Tang Enbo
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| Tang Enbo 湯恩伯 汤恩伯 |
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|---|---|
| 1898 – June 29, 1954 | |
| Place of birth | Wuyi, Zhejiang, China |
| Place of death | Tokyo, Japan |
| Allegiance |  Republic of China |
| Rank | General |
Tang Enbo (traditional Chinese: 湯恩伯; simplified Chinese: 汤恩伯; pinyin: Tāng Énbó; Wade-Giles: T'ang En-po, [1]) was a Nationalist general in the Republic of China. Along with Hu Zongnan and Xue Yue, Tang was one of the Kuomintang generals most feared and respected by the Japanese during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
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[edit] Life
[edit] Early life and war with Japan
Born in 1898 in Wuyi, Zhejiang, Tang Enbo was a graduate of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy, and therefore was familiar with the tactics of his Japanese enemy during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Tang's early resistance to the Japanese invasion was most ineffective, but this had nothing to do with his personal capabilities, but more to do with the political situation in China— Tang's superior Chiang Kai-shek was reluctant to devote his best troops to fight the Japanese invaders, wishing instead to use them to exterminate the Communists. Limited in troops and materiel, any commander would have had great difficulties in fighting such a superior enemy, and Tang Enbo was no exception. Furthermore, the battle plans though successful on paper rarely materialized on the battlefield during this stage because local Chinese warlords were only interested in maintaining their forces and largely ignored Chiang Kai-shek's orders. Although Tang did contribute to the victory at Battle of Taierzhuang, he was unable to stop the Japanese assults during the 1944 Battle of Henan-Hunan-Guangxi, losing 37 cities and towns within 36 days, and his 390,000 poorly fed, paid if any, and ill equipped force was smashed by the numerically inferior Japanese enemy.
[edit] Civil war
After World War II, Tang Enbo participated in the struggle against the Communists, who attempted to win over Tang. Tang was hesitant at first due to his military failure in the Chinese Civil War, but soon his forth wife convinced him to firmly follow Chiang Kai-shek and stay with Kuomintang. He did manage a decisive battle against the Communists in Shanghai wiped out 7,000 advancing communist soldiers. In January 1949, he informed Chiang Kai-shek that his teacher and superior, Chen Yi had advised him to rebel against the Kuomintang. Chiang immediately relieved Chen's chairmanship on the charge of collaboration with the Communists on February 21, 1949, and Tang Enbo was the officer carried out the order. On May 30, Chen Yi was transported to Taiwan to be imprisoned. However, in June 1950 Chiang decided to execute top-level Nationalist cadres and officers who were caught collaborating with Communists to make an example, and Chen Yi was included. Tang Enbo attempted desperately to save Chen Yi's life by enlisting the help of Chang Ch'ün, which only further enraged Chiang, who refused to see Tang anymore. In addition, Chiang asked Tang to personally take charge of Chen Yi's execution as a way to show his loyalty. Tang stubbornly refused and Chiang was forced to ask the Deputy Minister of Political Affairs of the Defense Ministry, Yuan Shouqian (袁守谦), Chen Yi's brother-in-law to carry out Chen Yi's execution. Chen Yi was executed at Machangding, Taipei, on June 18, 1950 and was buried in Wugu, Taipei County. The fallout of all this was that Tang Enbo had now lost the trust of Chiang Kai-shek. Tang's position was further weakened when other Nationalist cadres such as Gu Zhenggang (谷正纲) discovered and revealed to Chiang Kai-shek that during the Shanghai Campaign Tang was preparing to flee to Japan by asking his close associates Wang Wencheng (王文成) and Long Zuoliang (龙佐良) to seek out a home in Japan. On May 6, 1949, a close friend of Tang's wired half a million US dollars to an American friend's account, and subsequently, the money was sent via this account to Wang Wencheng and Long Zuoliang in Japan. In July, 1949, Wang Wencheng and Long Zuoliang purchased a mansion with 22 rooms in a Tokyo suburb. However, all of this was accidentally made public on February 2, 1950 when Reuters issued the news in Tokyo claiming that Chiang Kai-shek had purchased a mansion in a Tokyo suburb via a top ranking Chinese official. It was rumored that Tang's political enemies within the Kuomintang had long been tracking Tang's every move and waited for the right opportunity to bring him down, but such a claim has yet to be confirmed. The result was Tang's complete falling out of favor with Chiang, who reportedly angrily shouted: "No wonder our defeat was so rapid in Shanghai and the southeastern coast— he (Tang Enbo) was already prepared to flee!"
[edit] Death
After fleeing to Taiwan with the retreating Nationalist government, Tang Enbo became ill and was sent to Japan for dental treatment. However, Tang died as a result of surgery in Tokyo. It was reported that during the surgery, Tang suffered extreme pain and screamed despite being given anesthetics, and both the KMT and CCP claimed that Tang was murdered by the Japanese dentist performing the surgery because his relatives were killed in China by the troops commanded by Tang.
[edit] Military career
- 1932 General Officer Commanding ? Division, Henan
- 1937 Commander in Chief Taiyuan Pacification Headquarters' Frontline Forces
- 1937 - 1938 General Officer Commanding XIII Corps
- 1937 - 1938 General Officer Commanding 20th Army
- 1938 - 1940 Commander in Chief 31st Army Group
- 1944 Deputy Commander in Chief 1st War Area
- 1944 Deputy Commander in Chief 4th War Area
- 1944 - 1945 Commander in Chief 3rd Front Army
- 1949 Commander in Chief defense of Shanghai
