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{{Short description|Chinese general and diplomat (1907–1977)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Hu Lien
| native_name = {{no bold|胡璉}}
| native_name_lang = zh
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1907|10|01}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1977|06|22|1907|10|01}}
| office = [[List of ambassadors of China to Vietnam|Republic of China Ambassador to South Vietnam]]
| term_start = 14 October 1964
| term_end = 20 December 1972
| birth_place = Hua County, [[Shaanxi]], [[Qing dynasty]] (now [[Huazhou District]], [[Weinan]], Shaanxi)
| death_place = [[Taipei]], [[Taiwan]]
| image = Hu_Lien.jpg
| caption = Hu Lien as a [[Colonel]]
| nickname = "The Old Man"
| allegiance = {{ROC}}
| branch = [[File:Republic of China Army Flag.svg|22px]] [[National Revolutionary Army]] [[File:Flag of the Republic of China Army.svg|22px]] [[Republic of China Army]]
| serviceyears = 1926–1977
| rank = [[File:General First and Second Class rank insignia (ROC, NRA).jpg|25px]] [[General officer|General]]
| commands = *11th Division
*18th Army
* 12th Army Group (Deputy)
*Kinmen Defense Command
| unit = 11th division
| battles = {{tree list}}
*[[Northern Expedition]]
*[[Central Plains War]]
*[[Second Sino-Japanese War]]
**[[Battle of Shanghai]]
**[[Western Hubei Operation|Battle of Western Hubei]]
**[[Battle of West Hunan]]
*[[Chinese Civil War]]
**[[Nanma–Linqu Campaign]]
**[[Shuangduiji Campaign]]
**[[Battle of Guningtou]]
**[[Battle of Nanri Island]]
**[[Second Taiwan Strait Crisis]]
{{tree list/end}}
| awards = [[Order of Blue Sky and White Sun]]
| laterwork =
| predecessor = {{Ill|Yuan Zijian|zh|袁子健}}
| successor = {{Ill|Xu Shaochang|zh|许绍昌}}
}}
{{family name hatnote|[[Hu (surname)|Hu]]|lang=Chinese}}

'''Hu Lien''' ({{zh|t=胡璉 |s=胡琏 |p=Hú Liǎn |first=t}}, [[courtesy name]] '''Boyu''' (伯玉);<ref name=":0" /> 1 October 1907 – 22 June 1977) was a Chinese [[National Revolutionary Army|NRA]] general. His career spanned the [[Northern Expedition]], the [[Encirclement Campaigns]], the [[Central Plains War]], the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] and the [[Chinese Civil War]]. He later served as the Republic of China's ambassador to [[South Vietnam]] from 1964 to 1972.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2016-03-04 |title=陕西华县赤水镇吴秀娃 |url=http://www.worldwu.com/Article/art/Person/201205/13175.html |archive-date=2016-03-04 |access-date=2023-04-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304111133/http://www.worldwu.com/Article/art/Person/201205/13175.html }}</ref>

== Early career ==
Hu was born in Hua County (now Huazhou District), Shaanxi in 1907. He studied at the [[Republic of China Military Academy|Whampoa Military Academy]], and graduated alongside [[Lin Biao]] in 1925. After graduating, he joined the [[National Revolutionary Army]] and fought during the [[Northern Expedition]]. Following the end of the Northern Expedition, a coalition of warlords led by [[Feng Yuxiang]], [[Yan Xishan]] and the [[New Guangxi clique]] who had supported the National Revolutionary Army attempted to wrestle control from [[Chiang Kai-shek]]'s [[Nationalist government|Nanjing government]] in the [[Central Plains War]]. Hu was ordered to command a company against Feng Yuxiang's forces, and despite heavy artillery fire, Hu's company held its position. At the end of the conflict Hu was promoted to battalion commander. During the first phase of the Chinese Civil War, Hu participated in multiple [[encirclement campaigns]] against the Chinese Communists, eventually being promoted to deputy commander of the 11th Division just prior to the outbreak of the war with Japan.<ref name=":0" />

== Second Sino-Japanese War ==
Hu was a regiment commander in the 11th division during the [[Battle of Shanghai]]. He was wounded several times (including a shot through the jaw) and was promoted to division commander after the Chinese defeat. As part of their proposed Sichuan invasion plan, the [[Imperial Japanese Army]] attacked Western Hubei, hoping to destroy the Chongqing government's last remaining power base. Under Hu's command, the newly formed 18th Corps repulsed the Japanese attack. Afterwards, he was awarded with the [[Order of Blue Sky and White Sun]] for his brave actions.{{fact|date=June 2025}}

==Chinese Civil War==
Following the end of the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]], the [[Second United Front]] dissolved, and the Chinese Civil War quickly resumed. As a result of Hu's military record, his unit was deployed around Central and Eastern China as a firefighting brigade against the Chinese Communists. His campaigns were successful in defeating the communist forces, defeating communist commanders such as [[Liu Bocheng]] and [[Su Yu]]. Before the [[Huaihai Campaign]] in 1948, Hu's father died and he had dental problems from jaw wound suffered in battle of Shanghai, and thus he was absent from the military front. When the 12th Army Group was surrounded by the communist troops in [[Anhui]], Hu was flown in a small airplane to the battlefield, and personally led a rescue mission and breakout from the encirclement with the remnant of his troops. After a week of retreat, he reached [[Nanjing]] and [[Chiang Kai-shek]] tasked him with reorganizing the 12th Army Group. He had twice been appointed as commander of the [[Kinmen]] Defense Command, and defeated the People's Liberation Army forces sent to attack Kinmen during the [[Battle of Guningtou]]. Hu also commanded the Republic of China Army forces sent to [[Battle of Nanri Island|raid Nanri Island]] in October 1952. During the [[Second Taiwan Strait Crisis]] in August 1958, he was nearly killed by the [[People's Liberation Army]] artillery barrage that killed three deputy commanders of the Kinmen Defense Command, [[Ji Xingwen]], [[:zh:趙家驤|Zhao Jiaxiang]], and [[:ko:장제 (1909년)|Zhang Jie]]. By 11 September, the Republic of China's position had improved enough for their forces to start shelling [[Xiamen]] on the mainland. In late 1958, Hu's command in Kinmen was replaced by Liu Anqi.<ref name=":0" />

== Later career ==
[[File:Hu Lien's residence.jpg|thumb|right|Hu's House in [[Kinmen]]]]
In Taiwan, Hu played a major role in [[Taiwan–Vietnam relations]], serving as the ambassador to [[South Vietnam]] in [[Saigon]] from 1964 to 1972. He survived multiple attempts on his life, such as the 1967 Saigon Chinese embassy bombing. His appointment to the Republic of Vietnam was part of the Republic of China's policy of sharing its expertise in anti-communist affairs with other countries in the region.<ref>{{citation|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=moqbJAj2b1kC&pg=PA60 60]-61|title=Foreign policy of the New Taiwan: pragmatic diplomacy in Southeast Asia|first=Jie|last=Chen|publisher=Edward Elgar|year=2002|isbn=978-1-84064-635-1}}</ref>
[[Chiang Kai-shek]] had deep faith in his military leadership and gave a [[sword]] with inlaid [[Gemstone|jewel]]s to Hu. He was promoted to four-star general in 1975 after nearly fifty years of army service. Hu died from a heart attack in 1977 and was buried in Kinmen, the same island where he had defeated communist forces in 1949 and 1958.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{commons category|Hu Lien}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-gov}}
{{succession box|title=Commander of 1st Kinmen Defense Command|before=''New position'' |after=[[Liu Yuzhang]]|years=1949–1954}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Fang Chi]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[File:National Emblem of the Republic of China.svg|30px]] KMT Chairman of [[Fujian Province, Republic of China|Fukien Province]] and Secretary General and Governor of Fukien Province |years=November 1949–?}}
{{s-aft|after=Tai Chung-yu}}
{{s-end}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hu, Lien}}
[[Category:1907 births]]
[[Category:1977 deaths]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of the Republic of China to Vietnam]]
[[Category:Chinese anti-communists]]
[[Category:People of the Northern Expedition]]
[[Category:People of the Central Plains War]]
[[Category:Chinese military personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Chinese people of World War II]]
[[Category:National Revolutionary Army generals from Shaanxi]]
[[Category:People from Weinan]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Blue Sky and White Sun]]
[[Category:Whampoa Military Academy alumni]]
[[Category:Taiwanese people from Shaanxi]]
[[Category:Burials at sea]]

Hu Lien - Revision history

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