Since the first kuomintang-communist cooperation broke down, the Communist Party of China has been struggling to survive and develop under the suppression of the Kuomintang, and even after Japan had blatantly begun its strategy of invading China, Chiang Kai-shek still adhered to the idea that "foreign countries must first be at home." It was only after Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng launched the Xi'an Incident that the second cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communists was promoted.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Chiang Kai-shek never completely let down his guard against the Communist Party, such as the Anhui Incident that shocked China and foreign countries, so after the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Chiang Kai-shek nominally invited Chairman Mao to Chongqing for negotiations, in fact, in preparation for launching a civil war.
From the objective conditions, in the early stage of the War of Liberation, the Kuomintang army had the advantage in both numbers and weapons and equipment, but in the end it still lost Taiwan.
There are many reasons for the failure of the Kuomintang, but one thing is well known to everyone, that is, the factional struggle within the Kuomintang is very fierce, not only the behavior of seeing death on the battlefield and not saving, but also the exclusion and suppression in ordinary days.
The collapse of the New First Army, one of the five main forces of the Kuomintang, was destroyed because the Kuomintang had accumulated too deep resentment from top to bottom, and Sun Liren, who had been the commander of the New First Army, recalled in his later years that the New First Army was still sad.
Rare talent
As we all know, among the senior generals of the Kuomintang, there are many people who have received training in regular military academies, the most famous of which is the Huangpu generals, but within the Kuomintang, which is full of talents, Sun Liren can still be called a figure who stands out from the crowd.
In 1921, Sun Liren was admitted to Tsinghua University with excellent results, and after completing his studies here, he was qualified to study in the United States.
Sun Liren was also a young man with lofty ideals, and seeing the turmoil in China at that time, he decided to study at the Virginia Military Academy in the United States, determined to realize his ideals and values in life on the battlefield. After graduating from military school, he traveled to various European countries, mainly to improve military theory and combat strategy.
Reading thousands of books, traveling thousands of miles, and five years of study abroad and study tour experience greatly enriched Sun Liren's military theory, making him hesitate and full of ambition when he returned to China after completing his studies.
However, the Western ideas of advocating freedom and opposing dictatorship also invisibly influenced Sun Liren, which was completely different from the Kuomintang generals of the Huangpu department at that time, and this ideological difference laid the groundwork for Sun Liren's isolation in the future.
Talents such as Sun Liren were rare in China at that time, but the starting point of his military career was not high, and he initially served as the head of the tax police corps founded by Song Ziwen.
Song Ziwen is one of the four major families of the Republic of China, with extraordinary financial resources, the Tax Police Corps is a private army, because Song Ziwen is deeply influenced by the United States, so he is willing to recruit talents to stay in the United States, Sun Liren is in this context into the Tax Police Corps.
Later, When Song Ziwen clashed with Chiang Kai-shek and resigned in a fit of rage, Chiang Kai-shek took advantage of the situation to incorporate the Taxation Police Corps, some of which was reorganized into the newly organized 38th Division of the National Revolutionary Army.
Sun Liren served as the commander of the division.
Although the Taxation Police Corps was transformed from a private army into a central army, in the eyes of the orthodox Kuomintang army, it was a miscellaneous army, which was not the same as Chiang Kai-shek's close associate Whampoa army.
The battlefield is in the limelight
But it was such an underappreciated army that made a name for itself in Burma under the leadership of Sun Liren. On December 7, 1941, the Pacific War broke out, and in February 1942, China established an expeditionary force, and the new 38th Army led by Sun Liren was incorporated into this team.
Soon after entering burma, the 38th Army attacked the Japanese army in the Ren'anqiang area and won a great victory in Ren'anqiang, because it rescued the trapped Anglo-Burmese army, and Sun Liren was also awarded the "Commander of the British Empire Medal", known as "Eastern Rommel".
Although the Chinese Expeditionary Force fought several beautiful battles, the enemy was helpless and weak, and gradually began to show fatigue.
At that time, Chiang Kai-shek ordered all the troops to withdraw to The country, but Sun Liren did not carry out this order, he withdrew his troops to India, although it was said that he would not be spared the orders of the foreign monarchs, but Chiang Kai-shek was very concerned about this matter, which made him suspicious of Sun Liren.
In December 1942, according to the situation in India at that time, Chiang Kai-shek made adjustments to the army, and based on the New 38th Army and the New 22nd Army, a new First Army was established, and the commander was Zheng Dongguo.
The new First Army is composed of two main forces, but neither of these two main forces obeys anyone, and the ideological style of Sun Liren, who returned from staying in the United States, and the Whampoa generals are completely different in their thinking and style, and both armies have made meritorious achievements on the battlefield of Burma, but the contradictions between them are irreconcilable.
In 1944, Chiang Kai-shek pulled out the original 22nd Army of the New First Army and expanded it into the newly organized Sixth Army, and the original New First Army was basically Sun Liren's people, who naturally became the commander of the New First Army.
After the victory of the War of Resistance, Chiang Kai-shek sent these two armies to the northeast battlefield, and it is inexplicable that the new First Army was invincible in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, but was vulnerable to the War of Liberation.
Factional struggles ruin the future
The New First Army is a national ordnance unit,
Coupled with the tempering of the battlefield in Burma, the combat effectiveness is indeed very strong, so when it first arrived at the northeast battlefield, it was also sharp and sharp, and the morale of the new first army under the leadership of Sun Liren was high.
It is reasonable to say that this should be a good thing, but Chiang Kai-shek does not think so, when he was in Burma, Sun Liren had the fact that he did not obey orders, and now that the new army led by Sun Liren has such morale, he is worried that it will get out of control.
Chiang Kai-shek was originally suspicious of Sun Liren, and coupled with the provocation of his confidant Du Yuming, Chiang Kai-shek was completely wary of Sun Liren. Du Yuming and Sun Liren had a festival on the Burmese battlefield, and on the northeast battlefield, the two still disagreed, and Sun Liren pointed out that Du Yuming had a selfish intention of favoring the Huangpu clan, and the two had a big quarrel, and Du Yuming then sent a telegram to Nanjing to explain the original situation to Chiang Kai-shek.
Chiang Kai-shek has always relied heavily on huangpu generals, so when Du Yuming and Sun Liren had conflicts, he directly sided with Du Yuming in his feelings.
In addition, Sun Liren's previous acts made Chiang Kai-shek feel unhappy, so Chiang Kai-shek, who was clever in his means, came to a bright move, and transferred Sun Liren to the deputy commander of the northeast security, making Du Yuming's deputy, and the commander of the new First Army arranged for them to serve.
Sun Liren knew Chiang Kai-shek's intentions, but there was no way to resist, and in July 1947, Chiang Kai-shek transferred Sun Liren out of the northeast, completely severing his contact with the New First Army.
Due to the deep resentment between the upper and lower levels, the original ace army gradually lost its combat effectiveness
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In October 1948, the New First Army was completely annihilated by Higashino.
The New First Army was destroyed, and Sun Liren, who had seized real power, had a hard time, and in June 1955, Sun Liren was involved in a spurious incident and was ordered to be imprisoned in Taiwan by Chiang Kai-shek.
It was not until March 1988 that Sun Li was informed that he could go where he wanted to go, when Sun Liren was already in his old age, and the mighty figure who had been in Burma and the northeast battlefield had ended 33 years of house arrest.
brief summary:
After graduating from Tsinghua University and studying in Europe and the United States for five years, such talents were rare in China at that time, but it was a pity that Sun Liren mistakenly became a general in the Kuomintang army.
His military prowess was his ability to make a name for himself, but unfortunately, his outstanding military prowess also became a sharp blade within the factional Kuomintang, cutting off his trust with his colleagues and even with Chiang Kai-shek, and eventually leading to the total annihilation of the New First Army. Sun Liren recalled the new first army in his later years, and could not help but feel sad from it, only to blame the deep resentment from above and below to destroy this ace army.