On June 6, 1916, Yuan Shikai, who restored the imperial system, died in the insults of the people, and the Beiyang government he left behind was immediately split into two major factions, Zhi and Anhui, and later, the Warlords of the Fengzhi Clan and warlords from other places also formed one after another, and the warlords fought among themselves for territory and expanded their strength for many years, resulting in the people of the country not having a good life. Later, Duan Qirui stepped down, the Beiyang warlords were left with only Zhang Zuolin, Wu Peifu and Sun Chuanfang, in order to overthrow the Beiyang warlords and end the dark rule of the feudal warlords, the Kuomintang passed the resolution of the Northern Expedition War and decided to send the National Revolutionary Army to the Northern Expedition, and in this way, the vigorous Northern Expedition War officially began. Today, let's find out who the "five giants" who were responsible for commanding the operations during the Northern Expedition were, and what was the final outcome of each of them.
commander in chief:
Chiang Kai-shek, a native of Fenghua, Zhejiang, who threw himself into the democratic revolution in his early years and gained the weight of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, was later established at the Whampoa Military Academy, and Chiang Kai-shek was introduced by nobles as the first president of the military academy. After the death of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, Chiang Kai-shek organized and led the teachers and students of the Whampoa Military Academy to participate in the Eastern Expedition and the Northern Expedition, and later all the way to the commander-in-chief of the National Revolutionary Army. After the Start of the Northern Expedition in July 1926, Chiang Kai-shek, as commander-in-chief, personally went to the front to direct the battle, and then with the support of workers and peasants, he crushed the Beiyang warlords Wu Peifu and Sun Chuanfang, completely restored the four provinces of Hunan, Hubei, Gansu and Fujian, and then continued to march to Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. On April 18, 1927, Chiang Kai-shek established a separate "National Government" in Nanjing, forming a confrontation with the "National Government" in Wuhan, and later full of wings, successively defeating Wang Jingwei, Hu Hanmin and other Kuomintang elders politically, and gradually grasping the power of the National Government. After the outbreak of the Xi'an Incident, Chiang Kai-shek was forced to end the ten-year civil war and began to prepare for the upcoming War of Resistance Against Japan, and made certain contributions in the history of the War of Resistance. At the end of the Liberation War, Chiang Kai-shek was defeated and retired to Taiwan, and he died on April 5, 1975 at the Shilin Official Residence in Taipei, at the age of 88.
Chief:
Li Jishen, a native of Wuzhou, Guangxi, went south to Guangzhou in his early years to join the military government led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, and made great achievements in the three major defeats of the Qing army in Guzhen, Suzhou, and Xuzhou, and was able to enter the Army University for further study. After graduation, Li Jishen, who had excellent grades, was retained as a teacher, and then he made full use of his profound military theoretical attainments to carefully cultivate a large number of high-level military talents, including General Xu Yongchang, who later participated in the Japanese surrender ceremony, and General Huang Xuchu, chairman of the Guangxi Provincial Government. After the Northern Expedition officially began, Li Jishen was appointed chief of the general staff of the National Revolutionary Army and vice president of the Whampoa Military Academy, responsible for staying in the rear and acting as commander-in-chief, while his Fourth Army, led by deputy commander Chen Keyu, participated in the Northern Expedition, attacked and won the battle on the battlefield, and won the fourth army the glorious title of "iron army". After the outbreak of the Chiang-Gui War, Li Jishen was placed under house arrest in Tangshan, Nanjing, on the charge of colluding with Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi to "divide the hair and conspire against the party-state," deprived of military and political powers, and "permanently expelled from the party." He did not regain his freedom until after the September 18 Incident. After the outbreak of the Liberation War, Li Jishen went to Hong Kong to settle down, and did not return to Beijing until after the founding of New China, and finally died of illness in Beijing on October 9, 1959, at the age of 74.
Deputy Chief of the General Staff:
Bai Chongxi, a native of Guilin, Guangxi, defeated the old Gui warlords Lu Rongting and Shen Hongying in his early years, together with Li Zongren and others, and completed the task of unifying Guangxi, and later chose to join the National Revolutionary Army and participate in the Northern Expedition. After the outbreak of the war, Bai Chongxi participated in the command of the war with the General Headquarters of the Northern Expeditionary Army, defeated Lu Xiangting's troops, successfully captured Fengcheng, and later Sun Chuanfang raided Nanjing, Bai Chongxi led his division back, recaptured Longtan, and defeated Sun Chuanfang's troops again. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi, and others jointly sent a telegram to the Nationalist Government to support Chiang Kai-shek in fighting against Japan, and Bai Chongxi also gave advice to Chiang Kai-shek on the later anti-Japanese battlefield, and personally went to the front line to comfort the officers and men, boost morale, and resolutely resist Japan. After the outbreak of the Liberation War, Bai Chongxi was included in the list of "war criminals" for actively helping Chiang Kai-shek to start a civil war, and later the Nationalist army was defeated by the People's Liberation Army, and Bai Chongxi's Gui army was also completely destroyed on the battlefield, so he had to flee to Taiwan, and then died at home on December 2, 1966, the cause of death is unknown, at the age of 73.
Director of the General Political Department:
Deng Yanda, a native of Huiyang, Guangdong, joined the League in his early years and participated in the Northern Expedition of the student army led by Yao Yuping, and after graduation, he participated in the war to expel the old Gui warlords. After the Outbreak of the Northern Expedition, Deng Yanda was appointed director of the General Political Department, responsible for mobilizing and mobilizing peasant work, and later personally went to the front line to participate in the military command of the siege command, and the military uniform he wore in the process of supervising the battle was pierced by the enemy through 10 holes, fortunately he was unharmed. After the end of the Northern Expedition, Chiang Kai-shek began to split the revolution, and Deng Yanda could not bear to look at it, and repeatedly issued telegrams condemning Chiang Kai-shek, and was later dismissed from all posts by Chiang Kai-shek and ordered to be wanted. On August 17, 1931, because of the traitor's whistle-blowing, Deng Yanda was arrested by the Shanghai Concession Patrol, and then escorted back to Nanjing from Shanghai, where Chiang Kai-shek sent someone to persuade Deng Yanda to abandon his political views, but Deng Yanda immediately refused with a stern word, saying that "he wants to maintain the righteousness of the Chinese nation." On November 29 of the same year, Deng Yanda was secretly murdered in Shazigang, outside the Qilin Gate in Nanjing, at the age of 36.
Former Enemy Commander-in-Chief:
Tang Shengzhi, a native of Yongzhou, Hunan, led his troops to participate in the Dharma Protection Movement in his early years, and made outstanding achievements in the war to expel Zhang Jingyao, and later under the persuasion of Bai Chongxi and others, he officially joined the National Revolutionary Army and participated in the Northern Expedition. On the battlefield, Tang Shengzhi led his troops to defeat the Beiyang Army at the Xuanzhou River, restored the Loess Ridge, Hengshan, and Yongfeng fronts, and later led the army into Hubei, successively conquered the Tingsi Bridge and the Hesheng Bridge, defeated Wu Peifu, and made great contributions to the Northern Expedition. In 1927, Chiang Kai-shek rebelled against the revolution, and Tang Shengzhi, who was in an important position, adhered to the anti-Chiang kai-shek stance, actively advocated a crusade against Chiang Kai-shek, and personally led an army to attack, forcing him to electrify him in Shanghai. Later, Chiang Kai-shek came back to power, Tang Shengzhi was beaten into the cold palace, lost military power, until the early days of the War of Resistance against Nanjing, the nanjing defense war, only regained military power, however, the Nanjing Campaign was a backwater battle, there was almost no chance of victory, and Tang Shengzhi also completely withdrew from the military circles after this war and returned home to retire. In the middle of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Wang Jingwei surrendered to the enemy, and in order to win tang Shengzhi over, he once sent a lobbyist and traitor Ye Peng to invite him out of the mountain, but he was scolded by Tang Shengzhi and had to return to Nanjing in ashes. On April 6, 1970, Tang Shengzhi died of bowel cancer in Changsha at the age of 80.