He was born on November 25, 1904 in Lianxi Community Fenghe Natural Village, Renquan Township (now Hongxiang Township), Wuwei County, Anhui Province. In 1923, he was admitted to the high school of Anhui Public School founded by Mr. Tao Xingzhi. In 1924, he defected to the National Revolutionary Army, saw that the motherland was in danger, and felt very sad in his heart, in order to express that his town was crazy in the wilderness, saving the giant lan in the fall, vowing to die to revitalize the Chinese Ling Yun's ambition, officially changed his name to "An Lan". In 1925, he entered the third phase of the Whampoa Military Academy.
He graduated from the third phase of the Whampoa Military Academy in 1926 and successively served as a platoon commander, company commander, battalion commander and regiment commander of the Kuomintang army. In the same year, he participated in the Northern Expedition. In March 1933, he led his troops to participate in the Gubeikou War of resistance on the Great Wall and was awarded the Order of the Cloud of the Fifth Class. In August 1937, he was promoted to brigade commander of the 73rd Brigade of the 25th Division. In March 1938, in the Battle of Taierzhuang, Dai Brigade attacked Taodun, outwitted Zhuzhuang, and fought fiercely against Guo Liji, forcing the enemy of Taierzhuang to retreat, and received 1 Medal of the Order of Hua (a Baoding Medal). In May 1938, in the Battle of Xuzhou, he led his troops to fight fiercely with the Japanese army in ZhongaiShan for 4 days and nights, and because of his outstanding military achievements, he was promoted to deputy commander of the 89th Division and the head of the cadre training class of the headquarters of the 31st Group Army.
In August 1938, he led his troops into the Battle of Wuhan and was credited with the 31st Group Army once.
On January 5, 1939, he was promoted to major general of the 200th Division, succeeding Du Yuming at the age of 35. The division was the main force of the newly built Fifth Army, and was known as the first and only mechanized division of the Chinese army. In May, he led his troops to participate in the Battle of Sui (County) Zao (Yang) against the Japanese invasion. On 17 June, he was promoted to major general. In September, he participated in the defense of Changsha. In November, he participated in the Battle of Kunlun Pass in Guinan.