By the summer of 1924 the Zhili clique, led by President Cao Kun and supported by the military of Wu Peifu, controlled much of China proper and its internationally recognized Beiyang government.

However, the city was actually administered by Lu Yongxiang as part of Zhejiang, the last province under the control of the dying Anhui clique (technically Anhui-held territories, including Shandong, were allowed to exist so long as they remained neutral).

Chief of the general staff Yang Yuting was appointed Inspector-General of the Mukden Arsenal and Wang Yintai (王荫泰) was named Director of the Department of Materials.

To improve communications, additional water and coal supply stations were built in Suizhong, Xingcheng and Dayaogou (大窑沟) for rapid deployment of troops by railroad.

Roads were built for better transportation in areas without rail, and each army had its own wire communications (telephone and telegraph) linked to general headquarters in the rear.

Advisers in both military and civilian affairs were appointed, with Liang Hongzhi as secretary, and others including Wang Jitang (王揖唐), Zeng Yuxi (曾毓隽), Li Sihao (李思浩).

After achieving its objectives, the 2nd Task Force would assist the Combined Corps in taking Shanhaiguan, after which it would enter Lengkou Pass (冷口关) and attack Luanzhou via Qian'an County.

When the situation permitted, the cavalry would also strike the Zhili force's flank by entering the Great Wall via Xifengkou (喜峰口) and/or Gubeikou passes.

After reaching Beijing, Fu first met Feng's chief of staff Liu Ji (刘骥) at a secluded location on Dajue (大觉) Hutong.

For example, Anhui clique warlord Wu Guangxin (吴光新) was a trusted courier for both sides and relayed information by personally traveling between Beijing and Shenyang (Fengtian).

When the Fengtian clique gave Feng Yuxiang 2,000,000 yen of Japanese bribes for his support and defection, the money was delivered by Anfu Club politician Jia Deyao (贾德耀).

[2] Striking toward Rehe and Shanhaiguan, and regrouping in Suizhong, the 1st and 3rd Fengtian Armies approached Zhili positions east of Yuguan (榆关).

While a minor skirmish continued the battle in the north, the southern campaign proved to be the first major conflict fought by cadets and officers trained at the Whampoa Military Academy.

By now the Fengtian General Reserve had still not joined the fight, and the situation for the Zhili forces was bad enough for Wu Peifu to personally travel to Shanhaiguan.

The 1st and 3rd Fengtian Armies deployed in the Shanhaiguan sector did not make any progress because they faced crack troops enjoying the advantage of terrain.

Reinforcements of the Zhili Henan–Shanxi Army, led by Zhang Fulai (张福来), soon arrived and from October 13-November 24 attacked Fengtian positions along Shimenzhai in the Jiumenkou sector.

Yang Yuting, the Fengtian chief of general staff, worried that the geography of Jiumenkou was too narrow and too restricted to deploy large numbers of troops.

Zhang Xueliang and Guo Songling decided to secretly redeploy eight infantry regiments and two artillery brigades from Shanhaiguan sector to Jiumenkou.

These secretly redeployed troops would be led by Guo Songling, but a personal conflict within the officers' corps almost cost the chance of a Fengtian victory.

Zhang Xueliang immediately went to look for Guo and his troops once he learned what had happened: luckily for him, he managed to find the wayward officer and convince him to carry out the original plan.

As the news of a Zhili victory in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang War [zh] reached the battlefield, the likelihood of a stalemate appeared increasingly plausible.

On October 22 Feng Yuxiang, commander of the 3rd Zhili Army, betrayed his superiors by mounting the Beijing coup against President Cao Kun.

Guo Songling, who had caused so many troubles with his nepotism, grasped the chance for an all-out charge on the Zhili troops and successfully gained control of vast regions to the east.

As Wu Peifu retreated to Tianjin, he concentrated his troops in Yangcun (杨村) and telegraphed Zhili forces in Jiangsu, Hubei, Henan and Zhejiang for reinforcements.

With his remaining 2000 troops he boarded the military transport Huajia (华甲) at 11:00 am on November 3 and sailed from Tanggu to central China, where Sun Chuanfang protected him from further Fengtian incursions.

Fighting continued well into 1925 as part of the Jiangsu-Zhejiang War [zh] when a joint Anhui-Fengtian expedition briefly retook Jiangsu and Shanghai in January.

Here, trapped without backup, Zhili warlord Qi Xieyuan resigned and fled to Japan, but not before transferring his armies to Sun Chuanfang.

Feng managed the defection of Guo Songling (who continued to smart over his treatment during the Nine Gates battle) from the Fengtian clique, sparking the Anti-Fengtian War that lasted until April 1926.

[3] As more Chinese looked to the KMT and Communist parties for leadership, they began to disparage and delegitimize the northern leaders by calling them junfa (warlords).

The weakness of the warlord administration and the victory of the pro-Japanese Zhang Zuolin was one of a multitude of threads that led to a nationalistic backlash called the May Thirtieth Movement.