The defection of Fengjun general Guo Songling in November 1925 can be said to have brought the absurdity of the Beiyang warlord era to an extreme.

The defection of

Fengjun general Guo Songling that occurred in November 1925 can be said to have interpreted the absurdity of the Beiyang Warlord era to an extreme state. This absurd war of betrayal after betrayal, defection after defection, exposed the absurdity and decadence of the Beiyang warlords. It also foreshadowed the fate that the Beiyang era would be completely replaced. The Beiyang army, which has no loyalty and ideals at all, is destined to be no match for the Northern Expeditionary Army.

(1)

Why did Guo Songling, one of the most important generals under Zhang Zuolin, raise an army to challenge Feng and betray the Zhang family and his son? There have been many opinions on this point.

Guo Songling

Some say that Guo Songling learned that Zhang Zuolin had secretly signed a treasonous treaty with Japan and was outraged, so she rebelled. However, this argument should be untenable. Before Guo Songling's defection, Zhang Zuolin did not sign any treaty with Japan. Later, in order to deal with Guo Songling, Zhang Zuolin agreed to some conditions of the Japanese, but later regretted it. Besides, if there was any secret treaty, Zhang Zuolin would not let Guo Songling know about it.

There is also a theory that after winning the second Zhili-Fengtian war, Guo Songling did not get the title of governor of Anhui Province. He felt that Zhang Zuolin had treated him badly, so he rebelled against him in anger. In fact, this statement cannot be established. No matter how narrow-minded Guo Songling is, he will not fail to understand the nature of the rebellion. If you rebel just because your career is not going well, wouldn't you lose everything if you fail? It is really just for a black gauze hat , then Guo Songling can take measures such as claiming illness and resigning to vent his anger, and there is no need to commit rebellion at all. Guo Songling would not be able to understand this truth.

After all, Guo Songling's defection can only be due to one reason: he felt that his wings were full and he felt that he could replace Zhang and his son, and at that time he had the support of Feng Yuxiang and Li Jinglin. Such a strong temptation was placed in front of Guo Songling. He finally couldn't control it and finally took the risk.

After the second Zhili-Fengtian War, the relationship between Zhang Zuolin and Feng Yuxiang quickly became tense, and people began to predict that a war would break out between Zhang Zuolin and Feng Yuxiang.

Feng Yuxiang's National Army comes from the barren northwest and is extremely poor. In terms of strength, it is no match for the Northeast Army . Of course Feng Yuxiang would feel that he was in danger. At this time, it was difficult for him to find allies, and there was no one in China who could confront Zhang Zuolin. Therefore, after much deliberation, Feng Yuxiang could only start from within the Feng Clan to strive for internal changes.

Feng Yuxiang

Under such circumstances, Feng Yuxiang and Guo Songling began to have a relationship, and slowly there was another Li Jinglin among them.

Li Jinglin is the commander of the First Army of the Fengtian Faction. Like Guo Songling, he is a professional soldier with a professional background. Because Zhang Zuolin valued officers who graduated from military academies, he and Guo Songling were promoted step by step until they became army commanders.

Now, the two professional soldiers are beginning to think about creating a rebellion against their commander-in-chief.

This is also a common problem faced by Zhang Zuolin and many Beiyang warlord leaders. Take Zhang Zuolin for example: his group of bandit buddies are loyal to him and will never rebel. However, they are loyal but not capable and do not know how to fight modern war. If Zhang Zuolin uses them to fight, he will only suffer defeat.

Although modern military officers such as Guo Songling have high military standards and can win battles, they are not loyal enough. The fact that Guo and Li, two generals at the military commander level, both rebelled and rebelled, fully illustrates this point. Zhang Zuolin is so difficult!

(2)

Guo Songling served as the deputy commander of the Fengjun Third Army in 1925. The commander of the army was Zhang Xueliang himself. However, Zhang Xueliang had many things to do and was not in the army at ordinary times, so the Third Army was actually controlled by Guo Songling.

On November 13, 1925, Zhang Xueliang went to Tianjin to convene a meeting between Guo Songling and Li Jinglin to convey Zhang Zuolin's decision to go to war with Feng Yuxiang.

Zhang Xueliang

However, both Guo and Li expressed opposition, using high-profile statements such as national justice to express that they could no longer fight civil war.

Zhang Xueliang was very surprised by this. After he reported the matter to Zhang Zuolin, the shrewd Northeast King felt that Guo Songling had other intentions, so he ordered Guo Songling to lead his troops to Luanzhou to assemble.

Guo Songling felt that Zhang Zuolin was going to attack him, so he immediately sent someone to contact Feng Yuxiang and Li Jinglin, and the three parties jointly reached an agreement to mobilize troops to rebel against Feng. The

agreement stipulates that after the rebellion is successful, the two provinces of Zhili and Rehe will be owned by Li Jinglin; the three eastern provinces will be owned by Guo Songling; Feng Yuxiang will be stationed in the northwest. An agreement like

actually hides a lot of tricks, but it is a pity that Guo Songling did not see it at all.

Feng Yuxiang originally occupied the northwest. According to the agreement, his counter-offensive was in vain and he did not get any benefits. Instead, he had to give up some places such as Zhili and Rehe that he already occupied to Li Jinglin. According to common sense, no one would sign such a generous agreement. Isn't this sheer stupidity?

However, Feng Yuxiang just agreed. Obviously, the reason why he became so selfless was because he wanted to use this agreement to coax Guo Songling and Li Jinglin into quickly revolting. As long as they fight Zhang Zuolin, everything will be easy to handle. As for the agreement itself, Feng Yuxiang had no intention of executing it at all.

Li Jinglin

When negotiating with Guo Songling, Li Jinglin said: His mother is still in Shenyang, so he cannot sign the agreement for the time being. In this way, Li Jinglin actually did not participate in the rebellion, but was in a wait-and-see position. The only person who really rebelled was Guo Songling herself.

Under such circumstances, Guo Songling actually thought that he had strong support and started to rebel boldly. This shows that Guo Songling's political level is really too low.

On November 22, Zhang Xueliang met with Guo Songling and persuaded him to change his mind. However, Guo Songling cursed , Yang Yuting, and others, claiming that Zhang Zuolin was deceived by young people and was hopeless. The old commander should now step down and be replaced by Zhang Xueliang.

Zhang Xueliang couldn't help but be horrified after hearing Guo Songling's words. At this time, if Zhang Xueliang had the courage to immediately go to the generals at all levels of the Third Army and announce to them that Guo Songling was dismissed from his post, or some other method was used to remove Guo from his military power, then this incident might not have happened. . However, because Zhang Xueliang felt that something was not good, he chose to take a trick and took the train east overnight. In this way, no one can stop Guo Songling.

Late that night, Guo Songling issued a call for peace. It demanded that Zhang Zuolin step down and be replaced by Zhang Xueliang, and that Yang Yuting be dismissed from his post.

On November 23, Guo Songling convened a meeting with the generals of the Third Army upstairs at a match company near Luanzhou Railway Station to formally announce the start of the army.

Some people may want to ask: Are the generals of the Third Army really willing to follow Guo Songling in rebellion? How did Guo Songling convince them to follow him?

(3)

In order to get the generals to follow him, Guo Songling used Zhang Xueliang's banner, claiming that the Zhang family and his son were arguing with each other and that he wanted to side with the young commander, so he asked everyone to rebel with him. In order to prove what he said, he also took out some personal letters written by Zhang Xueliang to himself. In these letters, Zhang Xueliang complained a lot about Zhang Zuolin, and expressed his hope that the old man would abdicate immediately.

The generals of the Third Army generally felt close to Zhang Xueliang, and coupled with Zhang Xueliang's personal letter, most people believed it to be true. There were also some generals who felt that they should not participate in the fight between Zhang and his son, but they were in the minority, and Guo Songling quickly put them under house arrest.

Just at this moment, Anhui warlord Jiang Dengxuan passed by by train. Guo Songling forced him to rebel, but Jiang Dengxuan refused, so Guo Songling sent someone to shoot him.

The next day, Guo Songling organized his 70,000 troops into five armies, and the army rushed towards the front line of Shanhaiguan.

Guo Songling's sudden defection caught Zhang Zuolin off guard. At first, he thought Zhang Xueliang was really rebelling with Guo Songling. After finding out later, Zhang Zuolin quickly took appeasement measures, first asking Yang Yuting to resign to avoid the limelight, and then Zhang Zuolin sent Zhang Xueliang to persuade Guo Songling to stop.

Zhang Xueliang arrived at Qinhuangdao on November 26. He contacted Guo Songling many times and wanted to interview him, but Guo Songling always refused. Zhang Xueliang had no choice but to return to Shenyang angrily.

Guo Songling's offense is unstoppable. He raised troops on November 23, captured Qinhuangdao on the 26th, Shanhaiguan on the 27th, and occupied Suizhong on the 29th.

Zhang Zuolin was dumbfounded because he had no soldiers in his hand! Although the Fengtian Clan had many soldiers and generals, after the Second Zhili-Fengtian War, the war was too large and the battle lines were too long. Hundreds of thousands of troops were scattered over a vast area from Shanhaiguan to the Huaihe River. It is necessary to start a war against opponents such as Feng Yuxiang, Sun Chuanfang and so on at the same time. Now, Guo Songling, the most elite main force, suddenly rebelled, and the Feng faction's troops were suddenly unable to dispatch.

Zhang Zuolin wanted to transfer troops from Heilongjiang, but the Soviet Union controlled the China Eastern Railway at the time and they refused to transport troops to Zhang Zuolin. Because the Soviet Union had already formed an alliance with Feng Yuxiang, and Feng Yuxiang was now rebelling against him. The Soviet Union wanted to help him, so it did not allow Zhang Zuolin to use the China Eastern Railway. Zhang Zuolin was so angry that he jumped up and scolded his mother, but there was nothing he could do. This incident also laid the groundwork for Zhang Zuolin's seizure of the Soviet Embassy and Zhang Xueliang's launch of the Battle of the Eastern Route. This is something to say later, so I won’t state it here.

Zhang Zuolin had no choice but to play Zhang Xueliang's card. Seeing that Guo Songling had raised troops in the name of Zhang Xueliang, he ordered Zhang Xueliang to lead troops to the front line to confront Guo Songling, hoping to win over other generals of the Third Army anyway.

Guo Songling saw that Zhang Xueliang had chosen a clear banner to confront him, so he simply issued a call on November 30 to reorganize his army into the Northeast National Army and no longer use Zhang Xueliang's name.

If Guo Songling did this, wouldn't he be afraid that his generals would rebel if they knew the truth? We can only say that since Guo Jun is making good progress now, the generals have also started to think about gaining greater benefits for themselves under the new master, so for a while not a single general ran to join Zhang Xueliang.

(4)

Guo Songling couldn't help but feel overjoyed when she saw everyone following her. He immediately deployed his troops to attack Jinzhou. And Zhang Zuolin also ordered Zhang Xueliang and Zhang Zuoxiang to lead the tens of thousands of horses and horses finally gathered to face Guo Songling in Lianshan (today's Huludao, Liaoning).

On December 3, Guo Jun launched an attack on Lianshan. At that time, it snowed heavily, the temperature dropped sharply, and the sea water froze. Guo Songling commanded the troops to bypass Fengjun's defense line on the sea ice and launched an attack from behind.

The Feng army in Lianshan was defeated and fled one after another. On December 5, Guo Jun occupied Lianshan; on the 6th, he occupied Jinzhou; in July, he crossed the Daling River and occupied Goubangzi.

After the fall of Jinzhou, Zhang Zuolin was exhausted and could do nothing. The city of Shenyang was in chaos. The powerful people either fled to Dalian to join the Japanese, or they contacted Guo Songling's men privately to prepare to surrender. Shops in the city have closed one after another, and prices have skyrocketed; everywhere there is a scene of doomsday panic.

Zhang Zuolin had no choice but to prepare to leave the field. He ordered the gold and silver treasures to be moved away, and he also planned to take refuge in Dalian. He also ordered that the Marshal's Mansion in Shenyang be burned to the ground before leaving. In Zhang Zuolin's words: Even a urinal cannot be left for Guo Guizi.

Seeing that the land of Kanto was about to change its dynasty, the Japanese were the first to sit still. While they publicly claimed to "strictly maintain neutrality," they also sent people to secretly contact the warring parties in private.

The Japanese Kwantung Army Command first sent someone to contact Guo Songling and expressed its willingness to help him seize the entire Northeast, on the condition that the entire Liaodong Peninsula be leased to Japan like Dalian.

Guo Songling was unambiguous in terms of national justice and simply refused. Of course, this is also inseparable from the fact that his military situation at this time is very favorable.

The Japanese were disappointed with Guo Songling and turned around to find Zhang Zuolin. Zhang Zuolin was in urgent need of life-saving straw at this time, so he reluctantly agreed to Japan's conditions. Of course, Zhang Zuolin later turned his back and refused to admit his mistake, saying that what he stamped at the time was private seal , not an official seal, and it did not count. This is another matter.

After signing the secret contract with Zhang Zuolin, the Japanese immediately began to help Zhang Zuolin. On November 8, Japan dispatched an infantry regiment of the Kwantung Army to Shenyang in the name of "protecting overseas Chinese." On November 15, two more divisions were mobilized from North Korea and Japan to enter Northeast China, also claiming to "protect overseas Chinese."

At the same time, Japan used the South Manchuria Railway to help Zhang Zuolin mobilize troops and transport the troops from Heilongjiang and Jilin to the front line. Zhang Zuolin's troops lacked artillery ammunition, so the Japanese simply gave their ammunition directly to Zhang Zuolin.

On the other hand, the Japanese Kwantung Army used various excuses to block the advance of Guo Songling's troops. Guo Songling originally planned to attack Shenyang via Yingkou , but the Japanese Kwantung Army arbitrarily designated Yingkou as a " neutral zone " and prohibited Guo Jun from passing through.

Guo Songling's troops' offensive was blocked and their actions began to become sluggish. They only occupied Baiqi Fort on November 13th and arrived at Xinmin on the 22nd. The Japanese obstruction bought Zhang Zuolin about ten days. By November 20, Zhang Zuolin had assembled a force of 60,000 people and was ready to face Guo Songling at the Juliu River in Xinmin.

(5)

Guo Songling encountered trouble on the Shenyang side, and on the Guan Nei side, his two "allies" began to cause trouble for him again.

After Guo Songling launched his army, Feng Yuxiang and Li Jinglin both issued power-ups. Feng Yuxiang's call seemed like he was breaking with Zhang Zuolin, but Li Jinglin's call was completely remonstrating, and he had no intention of opposing Zhang Zuolin.

After Feng Yuxiang announced the power supply, he quickly sent out troops, but the one he sent out to fight was not Zhang Zuolin, but Li Jinglin!

Feng Yuxiang first marched towards Rehe occupied by Li Jinglin on the grounds of borrowing the road. When Li Jinglin saw that the visitor was unkind, he refused, resulting in a conflict between the two parties. Subsequently, Feng Yuxiang began to attack Tianjin again, all of which were occupied by Li Jinglin.

When Li Jinglin saw Feng Yuxiang coming towards him, he immediately borrowed the donkey from Poxia and announced his support for Zhang Zuolin. He also sent troops to occupy the logistics warehouses of Guo Songling's troops. Guo Songling's troops marched towards Shenyang and needed cotton-padded clothes, but they couldn't get them from behind. The officers and soldiers braved the severe cold to fight, but lacked cotton-padded clothes, which dealt a huge blow to Guo Jun's morale.

In this way, Guo Songling defected to Zhang Zuolin, and he himself was defected by Feng Yuxiang and Li Jinglin, which made his situation take a turn for the worse and he was quickly at a disadvantage.

Guo Songling and his wife Han Shuhua

22, Guo Songling and the troops commanded by Zhang Xueliang clashed in Juliuhe. On the same day, the cavalry commanded by Wu Junsheng attacked Guo Jun's ammunition depot in Baiqi Fort and destroyed it. Guo's army was out of ammunition and the attack came to a standstill.

Immediately, Fengjun's planes were dispatched and dropped leaflets everywhere, calling for "eat the Zhang family's food and not fight the Zhang family." The morale of Guo's officers and soldiers began to weaken, and some people continued to surrender to Fengjun.

html On the 23rd, Guo Songling convened a meeting with his subordinates. Chief of Staff Zou Zuohua and others advocated a truce and peace negotiation, but several military commanders insisted on continuing the fight.

Under such circumstances, Guo Songling lost his fighting spirit. In the early morning of the 24th, he, his wife Han Shuhua, and a few followers abandoned the army and fled.This is obviously very wrong. At this time, there are still generals who are willing to follow Guo Songling, at least for a few more days. Guo Songling abandoned his troops and fled rashly, which would only lead to a quick death for himself.

Guo Songling first came to the Japanese Consulate in Xinmin and asked for admission, but was rejected. He had no choice but to turn south to escape. Along the way, his followers fled one after another, and finally only Guo and his wife were left.

Guo Songling and his wife both disguised themselves as civilians. Guo Songling found a big car and fled in a panic. As a result, he was captured by Wu Junsheng's troops. On the 25th, Zhang Zuolin ordered to be shot on the spot. On the same day, Guo and his wife were shot to death in Liaozhong County and their bodies were left exposed for three days.

Guo Songling and his wife were found dead after death

In this way, Guo Songling's anti-Feng war was completely defeated in just one month. Looking into the reasons for the failure, we can only say that the main reason for the failure was Guo Songling's extreme political naivety. Obviously, Guo Songling was only suitable to be a military general and was completely incapable of becoming a political commander. He did not analyze the situation carefully, raised troops to rebel hastily, and acted too naive when forming an alliance with Feng Yuxiang and others. During the battle, he was very poorly prepared and estimated the difficulties, and was unable to solve them once he encountered them. Therefore, his eventual quick defeat was not at all surprising.

Of course, Guo Songling's defection dealt a fatal blow to Zhang Zuolin. From then on, the Feng clan lost the opportunity to seize the world, and was ultimately limited to a corner of the northeast. This is a result that Guo Songling did not expect in advance.