First Zhili–Fengtian War

First Zhili-Fengtian War
Part of Warlord era
Date April 10, 1922 - June 18, 1922 Location Zhili, China Result Zhili victory
Belligerents
Zhili Clique	Fengtian clique
Commanders and leaders
Wu Peifu	Zhang Zuolin
Strength
100,000	120,000
Casualties and losses
Low	20,000 killed, 10,000 deserted, 40,000 surrendered

The First Zhili–Fengtian War (First Chihli-Fengtien War; simplified Chinese: 第一次直奉战争; traditional Chinese: 第一次直奉戰爭; pinyin: Dìyīcì Zhífèng Zhànzhēng) was a 1922 conflict in the Republic of China's Warlord Era between the Zhili and Fengtian cliques for control of Beijing. The war led to the defeat of the Fengtian clique and the fall of its leader, Zhang Zuolin, from the coalition Zhili-Fengtian government in Beijing. Wu Peifu was credited as the strategist behind Zhili's victory.

Having jointly seized Beijing in 1920, the Fengtian and Zhili cliques controlled the nominal government of China. Tensions soon began building between the two cliques in their uneasy coalition government. In 1922 the Fengtian clique replaced Premier Jin Yunpeng with Liang Shiyi without getting prior consent of their partner, the Zhili clique. While the Zhili had the backing of the British and Americans, the Fengtian leader was backed by Japan. The Japanese government had once supported their enemy, the Anhui clique, but had switched sides soon after the change of power. On December 25, 1921, a cabinet under Liang Shiyi’s leadership was formed with strong support from Zhang Zuolin, whereupon the new cabinet immediately granted amnesty to six former cabinet members of the Anhui clique. The Zhili clique strongly opposed the plan but were overruled.

The conflict further intensified as the new cabinet refused to give some $3 million in military budgets previously promised to the Zhili clique. As a result, Wu Peifu and other Zhili clique members forced Liang Shiyi to resign on January 25, 1922. With the pro-Fengtian clique cabinet having collapsed only a month after its formation, Zhang Zuolin threatened to resolve the conflict by force. Troops were deployed on April 10, 1922, though Wu Peifu and his Zhili clique did not formally denounce their opponent until April 25, 1922.

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