The Han–Liu War (Chinese: 韓劉之戰) was a major military conflict in late 1932 between the private armies of Han Fuju and Liu Zhennian over Shandong.

The tensions between them finally escalated in 1932, when Han Fuju decided to launch a campaign to eliminate his rival and consolidate all of Shandong under his rule once and for all.

[13] Another minor advantage that Liu possessed was that his rival lacked sufficient motor transport to move all his forces, instead relying on the few available regional trains as well as confiscated civilian carts.

[13] Shortly before the outbreak of hostilities, Han reinforced his garrisons at important roads leading to Zhifu, Liu's de facto capital, with troops drawn from western Shandong.

Though these calls for peace were ignored, the central authorities initially chose not to directly intervene in the conflict, as Chiang Kai-shek regarded it as a "local matter".

Every time Liu's men attempted to dig in and stop the offensive, Han used his superior artillery to simply shell them until they could be overwhelmed with infantry.

This was due to the Empire of Japan having extensive business interests in eastern Shandong, which when threatened by the Han–Liu War could result in a Japanese military intervention – something that the Nationalists wanted to prevent at all costs.

Chiang Kai-shek consequently requested Zhang Xueliang to send one of his naval units to capture Zhifu, which was the only local harbor also usable in winter and thus strategically very important.

[16] Although the capture of Zhifu at the hands of the government meant that Liu was now considered a "rebel" and his position had become untenable, he still refused an offer by Han to a ceasefire on 26 September.

Instead, Han and Liu waged a propaganda war, accusing each other of being Communist sympathisers, the greatest insult for a Chinese officer at the time.

Han also publicly declared that he regretted the widespread destruction caused by his war against Liu, but also stated that his "conscience will not feel at ease" as long as his rival continued to be active in Shandong.

[17] Though his governing style was autocratic, Han proved to be a capable civilian administrator whose relatively low taxes and operations against banditry made him popular among the people.

Furthermore, his rule brought an unprecedented time of peace and stability to Shandong, which had suffered under constant upheavals, wars and rebellions since before the Warlord era's beginning.