Battle of Shandong

The Battle of Shandong was a major engagement of the Northern Expedition that took place in the Chinese provinces of Shandong and Jiangsu. It was fought primarily between the forces of the National Revolutionary Army of the Kuomintang and the Anguojun of the Beiying Government warlords.
== Overview ==
The Battle of Shandong was an important part of the Northern Expedition. It can be generally be divided into two phases, with Zhang Zongchang’s defection as the dividing point.
The first phase of the Battle of Shandong is known as the Campaign of Western Shandong. The Battle of Shandong in common terms refers to the Campaign of Western Shandong specifically. During this phase, the two parties engaged in the battle were the National Revolutionary Army (the Northern Expedition Army) and the Anguojun. On the National Revolutionary Army’s side, the Wuhan National Government was working alongside its allies in the Guominjun, whereas the Nanjing National Government was fighting alone. Although they were facing the same enemy, the conflicts between the two governments remained present. On the Anguojun’s side, Sun Chuanfang, who had previously declared his allegiance to the Anguojun, assumed the role of the commanding officer of the Fengtian Army, while Zhang Zongchang personally commanded the Zhili-Shandong Joint Army.
The second phase of the Battle of Shandong is known as the Nanjing-Shandong War (excluding the four Campaigns of Xuzhou). Due to the intervention of Japan, the three parties of Wuhan, Japan, as well as Shandong agreed to a peace agreement, resulting in Zhang Zongchang’s defection to the Kuomintang, bringing peace in Shandong. Zongchang then established the Shandong Special Administrative Region which he aligned with the Wuhan National Government. The Nanjing National Government was reluctant to acknowledge this agreement, and continued their offensive campaign against Zhang Zongchang from the Xuzhou-Haizhou line, which achieved only minor progress. Under the authorization of the Wuhan National Government, Zhang Zongchang launched a counterattack and conquered Xuzhou in 1930. He continued his offensive after capturing the city, exploiting the weakness of the Nanjing National Government to capture Haizhou so as to extend his sphere of influence, which was widely criticized. Under public pressure, Zongchang was forced to sign a truce in November 1930.
Theoretically, the war of the Nanjing and Wuhan governments against the Anguojun coexisted with the conflicts between the two competing governments in the second phase of the Battle of Shandong. However, in reality, the Nanjing National Government had found no chance to fight against the Fengtian Army. Additionally, the Nanjing and Wuhan governments had never broken out into total war with each other over the Nanjing-Shandong War. Therefore, the Nanjing Government had lost the chance to further exploit the success of the Northern Expedition, opening the possibility for Chiang Kai-shek to return to the the Nanjing government.
== Campaign of Western Shandong ==
Feng Yuxiang initiated the Campaign of Taihang Mountain-Yellow River on 1 March 1928, for which the Northern Expedition Army formed the East Army with Huang Qixiang as chief commanding officer. Under the formation of the East Army were 4 armies, 12 divisions, and 1 cavalry brigade, including the 20th Army of He Long, the newly-formed 4th Army of Huang Qixiang, the 16th Army of Fan Shisheng, and the 30th Army of Wei Yisan. The total amount of soldiers were about 85,000. On March 1st, the East Army deployed between Shangqiu and Lankao, aiming between Heze and Jining. Their goal was to capture the southern riverbank of the Yellow River, covering for the right wing of the Middle Army.
The East Army was further divided into the Left Column Corp as well as the Right Column Corp. He Long was qualified as the field commanding officer of the Left Column Corp, with the 20th Army, and the Newly-formed 4th Division of the Newly-formed 4th Army of Xue Yue as subordinates. The Right Column Corp was composed of the 30th Army of Wei Yisan (excluding the cavalry brigade). The 16th Army of Fan Shisheng was appointed as reserve staying behind at Shangqiu. Huang Qixiang then set up the command post with the army headquarters of the newly-formed 4th Army, directing the new 2nd Division and the cavalry brigade of the 30th Army as a preparation force following He Long.
==== Timeline ====
Date 	Event
12 March 	He Jinzhai’s division of the 20th Army launched a surprise attack towards Heze. Explosives were used to breach the city gate, and the division advanced into the city. The garrison soon surrendered.
13 March 	Zhou Yiqun’s division conquered the town of Wushengqiao, and spread out for a defense along the riverbank of the Yellow River.
14 March 	Qin Guangyuan’s division took over the defense of Heze, while He Jinzhai’s division marched towards Juye.
15 March 	Wei Yisan conquered Shanxian. Six garrison regiments of the Western Shandong Army concentrated the troops from Weishanhu towards Jining and Juye.
16 March 	A skirmish broke out between He Jinzhai’s division and the 3rd Column Corp of the Guihuajun in the outskirts of Juye. Wei Yisan conquered the west bank of Weishanhu on the same day.
17 March 	He Jinzhai made an attempt to blow up the city gate of Juye with explosives, but the ignition failed. The attack force was not able to break the defensive line of the expatriate White Russians, and was forced to retreat. The White Russians sent out 4 cavalry companies to pursue and attack then. Over 100 infantrymen of He Jinzhai’s division were left injured or dead. 100 infantrymen of the White Russians were left injured or dead. During the pursuit, one of the cavalry companies was ambushed, and all 80 soldiers were killed. On the same day, Yang Qingchen of the 23rd Army of the Zhili-Shandong Joint Army reinforced Juye with his troops.
18 March 	Xue Yue’s division joined the battle in Juye from the south and launched an attack with the support of He Jinzhai. The two parties fought with each other fiercely for a whole day. However, the defenses of Juye could not yet be broken.
19 March 	He Long personally commanded a regiment of Qin Guangyuan’s division to launch a surprise attack on Yuncheng, which succeeded, eliminating the police garrison and one company of the White Russians. They then advanced towards Huangnigang, north of Juye.
20 March 	Wei Yisan launched an attack on Jining, but was blocked by Xu Yuanquan of the 6th Army of the Zhili-Shandong Joint Army.
21 March 	Five thousand men of the cavalry army of the Zhili-Shandong Joint Army, with the support of four motorized companies and four armored vehicles of the 2nd Column Corps of the White Russians, counterattacked Huangnigang. They were lured to a muddy field by He Long, resulting in death of 200 White Russians and the capture of 100 soldiers, 3 armored vehicles, and 15 trucks. A company of the White Russians fled back to Jining by car. The cavalry of the Zhili-Shandong Joint Army fled after being defeated, with only 20 dead and 500 captured. While scavenging the battlefield, He Long’s men successively collected four thousand horses.
22 March 	5 men, including Soviet consultant Captain Antonov, deceived the Juye garrison, convincing them to open the city gate, bringing with them 3 armored vehicles and 10 trucks carrying 300 soldiers of the pistol battalion of the 20th Army. They successfully cooperated with He Jinzhai and Xue Yue to launch an attack from inside and outside simultaneously. Juye was conquered. 2,000 men of the Northern Expedition Army were left injured or dead. 100 men under the command of Yang Qingchen of the Shandong Army were left dead, 200 were injured, and the remaining 4,000 captured. Less than 100 of the Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Column Corp of White Russians were left injured or dead, and the remaining 800 were all captured. The 3 cavalry companies of the White Russians fled Jining from the north gate, with approximately 20 men injured or dead in the process. In addition, 1 artillery company and 1 cannon company were captured. He Long’s troops rested and reorganized.
24 March 	The Japanese declared that the Jiaozhou-Jinan line was to be demilitarized. Only Zhang Zongchang publicly approved.
25 March – 2 April	Wei Yisan launched probe attacks against Xu Yuanquan’s army. Using a loudspeaker, Xu allegedly responded angrily to Wei by saying: "Do you seriously have anything else?"
3 April 	The 1st Army of the Zhili-Shandong Joint Army of Zhang Jingyao arrived at Jining. The forces in Jining included 3 armies, totalling more than 60,000 soldiers, with the addition of 6,000 soldiers of the 1st Cavalry Army of White Russians, 3,000 soldiers of the 1st Column Corp of the Guihuajun, 600 soldiers from 5 motorized companies of the 2nd Column Corp, and 200 soldiers from three cavalry companies of the 3rd Column Corp stationed in the eastern suburb of Jining.
4 April 	Two brigades of the Japanese Army arrived from Tianjin to Jining by train. He Long launched probe attacks on the western suburb of Jining with 6 companies, but they were defeated.
5 April 	The 6th Division of the Japanese Army arrived at Tsingtao. One regiment was sent to Jinan by vehicle immediately. The Battle of Shandong reached a deadlock.
8 April 	The Middle Army of Feng Yuxiang failed to take Guantao. General Huang Qixiang issued an order that all divisions should stop attacking and return to defensive positions.
9 April 	The Soviet Union denounced Japan and demanded that they disengage their forces. At the same time, however, they also demanded that the Northern Expedition Army ensure the safe passage of the Japanese Army.
10 April 	The National Government held a discussion on the Japanese involvement in Shandong. Each party stuck to their own arguments and the discussion descended into chaos.
12 April 	Feng Yuxiang declared that the Northern Expedition Army should halt their attack.
15 April 	The Nanjing Government deployed twenty divisions of seven armies from Xuzhou to Haizhou to attack Zhang Zongchang.
20 April 	Zhang Zongchang called for peace in Shandong.
28 April 	Japan dispatched another brigade of the Kwantung Army to Tsingtao.
1 May 	The 3rd Division of the Japanese Army landed on Tsingtao, and deployed along the Jiaozhou-Jinan line. On the same day, the National Government initiated peace talks with Japan and Shandong. Representatives of Britain, Socialist Germany, and the Soviet Union attended the meeting.
12 May 	The Nanjing Army closed in on Tengxian. On the same day, the Fengtian Army dispatched to the front 6 brigades of rookie soldiers from Jehol and Heilongjiang respectively.
13 May 	The Wuhan Government, Japan, and Shandong agreed to a peace agreement. The three parties agreed that the Jiaozhou-Jinan line would be demilitarised. On the same day, the 3rd Division approached Tsingtao.
15 May 	Zhang Zongchang issued a declaration of his allegiance with the Kuomintang, therefore breaking with the Fengtian Clique.
16 May 	Wang Jingwei issued an order of armistice with Shandong. Japan disclosed its plans for withdrawing their troops.
Category:Northern Expedition