New Guangxi clique

The New Guangxi clique was a clique that coagulated in 1924 to replace a power vacuum in warlord-overrun China. Bai Chongxi was the Chief-of-Staff at the time of its inception.

Its predecessor, the Old Guangxi clique, was quite short-lived. It formed in the Guangxi province in the chaos following the fall of the Qing Empire and the establishing of the Republic of China. Like its allies Sun Yat-sen and the other revolutionaries, the clique opposed Yuan Shikai’s monarchist ambitions. However, tension grew between the Guangxi and Sun’s Chinese Revolutionary Party as Sun attempted to establish himself in Guangzhou. The Guangxi warlord Lu Rongting disagreed with Sun over troop allocations. Growing suspicious, Sun reassigned some of Lu’s troops to his loyal general Chen Jiongming and eventually had Chen attack Lu in 1920.

The Guangxi were driven out of their outer centres of power, including the contentious Guangzhou. They were now confined to their native province, which Chen invaded in 1921. Bad luck plagued the twin armies sent out by Lu, resulting in the eventual necessity for him to surrender. Chen and a number of Cantonese supporters occupied the province for several months.

Eventually, Chen and Sun parted ways. Chen departed to become the warlord of Guandong, formerly occupied by the Guangxi, and the Cantonese troops dispersed by May 1922. The power vacuum was filled by a confusing number of aspiring warlords, bandits, and Lu Rongting himself, who attempted to build a Self-government Army to re-establish his primacy.

However, three men deftly navigated this madness to undo Lu’s efforts. Huang Shaohong, then the commander of the Model Battalion of the 1st Guangxi Division, established control of Baise and the local chapter of the thriving opium trade. Bai Chongxi, his deputy, used the revenue to build a disciplined and loyal military backing. Meanwhile, their comrade Li Zongren joined the Kuomintang and efficiently mopped up the various parties vying for power in the province, including Lu Rongting.

The trio were the founders of the New Guangxi clique in early 1924. Li Zongren maintained military control as Commander in Chief, Huang Shaohong was the Deputy Commander, and Bai Chongxi became the Chief-of-Staff.