Chen Cheng can be regarded as a prominent figure in the national army, he made his fortune with the 11th Division, and finally formed a strong civil engineering system. But in fact, Chen Cheng was not the first commander of the 11th Division, this first division commander was named Cao Wanshun, who could be regarded as a kuomintang veteran, and Chen Cheng and Luo Zhuoying were once his deputies.
Cao Wanshun had never attended a regular military school, and his ability to reach the position of division commander relied on solid combat achievements. In his early years, he defected to the Min Army and served as the commander of the Fifth Brigade of the Third Division under Li Fengxiang. After seeing that Sun Yat-sen's power was getting stronger and stronger, Cao Wanshun judged the situation and took his Fifth Brigade to submit to the revolutionary army, which made Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek very happy.
Subsequently, Chiang Kai-shek merged the remnants of Lin Hu into the Fifth Brigade and formed the 17th Army of the National Revolutionary Army, whose commander was the famous He Yingqin, and later Cao Wanshun took over He Yingqin's class and led the 17th Army to continue the Northern Expedition. In the course of the Northern Expedition, many military achievements were made, and it should be known that at this time, Chiang Kai-shek's most important Huangpu students were often regimental commanders or battalion commanders, and Cao Wanshun, who was a military commander, was not at all in the same rank.
On July 25, 1928, the 17th Army was refined into the 11th Division by Chiang Kai-shek, at which point Chiang Kai-shek already had the idea of putting his concubine General Chen Cheng in charge of the 11th Division, but was strongly opposed by He Yingqin, so Chiang Kai-shek took a step back, making Cao Wanshun the division commander, and Chen Cheng and Luo Zhuoying as Cao Wanshun's deputies.
However, Cao Wanshun's influence in the nationalist army was very limited, and he could only watch as Chen Cheng, as the deputy division commander, continued to install his own concubine officers in the army, and slowly elevated Cao Wanshun. Cao Wanshun could not say anything bitterly, and could only report to Chiang Kai-shek, but this was originally Chiang Kai-shek's true thoughts, so every time he reported to Cao Wanshun, it was perfunctory. In the end, Cao Wanshun couldn't bear it anymore and had a big fight with Chen Cheng, and the two sides almost had a firefight. When Chiang Kai-shek came forward to mediate, he naturally favored his own general Chen Cheng, so Cao Wanshun was transferred away and became the commander of the newly organized First Division, while Chen Cheng took over the 11th Division with peace of mind.
Cao Wanshun, who had left the 11th Division, began his career decline, and his newly formed First Division was disrespectful and eventually revoked by Chiang Kai-shek. Cao Wanshun was transferred to the Senate as a senator, and he lost military power and ended his military career. At this time, Cao Wanshun's life was calm and boring, and he lived an ordinary life of receiving a regular salary from nine to five every day. In November 1936, Cao Wanshun left the military completely and remained idle at home until his death.