[citation needed] In 1926, he joined the Kuomintang, subsequently participating in the Northern Expedition, and was named commander of the 3rd Brigade of the Independent 2nd Division of the National Revolutionary Army.

[citation needed] During the Chinese Civil War, Tao Zhiyue became military governor of Xinjiang, serving under Zhang Zhizhong, who was the overall military-political official in charge of the Northwest.

In the summer of 1946, Tao assisted Zhang Zhizhong in releasing a large number of Chinese Communist Party members detained in Xinjiang prisons, and personally sent people to escort them to Yan'an.

On September 25, 1949, he defected to the Communists, recognizing the authority of Mao Zedong and inviting the People's Liberation Army (who had reached the Yumen Pass) to take control of Xinjiang.

[1] More than 70,000 Nationalist soldiers in Xinjiang joined Tao in switching allegiance to the Communists, and PLA forces entered Ürümqi with no resistance on October 17.