After Yuan Shikai's death, the Republic of China entered the era of warlord chaos, and warlords in various places were divided into males, and the Republic of China entered an eventful autumn. It was in the Republic of China during the warlord melee that there were many warlords large and small throughout the country. For example, the Anhui warlords led by Duan Qirui after Yuan Shikai's death, the direct warlords headed by Feng Guozhang, and the Fengzhi warlords headed by Zhang Zuolin. There are also Jin warlords who occupy Shanxi, the Dian clan that dominates the southwest, and the Qian clan warlords, as well as the Sichuan clan (small Sichuan warlords, internally divided into several small factions), and the Gui clan warlords are divided into the old Gui clan and the new Gui clan. There are also the three horses in the northwest, which are entrenched in Gansu, Ningxia, and Qinghai, as well as the northwest army headed by Feng Yuxiang, as well as warlords of the Guangdong and Xiang dynasties, all of which were born during the chaotic period of the Republic of China.
However, between the direct and Feng clans, during the two Zhifeng Wars, the National Revolutionary Army led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen rose up in Guangzhou, destroyed the Cantonese warlord Chen Jiongming, and stabilized the rear. The National Revolutionary Army, under the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek, launched the Northern Expedition. It was during the Northern Expedition that the direct line, which was called the strongest of the many warlords of the Republic of China, became the first target to be attacked. It should be known that the direct warlords were very powerful, controlling most of China in their heyday. Such as Cao Kun, Wu Peifu, Sun Chuanfang' famous tyrants are all direct warlord group leaders.
It may be precisely because the warlords directly under their direct lineage are strong, unwilling to submit, and surrendered, so they eventually went to extinction, and were wiped out by the Northern Expeditionary Army led by Chiang Kai-shek. The direct warlord is different, and he is used to being the boss, and it is definitely not suitable for him to be the younger brother. In addition to the warlords directly under his command, in the Northern Expedition war launched by Chiang Kai-shek, there were also the most powerful Warlords of the Fengzhi Clan who also suffered blows. Strictly speaking, this warlord group should not have been wiped out. Friends who may know history know that after Zhang Zuolin knew that he could not do the Northern Expeditionary Army, he handed over the power to Zhang Xueliang and withdrew to his hometown in the northeast, who knew that he was killed by the Japanese in the middle of the road. As soon as Zhang Zuolin died, the main heart of the feng clan fell, and the young Zhang Xueliang, in the face of internal and external troubles, finally chose to submit to Chiang Kai-shek. The Fengzhi warlords also withdrew from the stage of history, and the troops were reorganized by Chiang Kai-shek into the Northeast Border Defense Army for short.
However, after the Xi'an Incident, the Northeast Army was also completely disintegrated by Chiang Kai-shek. In this way, the Northeast Army, which continued to be the predecessor of the warlords, was eventually destroyed by Chiang Kai-shek. Just after Chiang Kai-shek won the victory in the Northern Expedition, the two most powerful warlords of the direct and Feng clans also withdrew from the stage of history, and the small warlords in various places knew how to judge the hour and size up the situation, and all submitted to the newly rising National Revolutionary Army.
However, even among the warlords in various localities that were large and small to Chiang Kai-shek's military clique, there were three local warlords that could be called the most powerful in the history of the Republic of China. They were Feng Yuxiang's Northwest Army, which had 400,000 mercenaries in its heyday, Yan Xishan's Jin Sui Army, 300,000 mercenaries in its heyday, Li Zongren's Gui Army, and 250,000 mercenaries in its heyday, but their combat effectiveness was strong, and the 120,000 allied troops of Yunnan, Xiang and Yue were defeated by 20,000 Gui army.
However, Feng Yuxiang's Northwest Army was also wiped out by Chiang Kai-shek during the Outbreak of the Central Plains War, Feng Yuxiang himself announced his resignation, and his Northwest Army was disintegrated by Chiang Kai-shek, the troops were also scattered throughout the country by Chiang Kai-shek, and the title of the Northwest Army was also revoked. It seems that the five strongest warlords in the history of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek alone eliminated three (direct, Feng, and Northwest Army). In the Battle of Taiyuan in 1949, the North China Field Army, under the command of Xu Shuai and Peng Laozong, successfully dismantled the Jin regime that had occupied Shanxi for thirty-eight years, and Yan Xishan himself fled to Nanjing by plane overnight. In this regard, the warlords of the Jin dynasty of the Republic of China, who have survived the longest, have also officially withdrawn from the stage of history.
The Gui warlords, who were relatively strong in combat effectiveness, also went to extinction during the Liberation War. The Commander of the Fourth Field Army, which destroyed it, was Lin Zong. In the famous Battle of Hengbao, all the officers of the Fourth Field Army were brave and good at fighting, and under the command of Lin Zong, they severely damaged the Gui warlords. In the end, Bai Chongxi was defeated and led his troops to retreat to his hometown in Guangxi. The Siye army followed closely behind, fighting all the way to Guangxi, wiping out the most powerful Gui warlord in the history of the Republic of China.