Biography in English

Li Tsung-jen 李宗仁 T. Te-lin 德鄰 Li Tsung-jen (1890-), leader of the so-called Kwangsi clique, which also included Pai Ch'ung-hsi and Huang Shao-hung. He was elected to the vice presidency of the National Government in 1948, and he became acting President in 1949. He retired to the United States in December 1949, but went to live in the People's Republic of China in July 1965. Kweilin, Kwangsi, was the birthplace of Li Tsung-jen. After completing his primary education, Li passed the competitive entrance examinations for the Kwangsi Army Primary School. Among his schoolmates were Pai Ch'ung-hsi, Huang Shao-hung (qq.v.), Hsia Wei, Huang Hsü-ch'u, Li P'in-hsien, and Yeh Ch'i. About this time, Li joined the T'ung-meng-hui. The Wuchang revolt of 1911 interrupted Li's studies, and he returned home. In 1912, when military schools throughout China resumed operations, he entered the Kwangsi Short- Course Military Academy at Kweilin. After being graduated in 1913, he spent six months at home before becoming a physical-training instructor for several educational institutions in the Kweilin area.

In 1916 Li joined the forces of Lin Hu as a platoon commander. Lin Hu's forces were under the overall command of Lu Jung-t'ing (q.v.). Li fought in the so-called national protection and constitution protection movements. He was wounded twice on the battlefields of Kwangtung and Hunan, and his courage in battle won him a promotion to battalion commander in 1918. When Lu Jung-t'ing's forces were driven out of Kwangtung and back into Kwangsi in 1920, Li, whose forces had formed part of the rear guard, became deputy regimental commander. When the Kwangtung Army invaded Kwangsi in 1921 and defeated Lu Jung-t'ing's army, most of the officers of Lin Hu's regiment defected to the Kwangtung side. Li Tsung-jen, however, led about 1,000 troops into the mountainous area around Yülin and began to build up an independent force in Peiliu. Later, he temporarily joined the Kwangtung Army of Ch'en Chiung-ming (q.v.). When Ch'en took action against Sun Yat-sen in 1922 and the Kwangtung Army was ordered back to Canton, Li left Ch'en's service and became commander of the Second Route of the Kwangsi Autonomous Army, and he moved his headquarters to Yülin. However, he soon broke with the Autonomous Army and declared his neutrality in the Kwangsi-Kwangtung conflict. Huang Shao-hung joined him at Yülin, and when Li accepted an appointment from Lu Jung-t'ing and reorganized his force as the 5th Independent Brigade, Huang received command of the 3rd Regiment. In the spring of 1923, when Huang accepted an appointment from Sun Yat-sen as commander of the Kwangsi Anti-Rebel Army, Li reorganized the 5th Independent Brigade as the Kwangsi-Settling Army, with Huang Hsü-ch'u as his chief of staff. At the beginning of 1924 the chief contenders for political power in Kwangsi were Lu Jung-t'ing and Shen Hung-ying. Li Tsung-jen met with Huang Shao-hung and Pai Ch'ung-hsi, and they decided to ally themselves with Shen in a campaign to crush Lu Jung-t'ing's army and to unify Kwangsi. In June, their forces took Xanning. The following month, the two armies established the joint headquarters of the Kwangsi-Settling Anti-Rebel Army, with Li as commander in chief, Huang as his deputy, and Pai as chief of staff. In mid-July, Li demanded that Lu Jung-t'ing resign and disband his forces. Shen Hung-ying joined Li in a drive against Lu Jung-t'ing. They occupied Kweilin on 24 August and brought the campaign to an end in September.

In November 1924 Sun Yat-sen appointed Liu Chen-huan governor of Kwangsi, but Liu did not assume office. On 1 1 November, Li Tsung-jen proclaimed himself rehabilitation commissioner of Kwangsi, with Huang Shaohung as his deputy, and declared his opposition to the appointment of Liu Chen-huan. Shortly afterwards, Hu Han-min and Hsü Ch'ung-chih invited Li to Canton to discuss the unification of Kwangtung and Kwangsi, and Li sent Huang to represent him. As a result of these talks, Li was appointed pacification commissioner of Kwangsi, with Huang as his deputy, and commander of the First Kwangsi Army. Li joined the Kuomintang and assumed office on 1 December.

In early 1925 Shen Hung-ying suddenly began to advance against Li along the West River line. Li, his forces outnumbered, requested the assistance of Li Chi-shen (q.v.), who controlled the Kwangtung 1st Division. Li Chi-shen sent Ch'en Chi-t'ang (q.v.) and his brigade to Kwangsi, and the combined forces drove Shen into Hunan in February. Soon afterwards, T'ang Chi-yao, the military governor of Yunnan, attempted to send forces through Kwangsi to Canton so that he could succeed Sun Yat-sen, who had died on 12 March. T'ang's forces drove into Kwangsi and took Nanning. Shen Hung-ying seized the opportunity to invade the northern part of the province with the aid of Fan Shih-sheng. T'ang's forces soon were defeated, and they retreated from Kwangsi with only a fraction of their original strength. By late 1925 all of Kwangsi was under the control of Li Tsung-jen, Huang Shao-hung, and Pai Ch'ung-hsi. In March 1926, after several months of negotiation at Canton, the relationship between Kwangtung and Kwangsi was defined to the satisfaction of both sides, and the Kwangsi forces were designated the Seventh Army of the National Revolutionary Army, with Li Tsung-jen as commander, Pai Ch'ung-hsi as chief of staff, and Huang Shao-hung as party representative. On 24 March, Li formally assumed his new command. He had become an alternate member of the Central Supervisory Committee of the Kuomintang in January. Li had been among those who encouraged T'ang Sheng-chih (q.v.), who commanded the 4th Division in south Hunan, to break with Chao Heng-t'i (q.v.), the governor of Hunan, and join forces with the National Revolutionary Army. T'ang forced Chao from office in March, but Wu P'ei-fu (q.v.) soon drove T'ang out of Yochow. In April, T'ang had to retreat from Changsha to Hengshan. Li Tsung-jen urged the early launching of the Northern Expedition in support of T'ang, but the Russian adviser Borodin opposed this move. Units of the National Revolutionary Army were sent to Hunan in May, enabling T'ang to hold Hengyang. T'ang then became the commander of the Eighth Army of the National Revolutionary Army. On 1 July 1926 Chiang Kai-shek issued orders for general mobilization, and the Northern Expedition began. On 17 July, Li Tsung-jen led Hsia Wei's unit into Changsha. Chiang Kai-shek arrived at Changsha on 11 August. After consulting with Li Tsung-jen and T'ang Sheng-chih, he decided to attack Wu P'ei-fu before dealing with Sun Ch'uan-fang (q.v.). On 15 August orders were issued for an attack on Wuhan. In that operation Li Tsung-jen commanded the right column, composed of his Seventh Army and the Fourth Army. Li's column and Liu Chih's 2nd Division participated in the military actions that resulted in the capture of Hengyang and Hankow. After Sun Ch'uan-fang issued an ultimatum demanding the withdrawal of the expeditionary forces to Kwangtung, Liu Chih's forces were moved to the Kiangsi front, and the Seventh Army soon joined them. After the surrender of Wuchang on 10 October, the Fourth Army also moved to the Kiangsi front. The Kiangsi campaign lasted 70 days, and Li's forces played an important role in it. Nationalist forces finally occupied Nanchang on 7 November.

The Northern Expedition was interrupted by the 1927 split between the left-wing Kuomintang regime at Wuhan and the supporters of Chiang Kai-shek at Nanchang. After Wang Ching-wei returned from Europe, Li Tsung-jen participated in the 5„April meeting in Shanghai at which it was decided that a conference should be convened at Nanking to resolve the differences that had split the Kuomintang. After Wang Ching-wei left Shanghai, another meeting was held. Its participants decided to purge the Kuomintang and the National Revolutionary Army of Communist and other leftist elements. On 18 April, Chiang Kai-shek set up a national government at Nanking. The support of Li Tsung-jen and Pai Ch'ung-hsi was essential to Chiang for the undertaking of both actions. Li, serving as commander in chief of the Third Route Army, participated in the capture of Hsuchow on 2 June. He also attended the 19-22 June meetings of Chiang Kai-shek and Feng Yü-hsiang (q.v.) which led to a measure of agreement between the two leaders. In August, Chiang Kai-shek announced his retirement in the interest of party unity and went to Japan, and Hu Han-min (q.v.) left Nanking for Shanghai. Thus, Li Tsung-jen, Pai Ch'ung-hsi, and Ho Ying-ch'in were left in control at Nanking. The three Nanking leaders then moved to defeat Sun Ch'uan-fang, who had sent his troops across the Yangtze at Lungt'ang in an attempt to recapture Nanking. On 15 September 1927 the Nanking leaders, a number of Wuhan leaders, and representatives of the Western Hills faction decided to form the Central Special Committee of the Kuomintang to function as an interim government. T'ang Sheng-chih, in Wuhan, announced his opposition to the plans for reunification. In late October, Nanking launched a punitive expedition against him, with Li Tsung-jen as commander in chief and Pai Ch'ung-hsi as field commander. T'ang abandoned Wuhan, and Li's force, composed of the Seventh Army and the Nineteenth Army under Hu Tsung-to, took control there in mid-November. Li Tsung-jen became chairman of the Wuhan branch of the Political Council, and he had Hu Tsung-to made garrison commander of Wuhan. Li now controlled Hupeh and Hunan, thus extending Kwangsi power from the home province to the Yangtze. He also became a member of the Military Affairs Commission at Nanking. The position of Wang Ching-wei and his supporters at Canton was weakened by the Canton Commune (see Chang T'ai-lei) of December 1927. Li Tsung-jen joined with others in inviting Chiang Kai-shek to resume' office, and Chiang did so in January 1928. The following month, Li was appointed commander in chief of the Fourth Group Army, with Pai Ch'ung-hsi second in command. The Northern Expedition was resumed, and the Fourth Group Army participated in the final drive on Peking in June. Chiang Kai-shek, Li Tsung-jen, Feng Yü-hsiang, and Yen Hsi-shan met in July to discuss military reorganization, but finally decided to defer the matter. When the new National Government was inaugurated at Nanking in October 1928, Li Tsung-jen became a member of the State Council. Li attended the troop-disbandment conference of January 1929, but Pai Ch'ung-hsi did not. By that time, the so-called Kwangsi clique of Li Tsung-jen, Pai Ch'ung-hsi, and Huang Shao-hung had spread its forces from Kwangsi to Hopei (Chihli) in the north and to Kiangsu in the east. The troop-disbandment conference ended inconclusively.

On 19 February 1929 the Wuhan branch of the Political Council issued an order relieving Lu Ti-p'ing (q.v.) of his post as governor of Hunan. Troops were sent into Hunan from Wuhan, and Lu was forced to retreat into Kiangsi. The Wuhan council named Ho Chien (q.v.) to succeed Lu. On 13 March, the Central Political Council ordered the dissolution of all branch councils within two days. On 15 March, the Third National Congress of the Kuomintang opened at Nanking. Almost simultaneously, a coup was staged against Pai Ch'ung-hsi in north China in which he lost his Fourth Group Army troops to T'ang Sheng-chih. On 21 March, Chiang Kai-shek made a statement condemning arbitrary actions by military men and the actions of the Wuhan council. That same day, Li Chi-shen, who had hoped to mediate the dispute between Chiang and the Kwangsi clique, was placed under detention. The National Government ordered a punitive expedition against Wuhan on 26 March, naming Li Tsung-jen and Pai Ch'ung-hsi as plotters against the government and relieving them of their posts. Li and Pai were expelled from the Kuomintang on 27 March.

Li Tsung-jen went to Hong Kong, where he was joined by Huang Shao-hung and Pai Ch'ung-hsi. The three men returned to Kwangsi in November 1929 and established the Party- Protecting National Salvation Army at Nanning, with Li as commander in chief, Huang as deputy commander and Kwangsi governor, and Pai as field commander. Li also became military affairs commissioner of Kwangsi. The Kwangsi forces joined with the Fourth Army of Chang Fa-k'uei (q.v.) in January 1930 for an attack on Kwangtung, but they were defeated and forced back to Kwangsi within a month. The three Kwangsi generals and Chang Fa-k'uei then decided to support the northern coalition (see Feng Yü-hsiang; Yen Hsi-shan) by invading Hunan and capturing W'uhan. After initial successes in May, this attempt ended in defeat when Li and Chang turned back to extricate Huang at Hengyang, where his rearguard forces had been cut off by Kwangtung troops. The entire Kwangsi force was defeated at Hungchiao, and the remnant forces returned to Kwangsi to regroup. Huang Shao-hung then broke with the Kwangsi clique because he opposed the policy of continuing the civil war.

The arrest of Hu Han-min at Nanking on 28 February 1931 opened the way for a reconciliation of Kwangsi and Kwangtung. In May, a number of political leaders opposed to Chiang Kai-shek, including Wang Ching-wei, Eugene Ch'en (qq.v.), and Ch'en Chi-t'ang, formed an opposition government at Canton. Li Tsung-jen went to Canton in mid-May to discuss the formation of a military alliance between Kwangsi and Kwangtung. Agreement was reached, and the Kwangsi-Kwangtung forces invaded southern Hunan in early September. After the Mukden Incident of 18 September, the National Government called for national unity and concerted action to meet the Japanese threat. The Canton regime insisted that Li Chi-shen and Hu Han-min be released and that Chiang Kai-shek resign from office before it would agree to dissolve itself. Both conditions were met. Although Chiang soon returned to power, the agreement remained in force. Li Tsung-jen and Ch'en Chi-t'ang were appointed to the Military Affairs Commission in March 1932. Huang Hsü-ch'u, who had assumed Huang Shao-hung's posts in Kwangsi, became governor of the province. Kwangsi continued to administer its affairs in virtual independence of the National Government. In April, Li was elected to the Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang and was appointed pacification commissioner of Kwangsi, with Pai Ch'ung-hsi as his deputy. From 1932 to July 1937 Li and Pai worked to reconstruct Kwangsi by putting into practice the san-tzu cheng-ts'e [three-self policy] of self-government, self-defense, and self-sufficiency and the san-yü cheng-ts'e [three-reservation policy] of building military pow'er (for details, see Pai Ch'ung-hsij. Kwangsi became relatively free from crime and began to develop its industrial and educational capacities. After Hu Han-min died in 1936, it seemed likely that the National Government would move to end the semi-independence of Kwangtung. Ch'en Chi-t'ang, with the support of Li Tsung-jen, attempted to forestall such action. In early June, Kwangsi forces under the overall command of Pai Ch'ung-hsi entered southern Hunan and issued an order for general mobilization of Kwangtung and Kwangsi forces. The force allegedly was an anti-Japanese expeditionary army, marching to the north to protect China because Chiang Kai-shek was not resisting the Japanese. Ch'en Chi-t'ang assumed the post of commander in chief of the First Anti- Japanese National Salvation Forces, and Li and Pai became his deputies. In early July, the revolt collapsed after the Kwangtung air force defected to the National Government. On 25 July 1936 the National Government appointed Li Tsung-jen and Pai Ch'ung-hsi to posts outside of Kwangsi, but they refused to accept them. Five days later they organized a military government in Kwangsi, with Li Chi-shen as its chairman. However, the mediation efforts of Huang Shao-hung and Ch'eng Ch'ien led to an agreement between Li Tsung-jen and Chiang Kai-shek, and Kwangsi accepted the authority of the National Government. Li remained in Kwangsi as pacification commissioner and commander in chief of the Fifth Route Army (the new designation given to the Kwangsi forces).

In August 1937, a month after the Sino- Japanese war began, Li Tsung-jen was appoin
ed commanding officer of the Fifth War Area, which was composed of northern Kiangsu, northern Anhwei, and southern Shantung. Li left Kwangsi on 10 October to take command of the war area and to assume office as governor of Anhwei. The Fifth Route Army was sent north and was split into two group armies. Li established headquarters in Hsuchow. Among the troops under his command were five Kwangsi divisions.

In early 1938 the Japanese launched an offensive near Hsuchow. On 25 March, two Japanese columns attacked Taierhchuang, a walled town northeast of Hsuchow. After five days of heavy fighting, the Chinese forces destroyed one of the Japanese columns. Both sides called for reinforcements, and, in mid-May, the fighting shifted to the perimeter of Hsuchow. On 19 May, the forces of Li abandoned Hsuchow and marched into western Anhwei and eastern Honan. Li then established headquarters at Laohokow in northern Hupeh. After the abandonment of Wuhan in October 1938, his chief task was to prevent the Japanese from advancing to the west. Li retained command of the Fifth War Area, but he was succeeded as governor of Anhwei by another Kwangsi general, Liao Lei.

In April 1939 the Japanese launched a drive from Hankow during which they captured Hsinyeh and Tangho. They then moved to surround six Chinese divisions based in the Tungpei mountains. Li sent his troops to counterattack, and the fighting began on 10 May. By 16 May they had extricated the Chinese divisions at Tungpei and had recovered Hsinyeh and Tangho.

Li Tsung-jen retained command of the Fifth War Area until early 1945, when he became director of the field headquarters of the Military Affairs Commission at Hanchung in southern Shensi. Soon after the war ended, he was appointed director of the presidential headquarters at Peiping. When the situation in Manchuria deteriorated and the possibility of a Chinese Communist victory over the Nationalists became stronger, Chiang Kai-shek unsuccessfully tried to persuade Li to assume direction of the Manchurian campaign. Li retained his Peiping office until 1948, when he announced his candidacy for the office of vice president. He was elected to the vice presidency on 29 April, defeating Chiang Kai-shek's candidate, Sun Fo. Thus, when Chiang retired from office on 21 January 1949, Li became acting President of China. Li, however, was not free to direct the National Government, for Chiang continued to issue orders as party leader (tsung-ts'ai) of the Kuomintang, and many of the men in key governmental and military positions were loyal to him. Sun Fo, who had become premier, moved the Executive Yuan to Canton on 5 February without asking for Li's approval of the move. In effect, the National Government had been split into three parts, with Chiang, Li, and Sun all issuing orders. The situation was eased somewhat when Sun Fo resigned on 7 March and Ho Ying-ch'in became premier.

Li Tsung-jen and Pai Ch'ung-hsi, who was based in the Wuhan area, proposed to defend the Yangtze River line by having the air and naval forces deployed in support of the ground forces and having T'ang En-po's troops, then concentrated in the Shanghai sector, move westward to establish contact with Pai's command. Li asked Chiang Kai-shek to authorize this plan, but Chiang, who had already begun to move troops to the off-shore islands, refused.

Li, with Chiang's approval, made a final attempt to negotiate a peace settlement with the Chinese Communists. On 26 March 1949 the Communist leaders informed Nanking by radio that they had appointed a delegation headed by Chou En-lai to meet with National Government representatives at Peiping on 1 April. At the meetings, the Communists insisted on crossing the Yangtze and gave the Nationalists until 20 April to decide whether to accept this condition. Reportedly, they also offered Li a vice chairmanship in a new coalition government if he would sign the agreement. Li refused the offer, and, on 19 April, the National Government asked for an extension of the deadline date. On 20 April, the Chinese Communists attacked and crossed the Yangtze. The National Government abandoned Nanking on 23 April and moved to Canton. At this point, Li Tsung-jen, weary of battling both Chiang Kai-shek and the Communists, went to Kweilin. A delegation from the Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang went there to urge him to return to office. Li finally allowed himself to be persuaded and went to Canton on 7 May. Yunnan, Kweichow, and Szechwan were still held by the Nationalists and by Pai Ch'ung-hsi's forces. Li Tsung-jen now endeavored to evolve a strategy for holding Kwangtung and Hainan Island. On 14 July 1949 Chiang Kaishek arrived at Canton to confer with Li and other officials. A special commission, with Chiang as chairman and Li as vice chairman, was established to effect a liaison between the Kuomintang and the National Government. In October 1949 the National Government was forced to move to Chungking. On 11 November, Li Tsung-jen flew to Kweilin and met with Pai Ch'ung-hsi, Hsia Wei, Li P'in-hsin, and Huang Hsü-ch'u to make plans for the defense of Kwangsi. He then flew to Hainan to confer with Ch'en Chi-t'ang. After returning to Kwangsi a few days later, Li suffered a recurrence of an old stomach disorder. An operation seemed to be necessary, but proper medical facilities were not available in Kwangsi. On 20 November, Li flew to Hong Kong and began to make arrangements to go to the United States for medical treatment. On 22 November, Chiang Kai-shek sent a delegation headed by Chü Cheng and Chü Chia-hua to request that Li remain in China. Li refused, and the delegation withdrew. He also refused to be entrusted with any aid-seeking missions. On 5 December, he flew to the United States. After spending two months in a hospital in New York, he visited President Harry S. Truman at the White House on 2 March 1950. The previous day, Chiang Kai-shek, then in Taiwan, had announced that he was resuming the presidency. Li denounced the action, saying that it was illegal, but he could do nothing about it. Li lived quietly in the United States for three years. Then, on 3 January 1954, he wrote an open letter to Chiang Kai-shek opposing Chiang's plan for reelection by the National Assembly in Taiwan. Li maintained that a new body should have been created in accordance with the provisions of the constitution. In Taiwan, impeachment proceedings were begun against Li, and he was voted out of office on 10 March 1954. On 22 March, Chiang Kai-shek was reelected President. Two days later, Ch'en Ch'eng was elected to succeed Li in the vice presidency.

In July 1965 Li Tsung-jen and his wife, Kuo Te-chieh, who was in very poor health, left the United States and went to the People's Republic of China. Their two sons, Li Yueh-lung and Jackson Li, remained in New York. Li was welcomed at Peking by an imposing delegation which included Chou En-lai. Two months later, on 26 September, after a tour of northeastern China, Li held a two-hour press conference for Chinese and foreign journalists in which he lauded the accomplishments of the Chinese people under the leadership of Mao Tse-tung, stressed that Taiwan was an inalienable part of China, attacked "Khrushchev revisionists" in the Soviet Union and "the reactionaries of various countries," and encouraged his former Kuomintang colleagues in Taiwan to follow his example and "return to the embrace of the motherland." Kuo Te-chieh died at Peking on 23 March 1966, and Li continued to live in the People's Republic of China.

Biography in Chinese

李宗仁

字:德邻

李宗仁
(1890—),白崇禧、黄绍竑等人,是桂系的首领,1948年选为国民政府副总统,1946年代理总统,1948年12月退休去美国,1965年7月到中华人民共和国居住。

李宗仁生在广西桂林,他初受教育后,进了广西初级陆军学堂,白崇禧、黄绍竑,夏威、黄旭初、李品仙、叶琪是该校同学。此时,他加入了同盟会。
1911年武昌起义,李宗仁辍学回家。1913年各式军校重新开学,他在桂林进了广西短期陆军学堂。1913年毕业后,在家里住了六个月,以后在桂林地区当了几个学校的体育教员。

1916年,他在林虎手下当排长,隶属陆荣廷的部队。他参加了护国、护送之役,在广东湖南两次受伤,因作战英勇于1918年升为营长。1920年陆荣廷退出广东回广西,李任后卫,升为副团长。

1921年,粤军侵入广西击败陆荣廷的军队,林虎所率一团投向粤军。李宗仁率部一千多入,退入玉林山区,在博罗一带自立成军,后来,他又投向陈炯明的粤军。1922年,陈炯明反孙逸仙,粤军受命回广州,李宗仁脱离陈炯明,以玉林为基点自任广西自治军第二路军司令,不久又脱离自治军,对粤桂之争采取中立,黄绍竑和他在玉林会合,由陆荣廷任命,编成第五独立旅,黄绍竑任第三团团长。1923年,黄绍竑由孙逸仙任命为广西讨逆军司令,李宗仁编成广西省防军第五独立旅。黄绍竑为参谋长。

1924年初,广西政争的主角是陆荣廷和沈鸿英。李宗仁和白崇禧、黄绍竑会同一起与沈鸿英联合驱逐陆荣廷而统一广西。6月,攻克南宁。两月后又建立驻桂讨逆军联合司令部,李宗仁任司令、黄绍竑为副司令、白崇禧为参谋长。7月中旬,李逼令陆荣廷辞职解散军队,沈鸿英和他们一起行动,8月24日攻克桂林,9月底,战争结束。

1924年11月,孙逸仙任刘震寰为广西省长,未就。11月11日,李宗仁自任广西复兴委员会主任,黄绍竑为副主任,反对刘震寰,不久,胡汉民、许崇智请李宗仁去广州商讨两广统一事宜,李派黄为代表前去。商谈结果,任李为广西绥靖主任兼桂军第一军军长,黄绍竑为副主任。12月1日,李加入国民党并就职。

1925年初,沈鸿英突然沿南江一线进袭李宗仁,李以力量悬殊,求援于在广东控制第一师的李济探,李济深派陈济棠率一旅军队入广西,把沈鸿英驱逐到湖南。不久,云南督军唐继尧准备派军队经广西去广州,意在继承已于3月12日逝世的孙逸仙。唐军入广西占南宁,沈鸿英趁机由范石生之助进入桂北。唐军失败,残部退人广西。1925年底,李宗仁、黄绍竑、白崇禧控制了整个广西。

1926年3月,粤桂在广州谈判数日,双方统一,桂军编为国民革命军第七军。李宗仁任军长,白崇禧任参谋长,黄绍竑任党代表。3月24日,李就职,他在一月间又党选为国民党中央监委候补委员,李宗仁等人又鼓动湘南第四师长唐生智反对赵恒惕而与国民革命军联合。3月,唐逼赵下台,但是吴佩孚在岳州打败了唐生智,4月,唐由长沙退到衡阳,李宗仁支持唐生智提早进
行北伐,但俄国顾问鲍罗庭不赞成。五月,国民革命军一部份进入湖南,唐生智在衡阳得到了支持,任国民革命军第八军军长。

1926年7月1日,蒋介石下动员令开始北伐。7月17日,李宗仁率夏威部进入长沙,8月11日蒋介石到长沙与唐生智李宗仁商谈,决定在与孙传芳交手前先打吴佩俘。8月15日下令进攻武汉,李宗仁率第七军,第四军担任右翼作战,李所率部队与刘峙第二师攻克汉阳,汉口。孙传芳通牒北伐军撤回广东,刘峙所部进入江西前线,第七军亦随之前往。10月10日武昌攻克后,第四军亦开往江西,赣境战争历时七十天,李宗仁的部队起了重要作用。11月7日攻克南昌。

1927年因国民党内部分裂为国民党左翼的武汉政府和支持蒋介石的南昌政府,北伐一度中断。汪精卫从欧洲回国后,李宗仁于4月5日出席了上海的会议,决定在南京召开会议解决国民党内部的分岐。汪精卫离开上海后,又进行了另一次会议,与会者决定把共产党员及左翼人士从国民党和国民革命军中清除。4月18日,蒋介石在南京成立政府。李、白的支持,对蒋介石釆取上述两项活动起重作作用。6月2日,李宗仁任司令的第三路军攻克徐州。6月19日到22日又参加了蒋冯会议,双方取得协作。8月,蒋介石为国民党的统一而辞职去日本。胡汉民离南京到上海,李宗仁,白崇禧、何应钦留在南京掌握大权,又打败了越长江进龙潭企图攻南京的孙传芳。

1927年9月15日,南京的首领和武汉的一部份首领及西山会议派的代表决定成立国民党中央特别委员会代行政府职权,在武汉的唐生智反对统一计划。10月底,以李宗仁为司令,白崇禧为前线总指挥兴师讨伐唐生智,唐撤离武 汉,李率第七军及胡宗铎的第十九军于11月中旬攻占武汉。李宗仁任中央政治会议武汉分会主席,胡担任武汉警备司令。这时,李宗仁控制了两湖,他已经把势力从广西伸展到长江流域了,同时在南京军事委员会委员任职。

1927年12月广州公社运动中,汪精卫等人在广州的地位削弱了。李宗仁等人请蒋介石复职,1928年1月,蒋又重新上台。2月,李宗仁任第四集团军总司令,白崇禧为副总司令。再行北伐,6月最后进入北京,第四集团军参予其事。蒋、李、冯、阎于7月商议编遣军队,最后延搁未实行。

1928年10月,国民政府在南京成立,李宗仁任国府委员,1929年1月,李出席编遣委员会,但白崇禧并未出席,李亲仁、白崇禧、黄绍竑的桂系势力已经从广西进入到北至河北,东至江苏的广大地区,编遣令毫无结果。

1929年2月19日,政治会议武汉分会下令解除鲁涤平湖南省主席职位,军队从武汉开进湖南。鲁涤平率部撤到江西,武汉分会任何键继鲁涤平为湖南省主席。3月13日,中央政治会议下令两日内解除各地分会。3月15日,国民党第三次全国代表大会在南京召开,同时,华北地区反对白崇禧,白所率第四集团军落入唐生智之手。3月21日,蒋介石发表声朗,谴责军人跋扈及武汉分会的所作所为。同一天,李济深因调解蒋介石和桂系之间的争执而被拘留,3月26日,国民政府下令讨伐武汉,宣称李、白背叛政府,撤消其一切职务,3月27日,开除李、白国民党籍。

李宗仁到香港和自崇禧,黄绍竑会合,1929年11月。三人回广西,在南宁成立护党救国军,李任司令,黄任副司令兼广西省主席,白任前敌总指挥,李同时任广西军事委员。

1930年1月,桂军和张发奎第四军进攻广东,一个月内被击败退回广西。他们乃与北方联军合作进军湖南夺取武汉。5月间,初步获胜,但因出兵解救衡阳的黄绍竑后路为粤军所断而失败。桂军在洪桥全军溃败,孤军退回广西结集。此后,黄绍竑因反对继续内战而与桂系破裂。

1931年2月28日。胡汉民被捕,粤桂双方又重新联合。5月,政界首领如汪精卫、陈友仁、陈济棠反对蒋介石,在广州组成政府。5月中旬,李宗仁去广州讨论成立两广军事联盟,协定后。9月初进军湘南。九一八事变发生,国民政府呼吁全国统一应付日军侵略广州政府坚持在解散前必须释放李济深、胡汉民,蒋介石必须辞职,两个条件获得同意。不久蒋介石重又上台,协议尚待执行。1932年3月,陈济棠,李宗仁任军事委员会委员,黄旭初继黄绍竑为广西省主席,广西仍维持其实际上的独立地位。4月。李宗仁任国民党中央执行委员,广西绥靖主任,白崇禧为副主任。

 

1932年到1937年7月,李、白以“三自主义”建设广西,以“三卫主义”建军。广西受战乱较少乃能发展其工业和教育事业。

1936年胡汉民死后,国民政府打算结束广东的半独立地位,陈济棠得到李宗仁的支持,先发制人。桂军在白崇禧统率下进军湘南,宣布两广动员,因蒋介石对日不抵抗,乃自称抗日军北上保卫国家,陈济棠自任第一抗日救国军司令,李、白为副司令。7月初,因广东空军投向国民政府,广东事变失败。

1936年7月25日,国民政府任李。白以广西地区外的职务,李、白拒而不受,五天后,自行组织广西军政府,李济深任主席,后经黄绍竑,程潜调停,李宗仁和蒋介石之间取得协议,广西承认国民政府,李任广西绥靖主任兼改编桂军而成的第五路军总指挥。

1937年8月,中日战争爆发后一个月,李宗仁任第五战区司令长官,其地区包括江苏、皖北、鲁南。10月10日,李宗仁离厂西就任,又兼任安徽省主席,第五路军开到北方,分成两个军团。李在徐州设立司令部,统率桂军五个师。

1938年初,日军在徐州附近进攻,3月25日,日军两个支队进攻徐州东北的台儿庄,经五日激战,击溃日军一个支队。双方增援后,5月中旬在徐州外围展开激战,5月19日,李撤离徐州,率军去皖西豫东,在鄂北老河口设立司令部。李仍任第五战区司令长官,安徽省主席则另由桂系廖磊继任。

1939年4月,日军从汉口出击,攻占新野、唐河,包围了驻桐柏山的六个师,李宗仁于5月10日开始反攻,5月16日,救出桐柏山被围部队,克复了新野、唐河。

1945年初,李宗仁任军事委员会汉中行营主任,战争结束后,任北平行营主任。东北形势变化,中国共产党极可能战胜国氏党。蒋介石请李宗仁主持东北战局,李仍任北平行营主任。1948年4月29日,李宗仁击败孙科被选为副总统,1949年1月21日,任代理总统。但是李宗仁并不能指挥国民政府,因为蒋介石仍以总裁名义继续发号施令,军政委员又都是忠于蒋介石的。2月5日,孙科未得到李宗仁同意,把行政院迁到广州,因此,国民政府事实上已分裂为三个部分。各由蒋、李、孙命令行事,孙科于3月7日辞去行政院长,由何应钦继任,情况略见缓和。

李宗仁和以武汉地区为据点的白崇禧,向蒋介石建议,以海军军力防守长
江一线,并将驻守上海地区的汤恩伯所部西移与白联系。李宗仁请蒋介石批准这个建议,但蒋介石已把部队开到海岛上去,拒绝批准这一计划。

李宗仁经蒋介石同意,与中国共产党进行和谈。1949年3月26日,共产党用无线电通知国民党,已派周恩来为首的代表与国民政府代表在4月1日于北平开始淡判,规定国民党于4月20日前决定是否接受,否则即行渡江。据说,倘能签字,李宗仁在新的联合政府中将继续担任副总统。李拒绝签字,并要求延期。4月20日,共产党开始进攻,渡过长江。4月23日,国民政府逃离南京,迁往广州。当时,李宗仁已疲于与蒋介石及共产党的争执而到桂林去了,国民党中央执行委员会派代表请他回任,5月7日,李宗仁被劝服后回广州。

云、贵、川仍为国民党和白崇禧的军队所把持,李宗仁进而想以广东,海南岛为战略据点。1949年7月14日,蒋介石到广州与李宗仁等官员会商,结果,成立了一个以蒋介石为主席,李宗仁为副主席的特别委员会,作为国民党和国民政府间的联系。

1949年10月,国民政府被逼迁到重庆,11月11日,李宗仁飞到桂林,与白崇禧、夏威、李品仙、黄旭初商议防守广西的计划,又飞往海南岛与陈济棠会商,几天后回广西。他胃病复发,需要手术治疗,广西又无此条件。11月20日,李宗仁飞往香港安排公美国治疗。11月22日,蒋介石派居正,朱家骅请李宗仁暂留,李未同意,代表撤回。12月5日,李宗仁飞往美国,在纽约的医院里住了两个月,1950年3月2日,曾在白宫拜访杜鲁门总统。在此前一天,蒋介石在台湾宣布总统复职,李宗仁对此加以谴责,认其为非法,但亦无能为力。

李宗仁在美国安静地住了三年。1954年1月3日,他给蒋介石写了一封公开信,反对蒋介石在台湾进行国大重选,宣称必须依宪法条文行事。而台湾方面,亦谴责李宗仁,1954年3月10日投票撤销李宗仁职务,3月22日,蒋介石重新当选为总统,两日后,陈诚继李宗仁而当选为副总统。

1965年7月,李宗仁和他妻子郭德洁离美国到了中华人民共和国,他的两个儿子李亦龙,杰克逊•李仍在纽约。李宗仁在北京受到著名的代表人物的欢迎,其中包括周恩来。9月26日,他在访问东北两个月后,召集了中外记者开会两小时,赞扬中国人民在毛泽东主席领导下取得的成就,指出台湾是中国不可分
割的一部分,抨击“赫鲁晓夫修正主义”和“各国反动派”,吁请在台湾的国民党旧人,像他一样“回到祖国怀抱”。1986年3月23日,郭德洁死在北京,李宗仁仍住在中华人民共和国。

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