Background
He was born in Chaohu, Anhui, and attended the Baoding Military Academy from which he graduated in 1916.
He was born in Chaohu, Anhui, and attended the Baoding Military Academy from which he graduated in 1916.
Baoding Military Academy. Shanghai University.
Not to be confused with fellow general Zhang Zizhong. He then served in the local warlord armies of Yunnan and Guangxi before heeding the call of Nationalist leader Sun Yat-sen and moving to Guangzhou to became an instructor at the Whampoa Academy. He participated in the Northern Expedition, and after the Nationalists established the new republican government in Nanjing, became the commandant of the Central Military Academy.
He joined in Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek"s campaign against Yan Xishan and Feng Yuxiang, and led the 5th Army in the 1932 battle at Shanghai against Japan.
Later as the head of the 9th Army Group (第九集團軍), Zhang supervised the defence of Shanghai against Japan in 1937. Zhang is generally regarded as one of Chiang"s close confidants.
Later in the Second Sino-Japanese War, Zhang was later appointed Governor of Hunan and was responsible for the Great Fire of Changsha, a fire that got out of hand when he ordered key buildings razed in anticipation of a coming Japanese attack (which failed to materialize on time). He was relieved of his duty after this event and several individuals responsible for bad intelligence were executed.
In 1940, he became the political director of the National Military Council.
He was Governor of Xinjiang from 1945–1948 during the Ili Rebellion. In 1949 Zhang chose to remain on the mainland when Chiang and the remaining Chinese Nationalist Party forces fled to Taiwan. He joined the Communists afterwards.
1929–1937: Commandant of the Central Military Academy
1932: General Officer Commanding V Corps
1937: General Officer Commanding Nanking-Shanghai Garrison
1937: Commander in Chief 9th Army Group
1937: Commander in Chief Central Forces 3rd War Area
1940: Chief Aide-de-Camp to the Generalissimo
1940–1945: Minister of Political Training
1940–1945: Secretary-General of the Youth Corps San Minister Chu I
1945–1949: Director of Nationalist North-western Headquarters
1946–1947: Chairman of the Government of Xinjiang Province
1954: Vice-Chairman of the National Defence Council, People"s Republic of China.
Kuomintang, Revolutionary Committee of the Kuomintang.
1940–1945: Member of the National Military Council.