During the Northern Expedition, Chen displayed his excellent leadership ability. Within a year of conquest, he was promoted from commanding battalions to divisions already.

Later after the expedition, Chen became active in the wars against warlords. His successes in these battles allowed him to be promoted again, this time to the commander of the 18th Army.

Beginning in 1931, Chen was assigned the task of suppressing the Red Army. In various campaigns searching for the main force of Red Army, Chen's units experienced heavy casualties. In the fifth campaign against the Communists, he finally managed to defeat them, forcing the Red Army to launch their epic Long March.

Campaigns against the Red Army came to an end after the Xi'an Incident, which forced Chiang and his staff to agree in cooperation with the Communists against the invading Japanese Army.

During the Battle of Shanghai he was one of the top military assistants of Chiang Kai-Shek, it was his idea to seek a decisive action in the south rather than confront the Japanese in Northern China where nationalist troops were in poor condition and lacking transporting vehicles. After the fall of Shanghai and Nanjing Chen moved to Hubei to command the Battle of Wuhan during the year of 1938. Wuhan was the provisional headquarters of the Chinese Army. The Japanese however, managed to defeat the Chinese albeit suffering heavy losses and captured Wuhan on October 25, 1938.

In latter years of the war, Chen went on to command the Battle of Changsha, Battle of Yichang and Battle of West Hubei. In 1943, he was appointed the commander of the Chinese Expeditionary Force in Burma theater until he was replaced by Wei Li-huang due to illness.

After the Second Sino - Japanese War, Chen became the Chief of the General Staff and commander - in - Chief of the navy. He followed Chiang's orders and began to raid the "liberated" areas by Red Army which launched the Chinese Civil War.

In 1947, Chen moved to Manchuria to command the Nationalist force against the Communists in that area. He made the crucial mistake to dissolve the local security regiments, because they served in the Manchukuo Imperial Army; as a result the total nationalist strength in Manchuria fell from 1.3 million to less than 480,000. He also dismissed some of the most capable nationalist commanders, such as Du Yuming, Sun Li-jen, Zheng Dongguo and Chen Mingren. As a result he suffered a series of major defeats and Chiang Kai-shek replaced him with Wei Lihuang as commander - in - chief of Manchuria and Fan Hanjie as deputy commander - in - chief and director of Jinzhou forward command center. Chen took a sick leave in Taiwan to treat his chronic stomach ailment.

Chiang appointed Chen as the Governor of Taiwan Province in 1949 to prepare Taiwan to become one of the strongholds of the Kuomingtang. After the Nationalist force retreat to Taiwan, Chen went on to hold key civilian government positions such as Vice Executive of the Kuomintang, Vice President and Premier of the Republic of China.

In his years at Taiwan, he introduced various land, economic reforms and developed the reconstruction of Taiwan. He kept Taiwan off communists where farmers actually owned land they tilled. The original landlords were issued stocks from enterprises which belonged to the government. He was also credited with launching several earlier construction projects. One was the Shimen Reservoir which reduced the flooding and increased rice crop production.

He was one of the popular governors. He was honest and efficient. Chen died of hepatic tumors in 1965. His cremated remains were moved to Fo Guang Shan, Kaohsiung County (now part of Kaohsiung City) in August 1995. His son who tried to run for Taiwan President was involved in education and politics.

He married Tan Xiang, the daughter of Tan Yankai, a former Chinese Premier. Chen and Tan's eldest son, Chen Li-an, also became a politician and ran unsuccessfully at Presidential elections.

A native of Guizhou, He was healthy and bookish in his childhood. In 1907 he was enrolled at the Guiyang Military Elementary School, and transferred to the more famous Wuchang Third Army Middle School in the following year. In the same year, He was chosen by the Defense Department of the Qing Dynasty to study at the Imperial Japanese Army Academy for his excellent performance.

When studying at the Imperial Japanese Army Academy, He became acquainted with fellow student Chiang Kai-shek. He learned military skills and was influenced by the anti - Qing Dynasty theories of the Tongmenghui. He soon joined this secret organization. In 1911 after the outbreak of the Wuchang Uprising, he came back to China with other members of Tongmenghui, to work for Chen Qimei, who was governor of Shanghai and also known as Chiang's mentor. When the war waged by the Tongmenghui against Yuan Shikai failed, He had to take refuge in Japan and to proceed with his military training.

After He's graduation in 1916, Liu Xianshi, the governor of Guizhou, planned to set up a military academy in Guizhou to train troops for himself. Liu asked his son, who also had studied in Japan, to enroll some talents for this job. With the recommendation of Liu's son and Wang Wenhua, the commander of the Guizhou army, He was appointed as colonel of 4th Regiment of Guizhou army.

He won Wang's trust quickly and married Wang's sister later. In the power struggle between Liu and Wang, He supported Wang and Liu lost power in 1920. As a reward, He was appointed as president of the academy, head of police, brigadier of the 5th Brigade of Guizhou army. When Wang was assassinated by his rivals in 1921, the troops of Wang fell into chaos and civil strife. He was expelled from Guizhou by other generals and went to Yunnan to work for a local warlord.

In 1924, Chiang Kai-shek made preparation for the establishment of Whampoa Military Academy under the authorization of Sun Yat-sen. Chiang knew He's talent and recommend him to Sun. Sun sent a telegraph asking He to Guangzhou for the job. He accepted the offer and was appointed as the General Instructor of the academy.

In the course of the academy's establishment, He supported Chiang and won Chiang's appreciation. In the war against the local warlord Chen Jiongming, students training in the academy were grouped into two regiments. He was appointed as a colonel of one regiment. In the war, He proved his courage and military talent by winning several battles although he had just recovered from an illness, his performance made a deep impression on both Chiang and the Soviet Union's military advisor Vasily Blyukher (General Galen). Galen sent his sword to He as a gift after this war.

In July of the same year, the National Revolutionary Army was set up. The students of the academy were grouped into the 1st Army Corps, with Chiang as the commander, He Yingqin as commander of one division, Zhou Enlai as the party representative of He's division. In September, Chen masterminded another commotion. Chiang led the war to put down this revolt, in which He demonstrated his military talent again.

During the Northern Expedition in 1926, He Yingqin succeeded Chiang as commander of the 1st Army Corps and led his army marching into Guangdong and Fujian provinces. After He controlled the whole area of Fujian, he conquered Zhejiang as well. When Chiang began to confront the Communists He supported Chiang as well. In 1927 He's army and Bai Chongxi's army launched a massacre of CCP members in Shanghai, which ended the first alliance of KMT-CCP.

When Chiang took power, the tension between him and Wang Jingwei, the New Guangxi Clique led by Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi rose day by day. Wang sent a statement to ask Chiang to resign, with the support from Li and Bai. Under these circumstances, He thought Chiang had made himself a public enemy and was destined to fail, so he supported Chiang's opponents' activities secretly. In the meeting to decide Chiang's future, when Bai asked Chiang to resign, Chiang turned to He for support. He said nothing, which hurt Chiang's feelings deeply and then Chiang left the meeting and announced his resignation in sorrow. Later when Chiang recalled this event, he said "Had He given me one word of support, I would not have been forced to resign."

Chiang soon regained his power due to the incompetence of Wang and his allies in controlling the situation. After Chiang's restoration, he took over He's military command and made himself commander. After He was sacked by Chiang, he went to Hangzhou to relieve his discontent. Chiang knew of He's discontent and came to meet with He. Chiang told He, "Without you, I can still maintain power, but without me, you will be nothing." After careful consideration, He had to reconcile with Chiang.

He was appointed as chief of staff of the National Revolutionary Army (NRA), and training supervisor for the NRA. During his term, He spared no effort to train armies for Chiang and crack down on warlords by regrouping their armies into Chiang's own armies. When the war between Chiang and the alliance of the New Guangxi Clique, Yan Xishan, Feng Yuxiang, He commanded the army even when his father was dying. Chiang sent his condolence, which deeply impressed He.

In 1930, He was appointed as Minister of Military Administration Department of the Nationalist (KMT) government, of which he held for over a decade. During his term, He made great contributions to military service, logistics, defense construction of KMT, and his probity and cleanness won him great reputation.

In 1931, He was appointed as commander to lead the Second Encirclement Campaign against the Jiangxi Soviet, but his troops suffered great losses, which was the beginning of the end of his reputation as a skillful commander.

In the same year, the Mukden Incident took place in Manchuria. Chiang regarded the CCP as his arch - rival and placed priority on the suppression of CCP forces, the Japanese should be dealt with by compromises instead of war. Thus, He was sent to Northern China to handle these tough issues because of his friendly predisposition towards the Japanese. In 1933, Japanese armies invaded Rehe and broke through the KMT defense along the Great Wall. He Yingqin replaced Zhang Xueliang as chairman of the Beijing Military Committee, which was the supreme organ in charge of the military forces of Northern China. He advocated no direct confrontation with the Japanese troops, and signed the Tanggu Ceasefire Accord with Okamura Yasuji (岡村寧次), who was deputy chief of staff of Kantogun at that time.

After that, He Yingqin opposed campaigns and efforts against the Japanese, and disarmed Feng Yuxiang's anti - Japanese army. In 1935, Japanese troops started several incidents. When the Blue Shirts Society, the secret organization of the Whampoa Clique of the KMT, and a firm anti - Japanese group fought back with assassinations and other violent activities, the Japanese argued that it was in violation of the Tanggu Accord signed between China and Japan which agreed to keep the status quo in Northern China. Under the name of Yoshijirō Umezu, who was commander of Japanese troops in Northern China at that time, the Japanese spy agency under the direction of Kenji Doihara provided an investigation of the BSS as appendix of a memo. He agreed with all issues proposed by the Japanese in this memo, which later became known as the He - Umezu Agreement. According to this accord, all forces having relations with the BSS including military police, regular forces such as the 2nd Division and the  25th Division should be evacuated from Beijing and out of Hebei province. The BSS had to retreat from Beijing in humiliation.

With KMT forces out of Northern China, He Yingqin had little room for maneuver. Then, he returned to Nanjing to perform his duties as minister. In December 1936, the Xian Incident broke out, Chiang was taken into custody by Zhang Xueliang's army. There were disagreements among the KMT leaders on how to handle this incident. Chiang's wife Soong May-ling was afraid of Chiang being killed and urged peace negotiations. He's role was quite controversial. He was voted as acting commander to lead the KMT armies to rescue Chiang. Historians used to say that He strongly supported the need to solve this incident by force, for which reason He contacted Wang Jingwei and asked him back to China to take charge of the KMT, and sent two armies marching to Xian to fight against Zhang's army. There was a story that when Soong May-ling came to He asking for a peaceful solution, He told her that, being a woman knowing little of politics, she should stay out of state issues. However, new evidence showed that actually it was the Whampoa clique especially those young and extremist officers of the Blue Shirts Society that launched the military attack against Zhang, and He even rejected their request for a supporting army.

Soong came to Xian for peace talks and did succeed in rescuing Chiang. When Chiang came back, he distrusted He again. Nonetheless, He still held his position of minister but with little real power.

When the Chinese anti - Japanese war turned into a general war after the occurrence of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in 1937, He Yingqin was appointed as chief of staff and worked with Chiang in the  drafting of military plans. In 1944, when his title of Minister of War was taken over by Chiang's favorite, Chen Cheng, He was appointed as General Commander of the Chinese Military Area, which was an honorable title instead of having real power, and was sent to Yunnan to train the Chinese Expeditionary Army, which was set up under the proposal of Joseph Stilwell, for assisting in the ally force's operation in Southeast Asia.

In August 1945, when Japan announced its unconditional surrender, He was appointed as representative of both the Chinese Government and the Southeast Asia Allied Forces to host the surrender of Japanese troops in China. On Sept 9th, He accepted the statement of surrender submitted by Yasuji Okamura, who was General Commander of Japanese troops in China at that time. This historic moment put He under the spotlight of the world, and was the peak of his career.

In 1946, the KMT government set up the Defense Department to take charge of the military attack against CCP forces in the Chinese Civil War, but He lost the race with Chen Cheng and Bai, who were appointed as Chief of Staff and Defense Minister respectively. He was sent to the United Nations Security Council as director of the Chinese military delegation. One year later, He was called back to be a senior military advisor, and regained the position of Defense Minister in 1948 witnessing the collapse of KMT power.

In 1949, Chiang had to resign for the third time, when Li Zongren was voted as acting president. In order to contain Li's power and influence, Chiang asked He to take the job of speaker and later the head of the Executive Yuan of Li's cabinet, and was also named as acting Defense Minister. He took the job and proposed the plan of ceasefire first and peace negotiations later, for KMT to win time for its governance in China. The Communists exploited the military victory and crossed the Yangtze River conquering Nanjing, the capital of KMT government. Although the nationalists still had huge numbers of troops and there were good possibilities of turning the tide on paper, the United States refused to supply any more military aid and thus the troops were poorly armed and equipped and no longer had the combat power to turn the tide. Song Xilian, deputy commander - in - chief of Central China, had a heated argument with He over the telephone when He insisted that, as the defense minister commanding all the forces, Song must obey his order, but Song arrogantly replied that he did not even know what was the defense minister and the head of Executive Yuan, and then simply hung up. He Yingqin consequently went to Li Zongren to complain, and claimed that he had never been humiliated like this in his life but Li was unable to help. In May, He resigned with his cabinet members in Guangzhou.

When He came to Taiwan, he said he would leave politics for introspection on the failure of the KMT. When Chiang was reelected as president of the Republic of China in 1950, he lost his election as member of the central committee of the KMT, and only gained the honorary title of senior advisor.

He took charge of several clubs and associations working for the KMT, and spent most of his time playing sports, bridge, and planting. In 1986 He suffered from apoplexy and was sent to a hospital, where, after several months treatment, he died on October 21, 1987. With the nickname of Lucky General, he survived battles and campaigns, and lived longer than most of the patriarchs of KMT inclusive of Chiang. His remains are interred at Wuchih Mountain Military Cemetery in Taiwan.

Sun Li-jen was born in Jinnu, Lujiang, Chaohu, Anhui, with ancestry in Shucheng County. During the May Fourth Movement, he was part of the Scouts in the march at Tiananmen Square. In the same year (1919) he married Gong Xitao (龔夕濤) and was admitted in 1920 to Tsinghua University to study civil engineering. Sun played basketball at Tsinghua, becoming a star. He led the Chinese team to a gold medal at the 1921 Far Eastern Championship Games.

With a Boxer Indemnity Scholarship, he transferred to Purdue University in the United States to complete his senior year in 1923, where he graduated in 1924. But in the United States, ideological zeal motivated him to dramatically change vocations and pursue a military career instead. China was in the middle of civil war, and Soviet and Japanese invaders seemed poised to devour China. Sun decided that he could better serve his divided nation as a soldier rather than an engineer.

He applied to the Virginia Military Institute, also in the United States, lying about his age by four years so that he would appear young enough to meet the school's admissions requirements. He graduated from VMI in 1927 and joined the Nationalist Army Finance Department army by Minister Sung. During the Second Sino - Japanese War and the later war against the Chinese Communists in the Chinese Civil War in Northwest China, Sun Li-jen became a highly effective field officer and valued military general to KMT.

Sun was a colonel and led his troops, a Tax Police Regiment, fighting Japanese during the Battle of Shanghai in 1937. He was badly wounded by mine fragments. After recovery from his injury, Sun led his troops back to the front line. Later, the Nationalist government formed National Salt Gabelle Brigade with 8 regiments. These were KMT best trained and equipped troops. Four of the regiments later became the New 38th Division with Sun as the Commanding General. His training center was located in Duyun in the province of Guizhou.

After two years training, Sun's New 38th Division was part of the forces Chiang Kai-shek sent into Burma to protect the Burma Road under General Du Yuming. Sun led Chinese forces to the relief of 7,000 British forces trapped by the Japanese in the Battle of Yenangyaung. Although unable to stop the Japanese from cutting the Burma Road, Sun gained the respect of General William Slim, the Commander of the British 14th Army for his competence. Sun and his division retreated into India and became a part of 'X Force', the Chinese forces under the command of Joseph Stilwell, the American commander of all American and Chinese forces deployed in the "China Burma India Theater". Sun's division spearheaded Stilwell's 1943 drive to reconquer North Burma and re-establish the land route to China by the Ledo Road.

As the commander of the Army Training Command and deputy commander of the Republic of China Army in 1947, Sun moved one training facility to Taiwan, independent from the on-going civil war. Sun trained new officers and troops for the Nationalist government, hoping to change the tide of the civil war. The effort was too little too late in comparison with the massive numbers of troops defeated, but one of the division trained (201 Division of the 80th Army) was sent to Quemoy to help defend against the communist invasion in 1949. It was the front line defense force against the invasion of the communist troops. Later in 1950, Sun was named the Commander in Chief of the Republic of China Army, while also the commander of the Taiwan Defense Command, and the Army Training Command. Because Sun was well respected by the Americans and rumors had it that the Americans would like to help him into power to replace Chiang Kai-Shek, Chiang and his son Chiang Ching-kuo were eager to remove him from power. Sun was assigned first as the ceremonial chief military adviser to President Chiang Kai-Shek in June 1954, preventing him from directly controlling any troops.

In 1950, Chiang Ching-kuo became director of the secret police, which he remained until 1965. Chiang Ching-kuo, educated in the Soviet Union, initiated Soviet style military organization in the Republic of China Military, reorganizing and Sovietizing the political officer corps, surveillance, and Kuomintang party activities were propagated throughout the military. Opposed to this was Sun Li-jen, who was educated at the American Virginia Military Institute. Chiang orchestrated the controversial court martial and arrest of General Sun Li-jen in August 1955, allegedly for plotting a coup d'état with the American CIA against his father Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang. The CIA allegedly wanted to help Sun take control of Taiwan and declare its independence. He remained under house arrest until exonerated March 20, 1988, shortly after Chiang Ching-kuo's death. He died in his Taichung home at the age of 89 (91 according to the Chinese calendar). His funeral was in full military honors with the presence of the Secretary of Defense. His reputation was cleared in 2001 after a government investigation into the coup attempt. In January 2011, President Ma Ying-jiu formally apologized to Sun Li-jen's family and Sun's house in Taichung was opened as a memorial hall and museum. General Sun was survived by his two sons Sun Tien-ping (孫天平) and Sun An-ping （孫安平）, daughters Sun Chung-ping (孫中平) and Sun Tai-ping (孫太平), and sister Sun Pi-jen (孫璧人).