Zhang Xueliang
He went to Chiang Kai-shek ask for armies to fight against the Japanese but was refused assistance. Ma then settled in Tianjin until October 1936 when Chiang Kai-shek suddenly sent him to the front of the Chinese Civil War. At Xi'an at the time of Xian Incident, he suggested to Zhang Xueliang not to kill Chiang Kai-shek while the country was in trouble and signed on the “Current Political Situation Declaration” issued by Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng. Zhang Xueliang appointed Ma Zhanshan as the Commander-in-chief of the “Anti-Japanese Aid Suiyuan Cavalry Group Army”, which was suspended afterwards when Zhang Xueliang was detained by Chiang Kai-shek.