Zhang Zhizong

Zhang Zhizong
Zhang Zhizong in 1963
Leader of the Xinjiang Border Defense Administration Incumbent
Personal details
Native name	Zhang Zhizhong
Date of birth	October 27th, 1890
Place of birth	Chao County, Luzhou Prefecture, Anhui Province, Chinese Empire
Age at start	71 years old
Nationality	Chinese
Role	Leader of Xinjiang
Political party	Xinjiang Junfa
Ideology	Warlordism

Zhang Zhizong (張治中) (born 27 October 1890, Chaohu, Anhui Province) is a Chinese military commander and politician, general in the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China and later the leader of the Xinjiang Border Defense Administration.

A supporter and close associate of Chiang Kai-shek, Zhang belonged to the left wing of the Kuomintang, advocating policies such as collaboration with the Communists against Japan and nationalization of foreign-owned businesses.

in Game Description

Born in Anhui Province in the year 1890, Zhang Zhizhong was one of many young Chinese men whose nation was lost to them in the chaos of the Warlord Age. Unlike many of his peers, however, the fighting of that time never truly ended. Zhang studied and graduated from the Baoding Military Academy, and was nearly immediately thrust into the very heart of the chaos of early twentieth century China. He served the Kuomintang's National Revolutionary Army with courage and valor, participating in the legendary Northern Expedition, before turning his gun from his countrymen against the invading Japanese menace during the Anti-Japanese War.

The Japanese advance was vicious, inexorable, but Zhang Zhizhong held firm in the province of Hunan, holding the line against fate itself for months. One solitary mistake, a single broken communication ruined it all in the end. Fearing the fall of Changsha, Zhang Zhizhong gave the order to burn the city's most valuable assets before the Japanese could secure it, and yet no such risk of capture existed, and the general had to not only deal with the embarrassment of this err, but so too did it cripple his ability to properly defend Hunan. Zhang Zhizhong, however, was not done fighting. He would take his war to the Northwest, and he would never surrender to the invader.

Xinjiang is an inhospitable place, even moreso for an outsider like Zhang. His army is not alone, and he finds himself in the uncomfortable position of needing to negotiate between the Kuomintang, the last remnants of the Communist Party, and the local minorities upon whom they depend. Zhang Zhizhong takes the days as they come though, one step at a time, and just hopes that the long road he walks brings him closer to the restoration of his nation.

Biography

Zhang Zhizong participated in the Northern Expedition, and after the Nationalists established the new republican government in Nanjing, became the Commandant of the Central Military Academy in 1929, a post he held for 8 years, until 1937. This was a highly important and sensitive assignment, as Zhang was given the task of moulding the beliefs and ideology of the young officer candidates that would serve in the National Revolutionary Army

He joined in Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's successful campaign against Yan Xishan and Feng Yuxiang, and led the 5th Army in the 1932 Battle at Shanghai against Japan, and participated in setting up air-defense at the capital of Nanjing, including the Jurong airbase. Later, as the head of the 9th Army Group, Zhang personally supervised the defense of Shanghai against Japan in 1937. During the war years, Zhang was generally regarded as one of Chiang's trusted confidants.

Later in the Second Sino-Japanese War, Zhang was appointed Governor of Hunan from 1937 to 1940 and was responsible for the Great Fire of Changsha, a fire that got out of control when he ordered key buildings razed in anticipation of a coming Japanese attack (which failed to materialize at the expected time). He was relieved of his duty after this event and several individuals responsible for the faulty intelligence were executed.

In 1940, he became the Director of the Political Department of the Military Affairs Commission, another highly sensitive position, indicating Chiang's continued trust in him. He was appointed Governor of Xinjiang just before the fall of Chongqing by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, a role that he would uptake, shifting the remnants of Communist and Kuomintang forces to Xinjiang.

Now in Xinjiang for close to 2 decades, Zhang knows, his work is not done just yet.