Zhao Hengti, 赵恒惕, general and warlord

Warlord

A warlord is a person with power who has both military and civil control over a subnational area due to armed forces loyal to the warlord and not to a central authority. The term can also mean one who espouses the ideal that war is necessary, and has the means and authority to engage in war...

 of Hunan

Hunan

' is a province of South-Central China, located to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting...

 during the Warlord Era

Warlord era

The Chinese Warlord Era was the period in the history of the Republic of China, from 1916 to 1928, when the country was divided among military cliques, a division that continued until the fall of the Nationalist government in the mainland China regions of Sichuan, Shanxi, Qinghai, Ningxia,...

.

In 1922, he was made commander of the New Xiang Army of the Beiyang Government

Beiyang Government

The Beiyang government or warlord government collectively refers to a series of military regimes that ruled from Beijing from 1912 to 1928 at Zhongnanhai. It was internationally recognized as the legitimate Government of the Republic of China. The name comes from the Beiyang Army which dominated...

. A trusted subordinate of Tan Yankai

Tan Yankai

Tan Yankai was a Chinese politician from Hunan.-Biography:A member of Liang Qichao's Constitutionalist Party, he campaigned for a parliament and restrained monarchy...

, he went to war with Tan with the support of Wu Peifu

Wu Peifu

Wu Peifu or Wu P'ei-fu , was a major figure in the struggles between the warlords who dominated Republican China from 1916 to 1927.- Early career :...

 and forced Tan's resignation from the governorship of Hunan on 25 November 1920. Zhao Hengti then became the military governor of Hunan from 26 November 1920 to 11 March 1926. He was also the civil governor at the same time except between November 1920 and 6 April 1921. Like Chen Jiongming

Chen Jiongming

Chen Jiongming was a revolutionary figure in the early periods of the Republic of China. Chen Jiongming was born in 1878 at Haifeng, Guangdong, China....

, Zhao was an advocate of a federalist constitution, but Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...

 thought his motive was to retain his own power rather than improve the governance of his country. After a conflict with Zhao Tang Shengzhi

Tang Shengzhi

Tang Shengzhi was a Chinese warlord during the Warlord Era, a military commander during the Second Sino-Japanese War, and a politician after World War II....

 was driven south into the arms of Chiang Kaishek, who gave him command of the Eighth Army

Eighth Army

A number of nations have, or have had, an Eighth Army:* Eighth Route Army, a Chinese Communist force that fought against the Japanese during World War II* Eighth Army * Eighth Army...

 of the National Revolutionary Army

National Revolutionary Army

The National Revolutionary Army , pre-1928 sometimes shortened to 革命軍 or Revolutionary Army and between 1928-1947 as 國軍 or National Army was the Military Arm of the Kuomintang from 1925 until 1947, as well as the national army of the Republic of China during the KMT's period of party rule...

. On 11 March, Tang's troops had deposed Zhao and replaced him as the military and civil governor of Hunan as part of the opening campaign of the Northern Expedition.

Source

• Rulers: Chinese Administrative divisions, Hunan