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Text: Zhang Runchen
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introduction
He was the most well-known "Confucian general" among the Beiyang warlords, he was once considered by the foreign media to be "the most promising person to unify China", and he once took control of the Central Plains in Beijing. However, he ended tragically in the Northern Expedition, and he was Wu Peifu, the first major warlord to be defeated in the Northern Expedition.
However, was the person who defeated him really Chiang Kai-shek's Northern Expeditionary Army? The story behind it is probably beyond your imagination.
1. Wu Feng Merge
The source of the story has to start from 1920, which is the beginning of the fate of Wu Peifu and Zhang Zuolin. In this year, a major event occurred on the land of China, and the Zhiwan War broke out. The final result of the war was Wu Peifu's victory and successful control of the city of Beijing, which also determined the direction of China's development in the next ten years.
And after Wu Peifu took control of Beijing, it was naturally inevitable to deal with Zhang Zuolin in the northeast. In 1922, the Zhifeng War broke out, and the direct line represented by Wu Peifu won again. After this war, the direct line has basically become the most powerful force in China, and has also become a well-deserved "alliance leader" of the Beiyang warlords.
(Zhang Zuolin and Wu Peifu)
However, after that, the direct bigwigs drifted a little, and the "Cao Kun bribery" incident broke out soon after. In the aftermath of the incident, the direct warlords were completely demoralized throughout the country. In October 1924, Zhang Zuolin made a comeback again and launched the Second Zhifeng War.
In this war, there was an unexpected incident, which was that Feng Yuxiang's National Army, as a "direct vassal", launched the "Beijing Incident". After the successful coup, Feng Yuxiang expelled Wu Peifu and imprisoned "President Cao Kun". It stands to reason that this matter should be a good thing for Zhang Zuolin, after all, "the enemy of the enemy is a friend".
(Feng Yuxiang)
After Feng Yuxiang gained control of Beijing, it should be inevitable to turn to Zhang Zuolin, after all, although Wu Peifu withdrew from Beijing, he still controlled Henan and Wuhan provinces, and his strength was still far stronger than that of the revolutionary army. However, Feng Yuxiang's final choice was very unexpected, he chose to invite Sun Yat-sen, who was far away in Guangzhou, to go to Beijing to "discuss state affairs".
Although Feng Yuxiang is a warlord, he actually has a certain "revolutionary tendency", so he is actually more willing to hand over power to the Kuomintang than Zhang Zuolin, the king of the Northeast. However, for Zhang Zuolin, the war with his direct family is, in the final analysis, just an "internal struggle". The Kuomintang and the revolutionary faction led by Sun Yat-sen were the "enemies of life and death."
For Wu Peifu, Feng Yuxiang's fall to Sun Yat-sen is not just a matter of disgust, but a matter of life and death. After Wu Peifu withdrew from Beijing, the area under his control was exactly halfway between the Nationalist Army and the Guangzhou government. If Feng Sun flanked Wu Peifu together, then Wu Peifu really couldn't bear it.
(Wu Peifu)
In this case, the best solution for Wu Peifu is actually to join forces with Zhang Zuolin. After all, instead of waiting for Sun Yat-sen and Feng Yuxiang to flank him, it is better to flank Feng Yuxiang with Zhang Zuolin first. In this case, the two people who originally had the same purpose soon walked together.
This also shows a very strange picture, that is, just after the end of the Great War of Zhifeng, the direct line has become the "friendly army" of the Feng. After defeating Feng Yuxiang together, Zhang Zuolin replaced Wu Peifu as the "de facto alliance leader", and the two officially became allies.
After all, for Zhang Zuolin at this time, instead of completely eliminating Wu Peifu, it is better to let Wu Peifu stand in the middle of himself, Sun Chuanfang and the revolutionary army, and become his "shield". And for Wu Peifu, nothing is more important than being alive. However, this decision is a decision that Wu Peifu regrets for the rest of his life.
(Zhang Zuolin)
Because the person who finally gave Wu Peifu a fatal blow was not the Northern Expeditionary Army at all, it was Zhang Zuolin, who he recognized as an ally.
2. Backstabbing
In the second half of 1926, Wu Peifu's direct troops were defeated and retreated under the rapid offensive of the Northern Expeditionary Army. first defeated Hunan, then defeated again and again in Hubei, and finally retreated directly into Henan. At this time, Wu Peifu only controlled most of Henan Province, part of Hubei Province, and the Zhili region south of Baoding.
As Wu Peifu's "big rear", Nanzhili, which is dominated by Baoding, has become Wu Peifu's "tax powerhouse". However, at this time, Zhang Zongchang in Beijing suddenly issued a "martial law" and expelled Wu Peifu's forces in Beijing. After that, the Feng army directly entered Nanzhili and captured several cities, including Baoding.
(Wu Peifu)
Under the front and back attacks, Wu Peifu's direct line has fallen into a "stormy situation". In 1927, Zhang Zuolin directly ordered the Feng army to march into Henan, and the two sides met again in Henan, and this war was also the last "civil war" between Beiyang warlords in history.
As for why Zhang Zuolin attacked Wu Peifu, after research in later generations, many reasons were drawn. For Zhang Zuolin at that time, eliminating Wu Peifu could indeed maximize benefits. After Zhang Zuolin took control of Beijing, he had in fact become the "leader of the Beiyang Warlord Alliance". However, in the final analysis, Zhang Zuolin's alliance leader is only "de facto".
Wu Peifu has always held the name of "Beiyang Alliance Leader", which has also made Zhang Zuolin unstable in Beijing. When Wu Peifu and Sun Chuanfang faced the Northern Expeditionary Army, Zhang Zuolin once again held the Beiyang Conference in Tianjin, trying to integrate the entire Beiyang forces and jointly fight against the Northern Expeditionary Army. At the meeting, Sun Chuanfang directly recognized Zhang Zuolin's status as the "leader of the Anguo Army".
However, Wu Peifu still refused to recognize Zhang Zuolin's status, which also made Zhang Zuolin more and more dissatisfied with Wu Peifu. Zhang Zuolin also realized a problem, that is, only by completely defeating Wu Peifu can he truly unify the Beiyang forces. This is the political reason for Zhang Zuolin to go south to attack Wu Peifu, and in addition to the political reason, Zhang Zuolin actually has a practical reason.
The strategic purpose of Zhang Zuolin's southward movement can be mainly divided into three aspects:
First, because Sun Chuanfang had fallen to Zhang Zuolin at this time, Zhang Zuolin had the ability to go south, and had already begun to take Xuzhou as the center and go south to deal with the Northern Expeditionary Army.
But at this time, Wu Peifu, who was located in Henan, made Zhang Zuolin unable to guarantee the safety of his left wing. Zhang Zuolin can't believe Wu Peifu, and Wu Peifu's combat effectiveness is indeed not high. Therefore, Zhang Zuolin would rather take Henan by himself than bet on whether Wu Peifu can hold Henan.
Second, at that time, the main force of the Northern Expeditionary Army was all in the southeast to deal with Sun Chuanfang, and the Northern Expeditionary Army had begun to become defensive in the Central Plains, which was also one of the main reasons why Wu Peifu was able to survive for the time being.
But Wu Peifu is already at the end of the crossbow in the end, if the Northern Expeditionary Army turns its gun and returns to the Central Plains, it will be difficult for Wu Peifu to stop, and the situation of the Feng army in the Central Plains will only be more difficult at that time.
Third, at this time, Feng Yuxiang's national army had also begun to move, and its forward troops had already arrived in western Henan. If the Nationalist Army occupies Henan, it will actually mean that the Northern Expeditionary Army has entered the Central Plains in advance. For Mr. Zhang, this is the worst-case scenario. So after careful consideration, Zhang Zuolin still decided to attack Henan and backstab Wu Peifu!
3. The Great War of Henan
At the beginning of February, the Fenglu coalition army began to march into Henan in a big way. The legal basis of Zhang Zuolin's crusade against Henan was built on the basis of "resisting the Northern Expeditionary Army". Therefore, although Zhang Zuolin ordered his subordinates to attack Wu Peifu's troops, who refused to cooperate, on the other hand, he strictly ordered his subordinates not to harm the interests of the warlords and warlords entrenched in Henan.
In the early days of the war, due to Zhang Zuolin's co-optation policy, there were hardly any direct forces that really resisted the Feng army. However, with the gradual deepening of the Feng army, another force began to gradually enter Henan. With the destruction of Wu Peifu's ruling foundation by the Feng army, the direct generals also began to "change people's minds".
(Northern Expedition)
Chiang Kai-shek's Wuhan Nationalist Government began to extend its hand to Henan. The generals of the Southern Wu Army, led by Jin Yunju, began to fall to the Wuhan Nationalist Government. Therefore, when the Feng army arrived near the Yellow River, it began to be resisted by Jin Yunju's army, and the "Battle of Crossing the River" broke out.
In fact, at this stage, Zhang Zuolin's nominal opponent Wu Peifu has actually become a "rubber stamp". The two chess players who are really playing the game are actually Zhang Zuolin in Beijing and Chiang Kai-shek in Wuhan. And this kind of situation seems to be doomed to Wu Peifu's final bleak ending and dismal ending.
In March 1927, Jin Yunju's troops launched the "Zhengzhou Counterattack", and this battle can be described as tragic. The two sides fought fiercely for four days and four nights in the vicinity of Xiaolizhuang Station south of Zhengzhou! Feng's army directly killed Gao Rutong, the front-line commander of Jin Yunju's army, and after Gao was killed, Jin Yunju's army fell into a situation of rout.
(Northern Expedition)
The Feng army began to pursue the victory, and Jin Yunju's army finally merged with the Northern Expeditionary Army, which had entered southern Henan, and began to confront the Feng army. And after Jin Yunhe fell to the Northern Expeditionary Army, Wu Peifu's remnants completely lost their last protection, which also directly led to Wu Peifu's final exit.
Wu Peifu knew that he couldn't stay in Henan anymore, so he led the remnants of the army all the way to Sichuan and defected to his old acquaintance Yang Sen. From this moment on, Wu Peifu Group, as an independent warlord army, also officially withdrew from the stage of history.
Resources
Xi Wuyi.On the Fengwu Henan War in 1927[J].Historical Archives, 1988(4):7.