Central Plains War Central Plains War ( ) was a civil war within the factionalised Kuomintang ( KMT ) that broke out in 1930 . It was fought between the forces of Chiang Kai - shek and the coalition of three military commanders who were previously allied with Chiang : Yan Xishan , Feng Yuxiang , and Li Zongren . The war was fought across the Central Plains , a core region of China on the lower reaches of the Yellow River and the cradle of Chinese civilization . In consolidating power for the Kuomintang in the Northern Expedition of 1927 – 1928 , Chiang had forged alliances with the warlord armies of Yan , Feng , and Li , but relations soon soured , resulting in the war . The war almost bankrupted Chiang ' s Nationalist Government and cost over 300 , 000 total combined casualties , but allowed the victorious Chiang to further consolidate power as the undisputed leader of most of China . Background . Rise of Chiang Kai - shek . Compared to other senior party officials like Hu Hanmin and Wang Jingwei , Chiang Kai - shek in contrast was rather a junior official in the Kuomintang ( KMT ) . He began to rise to prominence in 1917 in the Guangzhou government with his military talent . In 1923 , Chiang reached the turning point of his life when Chen Jiongming launched a rebellion against Sun Yat - sen in Guangzhou . Chiang helped Sun to retreat out of Guangzhou which gained Sun ' s ultimate trust . After Sun ' s death in 1925 , the cliques in the Kuomintang began to surface . A power struggle between Chiang and Wang Jingwei split the KMT . Chiang was able to use his influence as the commandant of Whampoa Academy to assist his eventual victory , and Wang was forced to leave the country for a couple years . In 1926 , Chiang was chosen as the commander of the National Revolutionary Army and launched the Northern Expedition . The legitimacy of Chiang ' s government was thus seemingly decided . By the end of the expedition , the National Revolutionary Army was organized into four Army Groups : the First was Chiang ' s Whampoa Clique or Central Army , the Second was Feng Yuxiang ' s Guominjun ( the largest of the four ) , the Third was Yan Xishan ' s Shanxi clique , and the Fourth was Li Zongren ' s New Guangxi clique . In October 1928 , Chiang was elected President of the National Government by the KMT central executive committee . Prelude . In December 1928 Zhang Xueliang of Manchuria declared his unification with the Nationalist government , completing the Northeast Flag Replacement . The objective of the Northern Expedition — unifying China — was proclaimed to be a full success . This nominal unification was soon challenged however . When the topic of reorganizing the army was brought up at a military conference in 1929 , the fact that it would alter the existing territorial influences among the cliques in the party quickly aggravated the relationships between the central government and the regional powers . Li Zongren , Bai Chongxi and Huang Shaohong of the Guangxi clique broke off relations with Chiang in March 1929 , which effectively started the confrontation . In May Feng Yuxiang of the Northwest clashed with Chiang . In November Li Zongren issued an anti - Chiang declaration , along with Wang Jingwei , who headed the leftist faction of the Kuomintang and was a rival of the right - wing Chiang . In December Tang Shengzhi and Zhang Fakui announced their support of the anti - Chiang coalition . The Nationalist government in Nanjing expelled Wang Jingwei from the party in March as a response to the anti - Chiang coalition . The anti - Chiang opposition moved to Beijing to set up a rival KMT government . In February 1930 Yan Xishan of the Shanxi clique demanded Chiang ' s resignation , which Chiang refused . Later that month Yan was chosen to be commander - in - chief of the coalition while Feng , Li and Zhang Xueliang were chosen as his seconds in command . In April all of them were sworn into their positions except Zhang , who was not committed to either side at the time Muslim Revolt in Gansu . In 1928 a revolt led by Ma T ' ing - hsiang broke out among the Hui people in Gansu province against the Guominjun of Feng Yuxiang . Ma Zhongying , a Hui commander , led three separate attacks against Feng ' s forces in Hezhou , and the following year traveled to Nanjing and pledged his allegiance to the Kuomintang , attended the Whampoa Military Academy and was promoted to General . The Kuomintang incited anti - Yan Xishan and Feng Yuxiang sentiments among Chinese Muslims and Mongols , encouraging the population to throw off their rule . The revolt ended with all the Muslim generals and warlords , like Ma Qi , Ma Lin and Ma Bufang , reaffirming their allegiance to the Kuomintang government after defeating the Guominjun . Preparations . The anti - Chiang coalition divided its offensive into various routes . Li Zongren led the Guangxi Army and deployed his forces from Guangxi into Hunan province and struck Wuhan . Feng Yuxiang led the Northwest Army , deploying it from Henan into Shandong province to assault Xuzhou and Wuhan . Yan Xishan led the Shanxi Army and cooperated with the Northwest Army from Shandong to strike Xuzhou , and planned to march to Nanjing via railway . On Chiang ' s side , Gen . Han Fuqu was assigned to defend the southern shore of the Yellow River to halt the Shanxi Army . The Central Army , commanded by Gen . Liu Zhi , was stationed in Xuzhou for defensive purposes . Outbreak . The confrontation erupted in mid May . Battles in the north were generally in Henan and Shandong and battles in the south were mainly in the area of Yuezhou , Changsha and Hunan province . With the assistance of its air force , Chiang ' s Central Army struck first with several major offensives . The Northwest Army , being the strongest in the coalition , crushed Gen . Chen Cheng and Chiang ' s forces in Gansu at the end of May , and Chiang was almost captured as he was inspecting the front line , but the Northwest Army could not capitalize on its victory as the Shanxi Army was unable to support it in time . This led the Northwest Army to go on the defensive . Later , in Kaifeng , the Northwest Army repulsed Chiang ' s attack and nearly surrounded his forces . In August the Shanxi and Northwest armies had a major clash with Chiang ' s forces while attacking Xuzhou . Losses for both sides exceeded 200 , 000 . Again , however , the Northwest Army did not receive support from the Shanxi Army in time and fell short of complete success . The Shanxi Army retreated from Jinan and took heavy casualties while crossing the Yellow River . Meanwhile on the southern battlefields , the Guangxi Army captured Yueyang , but Chiang ' s forces cut them off from behind , eventually forcing them to withdraw back to Guangxi . In Shandong the Shanxi Army captured Jinan on June 25 . After defeating the Guangxi Army in Hunan , the Nanjing government decided to launch a major counteroffensive on Shandong . Landed in Qingdao , Chiang ' s forces re - took Jinan on August 15 . Chiang ' s army then gathered in Gansu and Shaanxi province and launched the final offensive against the Northwest Army between the end of August and the beginning of September . On September 18 Gen . Zhang Xueliang declared his support for Chiang Kai - shek . Two days later Zhang ' s Northeast Army entered the Shanhai Pass . These turn of events resulted in coalition of Yan and Feng collapsing almost immediately . The Shanxi Army withdrew to the north of the Yellow River , while the Northwest Army was totally defeated . On November 4 Yan Xishan and Feng Yuxiang announced their retirement . Yan fled to Dalian and Feng ' s troops were annexed by Zhang . The conflict was now over . Aftermath . The Central Plains War was the biggest armed conflict inside the Kuomintang party since the 1926 - 27 Northern Expedition . Many provinces were affected , and the sides committed over 1 , 300 , 000 troops combined , suffering over 300 , 000 casualties combined . As a result , the Nanjing government was nearly bankrupt . The troops that were originally tasked with destroying the Red Army were pulled away , which prevented Chiang from carrying out his plan to exterminate the Chinese Communist Party . After the Northeast Army ' s entrance to Central China , Manchuria ' s defense was considerably weakened . It indirectly led to Japan ' s aggression in the Mukden Incident . In a wider view , this battle reflects the weakness behind the Nationalist government ' s unification . The Kuomintang was unable to resolve the internal dispute between the central government and the regional powers through political methods , and had to resort to military measures . Even though Chiang Kai - shek , who represented the central government , managed to achieve victory in the Central Plains War , the methods he used , including bribery of subordinates of the opposition , were not consistently effective . It did nothing to cement unity among the cliques in the party . The Xi ' an Incident in 1936 and the collapse of the Kuomintang force in the Chinese Civil War are to an extent due the recurrence of this internal conflict . See also . List of warlords and military cliques in the Warlord Era