Qaidam Basin
In July 1942 Chiang Kai-shek instructed Ma Buqing to move 30,000 of his troops to the Tsaidam marsh in the Qaidam Basin of Qinghai. Chiang named Ma Reclamation Commissioner, to threaten Sheng Shicai's southern flank in Xinjiang, which bordered Tsaidam. Liangzhou District in Wuwei was previously his headquarters in Gansu, where he controlled 15 million Muslims.