Chen Geng, the fourth founding general, as a graduate of the first phase of the Whampoa Military Academy, was not only good at fighting hard and difficult battles in the military and political almighty, but also engaged in special science intelligence work and the work of educating and principal of the Peng Yang Infantry Military Academy.
During the Liberation War, he was also praised by Chen Yi as one of the five most outstanding military figures in the 20 years since our party was formed, and could be on a par with the four generals Peng, Lin, Liu, and Su, so Chiang Kai-shek also attached great importance to this most outstanding disciple of the Huangpu clan, and repeatedly sent Qian Dajun, Hu Zongnan, and others to woo him.
However, Chen Geng's revolutionary will was very firm, and even if he was arrested for medical treatment in Shanghai because of a leg injury, he also scorned Chiang Kai-shek's coercion and seduction figures, showing the lofty style and honor of the proletarian revolutionaries of the older generation and their loyal and patriotic feelings.
Then Xu Xiangqian was also a high-caliber student in the Huangpu Phase I, and his military command ability was stronger than That of Chen Geng, and he finally became the founding marshal of New China, so why did Chiang Kai-shek never co-opt him?
First of all, Xu Xiangqian was low-key, although he was also admitted to the first phase of the Whampoa Military Academy with excellent results in 1924, but he was never obvious, obscure, and not prominent among the cadets.
Among the outstanding students of the first batch of Huangpu, those who were valued by Chiang Kai-shek were generally the disciples of rich and noble generals such as Chen Geng, Hu Zongnan, He Zhihan, and Song Xilian, who had just entered the school.
However, Xu Xiangqian had the great ambition of Ji Shi'anmin in mind, only to concentrate on learning military knowledge, but the relevant talents were not too much revealed, so Chiang Kai-shek, who had always been not good at discovering talents, naturally did not notice that there would be a founding marshal among the students of the first phase of Huangpu.
It is precisely for this reason that after the defeat of the Great Revolution, Xu Xiangqian joined the Red Army and joined our Party as he wished, and was assigned to the Fourth Army of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army.
After becoming chief of staff, he repeatedly made great achievements in the first and second anti-encirclement and suppression battles, and his military command ability was developed and developed in all aspects, especially in November 1931, after Xu Xiangqian became the commander-in-chief of the Red Fourth Front, he successively commanded and led the smashing of the third encirclement and suppression and the creation and consolidation of the Eyu-Anhui Soviet District and the Sichuan-Shaanxi Soviet Region.
Secondly, another major reason why Chiang Kai-shek only co-opted Chen Geng and did not lie to Xu Xiangqian was not only because Chen Geng was both literate and martial, and his talent was outstanding, but also because Chen Geng had saved Chiang Kai-shek's life during the Battle of Huizhou during the Eastern Expedition against Chen Jiongming.
At that time, Chiang Kai-shek was in command from the front, greedily and aggressively advanced, but unexpectedly the enemy seized the opportunity and fought a strategic counterattack, and for a time fell into a very difficult and dangerous situation of dilemma and retreat, the mountains and rivers were exhausted, the ammunition and food were exhausted, Chiang Kai-shek had already closed his eyes and waited for death, and was ready to martyr the country with his body.
At the crucial moment, it was Chen Geng who took the initiative to stand up and carry Chiang Kai-shek and escape before saving his life, so Chen Geng not only had the love of teachers and students for Chiang Kai-shek, but also had the grace of saving his life, so chiang kai-shek always opened his eyes to Chen Geng when he launched a large-scale killing spree against the revolutionary patriotic masses, and even if he was arrested, he could not bear to be executed, and he first saluted and then soldiered, and spared no effort to win Chen Geng over.
However, I did not expect that Chen Geng had a strong revolutionary party spirit and righteously refused Chiang Kai-shek's solicitation, which made Chiang Kai-shek angry and embarrassed, and sent spies everywhere to arrest him, intending to put Chen Geng to death.
Finally, Chiang Kai-shek's local concept and the difference between the gateway are very serious, and more appointments are made to the people in the southern hometown, but there is a natural estrangement for the northerners who have huge differences in language and customs.
Xu Xiangqian was originally from Wutai County, Shanxi, so he could never enter Chiang Kai-shek's legal eye, and Chiang Kai-shek could not find such a top military talent as Xu Xiangqian because of his blind eye, and it is no wonder that he was finally beaten by our army and lost his armor and fled to the treasure island of Taiwan.
Looking at Chiang Kai-shek's strategy of employing people, it is mainly divided into three types: First, the disciples of the Huangpu Military Academy, such as Hu Zongnan, Wang Yaowu, Du Yuming, and others, have a relatively prominent overall military and political ability, have experienced hundreds of battles, and are good at leading troops to fight wars, and have also made outstanding military achievements, but because of their lack of qualifications, they cannot enter the government's decision-making center at all in a certain sense, and can they not play out at all, and eventually fall into the ocean of people's war and lose completely.
Second, people with high qualifications and poor ability, but who are loyal to Chiang Kai-shek, they generally have very deep qualifications in the government, have high prestige but are very talented, and are especially good at sneaking and patting horses, so Chiang Kai-shek has placed them in a very important position and nepotism.
For example, Gu Zhutong and Liu Zhi and others are typical representatives, and it is okay to make small fights and make small troubles, but once the large corps was commanded to carry out large-scale operations, they immediately caught the blind, performed poorly in the Battles of Eastern Henan and Huaihai, and eventually accompanied Chiang Kai-shek in defeat.
The last is the alliance of the old feudal warlord forces, such as Bai Chongxi, Li Zongren, He Yingqin, and Long Yunzhi, who are highly qualified and have high status, but they are not in the same heart as Chiang Kai-shek, so Chiang Kai-shek will show them more affection and maintain superficial peace, but will strike back at Chiang Kai-shek at a critical period.
For example, at the time of the Xi'an Incident, He Yingqin advocated a military solution, ignoring Chiang Kai-shek's life and death, while Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi plotted to overthrow Chiang After the three major battles, and finally forced the old Chiang Kai-shek to go to the field, Li Zongren successfully ascended to the presidential throne, but without exception, he was all defeated by our army, like a dog that lost his family, and fled to Taiwan to survive in ashes.