Wu Peifu Wu Peifu or Wu P ' ei - fu ( ; ; April 22 , 1874 – December 4 , 1939 ) , was a major figure in the struggles between the warlord s who dominated Republican China from 1916 to 1927 . Early career . Born in Shandong Province in Eastern China , Wu initially received a traditional Chinese education . He later joined the Baoding Military Academy ( 保定軍校 ) in Beijing and embarked on a career as a professional soldier . His talents as an officer were recognized by his superiors , and he rose quickly in the ranks . Wu joined the " New Army " ( 新軍 ) ( renamed the Beiyang Army in 1902 ) created by the modernizing Qing Dynasty general , Yuan Shikai . Following the fall of the Qing in 1911 , and after Yuan ' s rise to President of the Republic of China and his subsequent disastrous attempt to proclaim himself emperor , political power in China quickly devolved into the hands of various regional military authorities , inaugurating the era of warlordism . In 1915 , Wu became commander of the 6th Brigade . Zhili Clique . After Yuan ' s death in 1916 , his Beiyang Army split into several mutually hostile factions , which battled for supremacy over the following years . The major factions included Duan Qirui ' s Anhui clique , Zhang Zuolin ' s Fengtian clique , and Feng Guozhang ' s Zhili clique of which Wu Peifu was a member . Duan Qirui ' s faction dominated politics in Beijing from 1916 - 1920 but was forced to maintain an uneasy relationship with Feng Guozhang ' s faction to maintain stability . The two clashed over the method to deal with the restive south , with Duan pushing for military conquest but Feng preferring negotiation . Feng died in 1919 and the leadership of the Zhili Clique was secured by Cao Kun with the support of Wu Peifu and Sun Chuanfang . Cao and Wu began to agitate against Duan and the Anhui clique and issued circular telegrams denouncing his collaboration with Japan . When they successfully pressured the president to dismiss Duan ' s key subordinate General Xu Shuzheng , Duan began to prepare for war against the Zhili Clique . At this juncture , Cao Kun and Wu Peifu began to organize a wide reaching alliance including all opponents of the Anhui clique . In November , 1919 , Wu Peifu meet with representatives of Tang Jiyao and Lu Rongting ( warlords of Yunnan and Guangxi respectively ) at Hengyang , and signed a treaty titled “ Rough Draft of the National Salvation Allied Army ” ( 救国同盟军草约 ) , forming the base of the anti - Anhui clique alliance that also included Zhang Zuolin ' s powerful Fengtian clique . Zhili - Anhui War . When hostilities finally broke out in July 1920 , Wu Peifu took the prominent role as commander - in - chief of the anti - Anhui army . At first , things did not go well for Zhili forces as they were pushed back by Anhui troops across the front . However , Wu decided to execute a daring maneuver on the western end of the front by first outflanking enemy positions and then directly assaulting the enemy ' s headquarters position . The gambit paid off and Wu was rewarded with an astounding victory and the capture of many of the officers in the enemy command . Subsequently , the Anhui army crumbled within a week and Duan Qirui fled to the Japanese settlement at Tianjin . Wu Peifu was credited as the strategist behind the unexpectedly swift victory . In the aftermath of the conflict , the Zhili and Fengtian cliques agreed to a power - sharing coalition government . However , Zhang Zuolin , leader of the Fengtian clique , became increasingly uneasy with Wu Peifu ' s vehement anti - Japanese stance that threatened to upset the delicate arrangement Zhang had reached with the Japanese in his power base of Manchuria . Wu and Zhang also clashed over who would occupy the position of premier , replacing each other ' s choices with their own . Soon the coalition between Zhili and Fengtian broke down and hostilities were inevitable . First Zhili – Fengtian War . In this war , Wu Peifu was again placed in the position of commander - in - chief of Zhili forces . Fighting would take place on a broad front south of Beijing and Tianjin and lasted from April to June 1922 . Initially , the Zhili army again suffered several setbacks against the well - equipped Fengtian army . Yet once again , Wu Peifu ' s leadership and planning turned the tide in favour of the Zhili clique . Wu executed several outflanking maneuvers that forced the western front of the Fengtian army back towards Beijing , then he lured it into a trap by feigning retreat . The result was the annihilation of the western wing of the Fengtian army , making its more successful eastern operations untenable . Zhang Zuolin was forced to order a general retreat back towards Shanhaiguan , thereby ceding control of the capital to Wu and the Zhili clique . Victorious , Cao Kun and Wu Peifu ' s Zhili clique nevertheless took control of a government whose control over the provinces had vastly deteriorated . Manchuria was now de facto independent under Zhang Zuolin and the still formidable Fengtian clique , while the south was divided among myriad warlord armies , including remnants of the Anhui clique and Sun Yat - sen ' s Kuomingtang . Control of the Beiyang Government . The new government in Beijing was supported by Great Britain and the United States . Li Yuanhong , the last president with any legitimacy , was recalled to sit as president again on June 12 , 1922 ; however any cabinet member had to be cleared by Wu Peifu . By this time Wu ' s prestige and fame had far surpassed that of his former mentor Cao Kun , nominally head of the Zhili clique . This strained their relationship , although it did not result in a fracture of the Zhili clique . Wu tried to restrain Cao when the latter began political machinations for the presidency but ultimately could not prevent Cao from toppling the cabinet and impeaching Li . Cao then spent several months campaigning for the presidency and even openly declared he would pay five thousand dollars to any parliamentarian who would cast for him . This caused national condemnation against the Zhili clique but did not prevent Cao from being elected in October 1923 . Although it appeared that Zhili ' s power was secure for the time being , a crisis in the south soon precipitated another showdown with the Fengtian clique . The crisis was over the city of Shanghai , the commercial powerhouse of the nation . The city was part of the province of Jiangsu , under Zhili control , but actually administered by Zhejiang , ruled by the remnants of the Anhui clique . When the Zhili clique demanded the return of Shanghai to their administration , they were refused and fighting soon broke out . Zhang Zuolin in Manchuria and Sun Yat - sen , then in Guangdong , quickly declared their support of the Anhui clique and geared up for war . Wu Peifu dispatched his subordinate and protégé Sun Chuanfang to the south to deal with the Anhui clique and any attack that may have come from Sun ' s Kuomingtang forces , while Wu himself prepared to face - off again with Zhang ' s Fengtian army . Second Zhili – Fengtian War . Now called the " Jade Marshal " ( 玉帥 ) and generally acknowledged to be China ' s ablest strategist at the time , Wu Peifu was widely expected to win , and by doing so to finally put an end to various quasi - independent regional authorities . His warlord troops were some of the best trained and drilled in China , and as leader of the Zhili Clique he almost continuously fought the northern Chinese warlords like Zhang Zuolin . Known as the philosopher general he was said at the time to own the world ' s largest diamond . Hundreds of thousands of men fought in this major battle between Zhang ' s Fengtian army and Wu ' s Zhili forces . At a key moment , one of Wu ' s chief allies , Feng Yuxiang , deserted the front , marched on Beijing , and in the so - called Beijing coup ( Beijing " zhengbian " ) overthrew the existing regime and proclaimed a new and mildly progressive government . Wu Peifu ' s military strategy was thrown into confusion by this catastrophe in his rear , and he was defeated by Zhang ' s forces near Tianjin . After the victory of the Fengtian clique , Duan Qirui was made head of state and he proclaimed a provisional government . Northern Expedition . Wu maintained a power base in Hubei and Henan in central China until he was confronted by the Kuomintang army during the Northern Expedition in 1927 . With armies detained by Kuomintang allies in the Northwest , Wu was forced to withdraw to Zhengzhou in Henan . In 1923 , Wu ruthlessly broke a strike at the important Hankou - Beijing railway by sending in troops to violently suppress the workers and their leaders . The soldiers killed thirty - five workers and injured many more . Wu ' s reputation with the Chinese people suffered significantly because of this event , though he gained the favor of British and American commercial interests operating in China . Wu Peifu hung a portrait of George Washington in his office . He was a nationalist , and refused to enter foreign concessions because he viewed them as an afront to China , not even to treat a tooth infection which led to his death . As Wu Peifu ' s armies were being overrun by the Kuomintang forces of Chiang Kaishek , during a breakfast interview with a westerner , Wu Peifu was carrying an old book , the interviewer asked him the title , Wu said " The Military Campaigns of the Kingdom of Wu . . . They didn ' t have any machine guns or airplanes then . " Wu never held a political office during his years as a warlord . After the second Sino - Japanese War broke out , Wu refused to cooperate with the Japanese . In 1939 , when the Japanese invited him to be the leader of the puppet government in North China , Wu made a speech saying that he was willing to become the leader of North China again on behalf of the New Order in Asia , if every Japanese soldier on China ' s soil gave up his post and went back to Japan . He then went back into retirement , dying later under what some people considered suspicious circumstances . He was a national hero before he died , a status he had never before achieved . References .