge, and planting. In 1986 Mr. Ho suffered from apoplexy and was sent to a hospital, where, after several months treatment, he died on October 21, 1987, at the age of 97. With the nickname of Lucky General, he survived battles and campaigns, and lived longer than most of the patriarchs of KMT inclusive of Chiang. His remains are interred at Wuchih Mountain Military Cemetery in Taiwan.