In those turbulent times, there was one man whose fate was in the spotlight. He was once Chiang Kai-shek's confidant and right-hand man, known as the "protégé of the Son of Heaven", and could be described as a man of the hour. But fate played a big joke on him at the last moment. This person is Hu Zongnan. From starting a big dream in life with Chiang Kai-shek's "hometown" relationship when he was young, to finally sticking to the southwest alone under Chiang's arrangement, he was defeated and forced to flee to Taiwan, and was impeached again. How down-and-out has this former celebrity become?
When it comes to Hu Zongnan, everyone is probably no stranger. This guy who has been a primary school teacher all the way to Chiang Kai-shek's "care" to become a general, and his life path can be described as bumpy and abnormal.
Hu Zongnan entered the Whampoa Military Academy when he was young, although he was short and was turned away, but fortunately, Liao Zhongkai valued his talent and strongly recommended him to enroll. Since then, he has started a legendary life that has risen to the top.
During his time at school, Hu Zongnan took the initiative to woo Chiang Kai-shek by virtue of his "fellow countryman" relationship, and Chiang also attached great importance to this young man. Later, Jiang became the principal of the Whampoa Military Academy, and regarded Hu Zongnan as his own son. As the saying goes, "those who know the times are handsome", Hu Zongnan saw Chiang Kai-shek's bright future, so he was closely attached to this powerful backer.
With his absolute loyalty to Chiang Kai-shek, Hu Zongnan climbed all the way up, hugged from front to back, and was trusted by Chiang. From the Northern Expedition, the Civil War to the Anti-Japanese War, he can be said to have followed Chiang all over the country. Jiang even wanted to marry him, but he wittily refused.
However, if people do not offend me, they will inevitably be devoured by tigers. When the war on the mainland was coming to an end, Hu Zongnan, the "proud son of heaven", was sent by Chiang to the southwest to hold on to the shore and "take the blame" alone. Seeing that Chiang had plans to retreat to Taiwan, Hu Zongnan also began to secretly move his mind to flee from the mainland.
Sure enough, in the task of defending Chongqing and Chengdu, Hu Zongnan behaved very unsatisfactorily, but escaped from the battle, and fled to Hainan and Xichang several times. This series of practices made Chiang Kai-shek very dissatisfied and severely reprimanded him.
But even so, Jiang still gave Hu Zongnan one last chance to make meritorious contributions, hoping that he could hold on to Xichang for three months. It's a pity that the good times didn't last long, and it was only a matter of time before the Great Southwest fell. Just after Hu Zongnan fled Xichang again, Chiang Kai-shek received this "last bad news".
Chen Cheng, an old opponent, saw that the opportunity could not be missed, and immediately proposed to impeach Hu Zongnan. Although the final turmoil did not have a big result under Chiang Kai-shek's covert maintenance, it still made Hu Zongnan taste the taste of being spurned. Since then, this former celebrity has lived a life that no one cares about in Taiwan, and he can only rely on his wife's manuscript fee to survive.
Even at the last moment of his life, Hu Zongnan did not forget the Chiang Kai-shek who had followed him for most of his life. On his deathbed, he raised his left hand high with the last of his strength to report the last "military situation" to Chiang Kai-shek. This scene can't help but make people awe-inspired, and it also makes people cry about this teacher-student friendship.
Looking back at Hu Zongnan's life, it is too bumpy. He was arguably Chiang Kai-shek's most loyal protégé and did anything to follow Chiang. However, in the end, he could only be used as a "scapegoat" by Jiang and abandoned. Despite this, Hu Zongnan always had a persistent loyalty to Chiang Kai-shek, and this loyalty continued even to the last moment of his life.
Some people say that Hu Zongnan is a small person, but his life experience shows the vicissitudes of that era and the helplessness of small people in front of the big era. He once flaunted his might, but then plummeted, and finally died with the obsessive loyalty to Chiang Kai-shek. I have to say that Hu Zongnan's life is a modern tragedy.