Sun enlisted in the army in 1912. During the
Warlord Era, he was a member of the
Northwest Army led by
Feng Yuxiang. During the
Northern Expedition he fought with
Zhang Zuolin's
Fengtian Clique, and fought with Feng and
Yan Xishan against
Chiang Kai-shek in the
Central Plains War. He eventually rejoined the Nanjing government, and commanded Nationalist forces during the 2nd, 3rd and
5th Campaigns against the
Jiangxi Soviet. During the
Second Sino-Japanese War, he commanded the 1st Army in the
Northern Peiking – Hankow Railway Operation, and the 2nd Group Army in the
Battle of Taiyuan and the
Battle of Xuzhou. As Deputy Commander of the 6th war Area he was in command of the Chinese forces during the
Battle of West Hubei, and as Commander-in-Chief of the 6th War Area, he defeated the Japanese at the
Battle of Changde. He went on to command the 6th War Area until the end of the war. In 1945, Sun Lianzhong was made Commander-in-Chief of the 11th War Area and ordered to reoccupy
Tianjin,
Beiping,
Baoding, and
Shijiazhuang and accept the surrender of the
Japanese troops there. However the KMT forces soon engaged in conflict with the
Chinese Communist forces and the
Chinese Civil War broke out in full force again. Sun served as the Commander of the Baoding Pacification Headquarters. After two years he resigned his posts in
Northern China, and retreated with the Nationalist government to
Taiwan. In Taiwan, he opened a restaurant with
Pang Bingxun, and served as a advisor to the government and a member of the
Central Committee of the Kuomintang. Sun died in
Taipei in 1990, at the age of 97. ==See also==