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Song Shilun
Song Shilun
宋时轮
	Song in 1955
President of the PLA Academy of Military Sciences
	In office; October 1972 – November 1985
Preceded by	Ye Jianying
Succeeded by	Zheng Wenhan [zh]
Personal details
Born	September 1, 1907; Liling County, Hunan, Qing China
Died	September 17, 1991 (aged 84); Shanghai, China
Political party	Chinese Communist Party
Spouse	Zheng Xiaocun
Alma mater	Republic of China Military Academy
Military service
Allegiance	People's Republic of China
Branch/service	National Revolutionary Army; Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army; Eighth Route Army; People's Liberation Army Ground Force;
Years of service	1919–1985
Rank	General
Battles/wars	Chinese Civil War Long March; ; Second Sino-Japanese War; Second World War; Korean War Battle of Chosin Reservoir; ;
Awards	Order of Freedom and Independence (1st Class Medal) (1951); Order of the National Flag (1st Class Medal) (1953); Order of August 1 (1st Class Medal) (1955); Order of Independence and Freedom (1st Class Medal) (1955); Order of Liberation (1st Class Medal) (1955);
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	宋时轮
Traditional Chinese	宋時輪
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Sòng Shílún
Wade–Giles	Sung Shih-lun

Song Shilun (Chinese: 宋时轮; pinyin: Sòng Shílún; Wade–Giles: Sung Shih-lun; 1907–1991), né Song Jiyao (宋际尧, named from Chinese legendary King Yao), was a Chinese general in the People's Liberation Army. He graduated from Whampoa Military Academy and participated in the Chinese Civil War, Second Sino-Japanese War, Second World War and the Korean War.

Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945)

Song commanded the 716th regiment of the 358th brigade of the Eighth Route Army's 120th division at the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War. In September 1937, he participated in operations north of the Yanmen Pass and was appointed commander and commissar of the North Yanmen detachment. In less than a month, he managed to recapture several villages and threatened Japanese control over the important railway juncture Datong. This action was highly praised by the Eighth Route Army high command.

In May of 1938, the North Yanmen detachment merged with the Deng Hua detachment to form the 4th column, with Song as commander with 5,300 men. He then launched an attack on the Japanese-controlled East Hebei Autonomous Government and captured the cities of Yanqing, Yongning, Sihai, and Xinglong. He subsequently launched the East Hebei Uprising [zh] by mobilizing local civilians and the forces under his command quickly exceeded 100,000 men and controlled most of East Hebei. However, because the mobilized forces received little training, it was quickly repulsed by a Japanese counterattack and forced to retreat west of Beiping.^[1] The Central Military Commission commended Song for his achievements, reporting that "Song and Deng's column reached deep into East Hebei for several months, fomented a rebellion in coordination with local party elements, restored Chinese administration in the area, established an operation zone with the help of the masses, expanded our army's influence far behind enemy lines, and dealt damage to the enemy. It can be said that there was achievement."^[2]

Song returned to Yan'an in 1940 and received further training at the Central Party School.

Chinese Civil War

Song joined Chen Yi in Shandong in September of 1945 and served as chief of staff of the local formations. He was appointed to operational commander of the Executive Headquarters Peiping [zh] in January of 1946 and assisted Ye Jianying in negotiating with nationalist military representatives. During this period, he successfully resolved several skirmishes between communist and nationalist forces and escaped an assassination attempt. After the outbreak of the Second Chinese Civil War, he served as chief of staff of the communist Shandong Field Army, but was removed from command after suffering a defeat in Si County.^[3] He was then appointed deputy commander of the Bohai Military District, then was promoted to commander of the 10th column of the East China Field Army and defeated Qiu Qingquan in a blocking action during the Battle of East Henan. He continued to lead the 10th column in the Battle of Jinan and Huaihai Campaign. During the latter, he and Liu Shanpei commanded the 7th, 10, and 11th columns and successfully intercepted attempts by Qiu Qingquan and Li Mi to relieve the encirclement of Huang Baitao, thus ensuring that Huang's force would be fully annihilated.

In 1949, the East China Field Army was reorganized into the Third Field Army, and Song was promoted to commander of the 9th Army. He participated in the Yangtze River Crossing Campaign and the 27th Corps under his command was one of the first communist formations to penetrate the nationalist defenses along the Yangtze River. He then encircled 7 nationalist corps and destroyed 5 in the area of Langxi and Guangde. In May 1949, Song participated in the Shanghai Campaign and subsequently served as commander of the Shanghai garrison.^[4]

Korean War

During the Korean War, Song commanded the People's Volunteer Army 9th Army. His armies fought against the US Army 31st Regimental Combat Team and the 1st Marine Division at the Chosin Reservoir in November–December 1950.^[5] He and the 9th Army later participated in the Chinese spring offensive. He returned to China in 1952.

Reaction to the government's response to the Tiananmen Square protests

During the Tiananmen Square protests of spring 1989, Song joined former minister of defense Zhang Aiping and five other retired generals in opposing the enforcement of martial law by the Army in Beijing.

Due to the exigent circumstances, we as old soldiers, make the following request: Since the People's Army belongs to the people, it cannot stand against the people, much less kill the people, and must not be permitted to fire on the people and cause bloodshed; to prevent the situation from escalating, the Army must not enter the city.
— Ye Fei, Zhang Aiping, Xiao Ke, Yang Dezhi, Chen Zaidao, Song Shilun and Li Jukui, May 21, 1989 letter to the Central Military Commission and Capital Martial Law Command Headquarters^[6]^[7]

Notes

^ 罗印文 (1995). 邓华将军传 (in Simplified Chinese). 北京: 中共中央党校出版社. pp. 104–114. ISBN 978-7-5035-1225-4.
^ 范硕 (2000). "最艰难处显奇才——记宋时轮将军二三事". 黄埔 (6): 10–14.
^ "某开国上将谈军史奚落粟裕：他打过鲁南战役？". 张雄文 (in Simplified Chinese). 凤凰网. 2014-01-21. Archived from the original on 2014-07-07. Retrieved 2014-07-07.
^ 张明金、刘立勤 (2010年). 中国人民解放军历史上的200个军区. 北京: 解放军文艺出版社. p. 313. ISBN 978-7-5033-2252-5.
^ "General Song Shilun, Chinese Military Leaders During the Korean War". Archived from the original on 2014-08-12. Retrieved 2008-07-26.
^ "鲜明对照：中外媒体谈赵紫阳葬礼". 美国之音. 2005-04-02. Archived from the original on 2013-05-23. Retrieved 2005-04-02.
^ "六四事件：七上将上书反对戒严始末". 2021-06-04. Archived from the original on 2024-04-25. Retrieved 2024-04-25.