Mukden Incident A year later, in the
September 18 Mukden Incident, Japanese troops attacked Zhang's forces in
Shenyang in order to provoke a full-on war with China, which Chiang did not want to face until his forces were stronger. In accordance with this strategy, Zhang's armies withdrew from the front lines without significant engagements, leading to the effective
Japanese occupation of Zhang's former northeastern domain. There has been speculation that Chiang Kai-Shek wrote a letter to Zhang asking him to pull his forces back, but Zhang later stated that he himself issued the orders. Apparently, Zhang was aware of how weak his forces were compared to the Japanese and wished to preserve his position by retaining a sizeable army. Nonetheless, this would still be in line with Chiang's overall strategic standings. At the time of the Mukden Incident, it was Zhang Xueliang himself who issued the "non-resistance order". Chiang Kai-shek, in fact, did not receive news of the "incident" until the evening of September 19, after he had arrived in Nanchang, learning of it around 9–10 PM via Shanghai sources. Zhang himself later admitted, "It was our Northeast Army that chose not to resist."
Further Retreat After retreating from Manchuria, Zhang and the Northeastern Army took up defensive positions along the Great Wall in
Rehe. During this time, Zhang sponsored China's first participation in the
Olympic Games. The Japanese
attacked Zhang again in 1933, and after a weak resistance, Zhang was denied reinforcements from the central government and had to retreat further south. He resigned his posts, underwent treatment for his opium addiction, and left for a year-long exile in Europe. When Zhang returned in January 1934, he sought to regain his position in charge of the Northeastern Army. However, this was strongly opposed by both the Japanese and some Nationalist leaders critical of his failure to stop the Japanese advance. Chiang therefore reassigned him to an anti-Communist force in Wuhan, alienating Zhang and the other leaders of the Northeastern Army. Over the next year, Zhang became a more outspoken critic of Chiang's policy of appeasement towards Japan. He continued to pressure Chiang to reappoint him as head of the Northeastern Army, with the hope that he could use the force to fight the Japanese. On October 2, 1935, Chiang granted Zhang's request, but only because he needed the Northeastern Army's support to crush the final Communist base at
Yan'an.
War with Communists On January 6, 1934, Zhang Xueliang returned to China aboard the Conte Verde from Italy, disembarking in
Hong Kong to visit
Hu Hanmin en route. On June 18, Zhang toured the Henan–
Hubei border area, arriving in
Huangchuan that day. On June 21, he convened a military meeting there to discuss anti-Communist operations, then proceeded to Shangcheng, and to
Lihuang and Lu'an in western Anhui. On June 27, he returned to Wuhan. On April 2, the Nationalist Government promoted Yan Xishan, Feng Yuxiang, Zhang Xueliang, He Yingqin, Li Zongren, Zhu Peide, Tang Shengzhi, and Chen Jitang to the rank of First-Class General in the National Army. On April 14, Zhang flew from Chongqing to Guizhou to meet Chiang, accompanied by Henan Public Security Director Feng Zhanfei and Ta Kung Pao editor-in-chief
Zhang Jiluan. He returned to Hankou on April 17. On September 13, Zhang flew from Hankou to Xi'an to discuss military affairs with Yang Hucheng and Shao Lizi. On September 19, Zhang inspected Tianshui. On September 20, Chiang established the "Northwest Bandit Suppression Headquarters" in
Xi'an, to command forces from Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, and Qinghai provinces in encircling the Red Army in the northwest. Chiang once again pushed Zhang to the front lines, appointing him Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Northwest Bandit Suppression HQ, to act on Chiang's behalf as overall commander. On September 21, Zhang flew back to Xi'an to coordinate with Yan Xishan's representative Zhang Weiqing on attacking the Red Army in northern Shaanxi. On September 24, he flew with Yang Hucheng and Deng Baoshan to Lanzhou to discuss anti-Communist defense strategies with Zhu Shaoliang. On October 16, Zhang flew from Xi'an to Wuchang to wind up field HQ affairs, returning to Xi'an on October 19. The Wuchang Field Headquarters was officially closed on October 20. That autumn, the Northeast Army was transferred to the northwest, suffering heavy losses in the anti-Communist campaign.
Xi'an incident On April 6, 1936, Zhang met with CPC delegate
Zhou Enlai to plan the end of the
Chinese Civil War. KMT leader Generalissimo
Chiang Kai-shek at the time took a passive position against Japan and considered the communists to be a greater danger to the Republic of China than the Japanese, and his overall strategy was to annihilate the communists before focusing his efforts on the Japanese. He believed that "communism was a cancer while the Japanese represented a superficial wound." Growing nationalist anger against Japan made this position very unpopular, and led to Zhang's action against Chiang, known as the
Xi'an Incident. In December 1936, Zhang and General
Yang Hucheng kidnapped Chiang, imprisoning him until he agreed to form a
united front with the communists against the Japanese invasion. Zhang made radio speeches, explaining that the goal of the mutiny was to unite China to oppose the Japanese, and circulated his manifesto,
Urging of the United Front. After two weeks of negotiations, Chiang agreed to unite with the communists and drive the Japanese out of China. After Chiang negotiated with the Communists, Zhang flew back to Nanjing as a demonstration of good faith. == Life under house arrest ==