Ma Zhanshan
Over the next months General Ma Zhanshan continued to support General Ting Chao, and these two Generals maintained contact with Marshal Zhang Xueliang and Chiang Kai-shek, who gave them some limited assistance. In early January 1932, in an effort to force General Ma Zhanshan to terms, Doihara requested that General Xi Qia to advance with his "New Kirin Army" to take Harbin, and to then advance in the direction of Ma's headquarters at Hailun. However, the forces of the Jilin Self-Defence Army organized by General Ting Chao and General Li Du, at Harbin were in between General Xi Qia and Harbin. General Ting Chao appealed to Harbin's Chinese residents to join his railway garrison regulars.