Speaking of direct warlords, many people have heard of this term. It mainly appeared in the early days of the Republic of China, when there was constant scuffle between the Beiyang warlords, including direct warlords. However, although everyone knows that there are direct warlords everywhere, they do not understand. If we look at the past and present lives of the direct warlords today, it can be said that the direct warlords are the most powerful warlords among the Beiyang warlords.
When talking about warlords directly related to the direct lineage, we must talk about one person, and this person is Feng Guozhang, the leader of the direct warlords. Feng Guozhang was born in Zhili, which is also his first willingness to be called a direct warlord, and like the Anhui warlords and the Fengzhi warlords, they are divided according to the birthplace of the chief. When Feng Guozhang was born, his family was in the middle of the road, and it can be said that he was very poor, and later he had no choice but to join the army. Later, he was valued by Yuan Shikai and joined Yuan Shikai's new army, and it can be said that Yuan Shikai had the grace of knowing him. Under Yuan Shikai, Feng Guozhang became more and more important, and became one of the three masters of Beiyang, along with Wang Shizhen and Duan Qirui. Therefore, during the Republic of China, he began to be active on the stage of history.
If he only relied on his loyalty to Yuan Shikai, Feng Guozhang could not become the leader of the Beiyang warlords, and he still had his own opinions. The most important thing is that during Yuan Shikai's reign as emperor, Feng Guozhang was resolutely opposed, and like Duan Qirui, he still had his own views on major issues of right and wrong. Perhaps because of this, he had a very high status among the Beiyang warlords. After Yuan Shikai's death, the Beiyang warlords were leaderless, and many wanted to compete for important positions such as president and premier of the country. However, the warlords directly led by Feng Guozhang were not much interested.
Feng Guozhang's philosophy is that he must have his own army and his own territory, which Yuan Shikai did when he was alive. After the second revolution, Feng Guozhang became the governor of Jiangsu and controlled Jiangsu. Yuan Shikai claimed that the empress had appointed him chief of staff, and later asked him to replace Duan Qirui and commander-in-chief of Li Zhengdian, but he did not take office. After Yuan Shikai's death, Feng Guozhang still did this, and after Yuan Shikai's death, Li Yuanhong succeeded him as president, and after the national assembly elected Feng Guozhang as vice president, he worked in Nanjing. To put it bluntly, no matter what happens, I am in Nanjing, this is my territory. It is precisely because of this that after Yuan Shikai's death, the Anhui warlords among the Beiyang warlords took the opportunity to become the boss of the Beiyang warlords.
Beiyang warlords are mainly divided into direct warlords, Anhui warlords, and Fengzhi warlords. When Yuan Shikai died, the Fengzhi warlords were too weak, and the leader of the direct warlords, Feng Guozhang, had always insisted on his own territory, so the central power was controlled by the Anhui warlord Duan Qirui. At this time, the warlords of the direct line, although they had little control over the central government, were still strong, but they did not want to participate in the struggle of the central government.
During the battle between the government and the court, Feng Guozhang began to participate in the battle of the central government. After Li Yuanhong resigned, Feng Guozhang entered Beijing as acting president, Duan Qirui was reinstated as prime minister, Feng Guozhang officially entered Beijing, and the warlords directly under his direct line began to participate in the struggle for power in the central government. However, at this time, the direct warlords controlled the central government far less than the Anhui warlords. Mainly related to Feng Guozhang.
In 1919, Feng Guozhang died, and with the support of the direct warlords, Cao Kun became the leader of the direct warlords. Cao Kun was born into poverty and was not as good as Feng Guozhang, so he was also forced to join the army. Later, he was valued by Yuan Shikai, and it can be said that he was also loyal to Yuan Shikai. After Yuan Shikai's death, although the direct and Anhui clans did not fight seriously, there were also contradictions, and it was at this time that Cao Kun stood out. That's why he was chosen as the head of the warlords of his immediate lineage. After Cao Kun became the leader of the warlords of his immediate lineage, he actively competed for the power of the central government, which was completely different from Feng Guozhang.
Cao Kun became the governor of The Prefecture in 1916, so when he took control of the warlords of his immediate lineage, the base camp was changed to Baoding. This place is very close to Beijing, which can be said to be easy to fight. After Cao Kun became the leader of the warlords of the direct lineage, the Warlords of the Anhui Clan have been in power. The two sides eventually broke out in 1920. However, this time, the direct warlords joined forces with the Fengzhi warlords outside the Guanguan to defeat the Anhui warlords, and the direct warlords began to enter the central government. Of course, the Fengzhi warlords also began to move into the central government, but their strength was far inferior to that of the direct warlords.
After the direct warlords entered the central government, contradictions began to arise with their former allies, the Fengzhi warlords. As the strength of the Fengzhi warlords continued to increase, the contradictions between the two sides became more and more frequent. After all, both sides want to hold the central authorities. So in 1922 the first major war broke out between the two sides, which was the first Zhifeng War. The war ended with a direct victory. It can be seen that the strength of the direct warlords is very strong. After this war, Cao Kun can be said to have firmly controlled the central power. During this period, there was also a bribery of Cao Kun, and Cao Kun became the president of the Republic of China as he wished.
In 1924, the Bong warlords made a comeback. War broke out again between the direct and Bong clans. This time, due to Feng Yuxiang's defection, the Fengzhi warlords won the victory and the direct clan lost. Cao Kun was forced to resign and has since withdrawn from the political scene. However, at this time, the direct warlords did not disappear, but the dragons were leaderless, but the strength was still there.
After Cao Kun was forced to go to the wilderness, two important figures appeared in the warlords directly under his direct lineage, one was Wu Peifu and the other was Sun Chuanfang. In fact, throughout the entire Beiyang government period, as long as the warlords stayed in the central government for a long time, they lost control of the army. Duan Qirui and Cao Kun were like this. At this time, many characters will appear in the local army to take their place. Wu Peifu and Sun Chuanfang are such people. Wu Peifu followed Cao Kun from beginning to end and was Cao Kun's most capable general. After the Second Zhifeng War, although Wu Peifu went to the wilderness, he had a great reputation. Therefore, in October 1925, Wu Peifu was appointed commander-in-chief of the Fourteen Provinces Coalition Army of Thieves in Wuhan, and issued a telegram, determined to "compete with the world again."
Sun Chuanfang had always been a subordinate of Wang Zhanyuan, another leader of the direct warlords, and later because he could fight, he was constantly promoted and held great power. After the Second Zhifeng War, Sun Chuanfang gradually took control of the five provinces of Zhejiang, Fujian, Suzhou, Anhui, and Gansu, and proclaimed himself the commander-in-chief of the five provinces.
At this time, the situation was that the Warlords of the Feng Clan controlled the central government. But the two most important local forces were Wu Peifu and Sun Chuanfang, who were directly related to the warlords. In terms of overall strength, the strength of the direct warlords is not weaker than that of the fengzhi warlords. However, at this time, Guangdong was undergoing a national revolution, so their era was coming to an end.
In the summer of 1926, the Guangdong National Revolutionary Army began the Northern Expedition, which was aimed at Wu Peifu, Sun Chuanfang, and Zhang Zuolin. Two of the three are direct warlords. In the end, Wu Peifu and Sun Chuanfang were defeated successively, and the direct warlords can be said to have completely declined and withdrew from the stage of history. Later, Sun Chuanfang was assassinated and killed, and Wu Peifu was said to have been killed by the Japanese.
From 1916 to 1926, it can be said that the history of direct warlords is still very long, and the strength is strong from beginning to end. It is gratifying that although they are constantly fighting, few of them are traitors and traitors.