In the 1920s and 1930s, after ending the feudal rule of the Qing Dynasty, China did not become prosperous and strong as expected, but instead appeared warlords divided, the government was corrupt, and the people were not happy.
In 1930, the major ambitious warlords launched an attack on Chiang Kai-shek, and the Central Plains War quietly began, but in the face of a huge gap in strength, Chiang Kai-shek actually used a parade of floats and three thousand women to skillfully defeat the famous and so-called invincible Northwest Army, defused the offensive of the three major warlords, and consolidated his rule in one fell swoop.
So why is the Northwest Army so famous? How was it defeated by Chiang Kai-shek's beauty plan?
The Growing Northwest Army
The origins of the Northwest Army can initially be traced back to Yuan Shikai's claim to the throne.
In 1915, Yuan Shikai successfully restored
However, at that time, this move in the Central Plains undoubtedly attracted countless accusations, and in order to maintain his own rule, Yuan Shikai deliberately selected his staunch supporter Lu Jianzhang and asked him to lead the 16th Mixed Brigade under his command to Sichuan, preparing to attack the defending army.
In this crusade, Lu Jianzhang's troops became more and more powerful, and eventually merged a large number of troops defeated by the Defending Army, and Lu Jianzhang's nephew-in-law Feng Yuxiang also rose all the way to the position of brigade commander.
However, just as the 16th Brigade was marching forward, The Northern Shaanxi Town Guard under Lu Jianzhang launched a mutiny against Chen Shufan.
Because of his opposition to the imperial system, he declared himself the commander-in-chief of the Shaanxi Protectorate Army, attacked Lu Jianzhang's army and captured his son Lu Chengwu, and in desperation, Lu Jianzhang had no choice but to hand over military power, and Chen Shufan began to dominate the family.
In 1919, with the support of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, he expanded his forces and renamed his army the "Northwest Frontier Army".
In the process of chen shufan and Lu Jianzhang's struggle, Feng Yuxiang, who was Lu Jianzhang's niece and son-in-law, had been standing still and watching the changes.
Because of his opportunism, he gained it at that time
"Defecting General"
Nicknamed, however, Feng Yuxiang's low profile has achieved significant gains.
In August 1921, he was successfully expanded into the 11th Division of the Army, and soon after, Yan Xiangwen, the overseer of Shaanxi, committed suicide, and he took the opportunity to take over the post and became the actual leader of the Northwest Army.
However, unlike Lu Jianzhang, Chen Shufan and others, Feng Yuxiang is a person with lofty ambitions and diligence and self-discipline, he not only wants to lead an army, but also wants to dominate one side and become
"Princes of a Land".
Therefore, during his tenure as the overseer of Shaanxi, Feng Yuxiang had extremely high requirements for soldiers, he unified the military and government, incorporated a large number of miscellaneous troops, and the Northwest Army was also strictly trained and reorganized, and repeatedly grew with the strong support of the Soviet Union.
From Tingsun to anti-Chiang
In the few years in Shaanxi, Feng Yuxiang has accomplished a total of three major things.
First, he sent a group of young officers to the Soviet Union and Japan to study abroad, which injected fresh blood into China's future military generals.
Second, he took control of the whole city of Beijing, imprisoned Cao Kun and expelled Puyi, and completely ended the Qing Dynasty's dream of restoration.
Third, he supported Dr. Sun Yat-sen's "Three People's Principles" and actively participated in and supported the National Revolution.
At that time, warlords everywhere only wanted to dominate one side and seize power, but Mr. Sun Yat-sen noticed that Feng Yuxiang was fundamentally different from them, and he was more concerned about the prosperity and strength of the Chinese nation than his own glory and wealth, and because of this, while Feng Yuxiang showed favor to Dr. Sun Yat-sen, Mr. Sun Yat-sen also appreciated him.
In October 1924, the warlord government was overthrown, and Duan Qirui, Zhang Zuolin, and Feng Yuxiang successively sent a telegram inviting Dr. Sun Yat-sen to go north to discuss state affairs.
After receiving Feng Yuxiang's invitation, Dr. Sun Yat-sen did not hesitate to decide to go to Beijing and proposed ways to solve the situation by abolishing unequal treaties and convening a national convention.
If things really develop as Dr. Sun Yat-sen envisioned, national reunification could be many years ahead of schedule.
However, by the time he arrived in Beijing in December, Dr. Sun Yat-sen had become seriously ill and had died of cancer less than four months later, and Feng Yuxiang's plan to promote national reunification had been completely foiled.
After that, Chiang Kai-shek took over as the leader of the Kuomintang, and Because of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, Feng Yuxiang also joined his command.
At first, Chiang Kai-shek relied heavily on Feng Yuxiang and even became a member of him
"Brothers in Disguise"
The two exchanged birthday eight characters and agreed to do so
"Blessed with the same as the difficult"
。
Feng Yuxiang did not disappoint Chiang Kai-shek, during the Northern Expedition, his 400,000 Northwest Army played a key role, cooperating with the National Revolutionary Army to inflict a major blow on Wu Peifu, Sun Chuanfang and others.
However, after the war, Chiang Kai-shek began to envy Feng Yuxiang's huge influence, and in 1929 he borrowed it
"Reorganizing the Army"
For this reason, a reduction plan was made for the Northwest Army.
In the face of Chiang Kai-shek's behavior of "crossing the river and demolishing the bridge", Feng Yuxiang gradually became dissatisfied with him, and coupled with the fact that Yan Xishan, Li Zongren and others jointly opposed Chiang Kai-shek at that time, Feng Yuxiang once again turned against Him and united with Yan Xishan, and a vigorous Central Plains War began.
A float loaded with three thousand beauties
At that time, the combined forces of Yan Xishan and Feng Yuxiang claimed to have 1 million troops, while the Kuomintang troops that Chiang Kai-shek could mobilize were only 600,000 at best, and the huge gap in strength made Chiang Kai-shek panic, and he understood that this battle could not be fought hard, otherwise it would undoubtedly be lost.
However, seeing that Yan Xishan and Feng Yuxiang had a group of small warlords at both ends of the head, Chiang Kai-shek keenly realized that as long as he shook the position of this group of people, he could disintegrate the vast coalition army from within, and this task was entrusted to a man named He Chengjun, who was serving as the commander-in-chief of the Third Army.
He Chengjun was a high-caliber student at the Japanese Non-Commissioned Officer School, and although he was ranked as a general after returning to China, he had no experience in leading soldiers to fight, but at the critical moment of survival, He Chengjun could be favored by Chiang Kai-shek, and naturally had his unique features.
First of all, he was born in the Qing Dynasty, he was quite familiar with the routine of combining vertical and horizontal in the official arena, and he was also very proficient in military theory, which could not only be proud of the warlords but also buy people's hearts; in addition, he had been in the jianghu for a long time, and he was proficient in eating, drinking, and gambling, plus he played very well with the small warlords at the bottom, and this could make him enough to understand the psychology of the enemy.
In order to meet Chiang Kai-shek's requirements, He Chengjun can be said to be racking his brains.
He deliberately set up the headquarters at Luohe Station, and just when the general was greatly confused and asked why the headquarters was placed at the station, a train from Hankou, Wuhan, drove in a mighty way.
And the car is not an army, nor a weapon, nor a grain, but a cart full of beautiful women and wine.
When his subordinates were ready to move, He Chengjun generously said that everyone could go to the "float" at will, so most of the generals indulged in the three thousand beautiful ladies and fine wine and delicacies in the car all day.
Not only that, for the senior commander, He Chengjun had already made arrangements, and he would divide the beautiful ladies he searched from Hankou into three gears.
In the so-called "House of the Army" he set up, on the eve of every battle, there were generals who came to spend the day and drink, and after drinking and eating and being addicted to smoking, He Chengjun proposed the battle plan, and under such encouragement, the combat effectiveness of the Third Army in his hands surged and won many impossible victories.
The Beauty Plan disintegrates the Northwest Army
What is even more powerful is that He Chengjun's "float" is not only open to his own generals, but also welcomes Yan Xishan and Feng Yuxiang's small warlords at any time.
After they came, He Chengjun did not mention any position requirements, just let them enjoy, and when they left, they would give each person a stack of Yuan big heads and a pile of smoke.
In contrast, Yan Xishan and Feng Yuxiang were much more mean-spirited, so that over time many small warlords chose to defect to the Kuomintang army, except for the Eastern Front, where Feng Yuxiang personally led the army to fight, the soldiers on other fronts quickly defected, which made the war situation undergo a huge change.
In this way, on the battlefield of the Central Plains War, due to
"Beauty Plan"
And the temptation of money, other fronts fell one after another, and Feng Yuxiang's bitter battle on the eastern front was ultimately unable to sustain it, and could only be forced to flee in a hurry, and when it came, less than half of the 400,000 northwest army was left.
The Battle of the Central Plains by Jiang, Yan, and Feng lasted more than seven months and stretched for thousands of miles, making it the largest warlord war in Modern Chinese history.
However, under the beauty of He Chengjun, the war ended in a crying and laughable way, Feng Yuxiang electrified the wilderness, and Yan Xishan also announced his resignation.
Chiang Kai-shek won a resounding victory, and although the anti-Chiang forces were not completely destroyed, they no longer had the ability to shake Chiang Kai-shek.
However, after the defeat of the army, Feng Yuxiang was blessed by misfortune, and during his seclusion in Fenyang City, he gradually became closer and closer to the Communist Party, and the anti-Japanese ideas of the two sides coincided.
In 1937, the Lugou Bridge Incident broke out
Feng Yuxiang publicly called the Kuomintang soldiers:
"The duty of resisting the enemy and defending the land will not allow the slightest concession"
He pointed out that the military and the people of the whole country should unite and fight for national survival and national rejuvenation.
Feng Yuxiang's rush and shouting played an important role in the establishment of the anti-Japanese united front, and it also formed a sharp contrast with Chiang Kai-shek's passive anti-Japanese attitude.
After losing his military power, Feng Yuxiang made many efforts to try to win over other forces in order to make a comeback, but because he was too close to the Communists, he attracted more suspicion from Chiang Kai-shek, and his career became more and more bumpy, and he eventually had to flee to the United States during the Liberation War.
Feng Yuxiang's bleak life can actually be traced back to the rout of the Northwest Army, and because of this, whenever he recalls the Great War of the Central Plains, Feng Yuxiang sighs:
"The Northwest Army galloped around the world, and there were only two things that could not be seen, one was smoke and soil, and the other was a woman."