Among all the Whampoa students, including the first phase, Hu Zongnan made the earliest career and achieved the highest military position, and was known as "Tianzi No. 1 protégé", so Hu Zongnan not only stood out, but also stood out, extremely prominent. In 1945, he became the first and only theater commander among Whampoa students; After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he became the first and only director of the Pacification Office among the Whampoa students; He has been in Xi'an for a long time as the commander of the theater and the director of the Sui Administration, and the highest number of troops in his hands once exceeded 500,000, and Hu Zongnan, the "king of the northwest", has considerable strength. 
Why Hu Zongnan? Some people may say that Hu Zongnan is a native of Zhejiang and is loyal to President Jiang, which is the reason. There is some truth in this, but it is only a necessary condition, not a sufficient necessary condition. In fact, a variety of factors determine that Hu Zongnan's rise and development is inevitable, and it would be strange if it weren't for him to stand out. Older and mentally mature Hu Zongnan was born in 1896, and was already twenty years old when he was admitted to the Whampoa Military Academy in 1924, and he was still four years younger to meet the standard line of 25 years old and under the age of 25. Most of his classmates in the same period, such as Du Yuming, Huang Wei, Yu Jishi and others, were basically born around 1904, which means that Hu Zongnan is ** years older than these hairy young men who are about 20 years old, and even 11 years older than Song Xilian, who was born in 1907. When other classmates were still ignorant teenagers, Hu Zongnan was already a mature and prime-aged man who was about to be established. In addition, he had previously been a primary school teacher, and Hu Zongnan, who was more mature in mind, naturally became the leader of the first phase of Huangpu. Perhaps, in his opinion, the much younger Huangpu classmates can be regarded as "primary school students". 
In addition, during his time at the school, he also took the initiative to get acquainted with Zhang Jingjiang, Chen Lifu brothers and other Zhejiang compatriots who had a close relationship with President Jiang, so that Zhang Jingjiang often praised Hu Zongnan as "the rising star of Zhejiang Province" in front of President Jiang, which naturally had a lot of impact on Hu Zongnan's career. During the period of scheming and loyalty to Whampoa, between the "Young Servicemen's Federation" led by the Communist Party and the "Sun Wenism Society led by the Kuomintang", Hu Zongnan naturally chose the latter, which President Jiang paid more attention to, recognized and supported. At the beginning of 1932, after President Chiang was reinstated for the second time, he instructed Hu Zongnan, He Jinhan, Gui Yongqing, Yu Yi, Dai Li, Deng Wenyi and other "Thirteen Taibao" to set up a core organization aimed at secretly contacting Huangpu students to control military, political, propaganda, spy and other activities, the Fuxing Society. Joining the Fuxing Society and becoming a key member means that Hu Zongnan has entered President Jiang's inner circle. In addition, on behalf of the Huangpu students, Hu Zongnan expressed his absolute loyalty and absolute support for President Chiang's two visits to the field in 1927 and 1931 and his detention in Xi'an in 1936. After President Jiang went to the field for the first time, he served as the acting commander of the First Division and convened a meeting of the Huangpu students, calling on everyone to unswervingly follow the principal and resolutely disobey the arrangements of Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi, He Yingqin, and others, who temporarily presided over the Military Commission. He not only wrote a letter to President Jiang, but also personally went to Fenghua, Ningbo to report the situation in person, and asked the principal to teach him face-to-face, so that he could become the de facto representative and leader of the Huangpu students. 
When President Jiang went to the field for the second time, Hu Zongnan, Dai Li, and others first organized the "Three People's Attention to the Hoeing Gang" to maintain the status of the president and punish anti-Jiang people, and later took charge of preparing the "Fuxing Society" together with He Jinhan and Kang Ze. At the end of 1936, after hearing that the principal had been detained in Xi'an, Hu Zongnan immediately led 275 Huangpu generals and sent a telegram "on behalf of all 70,000 students in Huangpu", threatening Zhang Yang "in case the principal is slightly wrong......Never share the sky with the relevant responsible persons. "Hu Zongnan, who is so loyal and can lead the Whampoa classmates to show their loyalty, how can he not be reused by the principal? Moreover, Hu Zongnan's early military career was also remarkable. can fight, and occasionally give full play to Hu Zongnan's military talent, which was still shown in the early days. In the decisive Battle of Mianhu in the First Eastern Crusade, Hu Zongnan, as the commander of the machine gun platoon, performed brilliantly and was commended by President Jiang and He Yingqin; On the eve of the Northern Expedition, Hu Zongnan had been promoted to the commander of the Second Regiment of the First Division, and he led his troops to fight in Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Shanghai, and by the time of the "412" Qing Party, he had been promoted to deputy commander and acting commander of the First Division because of his military exploits. Hu Zongnan also performed well in the Central Plains War, leading his troops to fight on Longhai Road and Jinpu Road, and after the war, he was promoted to lieutenant general and division commander of the first division for meritorious service, and began to enter the ranks of senior generals. 
The First Division is known as the "First Division in the World" and is the source of President Jiang's Whampoa Department. By 1936, before being expanded into the First Army, Hu Zongnan's First Division had more than 20 regiments under its jurisdiction, and its strength was very strong. From the First Division to the First Army, to the 17th Army Corps, the 34th Group Army, and later the First Theater Commander's Department, Hu Zongnan's line was formed step by step. It is not accidental, but it must be roughly known from the above description that Hu Zongnan, who is a native of Zhejiang, has an age advantage and is relatively mature, has become the "leading brother" of Huangpu students very early, and has become the backbone of President Jiang's cronies. To a certain extent, Hu Zongnan's so-called "loyalty" is not only for him personally, but also for the entire Huangpu system. This is one of the most important reasons why there are so many people loyal to Chiang, and Hu Zongnan can stand out. In addition, he did show a certain military talent in the early days, so it is inevitable to say that Hu Zongnan's career is not accidental.