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{{Short description|Chinese general}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2013}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Liu Yalou
|native_name = {{nobold|{{lang|zh-hans|刘亚楼}}}}
|birth_date=April 1910
|death_date= {{death date and age|df=yes|1965|5|7|1910|4|25}}
|birth_place=[[Wuping County|Wuping]], [[Fujian]], China
|death_place=[[Shanghai]], China
|image=Liu Yalou.jpg
|image_size=200px
|caption=
|office= 1st [[Commander of the People's Liberation Army Air Force]]
|alongside =
|term_start = 25 October 1949
|term_end = 7 May 1965
|predecessor = Post established
|successor = [[Wu Faxian]]
|1blankname = Chairman
|1namedata = [[Mao Zedong]]
|nickname= 103 ([[military call sign]])
|allegiance={{flag|China}} {{flag|USSR}}
|serviceyears=1929–1965
|branch= {{Army|China}} {{air force|China}}
|rank=General (PLA) Major (USSR)
|commands=Chief of Staff, Manchurian Army Group, Chief commander, People's Liberation Army Air Force
|unit=
|battles=[[Soviet-German War]] (1940) [[Liaoshen Campaign]] (1948) [[Tianjin Campaign]] (1949)
|awards=
* [[File:Order of Bayi 1st Class.svg|23px]] [[Order of Bayi]] (First Class Medal)
* [[File:Order of Independence and Freedom 1st Class.svg|23px]] [[Order of Independence and Freedom]] (First Class Medal)
* [[File:Order of Liberation 1st Class.svg|23px]] [[Order of Liberation]] (First Class Medal)
}}
{{family name hatnote|[[Liu]]|lang=Chinese}}

'''Liu Yalou''' ({{zh|t=劉亞樓|s= 刘亚楼|p=Liú Yàlóu}}; April 1910 – 7 May 1965) was a general in the Chinese [[People's Liberation Army]] who served as the inaugural commander-in-chief of the [[PLA Air Force]]. During the [[Chinese Civil War]], he was chief of staff of [[Lin Biao]]'s [[army group]], which occupied the entirety of [[Manchuria]] in 1948 and captured 472,000 [[Kuomintang]] troops in the [[Liaoshen Campaign]].

==Biography==

===Early life===
Liu was born in [[Wuping County]], [[Fujian]], China. He joined the [[Communist Party of China|CPC]] in the [[Jinggangshan Mountains]] in August 1929, and participated in the [[Encirclement Campaigns]] on the communist side. Like many late communist commanders, Liu was also a veteran of the [[Long March]]. During the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] he became [[Lin Biao]]'s chief assistant in the Red Army University in [[Yan'an]].

During the [[Long March]] in 1934, Liu and his commander [[Chen Guang]] succeeded in forcing a way across the [[Wu River (Yangtze tributary)|Wu River]], securing the [[Chinese Red Army]]'s passage across the river. He also led troops to capture [[Zunyi]], Lou Shanguan. At the [[Dadu River (Sichuan)|Dadu River]] banks, he ordered the Red Fourth Army to attack [[Luding Bridge]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=欧阳青|title=1955共和国将帅授衔档案|date=2011|publisher=长城出版社|location=北京|isbn=978-7-5483-0058-8|pages=397–399}}</ref>

===Soviet Union===
Liu was sent to study in [[Frunze Military Academy]] in 1939–1941, and was commissioned as a major in the [[Soviet Red Army]] and participated in the [[Soviet-German War]], and wrote several important essays on the [[Battle of Stalingrad]].

In August 1945 Liu returned to China by following Soviet Marshal [[Aleksandr Vasilevsky]]'s troops that invaded [[Manchuria]] during [[Operation August Storm]] before joining the communist Manchurian field army. In the same month, he was appointed as the Principal of the Northeast Aviation School, which would later serve as the backbone of the [[People's Liberation Air Force]]. He became [[Lin Biao]]'s [[chief of staff]] of the [[People's Liberation Army|North Eastern Armies]] prior to the outbreak of the [[Chinese Civil War]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2020}}

===Chinese Civil War===
With the outbreak of the Manchurian Campaign in 1947, he led forces in [[Linjiang]]. In 1948, he was appointed Chief of Staff of the Northeastern Military Region and assisted Lin Biao in the [[Liaoshen Campaign]]. During the assault on [[Pingjin Campaign|Pingjin]] in January 1949, Liu secured a victory over a 130,000 strong Nationalist force after 29 hours of intense battle, capturing the Nationalist General [[Chen Changjie (general)|Chen Changjie]].<ref name="cpc">{{cite web|title=Biography of Liu Yalou|url=http://cpc.people.com.cn/GB/64162/126778/127857/7537784.html|access-date=4 November 2016|website=[[People's Daily]]}}</ref> In the same year, he was appointed as a field commander of the [[Fourth Field Army]].<ref name="cpc"/>

=== Creation of the People's Liberation Army Air Force ===
On 25 October 1949, Liu was appointed as the chief of air force in the People's Liberation Army and by 11 November, air force command was officially formed.<ref>{{cite book|last1=《中国人民解放军军史》编写组|title=中国人民解放军军史:第四卷|date=2011|publisher=军事科学出版社|isbn=978-7-80237-427-0|pages=52}}</ref> In enhancing the PLA's air force, he formed 7 aviation schools and established the doctrine for the air force.<ref name="cpc"/> After the establishment of People's Republic of China in 1950, [[Mao Zedong]] prepared to support [[North Korea]] in the [[Korean War]]. Mao ordered Liu to go to the [[Soviet Union]] to lobby for their aid and to train Chinese pilots based on the Soviet model, so Liu was appointed First Commander-in-Chief of the [[People's Liberation Army Air Force]] in 1949. At that time the Chinese air force only possessed 15 [[MiG]] fighter planes. By the end of his career, he would form 27 schools dedicated to air force training.

===After the Founding of the PRC===
Alongside his position within the Chinese Air Force, he was appointed as the Deputy Minister for Defense in April 1949. He was also appointed various academic positions, such as Director of the 5th School of Research within the Ministry of Defense.<ref name="cpc"/> During his political tenure, he was a member of the Central Military Commission and was a member of the [[8th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China|8th Central Committee]]. In 1964, he was elected as the honorary chairman of the Chinese People's Airways Association.<ref name="cpc"/>

==Personal life==

===Life as a writer===
Liu was competent in Russian, and wrote several books of his experiences as a military leader in both Russia and China. These included his memoirs as the Chief of Staff of the Northeastern Field Army during the Manchurian Campaign in 1947–49, and books concerning Stalin and his subordinates.<ref name="cpc"/>

===Illness===
In the early 1960s Liu fell ill with symptoms of [[liver cancer]]. Liu was visited in hospital by [[Lin Biao]], who had otherwise never visited the sick before. After one year of considerable weight loss and worsening symptoms, Liu died in Shanghai in 1965. Lin took personal charge of Liu's funeral arrangements as he was one of the best assistants and staff officers in his military career.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-new|reason=Air Force founded}}
{{s-ttl|title=Commander of the [[People's Liberation Army Air Force]]|years=1949–1965}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Wu Faxian]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Commanders of the People's Liberation Army Air Force}}
{{First PLA Shang Jiang}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Yalou}}
[[Category:1910 births]]
[[Category:1965 deaths]]
[[Category:People's Liberation Army generals from Fujian]]
[[Category:Commanders of the People's Liberation Army Air Force]]
[[Category:Frunze Military Academy alumni]]
[[Category:People from Longyan]]
[[Category:Chinese expatriates in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Chinese military personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Chinese military writers]]
[[Category:People of 88th Separate Rifle Brigade]]
[[Category:Deputy ministers of national defense of the People's Republic of China]]

Liu Yalou - Revision history

imported>The Account 2 at 11:01, 6 June 2025