The Fengtian Clique (simplified Chinese: 奉系军阀; traditional Chinese: 奉系軍閥; pinyin: Fèng Xì Jūnfá) was one of several mutually hostile cliques or factions that split from the Beiyang Clique in the Republic of China's Warlord Era. It was named for Fengtian Province (now Liaoning) and operated from a territorial base comprising the three northeastern provinces that made up Manchuria. It was led by warlord Zhang Zuolin, known as the "Grand Marshall;" it was supported by Japan. Between 1920 and 1921 it exercised control of Beijing jointly with the Zhili clique. However, tensions soon began building between the two cliques, and the Fengtian clique clashed with the Zhili clique for control of Beijing, which caused the First Zhili-Fengtian War (1922) and the Second Zhili-Fengtian War (1924). The po