Xu Tingyao

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Xu Tingyao (October 9, 1892 – December 16, 1974) was a general in the Republic of China’s National Revolutionary Army. Known as the "Father of the National Army’s Armoured Soldiers," he came from Wuwei, Anhui. He graduated from Baoding Military Academy in 1916 and joined Sun Yat-sen’s faction in 1917. He fought in the Northern Expedition and was promoted to lieutenant general in 1928. In the Central Plains War of 1930 he was ordered to attack Feng Yuxiang and Tang Shengzhi. In 1932 he helped suppress the Communists in the Henan–Hubei–Anhui border area and became commander of the 17th Army, later taking part in the Defense of the Great Wall and briefly leading the 8th Army Group. His troops seized the Beiping-Suiyuan Railroad to block the Chahar Anti-Japanese Army. From 1934 to 1935 he headed China’s military delegation to Europe and the United States, and then led training for mechanized forces. During the war with Japan he commanded the 38th Army Group in the Battle of South Guangxi (1939–1940) and helped win the Battle of Kunlun Pass with his mechanized units. He moved to Taiwan in 1949 and retired in 1952, passing away in Taipei in 1974 at age 82.