In February 1924, the 23-year-old Xu Xiangqian and Shanxi compatriots Bai Longting, Kong Zhaolin, Zhao Yongzhen, Guo Shuyun and others took a train to Shanghai to apply for the Whampoa Military Academy, which was in Guangzhou at the time, so why did they go to Shanghai? Because the Whampoa Military Academy was recruiting students from all over the country at that time, a special office was set up in Shanghai to be responsible for the recruitment of applicants from the north.
The Admissions Office of the Huangpu Military Academy in Shanghai conducted a preliminary examination for applicants from the north, and since it was the first enrollment of the Huangpu Military Academy at that time, it was also an urgent need for talents, so the initial examination was very simple, Xu Xiangqian and more than a dozen Shanxi compatriots who went with them passed. The Shanghai office sent travel fees to those who passed the initial examination and asked them to go to Guangzhou to participate in the re-examination.
Xu Xiangqian and others took a steamship to Guangzhou, after a few days of rest in the Guangdong Higher Normal School for the examination, the most difficult math problems many people have handed in the white paper, Xu Xiangqian also tested is not ideal, everyone is very nervous, worried about the white to come, but when the list was put Xu Xiangqian and more than a dozen Shanxi compatriots were admitted, the original principle of admission is to take into account that the registration is enthusiastic youth, so the admission as far as possible are admitted.
Strictly speaking, the first phase of the Whampoa Military Academy was a crash course, the main reason was that there was an urgent need for military talents at that time, and it was unrealistic to study for several years according to the convention, on June 16, 1924, the Whampoa Military Academy officially held the opening ceremony, and in February of the following year, the students of these first phases participated in the First Crusade Chen Jiongming, when the Whampoa students were all hot-blooded young people, very brave in combat, obviously different from the old army.
On September 6, 1925, Xu Xiangqian graduated from the Whampoa Military Academy, a total of 449 graduates at that time, after graduation Xu Xiangqian stayed at the school as a platoon leader, and soon he was sent to work in the Feng Yuxiang Department in the north. Feng Yuxiang was more progressive in his thinking at that time, and his relationship with the Guangzhou side was also very good, and in order to change the habits of the old army of the army, he was also relatively supportive of Huangpu Sheng's coming to work.
Why were Xu Xiangqian and Bai Longting, Kong Zhaolin and other Shanxi people sent? On the one hand, after consultation with several fellow villagers, Xu Xiangqian thought that they were all northerners, so he applied to the school to work in Feng Yuxiang's department; on the other hand, Guangzhou also hoped that Feng Yuxiang's nationalist army could have some Huangpusheng work, so it immediately approved the request of Xu Xiangqian and others.
The main force of the Nationalist Army was three corps, with Feng Yuxiang as commander-in-chief of the Nationalist Army and commander of the First Army, Hu Jingyi as deputy commander and commander of the Second Army, and Sun Yue as deputy commander and commander of the Third Army. Xu Xiangqian was sent to the Second Army, and hu Jingyi died of illness when he went, and the commander of the army was replaced by the division commander Yue Weijun.
The Nationalist Army has three corps, the First Army is Feng Yuxiang's basic unit, the combat effectiveness and military discipline are acceptable, the Second Army and the Third Army have poor combat effectiveness, especially after Yue Weijun took over as the commander of the Second Army, he greatly expanded his troops and incorporated many bandit armed forces. At one point, the number of troops was expanded to 200,000, but the number of these troops was extremely poor.
Xu Xiangqian went to the Second Regiment of the Sixth Mixed Brigade of the Second Army as a regimental deputy, and the deputy regimental commander of the Nationalist Army did not have high status or real power, not that some people thought that it was a deputy regimental commander, in fact, the regimental deputy was the abbreviation of the regimental commander's deputy officer, and it was impossible for the regimental deputy to perform the duties and powers of the regimental commander, and there were very few expatriates to serve as battalion commanders and company commanders. During these days in the Nationalist Army, Xu Xiangqian actually did not have much to do and no troops to command.
In October 1925, Sun Chuanfang, the governor of Zhejiang, launched a coalition of the five provinces of Zhejiang, Fujian, Suzhou, and Gansu to attack Zhang Zuolin, and Feng Yuxiang and Sun Chuanfang formed an alliance, and the two agreed that the Shanghai-Suwan area south of Xuzhou would be attacked by Sun Chuanfang's troops, and the Shandong and Zhili areas north of Xuzhou would be captured by Feng Yuxiang's troops. In November, Zhang Zuolin and Feng Yuxiang formally broke up the engagement, and Feng Yuxiang ordered Yue Weijun to lead the Second Army to capture Shandong.
Yue Weijun's troops expanded to 200,000, just to see the number is indeed a huge army, he hesitated and full of ambition to divide the troops to attack Shanxi and Shandong at the same time, the result of Shanxi all the way was defeated by Yan Xishan, Shandong all the way was defeated by Zhang Zuolin, Wu Peifu combined forces, 200,000 troops collapsed in an instant, Yue Weijun soldiers fled to Shanxi and became a prisoner of Yan Xishan. Xu Xiangqian's regiment was crushed by Zhang Zuolin's cavalry, and the soldiers in the regiment fled in all directions.
Xu Xiangqian saw that Yue Weijun's troops had no fighting spirit and collapsed at the touch of a button, and he was very disappointed, so he and several fellow villagers left the Nationalist army and returned to their hometown in Shanxi. In less than a year of military career in the Nationalist Army, Xu Xiangqian thoroughly recognized the old army and also made a profound change in his thinking.