During the expeditionary period, there were many contradictions between Du Luming, Sun Liren and Zheng Dongguo. Although Du Luming and Zheng Dongguo both graduated from the Whampoa Military Academy, while Sun Liren returned from studying abroad, their backgrounds are different, so there is no tacit understanding between them. These differences are particularly evident in terms of concepts, but it is also because of this that Sun Liren's ties with the United States have become even closer.
At the time, Marshall and Sun Liren were alumni, and U.S. military advisers were staunch supporters of Marshall, which deepened the relationship between Marshall and Sun Liren. Marshall, by contrast, was unhappy with Chiang Kai-shek's conservative attitude. Du Luming and Zheng Dongguo were loyal to Chiang Kai-shek's subordinates, they served Chiang Kai-shek wholeheartedly, and never had the idea of betraying their loyalty. This made Sun Liren and Stilwell's view of them even more unpleasant, and the contradictions between them became deeper and deeper.
When Du Luming led the expeditionary force, he always loyally obeyed Chiang Kai-shek's orders, and did not hesitate to cross the Savage Mountains even if it was necessary. Sun Liren, on the other hand, disagreed, and followed Stilwell's advice to lead his troops back to India, further escalating the contradictions between them.
Du Luming originally wanted Sun Liren to break off, but in the end he personally led the troops through the Savage Mountain, which made Sun Liren dissatisfied, so he followed Stilwell's advice. In any case, this incident has deepened the contradictions between each other, and it is not easy to unravel them.
By the time of the Liberation War, both the Kuomintang and the Communist Party sent a large number of troops to the northeast. The industry in this region is developing rapidly, and mastering it is crucial to the war situation. The war in Northeast China, North China, and Central China are closely related, after all, war requires a lot of supply support, and mastering Northeast China means obtaining more resources to support future wars. Chiang Kai-shek understood the importance of the Northeast and sent his elite troops and brave generals, including Du Luming, Zheng Dongguo, Liao Yaoxiang, and later Wei Lihuang and Sun Liren. They were all commanders of the main forces and also participated in the expeditionary force, and their fame was also won at that time.
However, at a critical moment, Sun Liren went to England. The reason was that he led the expeditionary force to victory and rescued the captured British army, so he was rewarded by the British Prime Minister. However, after accepting the reward, Sun Liren went to the United States again, which made Du Luming and Zheng Dongguo very angry. The battle in the Northeast is about to start, and Liao Yaoxiang led ** not only to break through our army's defense line, but also to cut off our rear road. However, due to the lack of command, Sun Liren's troops fought very fiercely, and even the level shown by Chen Mingren could not be reached. Du Luming was very annoyed by this, but fortunately, Sun Liren returned to China at a critical moment.
However, although Sun Liren commanded the battle after his return, the effect was not as good as that when he was away, which made Du Luming furious. When ** was pursuing our army, Sun Liren actually ordered to stop and recuperate, no matter how much Du Luming and Zheng Dongguo persuaded him, it was useless. Although Sun Liren gives the impression that he is dragging his feet, this is also from the perspective of Du Luming and Zheng Dongguo. Du Luming told Chiang Kai-shek about Sun Liren's performance in the Northeast Battlefield, which eventually led to Sun Liren's transfer.
However, Sun Liren believes that the situation in the Northeast Battlefield is not what Du Luming said. He talked a lot, saying that Du Luming was only accusing him for personal interests, and when fighting, Du Luming was timid, obviously there were many fighters, but they missed in vain, resulting in heavy losses to the troops, so he should be fully responsible for the defeat of the war. But in any case, blaming each other is a fatal drawback for the commander.