Friends who may be familiar with the history of the Republic of China know that since Chiang Kai-shek became the president of the Whampoa Military Academy, he began to rise step by step in the National Revolutionary Army. He was able to reach the peak of his power and master the Republic of China for more than twenty years, starting from serving as the Whampoa Military Academy, contacting military power, and then gaining the support of Whampoa students. Therefore, after Chiang Kai-shek took charge of the Republic of China, he particularly relied on students who graduated from the Whampoa Military Academy. As a result, there is a saying circulating within the National Army that as long as a general who has graduated from the Whampoa Military Academy is like a Baylor Grandpa wearing a yellow coat. Therefore, this type of general is also known as the Whampoa clan.
In fact, friends who know Chiang Kai-shek's military clique know that there are many factions in this clique and that the group is very complex. There are generals of the concubine line and miscellaneous generals, and their treatment is not different. For example, Chiang Kai-shek's most favored Huangpu generals, generally speaking, Chiang Kai-shek will let them hold the position of commander of a well-equipped unit or a division commander.
As we all know, the five most elite aces of the Nationalist army have all been commanders of Chiang Kai-shek's Huangpu generals, and if they are not, they may not hold office for a long period of time. For example, Sun Liren, the commander of the New First Army, was not a General of the Whampoa clan, and was later ostracized and ended his military career. Most of the remaining generals in the positions of commander of the 18th Army, the Fifth Army, the New Sixth Army, and the Seventy-fourth Army were students from the Whampoa Department.
It is enough to see that in Chiang Kai-shek's military clique, the students of the Huangpu Department attach great importance to him. However, as a great Chiang family dynasty, in addition to the Huangpu family, there is another faction that is also the most valued by the old Chiang. That is the Baoding department, which may be said to be more well known to everyone. In other words, students who graduated from the Baoding Military Academy are called Baoding Department.
In the history of the Republic of China, baoding military school is a famous military school that has trained countless military talents, and these students have become prominent figures in the history of the Republic of China military. Every student of the Baoding Military Academy is a bull-forked figure, such as Tang Shengzhi, Fu Zuoyi, Bai Chongxi, Xue Yue, and other great military gods of the Republic of China who graduated from the Baoding Military Academy. Including the senior members of the military group, high-ranking figures are also graduates of the Baoding Military Academy. For example, the well-known generals Chen Cheng, Gu Zhutong, Liu Zhi, Zhou Zhirou, Luo Zhuoying and other generals all graduated from the Baoding Military Academy.
Moreover, their positions are not low, such as commander-in-chief of the army, chief of the general staff, commander-in-chief of the group army, commander-in-chief of the theater and other official positions. More importantly, these were all generals whom Chiang Kai-shek relied on more, especially Chen Cheng, who was called the chairman of the small committee, Chiang Kai-shek's right-hand man, and his son-in-law. Not to mention Gu Zhutong, he was Chiang Kai-shek's most trusted general, and whether in the early or late period, Chiang Kai-shek had great trust in Gu Zhutong. Gu Zhutong was also very loyal to old Jiang, so he was called a loyal general.
Because these people all graduated from the Baoding Military Academy and served as high-ranking officials in Chiang Kai-shek's military clique. Therefore, these people also call it the Baoding system. However, it can also be said that it is the Whampoa department, because these people have all served as instructors at the Whampoa Military Academy, and they have followed Chiang Kai-shek from the Whampoa Military Academy, rather than halfway out of the family. Unlike Tang Shengzhi, who belonged to Chiang Kai-shek halfway, and therefore never received chiang kai-shek's heavy use, including Fu Zuoyi and Xue Yue, who killed the most enemies in the War of Resistance Against Japan, Bai Chongxi, although he belonged to the generals of the National Revolutionary Army, did not belong to Chiang Kai-shek's concubine generals.