Warlord Rebellion in northeastern Shandong

Warlord Rebellion in northeastern Shandong
Part of the Nanjing decade
Zhang Zongchang, instigator and leader of the rebellion
Date January–May 1929 Location Northeastern Shandong, Republic of China Result Government victory; warlord forces dispersed or destroyed
Belligerents
Republic of China Self-defense groups: Red Spear Society White Spear Society	Warlord alliance Supported by:  Japan (suspected)[1]
Commanders and leaders
Liu Zhennian	Zhang Zongchang Chu Yupu (POW) Huang Feng-chi Sun Dianying Li Hsi Tung[2]
Units involved
National Revolutionary Army (NRA) Third Division (Liu's private army)[3]	Warlord armies Ex-Shandong and Zhili Army soldiers[4] Russian mercenaries (rumoured)[5][6] NRA mutineers, defectors and bandits[4][2]
Strength
c. 20,000 (January)[7] c. 7,000 (late February)[8]	c. 3,000 (January)[9] 27,000+ (late February)[5] 1,000[10]–4,500 (May)[11]
Casualties and losses
1,500+ killed,[4] thousands deserted or defected[2]	Thousands killed; the rest deserted[1][12]
Thousands of civilians killed[4]

The Warlord Rebellion in northeastern Shandong^[13] was an uprising of several allied Chinese warlord armies under the leadership of Zhang Zongchang in 1929. The rebels wanted to regain their former territories in Shandong from Liu Zhennian, the man who had defected from Zhang to the Nationalist government in Nanjing during the Northern Expedition. After some initial successes, the rebels were defeated due to the indiscipline of their forces. In the end, the uprising failed to topple Liu Zhennian's rule over eastern Shandong, but resulted in high civilian casualties and widespread destruction at the hands of both sides in the conflict.