Sun Yuanliang Sun Yuanliang ( ) ( 1904 – May 25 , 2007 ) was a Chinese military general of the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China . Sun was the last surviving member of the first graduating class of the Whampoa Military Academy , as well as the last surviving army - level commander of the Second Sino - Japanese War . His career spanned the January 28 Incident , Second Sino - Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War . Early life and career . Sun was born in Chengdu , Sichuan in 1904 . From 1922 to 1924 , he studied in the University of Nanjing . He transferred to University of Beijing later . His uncle , Sun Zhen , helped him to secure an appointment in the newly formed Whampoa Military Academy . He performed well in the Northern Expedition and Chiang Kai - shek sent him to study in Japan . Sun attended the Imperial Military Academy in Japan and returned home in 1928 . He was appointed as the first commander of the elite German trained 88th Division . In 1934 , Sun and Tang Enbo succeed in surrounding the Jiangxi Soviet area and cut off communists retreat route to the south and he was promoted to lieutenant general . Second Sino - Japanese War . In the 1932 Japanese invasion of Shanghai , Sun led his division to defeat the Japanese at Miaoxingzhen ( 廟行鎮 ) , in what the media billed as the first Chinese military victory over Japan . When full - scale war broke out between China and Japan in 1937 , Sun led his 88th Division in the Battle of Shanghai . He personally gave the order to regimental commander Xie Jinyuan to hold onto the Sihang Warehouse at the conclusion of the three - month battle . During the Battle of Nanjing in December 1937 , he and his troops were surrounded by nearly a quarter of a million Japanese troops , Sun ' s superior , Tang Shengzhi , fled the city without given his commanders any clear instructions on a possible breakout . Sun was forced to abandon his post during the ensuring chaos and survived the Nanking Massacre by disguise as a local brothel owner . Chiang Kai - shek reluctantly suspended him for two month and Sun did not receive another command until 1939 . In 1944 , the Imperial Japanese Army under Hata Shunroku launched Operation Ichigo , the largest military offensive against the nationalist government since the Battle of Wuhan , most of China ' s best troops were in Yunnan and Burma , and over half million Japanese soldiers attacked major railroad links and large cities , and the vanguard of the Japanese Eleventh Army were only 150 miles from Chongking itself . Chiang Kai - shek dispatched nine hundred men of Sun ' s 29th corps to the south of Chongking and they drove away the two regiments of the Japanese 3rd Infantry Division despite complete numerical and technological inferiority . Sun was promoted to General and commander of the 16th army . Chiang Kai - shek personally bestowed the Order of Blue Sky and White Sun upon him . Chinese Civil War . After the war against Japan was over , Sun was named garrison commander of Chongking and Nanjing , while keeping the command of the 16th army . He participated early successful campaigns against the communist forces along with his old classmates , they were Du Yuming , Fan Hanjie , Hu Lian and Liu Yujian . The communists lost all of their holdings in Central and Eastern China except Shangdong and Henan Provinces . In November 1948 , the determining battle of the Chinese Civil War , the Huaihai Campaign broke out . Due the to poor leadership of Liu Chih , one of the least effective Kuomingtang commanders and major security breaches caused by communist moles , Sun ' s troops were encircled by the communist Eastern China Field Army commanded by Su Yu . As a seasoned veteran , he urged Du Yuming , the deputy commander of the nationalist troops to break out before it is too late . Du , being a noted Chiang Kai - shek loyalist , decided to wait for reinforcement as Chiang have promised . Sun decided to breakout on his own , his 16th army was destroyed by the communist troops , but he made it safely to Nanjing in 1948 . Chiang again appointed him as commander of the 16th army and tasked to reorganize his unit . In 1949 , while he was defending Sichuan province from communist attack , many of his officers went to the communists . Sun was forced to resign as army commander and retired shortly after following Chiang Kai - shek to Taiwan . His civilian life was quite successful and he ran a business in Taiwan . Sun died at the age of 103 on May 25 , 2007 in Taiwan .