In Chiang Kai-shek's military clique, there is one such unit, which is several times the size of other units, and the weapons and equipment he possesses are the most sophisticated in the entire Nationalist army, including the officers who are Chiang Kai-shek's concubine generals, Huang Pusheng. The name of this unit is the 200th Division of the National Revolutionary Army, as a division with more than 20,000 soldiers.
The 200th Division of the National Revolutionary Army was founded in January 1938, the second year of the outbreak of the War of Resistance. This also shows that the 200th Division was formed for war, and because of this, it is also doomed to be different from the division. Its predecessor was the vehicle combat battalion of Chiang Kai-shek's direct subordinate unit, and the commander of the battalion at that time was Peng Keding, who was a second-term student of Huangpu, and was later sent by Chiang Kai-shek to the German Tank Officer School for further study, and was regarded as the first general in the Nationalist army to contact mechanized operations. Later, with the evolution of war, mechanized warfare became the sharp knife on the battlefield. Even Chiang Kai-shek realized that the armored corps of the future war was a force to be reckoned with. To this end, under the basis of the original tank battalion, it was expanded into an armored regiment, and the regimental commander was Du Yuming, who graduated from the first phase of Huangpu.
The only armored corps of the Nationalist army was not under the jurisdiction of anyone, but was directly under the command of Chiang Kai-shek, who regarded this unit as a pearl in his hand. Mainly because the combat weapons possessed by the regiment were the most advanced in The country at that time, for this reason, the old Chiang Kai-shek never easily put them into use in war, and the weapons and equipment belonged to the one that was broken and one less.
In the second year after the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Chiang Kai-shek purchased a batch of weapons and equipment in the United States through Soong Ziwen, which were absolutely the most advanced weapons at least during the Republic of China period.
In this way, Chiang Kai-shek used these weapons and equipment to expand the armored corps. Therefore, in January 1938, in Hunan Xiangtan Armored Corps, it was expanded into the 200th Division, under the jurisdiction of two tank corps, one automobile corps, one mechanized corps, and one combat artillery regiment, a total of five regiments, with the number of soldiers reaching 20,000. It should be known that the standard number of a division is about 10,000 people, while the 200th division reaches 20,000, which is enough to see the difference between the division. More importantly, the five regiments of the 200th Division, all of which belonged to the armored corps, were a mechanized unit that was close to modernization. Including the five regimental commanders were all Huangpu students and had received good military education in mechanized combat.
The five regimental commanders of the 200th Division had received good military education, and the three commanders of the division were the aces of the nationalist army. The commander of the division is the famous Du Yuming, and I believe that many readers know this more well, and he is Chiang Kai-shek's concubine. In terms of leading troops, the 200th Division was trained by the division commander Du Yuming to become an ace division. During the training, he proposed to sweat more in peacetime and less blood in wartime, and demanded that the officers and men of the whole division eliminate arrogance, laziness, falsification, desire, and evil. At the same time, it is also necessary to achieve the three exercises, the study of fineness, the practice of sincerity, and the practice of diligence, which is the requirement of division commander Du Yuming for all officers and men.
It was in this environment that the military style and discipline of the 200th Division, which was trained, were very strict, including the combat ability of soldiers, and the combat level of officers was greatly improved. It is said that in the military appraisal of that year, the 200th Division was rated as the first in the country. Qiu Qingquan, the deputy commander of the 200th Division, was also a Huangpu student and a very talented general. He was also the only Chinese student among the generals of the Nationalist Army to study at the German Army University, and learned the knowledge of mechanized combat.
Liao Yaoxiang, chief of staff of the 200th Division, was also an excellent general in both military and political affairs. He was a Whampoa SIXTH student, but was later admitted to study in France, and enrolled in the Saint-Cyr Military Academy, also majoring in mechanized cavalry, and graduated with the first place. Therefore, in 1938, after the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he was promoted by Chiang Kai-shek to the chief of staff of the 200th Division.
In this way, the 200th Division of the National Revolutionary Army was a division with the best weapons and equipment at that time, and belonged to an armored unit. The officers of the 200th Division were all generals of Chiang Kai-shek's lineage and had received good military education. Such a strong lineup, in the Nationalist army group, I am afraid that there are only 200 divisions, it is no wonder that Chiang Kai-shek regards this unit as a pearl in the palm of his hand.