"King of the Northwest" Hu Zongnan graduated from the Whampoa Military Academy and created the "Five Firsts" in the Whampoa Military Academy, so he was called "the first protégé of Tianzi". On August 4, 1939, Hu Zongnan was appointed commander-in-chief of the 34th Group Army, and he was the first of all the Huangpu students to become the commander-in-chief of the Group Army, and Hu Zongnan was also known as the "First Man" of the Whampoa Military Academy.
After Hu Zongnan, who was the second Whampoa student to become the commander-in-chief of the group army? This person is Guan Linzheng. Guan Linzheng was also successfully promoted to commander-in-chief of the 15th Group Army two months after Hu Zongnan became the commander-in-chief of the 34th Group Army, becoming the second Whampoa student to become the commander-in-chief of the Group Army.
The most crucial thing is that Guan Linzheng was only 34 years old when he became the commander-in-chief of the group army, and although Hu Zongnan was the first to become the commander-in-chief of the group army, he was already 43 years old. In terms of age, Guan Linzheng has more advantages than Hu Zongnan. Judging from the speed of his promotion to commander-in-chief of the group army, it is not an exaggeration to say that Guan Linzheng was called the "second person" of the Whampoa Military Academy.
The "second man" of the Whampoa Military Academy, Guan Linzheng, belonged to Chiang Kai-shek's concubine lineage, won chiang kai-shek's trust, and made great contributions to Chiang Kai-shek in both the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation. It is reasonable to say that such a general who can recruit good warriors will certainly be taken with him even if he flees to Taiwan. However, when the Nationalist army was defeated in Taiwan in 1949, Guan Linzheng did not follow Chiang Kai-shek to Taiwan, and he chose to settle in Hong Kong. Why didn't Guan Linzheng follow Chiang Kai-shek to Taiwan?
This is mainly related to Chen Cheng. Chiang Kai-shek arranged a back road before the defeat and retreat to Taiwan, sent Chen Cheng as the chairman of Taiwan Province, and went to Taiwan in advance. Chen Cheng was not only Chiang Kai-shek's concubine general, but also Chiang Kai-shek's confidant and "son-in-law". After Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan, Chen Cheng became the most popular person in front of Chiang Kai-shek, an official to the "vice president" and the "number two person" in Taiwan.
Guan Linzheng has always been at odds with Chen Cheng, and the two have a grudge from 1928. At that time, Chiang Kai-shek had just formed the Eleventh Division, which was also the "soil" in the "civil engineering department" of Chen Cheng's starting capital. When the Eleventh Division was first formed, Chen Cheng served as the deputy division commander and Cao Wanshun as the division commander. Cao Wanshun was not a Huangpu concubine and belonged to the old warlords, so Luo Zhuoying, a close friend of Chen Cheng's who was also in the Eleventh Division, joined forces with Guan Linzheng and other officers to prepare to report to his superiors, driving Cao Wanshun away and making Chen Cheng the commander of the division.
When Luo Zhuoying consulted Guan Linzheng's opinion, Guan Linzheng said: "Chen Dwarf is not necessarily better than Cao Wanshun, it may be worse than Cao Wanshun." Chen Cheng was not tall, so Guan Linzheng called him "Chen Dwarf". Later, Luo Zhuoying told Chen Cheng this sentence unchanged, and since then, Chen Cheng and Guan Linzheng have formed a grudge.
In 1943, Huang Wei was dismissed by Chiang Kai-shek as the commander of the 54th Army, and the 54th Army belonged to Chen Cheng's "civil engineering department", Chen Cheng hoped to continue to take the 54th Army into his own hands, however, Guan Linzheng recommended Zhang Yaoming as the commander of the 54th Army, Chen Cheng insisted on using his own "civil engineering" general, and finally Guan Chen and Chen slapped the table and quarreled.
During the quarrel, Guan Linzheng couldn't help but sneer at Chen Cheng, saying: "Ci Gong (Chen Cheng's word is a rhetoric), you will be a figure who will command the national military in the future, how can you hold on to a small military commander?" This is not the mind that should be in a big business." Chen Cheng was so angry that Guan Linzheng's words vomited blood on the spot, and the two formed a deep hatred since then.
In 1949, after the defeat of the Kuomintang in Taiwan, Chen Cheng was reused by Chiang Kai-shek and became the "number two person" in Taiwan, while Guan Linzheng had to choose to settle in Hong Kong because of his discord with Chen Cheng. In 1975, Guan Linzheng deliberately went to Taiwan to pay homage to Chiang Kai-shek, which was also the first time he stepped into Taiwan after leaving the mainland, but at that time, Chiang Kai-shek and Chen Cheng had already gone.
Resources:
"Memoirs of Guan Linzheng" Guan Linzheng