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7— The North-South War and the Triumph of Warlordism
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The North-South War—Stage One

The Anti-Monarchical War had validated provincial resistance to Yuan Shikai's centralizing efforts. As a result both "loyal" and independent provinces emerged from the war with stronger control over provincial administrations. In contrast, both Li Yuanhong and Duan Qirui, despite their other differences, were strongly concerned about the effect of this situation on national unity and favored the reassertion of central authority. The power struggle between these two men, though, temporarily hindered any concerted effort by the central government toward this end. Before Zhang Xun's restoration attempt, central authority in the provinces was largely limited to the confirmation of preexisting provincial power arrangements. Thus, Li's efforts to influence the appointment of Hunan's military governor met with no success. With his victory over Li, and the consolidation of Beiyang control over the Beijing government, Duan was prepared for a more determined assault on provincial autonomy.

A key element in Duan's centralizing program was his willingness to use military force to bring about national unification. Not unexpectedly, Duan looked to "national" Beiyang units to serve as his enforcers and took the semi-autonomous southern provinces as his main targets. To these provinces, though, Duan's assertion of central authority looked like a cover for the expansion of Beiyang military and political power. In early August 1917, Duan obtained Feng Guozhang's acceptance of two key appointments that made his intentions clear. First, Wu Guangxin was appointed Upper Yangzi commander-in-chief and inspector (chabanshi ) of Sichuan. In the previous year, Wu had led the troops that reestablished northern military control over Yuezhou in northern Hunan. Now he was ordered to advance into Sichuan to "resolve" that province's internal conflicts. The second appointment put Fu Liangzuo, previously Vice Minister of War under Duan in 1916, into Tan Yankai's seat as Hunan military governor. Both Wu and Fu were graduates of Japan's Army Officers' Academy and had established careers in the Beiyang Army and close professional ties to Duan. Moreover, both men were related to Duan by marriage, making them particularly reliable for his purposes.[14] Although made in the name of central unification, these appointments lit the fuse for a new civil war.

Interestingly enough, Duan's selection of Fu Liangzuo as his point-


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man for the re-extension of central power into Hunan was an attempt to maneuver around Hunan's provincialist sentiments. Fu was a West Hunan native and his appointment thus met demands, made explicit in the earlier struggle against the appointment of Chen Yi, that "Hunanese rule Hunan" (Xiangren zhi Xiang ). In his literal deference to this slogan, though, Duan ignored its implicit meaning, namely the desire for a measure of provincial self-government. While willing to placate Hunan opinion by placing a Hunan native in the military governorship, Duan's basic goal was still the limitation of provincial autonomy. Likewise, no one in Hunan doubted that Fu's appointment meant anything but the revival of "northern" administrative control. Thus Hunan public opinion reacted vehemently to Fu's appointment.[15]

Fu's appointment was also strongly opposed by Hunan's non-Beiyang neighbors. Relations between Beijing and the southern provinces were already strained as a result of the invalidation of the 1912 Constitution and the dissolution of the National Assembly. In late July 1917, Sun Yat-sen, with local Guangdong military support, called for the formation of an opposition military government in Canton to "protect the constitution" (hufa ). In August, a rump of the National Assembly met at Sun's bidding to form this government. While non-Beiyang southern military governors were not all necessarily willing to give their full support to Sun's initiative, they did reject the constitutional legality of the Beijing government. Indeed, Guangxi and Guangdong refused to rescind declarations of "autonomy" they had originally made when Li Yuanhong had come under Zhang Xun's domination.[16] While these constitutional differences provided a theoretical foundation for the rejection of Duan's policies, more direct interests were also involved. If Fu Liangzuo's appointment in Hunan was accepted, then the positions of other southern governors were also insecure. Equally important, the projected extension of Beiyang Army influence into Hunan and Sichuan ended these provinces' utility as buffers against northern military pressure. Thus, when direct appeals to Feng Guozhang to preserve the status quo by rescinding Fu's appointment were rejected, both Lu Rongting, governor-general of Guangdong and Guangxi, and Tang Jiyao, Yunnan's military governor, offered military support to Tan Yankai to resist Fu's takeover.[17]

Tan Yankai also learned that political pressure alone would not stop Duan's plans. Going against his normal preference for the peaceful mediation of political conflicts, Tan began to consider military resistance. Given Hunan's comparative military weakness, Tan appealed


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to sympathetic provinces for aid and welcomed their offers of military assistance.[18] Tan soon discovered, though, that the main obstacle to his plans came from within the Hunan army itself. In a military conference called to discuss Fu's appointment, Tan learned that 2d Division commander Chen Fuchu, supported by his 4th Brigade commander Zhu Zehuang, was prepared to welcome Fu to Hunan. Tan had alienated Chen during the reorganization of the Hunan army when he switched the designation of Chen's command with Zhao Hengti's, making Chen commander of the 2d rather than the 1st Division. Tan's preference for Zhao led Chen to believe reports that this action presaged the disbandment of Chen's division. Meanwhile, since both Fu and Chen were natives of West Hunan, Fu was able to use mutual local contacts to promise Chen better treatment after he assumed Hunan's military governorship. Normally, Tan could have relied on Zhao Hengti as a counterbalance to Chen. Zhao, however, was on leave at his family home in Hengyang, mourning the death of his father. Zhao's 1st Brigade commander, Li Youwen, had therefore assumed acting command of the 1st Division. As Tang Xiangming's former protégé, Li felt no special loyalty to Tan. Unable to gain the support of his top commanders, Tan wired his acceptance of Fu's appointment.[19]

Military transfers undertaken by Tan immediately before Fu's arrival indicate that he did not completely abandon the possibility of military action at a future date. He ordered the 2d Brigade commander, Chen Jiayou, to move his brigade into western Hunan. Tan could count on Chen's loyalty because of their close personal ties and Chen's appreciation of Tan's past patronage. Likewise, Tan transferred the 4th Brigade commander, Lin Xiumei, to southern Hunan. As one of Cheng Qian's former revolutionary subordinates, Lin obviously opposed the reintroduction of Beiyang power into the province. Tan presented the transfer of these forces as a good will gesture showing a lack of military opposition to Fu's arrival. In fact, their removal from central Hunan also helped these forces to preserve a degree of autonomy.[20] Furthermore, their transfers to the west and south enhanced their ability to join up with other southern forces in the eventuality of war.

Another significant action taken by Tan was the removal of Wang Yunting from his position as Lingling garrison commander. As a Tang Xiangming holdover, Wang's loyalty was uncertain. Since his garrison controlled the strategic passes linking southern Hunan to Guangxi, Wang could potentially block the advance of southern troops into


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Hunan or facilitate a southward advance by northern forces. Tan therefore tricked Wang into leaving his post by sending him on a special mission to Beijing. As soon as Wang left Hunan, Tan replaced him with a Hunan officer, Liu Jianfan.[21] Liu was a Hunan graduate of the Baoding Military Academy who had served as an instructor in the Guangxi New Army before the 1911 Revolution. In 1916, Liu was a member of the military delegation sent by Tan to Hunan with Zeng Jiwu. After Tan's own return to Hunan, he rewarded Liu with a special post overseeing provincial military properties. Tan now expected Liu to return these favors. Because many of Wang's subordinate officers had been Liu's military students in Guangxi, Liu was able to take charge of the Lingling command with little trouble. Likewise, Liu's Guangxi connections were also an aid in maintaining contacts with Lu Rongting.[22] All these maneuvers were carefully planned with an eye to future military action.

Duan initially hoped to lessen the political impact of Fu's takeover by keeping Tan temporarily as civil governor. Both Duan and Fu repeatedly urged Tan to stay on in this post. This proposal received considerable support from Hunan office-holders who hoped that Tan's continued presence would help them preserve their jobs.[23] Tan had no illusions though about what his powers as civil governor would be. "I'm already accustomed to being a mother-in-law, how can I go back to being a daughter-in-law?" he quipped.[24] So, claiming to be opposed in principle to separate military and civil governors, he declined these appeals.[25] Before leaving office, though, Tan made every effort to reinforce his political base. Having obtained a promise from Fu not to make drastic personnel changes, Tan issued a flurry of official appointments. Disregarding the province's financial troubles, Tan issued bonuses for provincial officials and their staffs, disbursed owed funds to military units, and provided generous travel stipends for officials who chose to resign with him.[26] This last minute patronage revealed Tan's hopes of a future political comeback. On September 9, Fu finally arrived in Changsha to take office. Shortly after this, Tan left for Shanghai.[27]

The apparently peaceful transfer of power from Tan to Fu did not last long. One of Fu's first acts in office was to assert his authority over the Hunan army by undoing the special military arrangements Tan had made before his departure. He began by ordering the removal of Liu Jianfan and Lin Xiumei from their posts in southern Hunan. This forced Liu and Lin into an immediate decision. On September 18, the two men rejected Fu's orders and declared independence. They jus-


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tified this action as a decision to ally themselves with other southern provinces in a fight for the restoration of the 1912 Constitution and the National Assembly.[28] This declaration of independence was the spark that turned the increasing tensions between Beijing and the south into open warfare.

Fu Liangzuo clearly hoped to keep the rebellion in southern Hunan from spreading. He relied on Chen Fuchu to keep the Hunan 2d Division under control. To do this, the 4th Brigade under Zhu Zehuang was sent to western Hunan to watch over the less reliable 3d Brigade under Chen Jiayou. Fu also made open appeals for the allegiance of various Hunan commanders. For example, he promised to designate Hunan units as "national" rather than provincial forces, thus guaranteeing more secure positions for officers and more regular pay for troops.[29] Fu then ordered the acting 1st Division commander, Li Youwen, to lead his 1st Brigade south to suppress the forces of Liu Jianfan and Lin Xiumei. Here the provincialism encouraged during Tan's reorganization of the Hunan army paid off. Li's troops mutinied against orders to fight their fellow provincials to aid Duan's objectives in Hunan. At this moment, Zhao Hengti also decided to come out of mourning and join the independence movement. The entire 1st Brigade therefore shifted its allegiance to Zhao and linked up with Liu's and Lin's forces. Li fled back to Changsha, accompanied only by two loyal regiment commanders who had been with him since he assumed his first Hunan command.[30] Nearly half of Hunan's military forces were now in open rebellion.

The Hunan conflict quickly escalated to include participation by both northern and southern armies. To allay initial fears over his arrival, Fu originally pledged not to bring any northern troops with him to Changsha.[31] As a precaution, though, Duan had garrisoned two Beiyang units, the 8th Division under Wang Ruxian and the 20th Division under Fan Guozhang, at Yuezhou. Following South Hunan's declaration of independence, these units, along with several smaller northern forces, were ordered to advance against the rebels.[32] The possibility that a considerable northern military presence might soon be on their own borders provoked a military response from Hunan's neighbors. In mid October, a combined Guangxi and Guangdong army crossed into Hunan under the command of one of Lu Rongting's subordinates, Tan Haoming. This relieved the beleaguered independent Hunan forces and halted the northern army's advance.[33] At this point the Hunan conflict was transformed into a full-scale war, which once again roughly divided the country along north-south lines.


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The decisive factor in the course of this conflict was not the relative military strengths of the northern and southern forces, but the reemergence of internal divisions within the Beiyang Army. Whereas Feng Guozhang had agreed in principle with Duan's determination to enforce central prerogatives in the provinces, he was not prepared to do this at the cost of another civil war. Once hostilities broke out, Feng refused to back Duan's prosecution of the war and called instead for a peaceful resolution of the conflict.[34] Feng's stand was consistent with the position he had taken in previous conflicts, but power issues were also involved. Feng saw an opportunity to consolidate his position as president by taking the stance of a mediator above the fray. First, he could undermine the dominant role Duan was carving out for himself as a war leader by calling the war itself into question. Second, if successful in his mediation, Feng could present himself as the only person acceptable to both the north and the south as head of state. Wang Zhanyuan again followed Feng's lead and joined the military governors of Jiangxi and Jiangsu in calling for a cease fire.[35] Feng's action therefore reopened the factional split within the Beiyang Army.

The break between Feng and Duan over Beijing's war policy opened up political options for military commanders in the field. The two main commanders of northern forces in Hunan, Wang Ruxian and Fan Guozhang, were less than enthusiastic about their assignments. Purely in terms of his own interests, neither man gained much by expending his military forces to shore up Fu's military governorship. While Feng and Duan were still united, the two commanders dared not disobey their orders. The split between the president and the premier, however, gave Wang and Fan an opportunity to express their dissatisfaction. On November 14, the two commanders, on their own initiative, called for a peaceful resolution of the war, announced a cease fire, and began to withdraw their troops from southern Hunan. Upon receiving this news, Fu Liangzuo abandoned his post. Wang and Fan apparently hoped that their advocacy of a cease fire would mollify the south sufficiently to allow one of them to take Fu's place. They established themselves in Changsha and announced their assumption of control over Hunan's military and civil administrations. Their hopes were dashed, though, as southern forces showed no intention of halting their advance. In danger of being surrounded, Wang and Fan abandoned Changsha on November 18 and retreated to Yuezhou.[36]

Wang and Fan's retreat dealt a serious blow to Duan Qirui's military centralization scheme. As the allied southern armies moved toward Changsha, the provincial forces in western Hunan that had not yet


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broken with Beijing took the opportunity to do so. Chen Jiayou's 3d Brigade rose up to attack Zhu Zehuang's 4th Brigade. Soon Zhu's troops mutinied, forcing Zhu to join his division commander, Chen Fuchu, in fleeing the province.[37] Except for Yuezhou, which remained a northern preserve, Hunan was again free of Beijing's control. Meanwhile, Wu Guangxin's advance into Sichuan had been equally unsuccessful owing to strong resistance by Sichuan and Yunnan armies. Even before these events reached their final denouement, Duan Qirui was forced to acknowledge the failure of his policy. On November 16, 1917, Duan turned in his resignation as premier. This ended the first stage of the North-South War.[38]


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