Yesterday we mentioned that after Liao Zhongkai's assassination, with the support of Soviet adviser Borodin, Wang Jingwei and Chiang Kai-shek preemptively gained the initiative in investigating and handling the "Liao case." They successfully expelled Wang Jingwei's biggest rival, Hu Hanmin, from the country by taking advantage of the rumors of truth, falsehood, and indefensible right and wrong. At this point, wang jingwei and Chiang Kai-shek's roadblocks were left with only the last person.
Soviet adviser Borodin
Liao Zhongkai was assassinated, Hu Hanmin went abroad, and two of the several figures who might have competed for the supreme power of the Kuomintang suddenly went, but there was another important person, he was Xu Chongzhi.
Xu Chongzhi, born in Guangzhou, came from a noble family and studied in the second phase of the Infantry Section of the Japanese Non-Commissioned Officer School. During his stay in Japan, Xu Chongzhi was influenced by revolutionary ideas and joined the Chinese League in 1906. For the next two decades, Xu Chongzhi followed Sun Yat-sen in his charge, gradually becoming the second-largest figure in the Kuomintang army after Chen Jiongming. After Chen Jiongming's rebellion, Xu Chongzhi firmly stood by Sun Yat-sen's side and became Sun Yat-sen's most trusted general, and in 1923 he became the commander-in-chief of the Guangdong Army, becoming the first big man in the military circles.
Xu Chongzhi
Xu Chongzhi followed Dr. Sun Yat-sen for many years, and his contribution was indispensable, and he became famous as a teenager. In his 20s, he was known as a "military veteran" in his 20s. Many people believe that whoever wants to find a way out in the military circles must first take the path of Xu Chongzhi. Therefore, Chiang Kai-shek, who was humble and contemptuous at that time, was also extremely capable of subjugating Xu Chongzhi.
In 1916, under the agreement of Zhang Jingjiang, Xu Chongzhi, Zhang Jingjiang, and Chiang Kai-shek married Jinlan. Among the three of them, Zhang Jingjiang was the oldest, Xu Ju'er and Jiang Jusan. Therefore, Chiang Kai-shek claimed that Xu was the "second brother" and was very affectionate. In the 1918 War of Aid to Fujian, Chiang Kai-shek, who was a staff officer of the Guangdong Army, braved artillery fire to personally go to the front line to offer advice to his second brother Xu Chongzhi. Following Chiang Kai-shek's advice, Xu Chongzhicai eventually won the victory. Since then, Xu Chongzhi has become more trusting of Chiang Kai-shek and has continued to promote him.
In 1924, Sun Yat-sen appointed Xu Chongzhi as the commander-in-chief of the Guangdong Army, and Xu Chongzhi made five requests, one of which was: "Appoint Chiang Kai-shek's chief of staff as the chief of staff of the General Headquarters of the Guangdong Army." This made many Cantonese generals very unconvinced, and Xu Chongzhi was even more firmly on chiang kai-shek's side after learning about it.
To what extent did Xu Chongzhi's support for Chiang Kai-shek finally reach? Xu Chongzhi is a document of the Cantonese Army, and it is also possible to stamp Xu Chongzhi's seal, and it is also possible to stamp Chiang Kai-shek's seal, and he is really regarded as his brother. In order to make his brother Chiang Kai-shek the president of the Whampoa Military Academy, Xu Chongzhi personally went to Sun Yat-sen to make a strong recommendation. It can be said that without the second brother Xu Chongzhi, Chiang Kai-shek could not have come to this day.
Young Chiang Kai-shek
On July 1, 1925, the Nationalist Government was established in Guangzhou, with Xu Chongzhi as a member of the Military Commission and minister of the Military Department, and then as the chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Government and the director of the Military Department, and from then on, together with Liao Zhongkai and Hu Hanmin, he was called the "Big Three" of the Kuomintang. And Chiang Kai-shek's status is also somewhat because of Xu Chongzhi's high rise and rise.
Despite this, at this time Chiang Kai-shek was no longer the young man who used to act solely on emotion. In order to gain greater power, he had already regarded his second brother Xu Chongzhi as a boulder blocking his way forward.
If Chiang Kai-shek wanted to achieve his own goals, he must first repay Li with peach and help Wang Jingwei to overthrow Hu Hanmin. The two men quickly reached a tacit understanding, each taking what he needed.
The assassination of Liao Zhongkai gave Chiang Kai-shek a rare opportunity, and his alliance with Wang Jingwei increased his chances of overthrowing Xu Chongzhi. So, how did Chiang Kai-shek use the assassination case to achieve his own goals? As a military veteran, why did Xu Chongzhi let Chiang Kai-shek gain the upper hand?
Liao Zhongkai
When Liao Zhongkai was assassinated, the guards wounded a murderer named Chen Shun at the scene, and also found a key item on him, shocking everyone.
Photo of the killer, Chen Shun, unconscious in the hospital
This key piece of evidence is a gun shot. At that time, the gun was to have a gun license, that is, a gun license. The gun photograph that Chen Shun was carrying was actually issued by Mei Guangpei, chief of staff of the South Road Headquarters of the Guangdong Army. This moment pulled Xu Chongzhi into the whirlpool of history, and it was difficult to get out.
With the deepening of the investigation, more and more people related to the Guangdong Army were involved. On August 23, 1925, Li Fulin, commander of the Third Army of the Guangdong Army, reported to Wang Jingwei, Xu Chongzhi, and Chiang Kai-shek that in July, he and Wei Bangping, senior adviser to the headquarters of the Guangdong Army, Liang Hongkai, commander of the First Army of the Guangdong Army, Zhang Guozhen, commander of the Fifth Division, And brigade commanders Liang Shifeng and Yang Jinlong, had held a "meeting of anti-communist overthrow of the government" in Datang Village on the south bank of the Pearl River in Guangzhou, and he had personally heard Wei Bangping's people threatening to kill Liao Zhongkai.
After investigation, many of Xu Chongzhi's subordinates were involved in it, why did they take such a position on this matter? It's mostly about money. The Cantonese army accounted for seventy percent of the tax revenue in Guangzhou at that time. Liao Zhongkai, the minister of finance in the Nationalist government, wanted to collect all taxes under his jurisdiction. As a result, there was a fierce conflict between the two sides.
Newspaper coverage of Liao's case at the time
Seeing that the Yue army was involved, Chiang Kai-shek knew that the opportunity had come, and took the opportunity to propose to "cut off the rebel army", referring to Xu Chongzhi's Cantonese army. With the support of public opinion, Chiang Kai-shek did not even inform his second brother Xu Chongzhi and arrested Zhang Guozhen, commander of the Fifth Division of the Guangdong Army, and Yang Jinlong, commander of the brigade. At this time, although Xu Chongzhi knew that he had fallen into a passive situation, he still did not agree to arrest the General of the Cantonese Army.
Since the second brother Xu Chongzhi wanted to protect the calves, the younger brother Chiang Kai-shek did not dare to make a mistake, such a key juncture, Chiang Kai-shek's good partner Wang Jingwei shot. Under the advice of Wang Jingwei, Xu Chongzhi, who knew that he was in a wrong, had to allow Chiang Kai-shek to arrest the generals of the Cantonese army. But what Xu Chongzhi never expected was that his brotherhood would attack him personally to seize his military power.
So, how did Chiang Kai-shek seize the military power of his brother Xu Chongzhi? Pay attention to the headlines of Hubei Satellite TV, and tomorrow we will continue to tell you about the "Road to Chiang Kai-shek's Power" series.