In the history of China's modern revolution, the Whampoa Military Academy is an unavoidable topic, he is a product of the period of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, although to some extent, the education of the Whampoa Military Academy was not the best in the military academies of the country at that time, but his contributions in China's modern history, especially in the War of Resistance, more than 90% of the Huangpu graduates have sacrificed their lives for the country, and many senior generals of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party are also from the Whampoa Military Academy.
Most of the students who graduated from the Whampoa Military Academy demanded loyalty to Lao Jiang, and basically as long as they were Whampoa graduates, if there was no problem, they would be highly valued by Lao Jiang, but in the hearts of the Whampoa students, there was another person, who was more worthy of respect than the old Jiang, the principal, who had served as the captain of the first, second, and third student teams of the Whampoa Military Academy, and because of his excellent military quality, he was respected by the students as a "Good Teacher of Huangpu."
Many of the instructors of the Whampoa Military Academy were mostly graduated from the Baoding Military Academy, including Chiang Kai-shek, such as Chen Cheng, Liu Zhi and other generals, Yan Lisan was no exception, his father was an official during the Qing Dynasty, but also born into a family of officials and eunuchs, under the influence of the family, Yan Lisan established the idea of Ji Shi Anmin, in 1924 Yan Lisan was invited by the Whampoa Military Academy to go to the Whampoa Military Academy as the chief student captain, because of his excellent military quality, he was deeply admired by his classmates.
Chen Geng, one of the three masters of Whampoa, later recalled: "He was the eldest brother of all of us, and no one did not respect him." It is said that when Yan Lisan was at the Whampoa Military Academy, he memorized a whole thick infantry drill code verbatim, and he asked the students to choose a beginning from the book at random, and he could carry it down, and after the Northern Expedition began, Yan Lisan was promoted to the 21st division commander of the First Army, winning the reputation of a famous general of the Northern Expedition.
After the Nanchang Uprising, the 21st Division led by Yan Lisan was stationed in Jiujiang, very close to the Nanchang rebel army, and at that time old Jiang Yan ordered him to go to encircle and suppress, but because he was not accustomed to the old Jiang warlords, coupled with the friendship with many generals of the Nanchang Uprising, Yan Lisan deliberately dragged his feet, and later after the old Jiang took power, he was promoted and secretly surrendered, and from then on he left the military circles and never brought soldiers again.
But even so, the old Jiang still has great respect for Yan Lisan, and also invited Yan Lisan out of the mountains many times, and even gave him the rank of general, Yan Lisan was not moved, and later because of the outbreak of the War of Resistance, out of the feelings of home and country, Yan Lisan served as the director of the Hubei Provincial Government's Civil Affairs Department, acting chairman of the provincial government, etc. Unfortunately, in 1944, Yan Lisan died of serious illness in Enshi, Hubei Province, at the age of 52, and he did not see the arrival of the victory he expected in the War of Resistance.