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Xue YueXue Yue (December 26, 1896 - December 26, 1998) was one of Nationalist China's best generals. Nicknamed by General Claire Chennault of Flying Tigers fame as the Patton of Asia. Born to a peasant family in Canton, Xue joined the Chinese army in 1914, at the age of 18. When Chiang Kai-shek formed the Whampoa Military Academy years later, Xue was one of it's graduates. During the Northern Expedition, Xue's army chased the Communists 12,000 miles by foot and nearly annihilated them, forcing them to start the Long March. For these, Chiang Kai-shek hailed him as "a true example of an officer." After the Xian incident, however, Xue's loyalty was in doubt after he offered to personally arrest Chiang Kai-shek and hand him over to the Communists if he didn't begin fighting the Japanese immediately. Although he immediately reconciled with Chiang Kai-shek, his relations with the KMT were strained throughout the Sino-Japanese War. During the early stages of the Sino-Japanese War, due to low ammunition, he disobeyed orders to attack a Japanese garrison directly. Instead, he decided to use his numerically inferior infantry to surround the Japanese garrison and attack them from behind. Before doing so, he called Chiang up via telephone telling him his intentions and that he'd be prepared to be executed after the battle. Since Chiang was already asleep, Madame Chiang told Xue not to worry go ahead with his plans. The plan was a success and instead of executing him, Chiang immediately promoted him to full general, a position he'd hold until his death. During WWII, the KMT and General Stilwell opposed to giving him and his men ammunitions to fight the Japanese. "Let them stew" was all that General Stilwell said. Chennault, however, gave him weapons, angering Stilwell deeply. Once Chiang heard of this, however, he immediately ordered that weapons be given and immediately requested that the Lend-Lease Act be under his control, not Stilwell's. Shortly before Chennault left China in May 1945, he and Xue became sworn brothers and remained close friends until Chennault's death in 1958. After WWII, Xue fought victoriously against the Communists. When Chiang Kai-shek retreated to Taiwan in 1949, Xue was the one of the last generals to leave China. Once he arrived to Taiwan, Chiang offered him a job in the new KMT government but he declined. Instead, he retired and settled in Chiayi until his death in 1998 at the age of 102. When he retired, Chiang gave him a enormous pension and 10 years of backpay with interest, leaving him an extremely wealthy man.
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