The first-class general of the Kuomintang is a senior military rank second only to the special general, and the special general has only been awarded to Chiang Kai-shek, so the gold content of the first-class general can be imagined. There were only 12 first-class generals during the continental period, but only 7 first-class generals before the age of 50.
In 1935, the Kuomintang awarded the first batch of first-class generals, including Yan Xishan, Feng Yuxiang, Zhang Xueliang, He, Li Zongren, Tang Shengzhi, and Chen. At that time, Feng Yuxiang was 53 years old and Yan Xishan was 52 years old, so it was not counted.
In terms of age, among the first-class generals under the age of 50, the youngest is 34-year-old Zhang Xueliang, then 44-year-old Li Zongren, then 45-year-old He, Chen, Tang Shengzhi, then 46-year-old Chen Shaokuan and 47-year-old Zhu Peide.
At that time, the criteria for evaluating generals were simple, looking at their power and status in the Kuomintang army. Zhang Xueliang was the commander of the 300,000-strong Northeast Army and deputy commander of the Kuomintang Army and Navy. In 1935, he had 200,000 troops under his command. Among this group of warlords, apart from Chiang Kai-shek, Zhang Xueliang was the strongest at that time.
Li Zongren, the big boss of Guangxi, controlled Xiangguiwan when he was strongest. After the Great War in the Central Plains, there were several soldiers and horses in Guangxi and other places. At the time of the award, Li Zongren was the director of the Nanning Pacification Office, and Guangxi was still semi-independent. You can imagine how strong Li Zongren is.
Chen Shaokuan is special because he is the only admiral. Although the strength of the navy is only tens of thousands, the military strength cannot be ignored. After all, he represents a large faction of the Navy.
He was the representative of the Whampoa Army, the de facto ruler of the Central Army. When he was conferred the title in 1935, he was the Minister of Military Affairs, Tang Shengzhi was the director of training, and Zhu Peide was the chief of staff. During the Northern Expedition, they were the leaders of their respective factions.
He served as acting commander-in-chief of the National Revolutionary Army and commander-in-chief of the Central Route Army of the Northern Expedition. Although Tang Shengzhi and Zhu Peide did not have military power at the time of knighthood.
But one of them was once the largest warlord leader in the South. At that time, the Xiang army had more than 100,000 troops, and Tang Shengzhi's prestige was still there. Zhu Peide served as the king of Jiangxi and was one of the three giants of the Central Army at that time.
Chen, who was not in the early stage of the Northern Expedition, had relatively weak qualifications, but by 1935 Chen was already the chief officer of the Cantonese army. At that time, he had more than 100,000 troops, controlled Fujian and Guangdong provinces, and was very strong.
Have you noticed that these young first-class generals were once big warlords who controlled the territory of two provinces and above, and their army has always been more than 100,000. At that time, Chiang Kai-shek was only the boss of the Central Army and did not really control the Nationalist Army. Not to mention that these seven people share the same hatred, he should be afraid. A Li Zongren made Chiang Kai-shek hurt for a long time.