1927, Chiang Kai-shek relied on Huangpu's life to vigorously expand the direct and semi-direct troops of the Central Army. By the middle of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the situation where the Central Army was dominant was already present. Although the Central Army was generally a master from the same school, there were still many mountains inside. With Chiang Kai-shek's acquiesce, the Central Army developed three major factions: Chen Cheng series, Hu Zongnan series, Tang Enbo series, and some small factions.
, but there is also an Central Army . Although it is not integrated, in terms of strength and emerging famous generals, it can be called the Kuomintang's number one military group, that is, the 5th Army, represented by Du Yuming .
Du Yuming
Factional struggle is a stubborn disease of the Kuomintang. There are factions within the party and factions within the army. The emergence of factions was mainly because the old warlords of the past still maintained their original territory and army after formally joining the Kuomintang. This was equivalent to the Kuomintang's complete acceptance of the fait accompli of the past warlord separatism. The Guangxi, Guangdong, Yunnan, Sichuan, and Shanxi-Suizhou factions were still integrated, which led to a miscellaneous army compared to Chiang Kai-shek's direct line.
But Chiang Kai-shek directly controlled The Kuomintang Central Army also divided factions. On the one hand, it was caused by the old Chinese military and political leaders' habit of forming cliques, and on the other hand, it was purely Chiang Kai-shek's goal of division and governance to prevent a general from dominating the country. Otherwise, given how much Chiang Kai-shek attaches importance to military power, if these Huangpu students had not received the tacit approval of Principal Jiang, who would have dared to do this?
Among them, Chen Cheng relied on his 11th Division and 18th Army that started, and developed the " Civil and Wood System ", because the "earth" is disassembled into "eleventh" and the "wood" is disassembled into "eleventh". Hu Zongnan relied on the 1st Division and the 1st Army, and Tang Enbo relied on the 4th Division and the 13th Army to develop his own military groups respectively. The rest of the way Ying Qin can be his own party depends on his status and qualifications within the Kuomintang.
Chen Cheng's group, Hu Zongnan's group, and Tang Enbo's group basically divided up the Kuomintang's direct troops and the semi-direct troops incorporated. But in addition, there is another force that cannot be ignored in the Kuomintang Central Army, that is, the 5th Army represented by Du Yuming. If the senior generals and the troops developed and evolved from them are calculated in units of the army, the 5th Army is definitely among the top.
The 5th Army has the strong strength and "circle of friends" to become an independent faction.
The mechanized troops of the 5th Army
The Kuomintang and the military attach great importance to the origin and bloodline of a unit. The Kuomintang Central Army, which is as strong as the 5th Army, is particularly noticed.
The 5th Army was reorganized from the 11th Army of the National Revolutionary Army, which was formed in Xiangtan area of Hunan in November 1938. The commander of the army was Xu Tingyao . Its predecessor can be traced back to China's first armored corps. In 1938, the corps was expanded into the 200th Division of the National Revolutionary Army, the first mechanized division of China. Later, the 11th Army was formed on the basis of the 200th Division, which was later renamed the 5th Army.
Du Yuming is the first commander of the Armored Corps, the first commander of the 200th Division, and the acting commander and commander of the 5th Army. Qiu Qingquan has served as deputy division commander for Du Yuming, and Liao Yaoxiang has served as chief of staff under Du Yuming.
The first battle after the 5th Army was completed was Kunlun Pass Battle . Major General Nakamura Masao was shot dead. When entering Myanmar to fight, the 5th Army was still the main force. During the expedition to northern Myanmar, , western Yunnan, , the 5th Army showed its prestige and fame, and ranked among the "five major forces".
When the 5th Army was at its peak, it had gathered three ace divisions in the Kuomintang army: the 200th Division, the Honorary 1st Division, the New 22nd Division, Dai Anlan, the commander of the 200th Division; Qiu Qingquan, the commander of the newly formed 22nd Division, Liao Yaoxiang, and the Chief of Staff Li Tao; the commander of the Honorary 1st Division, Zheng Dongguo , and Zheng Tingji is the commander of the 4th regiment of the division.
From left: Zheng Dongguo, Liao Yaoxiang, Qiu Qingquan
In May 1944, with the new 22nd Division as the basic force, a new 6th Army, one of the "five main forces" of the Kuomintang was formed. The first commander Liao Yaoxiang and the subsequent commander Li Tao were both former generals of the 5th Army, which also gave the New 6th Army a distinct old 5th Army bloodline.
The 6th Army participated in the counterattack in northern Myanmar and western Yunnan as soon as it was born, and opened up the China-India Highway . Later, due to the Henan, Hunan and Guangxi battle, the domestic situation was tight, and the New 6th Army was urgently airlifted back to China, and then participated in the last major battle on the front battlefield during the War of Resistance Against Japan Xiangxi battle . After Japan surrendered to , the New 6th Army was airlifted to Nanjing to participate in the surrender ceremony, which shows how much the New 6th Army was valued.
During the Liberation War, the 5th Army fought in East China and suffered few defeats. The old man in Huaye was always upset when talking about the 5th Army. During the Huaihai Battle, , he also regarded the annihilation of the 5th Army as one of the main battle targets. Even our army strongly recognized the combat effectiveness of the 5th Army.
The New 6th Army is fighting in the Northeast. The New 1st Army, one of the "five major forces" of the Kuomintang, is also in the hands of Zheng Dongguo, a general who was born in the 5th Army. At this time, the generals of the former 5th Army could be called the "pillars of the Party and the State". Zheng Dongguo, Qiu Qingquan, and Liao Yaoxiang were all commanders of the corps who led heavy troops. The old commander Du Yuming took charge of military affairs in Northeast China and East China successively, serving as the commander-in-chief of the Northeast Security Command and deputy commander of the "Suppression Headquarters" of Xuzhou.
Zheng Dongguo Corps (1st Corps), Liao Yaoxiang Corps (9th Corps), and Qiu Qingquan Corps (2nd Corps) almost occupy half of Chiang Kai-shek's assets in the Northeast and East China battlefields, and they are almost all American and semi-American equipment, especially the New 1st Army, New 3rd Army, New 6th Army, 49th Army, 52nd Army and 71st Army controlled by Liao Yaoxiang. Because they gathered many ace troops of the Kuomintang Central Army, they are known as the "element of half of the party and the country."
The former generals and troops of the 5th Army were distributed in the two major battlefields of Northeast China and East China, and were relatively concentrated. Du Yuming has served as the highest military leader in Northeast China and East China, with famous generals gathered and elite troops. The 5th Army system originally had the strength to develop an independent faction centered on Du Yuming.
But Du Yuming is an honest man and is loyal to Chiang Kai-shek. He only wants to fight the war well, but he has no interest in power and participation in politics. He lacks the ambition to establish factions to obtain political interests.
Furthermore, Du Yuming has a generous personality and is more like a close friend with Zheng Dongguo, Qiu Qingquan, Liao Yaoxiang, Li Tao and others. Even if he gives orders, he is in a negotiated tone. There are few domineering behaviors between superiors and subordinates. For example, at the critical moment of the Huaihai Battle, Du Yuming considered Qiu Qingquan's ideas too much, and had to give up his original retreat route and eventually led to a dilemma. Therefore, with Du Yuming's personality, it is impossible to become the leader of a faction.
Zheng Dongguo, Qiu Qingquan and Liao Yaoxiang are on par in terms of positions, and they are all "vassal kings" who have heavy troops and dominate the side. This makes no senior generals from the former 5th Army who can make a final decision. The key is Lao Chiang's attitude. In the past, Lao Chiang held the mentality of pulling and beating one, and acquiesced his subordinates to develop their power within a certain range. However, at this time, the Kuomintang's world was already in turmoil. Lao Chiang treated Du Yuming as a "fire-fighting team member" and needed his military to help the Kuomintang army recover the defeat, rather than building a "prince" that could not be defeated. Bai Chongxi and others still watch the situation at this critical moment of survival, and even secretly make bad things. Chiang Kai-shek is already so angry that he is irritated by the factional struggle. At this time, there will be no new faction and will be left with future troubles.
Therefore, the former 5th Army Group, with strong combat power, has never developed into an independent faction. When the senior general of the former 5th Army met Du Yuming, he only respectfully called him "old army commander".
