Liao Yaoxiang
廖耀湘
1906–1968
- Lieutenant General, National Revolutionary Army
- Commander, New 6th Army
Biography
Training and the Burma Campaign
Liao Yaoxiang (1906-1968) was born in Shaoyang, Hunan, and studied at the Whampoa Military Academy before attending the French military college Saint-Cyr — one of the very few Nationalist officers trained in Europe. He commanded the New 6th Army, part of the US-trained and equipped elite formations that had fought in the Burma Campaign alongside Allied forces. His was among the best-equipped units in the Nationalist order of battle.
Encirclement and Capture
During the Liaoshen Campaign, Liao commanded the Westward Advance Corps dispatched to relieve Jinzhou after its fall. His force of approximately 100,000 troops advanced south-west from Shenyang but was intercepted and encircled by Lin Biao's forces near Heishan. On 26 October 1948, the corps was destroyed and Liao Yaoxiang was captured — the highest-ranking Nationalist officer taken prisoner in the civil war.
Captivity and Later Life
Liao Yaoxiang was held as a prisoner of war and included in the first group of Nationalist war criminals pardoned by the PRC government in 1961. After his release he served on the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. He died in Beijing in 1968 during the Cultural Revolution.