Shortly after Yuan Shikai's defeat as emperor, the Tyrant of the Republic of China died of illness on June 6, 1916, in the scorn of the people of the whole country. Although Yuan Shikai is not a wise monarch, he is also a heroic figure. During his lifetime, the Beiyang Clique he led could at least maintain the unity of the country. There will be no, after his death, a situation of warlord melee. Because, apart from Yuan Shikai, no one in the Beiyang Group has been able to control this situation. This led to the gradual formation of a warlord clique headed by local generals after Yuan Shikai's death.
Speaking of the local warlord forces in the Republic of China period, such as the Well-known Fengzhi Warlord Group that was entrenched in the three northeastern provinces, the leader was Zhang Zuolin, and this local army was referred to as the Fengjun, and the strength of the army reached 400,000 in its heyday. There was also the first Anhui warlord group to rise after Yuan Shikai's death, headed by Duan Qirui, a general of Yuan Shikai's lifetime. The direct warlord group was formed by Feng Guozhang, a powerful local warlord group, referred to as the Zhi Army.
The above three families are the three most powerful local troops after Yuan Shikai's death. At the same time, there are some weaker local warlords across the country. For example, Yan Xishan's Jin Sui Army, Zhang Zongchang's Lu Army, Feng Yuxiang's Northwest Army, Tang Jiyao's Dian Army, including Li Zongren's Gui Army, Chen Jitang's Yue Army (the Cantonese Army also had two branches respectively Zhang Fakui and Chen Mingshu), Liu Xiang's Sichuan Army and other local warlord groups, all belonged to the local troops of the Republic of China period.
Then, in these local troops during the Republic of China period, their military strength was once the dominant side, and each local group army, in its heyday, the number of troops reached 100,000. At the same time, every local military group during the Republic of China period also had many good generals under its command. Then, let's take a look at the local troops in the Republic of China period, which famous military generals were out.
Zhang Zuolin led the Feng army, this local army. During the Republic of China period, two famous military generals were produced. The first is Yang Yuting, and the second is Guo Songling. It can be said that Zhang Zuolin was able to dominate the northeast and become the strongest local warlord in the late Beiyang warlord period, which was naturally inseparable from the assistance of these two famous generals.
Yang Yuting and Guo Songling, in the Feng army, had a different division of labor. Yang Yuting was good at presiding over military work in the rear, not good at leading soldiers on the front line, somewhat similar to Zhuge Liang in the Three Kingdoms period. Therefore, Yang Yuting was also known as Zhuge Liang in the Feng army and a great steward of Zhang Zuolin's military side. Guo Songling is different, he is good at leading soldiers on the front line, just the opposite of Yang Yuting. During the First Battle of Zhifeng, Zhang Zuolin's several large armies were all defeated, and only Guo Songling withstood the attack of the Zhi army and broke Wu Peifu's plan to directly attack the Guandong. In the Second Battle of Zhifeng, the troops led by Guo Songling became the main force of the Feng army and made great contributions to winning the victory of the second battle. Unfortunately, Guo Songling later raised an army against Zhang Zuolin, and finally lost and died.
The Anhui army led by Duan Qirui, this local army, also produced a famous military general, he is Xu Shuzheng, military talent, is the core figure of the Anhui warlord group, but also Duan Qirui's think tank. Xu Shuzheng had a certain military talent, and once recovered Outer Mongolia, forcing him to give up the idea of independence. But his personality was also very arrogant, and he once killed Lu Jianzhang without any request for instructions. This move became the fuse of the Zhiwan War and an important reason for the decline of the Anhui warlord clique. Xu Shuzheng lost his life for this, and on December 30, 1925, a generation of famous generals Xu Shuzheng was killed by Lu Jianzhang's nephew Feng Yuxiang.
The Zhi Army led by Feng Guozhang (Later Cao Kun), this local army, also produced a very famous military general during the Republic of China period, he was Wu Peifu, and he was also one of the important leaders of the warlords directly under his direct lineage. For this group army, it has won the Zhiwan War, the First Zhifeng War, and if the Second Zhifeng War, Feng Yuxiang does not turn against the battlefield, and it is difficult to know who wins and who loses.
The Jin Sui Army led by Yan Xishan, this local army, also produced a very famous military general, he was Xu Yongchang, and Fu Zuoyi was also from the Jin Sui Army. Feng Yuxiang's Northwest Army still has a lot of famous generals, such as the anti-war heroes Tong Linge, Zhao Dengyu, the famous anti-war generals Sun Lianzhong, Liu Ruming, Feng Zhi'an and other generals are from the Northwest Army. Li Zongren's Gui army, no doubt, must be Bai Chongxi, as well as Famous military generals such as Liao Lei and Li Pinxian, all of whom were from Li Zongren's Gui army. Including Liu Xiang's Sichuan army, there were also many famous military generals. For example, the famous generals of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Such as Wang Mingzhang, Li Jiayu, Yang Sen, and Guo Xunqi, were all from the Sichuan Army.