Page "Xi'an Incident" Paragraph 3

He Yingqin, a pro-Japanese senior general in the Kuomintang, was preparing to lead military forces to Xian from the KMT capital, Nanking at the time of the incident.

This appeared to be putting more of northern China at risk of conquest by the Japanese, something which was to come true in 1937.

Some believe the steps taken by Marshal Zhang were inspired by the Soviets led by Joseph Stalin, but there were sufficient grounds for Zhang and Yang Hucheng to act on their own behalf in order to develop an effective resistance to the Japanese invasion.