Introduction: After the victory of the Northern Expedition, which mainly targeted the Beiyang warlords, Chiang Kai-shek and Feng Yuxiang's honeymoon also ended quickly. When dividing up territory after the war, Chiang Kai-shek gave Yan Xishan a large stroke of the original "territory" of Ping, Tianjin, and Hebei that the Northwest Army had made great sacrifices in the war, which made Feng Yuxiang extremely disappointed and dissatisfied. Chiang Kai-shek also ostracized and controlled Feng Yuxiang's forces in Shandong, thus aggravating the contradictions between Feng Yuxiang and Chiang Kai-shek and Yan Xishan, so that a wonderful drama like between Cao, Liu and Sun in the Three Kingdoms was staged.
Former Northern Expedition Brothers (Picture from the Internet)
Feng Yuxiang wanted to join forces with Yan to resist Jiang, but was betrayed by Yan and placed under house arrest
In mid-May 1929, Feng Yuxiang held a meeting of senior generals, decided to arm against Chiang Kai-shek, and appointed himself as the commander-in-chief of the Northwest Road of the "Defending the Party and Protecting the Country". At the same time, Feng Yuxiang sent people to contact Yan Xishan to jointly oppose Jiang. Chiang Kai-shek, on the other hand, co-opted Yan Xishan to suppress Feng Yuxiang.
Chiang Kai-shek in disguise (picture from the Internet)
But Yan Xishan, who was shrewd and never made unprofitable businesses, had his own calculations. He thought so, first threatening to go out with Feng Xiang and lure Feng Renjin, then blackmailing Feng to respect himself, and then bargaining with Jiang. In order to unite Yan and discuss Jiang, Feng Yuxiang personally went to Taiyuan to discuss the grand plan with Xishan. However, Yan Xishan not only did not discuss anti-Jiang matters with Feng Yuxiang and Wei Snake, but also revealed to Nanjing the news that Feng was in Taiyuan.
Yan Xishan (picture from the network)
On June 30, Yan Xishan personally went to Beiping to meet Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang Kai-shek was overjoyed, so he verbally promised to appoint Yan as deputy commander-in-chief of the national army, navy, and air force, and a secret agreement was reached between Chiang and Yan to jointly control Feng. After Feng Yuxiang returned to Jin, Yan Xishan immediately changed his attitude toward Feng Yuxiang, and he also lured Feng to The Village of Jian'an in Wutai Mountain and put him under house arrest. The ambitious Feng Yuxiang was betrayed by Yan Xishan!
Feng Yuxiang's clever plan to fight back against Yan Xishan
When he learned of the collusion between Chiang Kai-shek and Yan, Feng Yuxiang, who was under house arrest, secretly instructed the generals of the Northwest Army to pretend to draw closer to Chiang Kai-shek and express that the Northwest Army was willing to accept the command of the Central Committee of Nanjing. Chiang Kai-shek was also thinking of taking advantage of the opportunity to win over and control the Northwest Army, so he successively sent Yu Youren and He Yaozu to the west to comfort Lao and organize the Northwest Army to provide military salaries, and soon appointed Lu Zhonglin as the minister of military affairs.
Feng Yuxiang (Picture from the network)
Sure enough, when Yan Xishan saw this situation, he was extremely panicked, deeply afraid that the Northwest Army and Chiang Kai-shek would unite against him. Therefore, Yan Xishan took the initiative to change his attitude toward Feng Yuxiang, personally went to see Feng Yuxiang on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, and apologized to Feng Yuxiang with a smile, and enthusiastically discussed with the other party a joint anti-Jiang plan. Feng Yuxiang immediately said that he was willing to donate his former suspects to cooperate against Jiang. The two sides agreed that the Northwest Army would first launch a campaign against Chiang Kai-shek, and the Jin Army would rise up again and respond. In this way, Feng Yuxiang escaped Yan Xishan's house arrest.
Feng Yuxiang stills (picture from the network)
Yan Xishan reneged on his word and once again betrayed Feng Yuxiang and put Feng Yuxiang under house arrest
On October 10, Song Zheyuan, a senior general of the Northwest Army, and others sent a telegram to Jiang, and the troops attacked Henan in three ways, and the Jiang Feng War finally broke out. On October 11, Chiang Kai-shek ordered a crusade against the Northwest Army, and with Zhu Peide as the chief of staff, he ordered Tang Shengzhi, Fang Dingying, Liu Zhi, Yang Sen and other troops to fight in five routes.
Stills of Chiang Kai-shek (pictured from the Internet)
Just as Jiang Feng's two armies were fighting fiercely, Yan Xishan appeared again again, Feng Yuxiang, who did not move according to the army, and did not send troops to help Feng as promised. Chiang Kai-shek saw that there was an opportunity to take advantage of it, so on October 28, he publicly and formally appointed Yan Xishan as the deputy commander of the national army, navy, and air force, and asked him to take charge of handling the northwest issue nearby.
Yan Xishan gained both fame and fortune, and once again NATO fell to chiang kai-shek's side and made arrangements to attack the northwest army. The Northwest Army was immediately trapped in a situation of isolation and helplessness, and Feng Yuxiang really wanted to cry without tears this time, and in the case of heavy losses, he had no choice but to return to Tongguan on December 1. Soon, the disempowered Feng Yuxiang was once again deceived by Yan Xi and put under house arrest.
Ambitious Chiang Kai-shek (from the network)
Yan Xishan was betrayed by Jiang and "cooperated" with Feng again
But Yan Xishan did not expect that he would betray Feng Yuyan many times without faith, and Chiang Kai-shek would concoct his methods to deal with him! At this time, because After li zongren and Feng Yuxiang lost one after another, Chiang Kai-shek greatly increased his strength, and he immediately turned his head again to prepare to take yan xishan. In January 1930, the contradictions between Yan Xishan and Chiang Kai-shek intensified, and the two sides sent telegrams attacking each other back and forth.
Yan Xishan stills (from the internet)
Feng Yuxiang took the opportunity to secretly summon Lu Zhonglin and ask him to take the initiative to contact Chiang Kai-shek again. Yan Xishan was shocked to hear the news, and decided to reconcile with Feng Yuxiang and join hands against Jiang. On February 26, Yan Xishan went to Feng Yuxiang's residence again and apologized to Feng Yuxiang. Feng Yuxiang was very angry at Yan Xishan's actions, but he knew that if he wanted to rebel, he must form an alliance with Yan Xishan. Therefore, and in order to escape the control of Yan Xishan, he expressed his willingness to cooperate against Chiang Kai-shek again.
Conclusion
In this way, an anti-Chiang Kai-shek joint front was once again formed between Feng and Yan. On March 8, 1930, Feng Yuxiang found the opportunity to finally get rid of Yan Xishan's house arrest and flee back to Shaanxi to preside over the military. After that, between Jiang, Feng, and Yan, they continued to stage a wonderful story of self-deception and mercenary intentions! Do you have any comment on that?