The Northern Expedition Was the most important battle in which the National Revolutionary Army in the south unified the world, when the commander-in-chief of the National Revolutionary Army was Chiang Kai-shek, under his leadership, he commanded eight armies of the National Revolutionary Army to swear to the Northern Expedition in Guangzhou, so it was also called the Northern Expedition Army. This is also a war launched from the south to the north, you know, in Chinese history, very few successful Northern Expeditions, such as Zhuge Liang in the Three Kingdoms period, the six Northern Expeditions all ended in failure, as well as the Northern Expedition of Zu Ti in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Huanwen Northern Expedition in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Northern Expedition of Liu Yu in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Northern Expedition of Chen Qingzhi during the Southern Dynasty Liangwu Emperor, and the Northern Expedition of Yue Fei during the Southern Song Dynasty, all of which ended in failure, which shows that the Northern Expedition was a very difficult battle. Only the Northern Expedition during Zhu Yuanzhang's period was successful.
So, can this Northern Expedition led by Chiang Kai-shek succeed in modern history? It should be known that the opponent faced by the National Revolutionary Army at that time was the Beiyang warlord clique that had been occupying northern China for a long time. Moreover, in this battle, the strength of the two sides was very large, and the National Revolutionary Army only had eight armies and about 100,000 people. The opponent's strength was 10 times that of the National Revolutionary Army.
Straight army
At that time, wu Peifu, the leader of the Zhi Army, occupied the area along the Two Lakes and the Han Road in Nanjing, with 200,000 troops. It should be known that Wu Peifu is also a fierce character, who once won the first Zhifeng War, was evaluated as the most powerful Beiyang warlord to unify China, and also appeared in the Us "Time Magazine", which is enough to see Wu Peifu's military talent at that time.
Moreover, the combat effectiveness of the Zhi Army is also very strong, and it has defeated the Anhui warlords and the Feng warlords in the warlord melee, and the strength of these two warlords is also one of the best in the Republic of China. Therefore, during the Northern Expedition, it became the strongest opponent of the National Revolutionary Army, and with 200,000 troops in its hands, its strength could not be underestimated.
In addition to the 200,000 direct troops, there was sun Chuanfang, who was entrenched in the southeastern provinces, and in order to resist the Northern Expeditionary Army, he formed a five-province coalition army and served as the commander-in-chief, with a strength of about 200,000 troops. This is a direct branch, but also a rising star, but also one of the more powerful warlords in the history of the Republic of China. At its peak, the jurisdictional area governed the five southeastern provinces, so it was also called the king of the southeast.
Feng Jun
There was also the Fengzhi warlord Zhang Zuolin, who occupied the north, and the Fengjun army occupied a large number of cities in the north, such as Beijing, Tianjin, Zhili, Rehe and the three northeastern provinces, which were their territory, and also became the strongest one in the late Beiyang warlords. At that time, the strength of the army was about 400,000, and it also had the air force and navy, and it was also the only local warlord in the history of the Republic of China that had an air force and a navy.
In addition to the above three, the National Revolutionary Army also had to face Zhang Zongchang, who had long occupied Shandong, and at that time, he also had 150,000 troops. It is said that Zhang Zongchang also owned a foreign army and was very strong in combat.
Although the Beiyang warlords were numerous, they were not one hearted, and each wanted to eliminate the other with the Help of the National Revolutionary Army. For example, at the beginning of the Northern Expedition, Zhang Zuolin hoped to use the strength of the Northern Expedition to attack Wu Peifu's forces, and adopted a wait-and-see attitude toward the war, but did not send troops. It was not until later, after the Northern Expeditionary Army defeated Sun Chuanfang and occupied the southeastern provinces, that Zhang Zuolin, who was the strongest at that time, began to be anxious. As a result, these Beiyang warlords began to unite to form the An Guo Army, and elected Zhang Zuolin as commander-in-chief to jointly oppose Chiang Kai-shek's Northern Expeditionary Army.
National Revolutionary Army
However, at this time, the Northern Expeditionary Army no longer had only 100,000 troops like at the beginning of the Northern Expedition, and at this time, yan Xishan, the Northern Jin Sui Army, and Feng Yuxiang of the Northwest Army joined the Northern Expedition camp and completed the Northern Expedition with Chiang Kai-shek. It also administered four group armies, with Chiang Kai-shek as commander-in-chief of the First Army, Feng Yuxiang as commander-in-chief of the Second Army, Yan Xishan as commander-in-chief of the Third Army, and Li Zongren as commander-in-chief of the Fourth Army.
Then, the end of history was that the National Revolutionary Army in the south successfully completed the northern expedition. On June 4, 1928, Zhang Zuolin withdrew from Beijing that night, withdrew from Shanhaiguan, and was killed on the way back, officially ending the era of beiyang warlords. He was succeeded by his son Zhang Xueliang, known as the Young Marshal. However, Zhang Xueliang finally chose to submit to Nanjing, and on December 29 of the same year, he electrified the Northeast Yizhi, and the Northern Expedition was declared successful. At this time the state achieved formal unity. At the same time, the National Revolutionary Army also set a precedent for the success of the Second Northern Expedition in history, the first of which was the Northern Expedition led by Zhu Yuanzhang.