On September 17, 1932, Han Fuyu mobilized 50,000 troops to launch a fierce attack on the defensive area of Liu Zhennian, the "King of Jiaodong". Liu Zhennian hurriedly sent a telegram to Chiang Kai-shek and He Yingqin in Nanjing, asking for a halt to Han Fuyu's actions.
Liu Zhennian personally went to Yecheng and paid double salaries to the officers and men under his command to boost morale, and at the same time sent troops to destroy roads and bridges to delay the action of the Han Fuyu army.
On September 18, Han Fuyu also sent a clever telegram to Nanjing to "cut first and play later", telling Liu Zhennian's "crimes". On the 19th, Chiang Kai-shek and He Yingqin sent a telegram to Liu Zhennian, saying that they had asked Han Fuyu to stop the attack. On the 20th, the Nanjing side officially ordered that "the two sides should stop military operations on the same day and wait for investigation and handling." However, Han Fuyu ignored it and still personally commanded his troops to attack Jiaodong.
Chiang Kai-shek was very annoyed by Han Fuyu's disobedience to the order, so he ordered that Liu Zhi's troops stationed in Xuzhou and Shang Zhen's troops in Hebei be transferred to rescue Liu Zhennian from the north and south roads.
However, when Liu Zhi's Huang Jie's troops arrived at Lunan Tancheng, Zhang Xueliang in Beiping suddenly issued a telegram in support of Han Fuyu and sent an artillery regiment to strengthen Han Fuyu's attack. The military intervention of Chiang Kai-shek and Zhang Xueliang immediately complicated and made the battle between Han Fuyu and Liu Zhennian complicated and made the overall situation.
Since Japan had a lot of overseas Chinese and assets in Shandong at that time, many people in the Nationalist government in Nanjing were worried that the battle between Han and Liu would most likely become a new excuse for Japan to invade China, and they demanded that Han and Liu boycott the troops. Ding Weifen, a Kuomintang elder from Shandong, received many telegrams and letters from his father and elder in his hometown asking him to help clean up the situation, so he proposed to Chiang Kai-shek that it be resolved peacefully.
Under strong external pressure, Chiang Kai-shek accepted the suggestions of Ding Weifen and others, and instead adopted the policy of "mediation" and sent Jiang Bocheng, Xiong Bin, and others to meet han Fuyu and Liu Zhennian separately to mediate.
Under Chiang Kai-shek's military pressure, Han Fuyu symbolically withdrew part of his army, but was actually still waiting for an opportunity to attack. Soon, Han Fuyu took advantage of Liu Zhennian's opportunity to "gather his five fingers and shake his fist to meet the enemy" and sent troops to occupy Yantai and its surrounding areas. Under the military oppression of Han Fuyu, Liu Zhennian could only control the four counties of Ye County, Laiyang, Qixia, and Muping, and Chiang Kai-shek telegraphed Liu Zhennian that the upright officers should negotiate with Han and still hope to be patient and hold firm, so as not to expand the situation.
Although Liu Zhennian shrank his troops and temporarily avoided Han's front under the pressure of Han Fuyu's army, he was not completely afraid of Han, and he said to his subordinates: "I know Han Fuyu's two sons, and Han Fuyu also knows that I have these two sons, and if Nanjing lets me fight, the first step will hit Weixian County, and the second will hit Jinan." ”
In order to probe Han Fuyu's falsehood, Liu Zhennian sent Li Bingzao, head of the military medical teaching team, in the name of a representative of Zhang Luanji, commander of an independent brigade, to the general headquarters of Han Fuyu in Shahe Town, 22 kilometers southwest of Yecheng, to meet Han Fuyu and express his willingness to "abandon the dark and cast light."
Han Fuyu believed that Li Bingzao's deception was true, and said very happily: "If Brigadier Zhang can pull him over, I will definitely make him a first-class division." ”
On the 21st, the Rok army reached more than 10 miles away from the city, and Liu Zhennian made a tentative attack with the strength of an infantry regiment, but it did not work, so he retreated to Yecheng, and the two sides continued to engage in artillery battle.
On the 25th, the 81st Division of the Korean Army's Zhan Shutang attacked Laiyang, and Liu Jun's Liang Lizhu troops attacked and won, capturing about 3 companies of officers and men of Zhan Shutang.
On October 6, Han Fuyu concentrated the strength of 3 brigades and attacked Laiyang. On the evening of the 7th, the two divisions of Sun Tongxuan and Cao Fulin of the Han Army, with the cooperation of about 200 artillery pieces such as heavy artillery, wild mountain artillery, and mortars, began to launch a fierce attack on the county town of Ye County; Liu Zhennian commanded the troops to resist with all their might, and the Rok army suffered heavy casualties, but it was never able to break the city.
On the 8th, a unit of the Rok army advanced from Huang County to the rear of Liu Zhennian's main army, Muping. On 19 July, at the behest of Chiang Kai-shek, He Yingqin telephoned Han Fuyu and Liu Zhennian separately proposing four solutions: 1. From now on, the ROK army would withdraw its garrison west of the Weihe River and withdraw its troops before 26 days; 2. Liu Zhennian's 21st Division would temporarily garrison Fushan, Ye County, Laiyang, Qixia, and Mouping counties and Longkou; 3. The counties of Penglai, Huangxian, Zhaoyuan, Haiyang, Wendeng, Rongcheng, and Pingdu, where the 21st Division was formerly stationed, would temporarily not garrison troops and the former regimental police would maintain law and order; 4. After the troops were transferred, they would rectify military discipline and wait for disposal.
Han Fuyu was extremely dissatisfied with this seemingly fair and actual plan to protect Liu Zhennian, and instead adopted a strategy of retreating into advance, and on 21 July proposed to Chiang Kai-shek, Lin Sen, chairman of the National Government, Song Ziwen, acting president of the Executive Yuan, and Zhang Xueliang, chairman of the Beiping Branch of the Military Commission, to resign as chairman of Shandong Province, in order to blackmail Nanjing into transferring Liu Zhennian out of Shandong.
Han Fuyu's move aroused strong repercussions, and all aspects of society, especially some military and political dignitaries, advocated the transfer of Han and Liu. This made Liu Zhennian fall into passivity.
At first, Liu Zhennian did not intend to leave Jiaodong, a place where he had fought for several years before he had fought for his life, but his chief of staff, the chief of political affairs, and other close associates tried their best to persuade him to leave Jiaodong, saying: Since he had made enemies with Han Fuyu and met with each other, although he temporarily stopped it, it would be difficult to live in peace for a long time; staying in a corner of Jiaodong, it was difficult to have great development, that is, if Yang Hucheng's troops were originally stationed in the Yizhou area, their strength was not as good as ours, and after they were transferred out of Shandong and returned to the northwest, they achieved considerable development, and in the past two or three years, not only Shaanxi, but also Gansu. It can be seen from this that it is better to transfer out of Shandong and seek another development.
This analysis of the cronies touched Liu Zhennian's mind and aroused his greater ambitions. After Liu Zhennian thought about it repeatedly, he sent a telegram to Nanjing requesting transfer, and instructed his deputy and chief of staff, Han Dong, to request a transfer in person with Chiang Kai-shek.
Chiang Kai-shek was a little incredulous and said to Han Dong, "You ask Master Liu, do you really want to adjust the defense?" Well? Where would you like to transfer? ”
Han Dong went to call again to inquire, and Liu Zhennian called back to reply: I am indeed willing to adjust defense. Regarding the location, I hope to transfer Haizhou, Xuzhou, or eastern Henan and western Henan.
At first, Chiang Kai-shek decided to transfer Liu Zhennian to Sui County and Zaoyang in Hubei Province, but was strongly opposed by local people in Hubei. After that, it was ready to change ningbo, and public opinion in Zhejiang was in an uproar.
Chiang Kai-shek summoned Liu Zhennian's representative and said, "Oops! Your Twenty-first Division's reputation is so bad that it is opposed everywhere. In the end, Liu Zhennian was forced to lead the troops to transfer to Wenzhou. Losing Jiaodong, a territory that had been operating for several years, Liu Zhennian's strength was greatly reduced, which also laid the groundwork for him to be shot and killed by Chiang Kai-shek's people under house arrest.