The
Northern Expedition (
Chinese ??;
pinyin bei fá) was a military campaign led by the
Kuomintang (KMT) from
1926 to
1927. Its main objective was to speed up the
Chinese revolution against
feudalism and
imperialism plaguing
China after the
Xinhai Revolution and unify China under the Nationalist banner by ending the rule of local
warlords.
The term “Northern Expedition” may also be understood to include a related campaign in 1928, which is otherwise called the Second Northern Expedition, during which the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) captured Beijing (8 June 1928) and paved the way for the Chinese reunification (1928).
The Northern Expedition began from the KMT's power base in Guangdong province. In 1925 the May 30th Movement announced the chains for strike and protest against western imperialism and its warlord agents in China. At the same time, the alliance between KMT and CPC was questioned after the Zhongshan Warship Incident in March 1926, and the following events made Chiang Kai-shek the paramount military leader of KMT in effect. Although Chiang doubted Sun Yat-sen's policy of alliance with the Soviet Union and CPC, he still needed aid from the Soviet Union, so he could not break up the alliance at that time. Above all, Chiang needed a stage to indicate his role of paramount leader and military talent. On the other hand, the Soviet Union and CPC cherished the alliance more than Chiang, as they did need a stage to show their friendship to the KMT. Thus all three parties agreed to launch the Northern Expedition to solve their own problems.
The main targets of this expedition consisted of three notorious and powerful warlords of China Zhang Zuolin who governed Manchuria, Wu Peifu in the Central Plain of China and Sun Chuanfang in eastern coast of China. Advised by the famous Russian general Vasily Blyukher using the pseudonym Galen, the HQ of the expedition decided to use all its power to defeat these warlords one by one first Wu, then Sun, and finally Zhang. On July 9, 1926, Chiang gave his lecture to 100,000 soldiers of the National Revolutionary Army, which was set up by the students trained in the Whampoa Military Academy and equipped with Russian arsenal in the opening ceremony, which was the official commencement of Northern Expedition. NRA soldiers were far better organized than the warlord armies which they faced, for they had good military advisors, better weapons and commissars from CPC to inspire the soldiers. In addition, the NRA was regarded as a progressive force on behalf of ordinary people persecuted by warlords, for which it received warm welcome and strong support from peasants and workers. It was no surprise the NRA could march from Zhu River area to Yangtze River in less than half a year and annihilate the main force of Wu and Sun, and strengthen its force from 100,000 to 250,000.
