Shang Zhen

Who was Shang Zhen?

Shang Zhen, 商震, General of the National Revolutionary Army during the Warlord Era and Second Sino-Japanese War.

Governor of Suiyuan Province from 1927 to 1928. He became Chairman of the Government of Hebei Province and Commander of the Peiping & Tientsin Garrison from 1928 to 1929 following the success of the Northern Expedition to unify China. From 1929 to 1930 during the Central Plains War he was Chairman of the Government of Shanxi Province. In 1931 he became the General commanding 4th Army. Then from 1931 to 1935 he commanded 32nd Army, defeating the Chahar People's Anti-Japanese Army near Peiking in October 1933. Again in 1935 he was made Chairman of the Government of Hebei Province. In 1935 he became Chairman of the Government of Henan Province until the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War.

During the War he was Commander in Chief 20th Army Group from 1937 to 1941, concurrently commanding 32nd Corps until 1938. In 1939 he was made Deputy Commander in Chief 9th War Area and later the same year Deputy Commander in Chief 6th War Area. In 1940 he was made the Commander in Chief of the 6th War Area.

Following the field postings he was appointed Director of the Main Office of the National Military Council from 1940 to 1944. In 1941 he was given the additional duty of Director of the Foreign Affairs Bureau, National Military Council both of which he held till 1944. From 1944 to the end of the war he was the Chinese Military attaché in Washington D.C..