page_title: National Pacification Army
section_title: Setbacks in Henan and Jiangsu (1927)
hierarchical_section_title: National Pacification Army / History / Setbacks in Henan and Jiangsu (1927)
caption_attribution_description: English: Chiang Kai-shek with Feng Yuxiang in Xuzhou, June, 1927 中文: 1927年6月20日徐州会议后，冯玉祥(前排左1)和蒋介石(左3)合影。
context_page_description: The National Pacification Army, also known as the Anguojun or Ankuochun, was a warlord coalition led by Fengtian clique General Zhang Zuolin, and the military arm of the Beiyang government of the Republic of China.
  Formed in November 1926 after the Fengtian victory in the Anti-Fengtian War, the NPA was tasked with countering the advance of the Kuomintang-aligned National Revolutionary Army of Chiang Kai-shek, who had launched the Northern Expedition in June 1926. The NPA also included Zhili clique generals, such as Sun Chuanfang. The NPA suffered a series of serious military defeats inflicted by Chiang and his warlord allies, including Feng Yuxiang, Li Zongren and Yan Xishan. On the southern front, the NPA was pushed back from Jiangsu and Henan after fierce fighting against the Guominjun and the NRA. On the western front, they fought Shanxi forces under Yan Xishan. Following these setbacks, a conference of NPA leaders in June 1927 established a military government and proclaimed Zhang Zuolin as Generalissimo, whereupon all military and civilian power was placed in his hands.
context_section_description: In early 1927, the forces of the NPA and the National Revolutionary Army were facing off in Henan and Jiangsu. In May 1927, the Japanese, represented by Colonel Doihara Kenji, sent a message to Shanxi warlord Yan Xishan, asking him to establish peace between the NRA and the NPA and "take over northern China". With Japanese support guaranteed, Yan moved to join the KMT. Zhang Zuolin declared himself Generalissimo on the 18th as Fengtian–KMT negotiations deteriorated. The Guominjun were also involved in the battle in Henan. Its leader, Feng Yuxiang, had joined the Kuomintang in November 1926, and was contesting NPA forces in Henan by December as the commander of the Central Route Army of the Northern Expedition, with 100,000 men fighting in western Henan. The Fengtian clique declared that Zhang Zuolin would be elected president of the Beiyang government once the provinces north of the Yangtze River were secured. This brought Zhang to launch a new offensive in Henan in spring 1927, mirroring a new offensive by the anti-Chiang Kai-shek Wuhan KMT government led by Tang Shengzhi. During May, 100,000 of the Wuhan government's troops were wounded, while Feng's casualties numbered 400. As Yan and Feng swore allegiance to Chiang's newly formed alternative to the Wuhan government, the Nanjing KMT government, the NPA was forced to abandon the two provinces of Henan and Jiangsu, and the broader NPA strategy was abandoned too. In response to these defeats, in June 1927, a conference of NPA leaders was held. The leaders resolved that all civil and military power would be concentrated in the person of Zhang Zuolin. Zhang was declared "Generalissimo", and consequently formed a new military government. Meanwhile, Feng himself continued the drive northwards, pushing against NPA forces in July 1927.
  Two other major Chinese battlegrounds in this period were Jiangsu, (specifically the city of Xuzhou) and Shanxi. With NPA forces expelling the NRA from Xuzhou in August 1927, the NRA and the Guominjun cooperated to defend against NPA offensives led by Sun Chuanfang in a last-ditch attempt to retake his original territories. By August, the front line had moved to southern Jiangsu, with the NRA being pushed to Nanjing, leading Yan Xishan to revert to neutrality. However, in late August, Sun Chuanfang was being pushed back, and he lost 50,000 men throughout September. Jiangsu was where Feng Yuxiang's force was mainly concentrated. Towards the north, Zhang Zuolin was fighting Yan Xishan on a different front. Previously, Yan had been straddling the fence, taking a neutral stance militarily, although favoring the KMT (Shanxi formally joined the KMT in April). However, in late August 1927, Zhang attacked Yan's soldiers in Shijiazhuang, who were forced to retreat to Shanxi. This tipped the balance, and Yan began an offensive along the Beijing-Suiyuan Railroad in October, opening up a new front of fighting between the KMT and the Anguojun.
caption: Feng Yuxiang and Chiang Kai-Shek in Xuzhou, June 1927
exif: {}