As we all know, among the founding generals of the Republic, the oldest marshal was Zhu Laozong, who was 69 years old when he conferred the title; the oldest general was Zhang Yunyi, who was 63 years old when he conferred the title.
So, who will be the oldest general? It was Tao Zhiyue, and he and Zhang Yunyi would be the same age.
Like Dong Qiwu and Chen Mingren, Tao Zhiyue was a senior Kuomintang general and a patriotic general of the War of Resistance. In the Battle of Songhu, he led his troops in a bloody battle, insisting on 21 days without taking a step back!
Tao Zhiyue was a native of Ningxiang, Hunan, and his seniority was close to that of General Zhang Yunyi. In 1911, Tao Zhiyue enrolled in the Wuchang Army No. 3 Middle School, participated in the Wuchang Uprising, and later graduated from the Baoding Army Officer School. At the time of the Northern Expedition, he was already the commander of the Major General Regiment and the deputy commander of the division.
In July 1937, when the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression broke out, Tao Zhiyue was being trained in the Lushan Officers' Training Corps, and when he heard the news that the Twenty-ninth Army was fighting bravely against the Japanese invading army at Lugou Bridge, he immediately requested to return to his old unit, the Eighth Division, to stand by. After receiving permission, he rushed back to the Eighth Division stationed in Shaanxi to make preparations for the anti-Japanese battlefield.
Tao Zhiyue's mood was uplifting, and the opportunity to realize the original intention of defending the country and defending the people had finally come! While ordering the troops to prepare for war, he also stimulated the patriotic enthusiasm of the officers and men. He repeatedly told the officers and men of the Eighth Division about the crimes of the Japanese army's frenzied occupation of Chinese territory after the Ming Dynasty's Wokou ravaged the coastal provinces and the "918" incident, and also encouraged the morale and belief in victory of the officers and men with the achievements of the famous anti-general Qi Jiguang. The patriotic spirit of the soldiers was invigorated, and the whole division of the Eighth Division was filled with a magnificent atmosphere of fighting the enemy to the death. Tao Zhiyue felt that he had not seen such a high morale for many years.
In August, Tao Zhiyue led the Eighth Division into Tongguan, originally planning to go north through Anyang to fight the Japanese army, but because of the tightness of the Song battlefield, the Eighth Division was ordered to go south to reinforce the Shanghai defenders. On September 19, the Eighth Division arrived by train at Nanxiang Railway Station in the west of Shanghai, under the command of the Right Wing Army of the 15th Army. The commander of the Right Wing Army was Hu Zongnan, commander of the Second Army.
When the Eighth Division entered the battle, the Songhu Campaign was already in its second stage, the defensive operation stage. Tao Zhiyue commanded the Eighth Division to take over the positions of the Yunzaobang defenders. He carefully inspected the movements of the enemy in front of him on the position, and decided to take advantage of the high mood of the troops to seek war to raid the Japanese army.
That night, Tao Zhiyue sent two small troops to launch a surprise attack on the positions built by the Japanese army at the head of the Yangtze River; because it was night, the Japanese army was unable to defend themselves, and the two small troops raided successfully, successfully conquered a stronghold, annihilated several Japanese troops, and captured more than a dozen machine guns, rifles, and some ammunition and equipment. The first battle was won, and the morale of the officers and men of the Eighth Division was even more vigorous.
The next day, the Japanese launched a fierce attack on the positions of the Eighth Division. The enemy first sent aircraft to bomb, then bombarded with guns of warships moored in the Yangtze River, and then dispatched infantry to charge. The Eighth Division is a miscellaneous army, not to mention that heavy weapons such as artillery have nothing, and even guns are mostly "Hanyang-made" made in the twenties. The equipment was at a disadvantage, Tao Zhiyue commanded the troops to rely on the fortifications to fight back, the attacking Japanese army was severely damaged, the casualties of the Eighth Division were not small, and the position stood still.
On the third day, the Japanese continued to attack, and the fighting became more and more intense. The officers and men of the Eighth Division were so red-eyed that they could not even take care of food, and the wounded who were slightly wounded refused to get out of the line of fire and remained on the position to continue fighting.
In order to preserve the living strength, Tao Zhiyue ordered the troops to hold their positions, not to launch a counter-charge against the enemy's position during the day, but to use the night to sneak into the enemy's position.
Patriotic youth in Shanghai spontaneously rushed to the scene, risking their lives to deliver tea and food to the soldiers, helping the troops transport ammunition and evacuating the wounded and sick. The officers and men of the Eighth Division were deeply moved, and their courage in killing the enemy was multiplied.
From September 19 to October 9, the officers and men of the Eighth Division fought hard for 21 days at the Yunzaohama position without taking a step back. It was not until October 10 that the Japanese 3rd and 9th Divisions broke through the positions of the 8th Division's friendly forces under the cover of the 10th and 13th Divisions, and the 8th Division was ordered to retreat. At this time, there were only more than 700 combat soldiers left in the Eighth Division.
The achievements of the Eighth Division surprised and satisfied Hu Zongnan, commander of the Right Wing Army, and he said to Tao Zhiyue: "I didn't expect you to have a few broken guns, and you fought so well!" Tao Zhiyue thought with emotion: The Eighth Division is not a concubine of Chiang Kai-shek, and in addition to paying salaries that are only enough to maintain the lives of officers and men, it has never given supplements to weapons and equipment.
After the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Tao Zhiyue served as chairman of the Kuomintang Xinjiang Provincial Government and commander-in-chief of the Xinjiang Garrison. On September 25, 1949, Tao Zhiyue led 100,000 Kuomintang officers and soldiers stationed in Xinjiang to revolt, and Xinjiang was peacefully liberated. Admiral Wang Zhen gave him a high evaluation: Tao Zhiyue spent his life as a country and was an example.