The Battle of Urumqi (1933)

The battle of Urumqi is an armed conflict in Xinjiang , which took place in 1933, between the troops of the ruler of the province of Xinjiang and the 36th division of the government national-revolutionary army , in which Muslims served. The Chinese government secretly called on Ma Zhongying to attack Jin Shuzhen , pretending that Jin was recognized as the legitimate governor. Fierce fighting broke out at the gates of the city, and one of the Chinese commanders set fire to the street where Muslim troops managed to break through the western gate, killing everyone in the area, including refugees. Muslims were forced to retreat into the zone of defeat by their machine-gun fire, from which many of them died.

The troops of the governor of Xinjiang, composed of Russian White Guards under the command of Colonel Papengut , subsequently repulsed the attack of Muslim soldiers. ^[2] Wu Aichen estimated the number of victims in this case at 2000 people. The city was liberated when Sheng Shitsai approached and drove away Muslim soldiers. In total, 6,000 Chinese and Muslim soldiers died in the conflict. ^[3]