page_title: Warlord Rebellion in northeastern Shandong
section_title: Height and defeat of the rebels
hierarchical_section_title: Warlord Rebellion in northeastern Shandong / Rebellion / Height and defeat of the rebels
context_page_description: The Warlord Rebellion in northeastern Shandong was an uprising of several allied Chinese warlord armies under the leadership of Zhang Zongchang in 1929. The rebels wanted to regain their former territories in Shandong from Liu Zhennian, the man who had defected from Zhang to the Nationalist government in Nanjing during the Northern Expedition. After some initial successes, the rebels were defeated due to the indiscipline of their forces. In the end, the uprising failed to topple Liu Zhennian's rule over eastern Shandong, but resulted in high civilian casualties and widespread destruction at the hands of both sides in the conflict.
context_section_description: In early March, the warlord alliance and Liu agreed to a five-day ceasefire during which the rebels attempted to bribe Liu to defect back to them. They offered him 100,000 yuan, but Liu "thought his loyalty was worth at least 500,000 yuan". Zhang and his allies did not meet this price, however, and Liu remained on the government side. As no agreement was forthcoming, both Zhang and Liu gathered more troops, and with the truce over, the rebels again marched on Zhifu. They besieged the city, and were soon reinforced by opportunistic bandits and another warlord, Sun Dianying, who brought 7,000 fresh soldiers with him. Eventually, the city's defenders were betrayed by their own comrades: One of Liu's regiments under Colonel Liang defected to the rebels, allowing them to capture the city on 27 March. Nevertheless, the NRA troops managed to retreat in good order and with most of their ammunition eastward. Zhang used his victory and conquest of more territory to impose heavy taxes on the local population. Initially, the warlord forces behaviour was relatively disciplined, but on 6 April "they ran amok" in Zhifu, starting a six-day long crime spree of killing, looting and raping. Eventually, the officers managed to regain control over their men and put a stop to the "worst outrages", though at this point the city was largely destroyed. Meanwhile, the Japanese and Chinese governments signed an agreement on 28 March that resulted in the withdrawal of the Japanese military from Shandong. Fearing that Zhang might occupy the areas vacated by the Japanese, however, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Zhengting requested the Imperial Japanese Army to delay their withdrawal until the Nanjing government was in a position to secure Shandong.
  Liu and some of his forces had managed to retreat from Zhifu to Muping, where the warlord army again put them under siege. Liu launched a first sally against the besiegers on 1 April, and reportedly managed to kill 2,000 enemy troops. Nevertheless, Zhang prepared to break the town's defenses, namely its medieval but strong walls, through an escalade. To relieve his besieging army, he forcibly conscripted civilians as gravediggers and coolies. As the siege progressed, Liu was eager to surrender, and was supported in this regard by Muping's chamber of commerce which hoped it could avoid the city's destruction through a peaceful solution. Confident of imminent victory, Zhang refused Liu's offer on 4 April. This time, however, the indiscipline and lust for plunder of his troops crippled Zhang's attempt to finally destroy Liu. Losing interest in fighting and preferring to loot the undefended countryside, many warlord soldiers deserted their posts, reducing the strength of Zhang's army. A final attempt to capture Muping was completely defeated on 22 April, and Zhang's army was routed. While Zhang was still surrounded by a number of loyal troops, his situation quickly deteriorated and Liu retook Zhifu in a counter-offensive on 23 April. Thereafter, any remaining unity among the warlords' army had collapsed; the rebels fled into the countryside, where they became little more than a number of "disorganised rabbles". The leaders of the insurgency simply attempted to escape the wrath of the government troops and civilian population.
  Zhang reportedly made "arrangements" with the Chinese government, and fled to Dalian on 23 April. The Japanese authorities of the Kwantung Leased Territory did not allow Zhang to enter Dalian, however, prompting him to travel to Moji-ku in Japan instead. On the other side, Chu Yupu and his remaining 1,000–4,500 loyal troops fled to the town of Fushan, whose 20,000 inhabitants they took hostage. The following 13-day siege by Nationalist forces was marked by atrocities at the hands of Chu's soldiers. Besides mass rapes and robberies, the defenders also tied 400 women and children to posts on the town walls in order to use them as human shields. Soldiers from both sides who were wounded in front of the city were left to die, as neither side allowed Red Cross workers to bring them t
caption: After capturing Zhifu, Zhang's soldiers hoisted the old republican flag over the city. According to historian Philip S. Jowett, this flag was often used as "symbol of the good old days of warlord China".[43]