Editing Xi'an Incident (section)

==Chiang's arrest==
[[File:张学良公馆-西楼（C楼） 02.jpg|thumb|Zhang's residence in Xi'an, where he made the decision to arrest Chiang.]]

Chiang and his entourage drove from Luoyang to Xi'an on December 4, 1936, in order to make preparations for another assault on the Communists.{{sfn|Pantsov|2023|p=242}} By this time he was aware through intelligence reports that Zhang had been collaborating with the Communists, but he did not realize that he was in any actual danger.{{sfn|Chen|2024|p=162}} Chiang believed that he could convince Zhang to join his sixth encirclement campaign in earnest. He stayed at the [[Huaqing Pool]] complex, an ancient resort located in the town of Lintong, about 10 miles outside Xi'an.{{sfn|Pantsov|2012|p=297}} Chiang's associates were staying in the city of Xi'an itself, in the newly built Western Capital Hotel.{{sfn|Will|2013|p=260}} Once again, Zhang, Yang, and Chiang met to discuss policy. Once again, they reached an impasse.{{sfn|Pantsov|2012|p=297}} Chiang shouted at Zhang that "I am the Generalissimo; I do not err; I am China; and China cannot do well without me!"{{sfn|Pantsov|2023|p=243}} On December 9, Chiang threatened Zhang and Yang that if they did not attack the Communists, he would remove them from command and have their forces reassigned to distant provinces.{{sfn|van de Ven|2003|p=186}} Historian [[Rana Mitter]] suggests that the risk of losing his command may have been the final straw for Zhang.{{sfn|Mitter|2013|pp=71-72}} The meeting was interrupted by the arrival in Lintong of tens of thousands of students demonstrating for a united front.{{efn|Estimates of the size of the crowd vary. Yang gives it at 20,000, Pantsov says over 10,000.{{sfn|Yang|1990|p=223}}{{sfn|Pantsov|2023|p=243}}}} Chiang demanded that Zhang disperse the crowd or he would have his guards open fire on them. Zhang promised the students "a definite reply in action within one week."{{sfn|Yang|1990|p=223}}

{{multiple image
 | total_width = 320
 | align = left
 | image1 = Lintong Xian China Huaqing-Pool-11.jpg
 | alt1 = A small simply furnished bedroom
 | image2 = Lintong Xian China Huaqing-Pool-10.jpg
 | alt2 = A window pane with a bullet hole surrounded by cracks
 | footer = The room where Chiang Kai-shek stayed in the ''Wujianting'' (five-room pavilion), part of the Huaqing Pool complex, and a bullet hole left by the firefight.{{sfn|Pantsov|2012|p=297}}}}

Chiang was scheduled to leave on December 12.{{sfn|Kotkin|2017|p=360}} At 10 PM on Friday, December 11 Zhang Xueliang ordered Sun Mingjiu ({{lang-zh|labels=no|c=孫銘九}}), the captain of his personal guard, to arrest Chiang Kai-shek.{{sfn|Pantsov|2012|p=297}} According to Sun's later account, his orders were to bring Chiang to Xi'an unharmed.{{sfn|Itoh|2016|pp=136–137}} As Sun prepared, Zhang gathered the top officers of the Northeastern and Northwestern Armies to inform them of his decision.{{sfn|Itoh|2016|p=137}} He also sent a telegram to the CCP Central Committee. Mao and the other Central Committee members were surprised but elated by the news.{{sfn|Pantsov|2012|p=299}}{{efn|Contrary to a common misconception, the CCP did not have prior knowledge of the conspiracy.{{sfn|Itoh|2016|p=145}}}} At 5 AM, December 12, Sun Mingjiu led a few hundred soldiers on an assault of the Huaqing Pool complex.{{sfn|Pantsov|2012|p=297}} They reached the gate at 6 AM, where they were asked for the password. Unable to give it, they began a firefight with Chiang's guards.{{sfn|Itoh|2016|p=137}} This alerted Chiang to the attack, and in panic he fled out of his window. He jumped over the wall surrounding the compound, injuring his back in the process. Without his false teeth or one of his shoes, he fled up the side of a snow-covered mountain. He was discovered a few hours later, shivering and exhausted. Sun carried Chiang down the mountain on his back.{{sfn|Kotkin|2017|p=360}}{{sfn|Pantsov|2012|p=298}} Chiang was brought to Yang Hucheng's headquarters in Xi'an, where Zhang explained that he had kidnapped him in order to force him to change his policies. Chiang was indignant, and after an initial exchange, he refused to speak.{{sfn|Itoh|2016|p=144}}

Beginning at 5:30 AM that same day, Yang's Northwestern Army seized important locations around Xi'an: the government headquarters, the airport, the police station, and the Western Capital Hotel where Chiang's associates were staying.{{sfn|Itoh|2016|p=143}}{{sfn|Will|2013|p=260}} Those taken prisoner included governor of Shaanxi {{ill|Shao Lizi|zh|邵力子}}, the Shaanxi commmissioner of education [[Zhou Xuechang]], and Generals [[Chen Cheng]], [[Jiang Dingwen]], [[Wei Lihuang]], and [[Zhu Shaoliang]].{{sfn|Itoh|2016|p=144}}{{sfn|Pantsov|2012|p=299}}{{sfn|Wu|1976|p=79}} [[Shao Yuanchong]], one of the authors of the [[National Anthem of the Republic of China]], was shot while trying to escape from the hotel. He died in the hospital two days later.{{sfn|Wu|1976|p=79}} The Northwestern Army had poor discipline, and for three days after the coup, its soldiers carried out widespread looting of Xi'an. Only the areas controlled by Zhang's Northeastern Army were unaffected.{{sfn|Wu|1976|p=80}}

[[File:西安宣传画 5117.jpg|thumb|A propaganda poster posted in Xi'an during the Xi'an Incident. It reads: "The realization of peace is our first step towards victory!"]]

Zhang and Yang attempted to secure their strategic situation. Zhang sent telegrams to the Northeastern Army's 51st Army in [[Lanzhou]] and to the commander of some artillery brigades he had stationed in Luoyang. While the 51st Army successfully took control of Lanzhou, the commander in Luoyang immediately handed Zhang's telegram to the Nationalist garrison commander, {{ill|Zhu Shaozhou|zh|祝绍周}}.{{sfn|Wu|1976|pp=80-81}} Zhu reacted quickly. He informed Minister of War [[He Yingqin]], who ordered the a loyal division to occupy [[Tong Pass]], a critical chokepoint on the route from east from Xi'an. They arrived only four hours before [[Feng Qinzai]]'s 42nd Division, sent by Yang Hucheng for the same purpose.{{sfn|Wu|1976|pp=81,87-88}}{{sfn|Worthing|2016|p=171}} Zhu also attempted an aerial mission to rescue Chiang, but it arrived too late and the pilot was taken prisoner.{{sfn|Wu|1976|p=81}}

Zhang and Yang sent telegrams to Nanjing and all across China, explaining what they had done and listing eight demands for the government:
{{Blockquote
|text={{Ordered list |To reorganize the Nanjing government so that all political parties and groups can take part in it and assume responsibility for national salvation;|To suspend the civil war all over the country and adopt a policy for united anti-Japanese resistance;|To immediately release the [Seven] National Salvation Intellectual Leaders who were arrested in Shanghai;|To release all the political prisoners in China;|To liberate people’s patriotic movements;|To guarantee all the political freedoms and rights of the people, as well as the freedom of assembly and association;|To ensure compliance with the will of Sun Yat-sen; and|To immediately convene a national salvation congress.}}
|source=''Declaration of Eight-Point Demands''{{sfn|Itoh|2016|pp=144-145}}
}}