The communists dominated the left wing of the KMT, a party organized on Leninist lines, struggling for power with the party's right wing.{{Sfn<span class="mw-ref" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESchram196684.2C_89_11-0" rel="dc:references">[[#cite_note-FOOTNOTESchram196684.2C_89-11|Schram|1966}}<span class="mw-reflink-text"><nowiki>[10]</nowiki></span>]]</span><span class="mw-ref" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESchram196684.2C_89_11-0" rel="dc:references"></span> When KMT leader [[ဆွန်ယက်ဆင်|Sun Yat-sen]] died in March 1925, he was succeeded by a rightist, [[ချန်ကေရှိတ်|Chiang Kai-shek]], who initiated moves to marginalize the position of the communists.{{Sfn<span class="mw-ref" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESchram196684.2C_89_11-1" rel="dc:references">[[#cite_note-FOOTNOTESchram196684.2C_89-11|Schram|1966}}<span class="mw-reflink-text"><nowiki>[10]</nowiki></span>]]</span><span class="mw-ref" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESchram196684.2C_89_11-1" rel="dc:references"></span> Fresh from the success of the Northern Expedition to overthrow the warlords, Chiang Kai-shek turned on the communists, who by now numbered in the tens of thousands across China.{{Sfn<span class="mw-ref" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEFeigon200242_12-0" rel="dc:references">[[#cite_note-FOOTNOTEFeigon200242-12|Feigon|2002}}<span class="mw-reflink-text"><nowiki>[11]</nowiki></span>]]</span><span class="mw-ref" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEFeigon200242_12-0" rel="dc:references"></span> Ignoring the orders of the Wuhan-based KMT government, he marched on Shanghai, a city controlled by communist militias. Although the communists welcomed Chiang's arrival, he turned on them, massacring 5000 with the aid of the Green Gang.{{Sfn<span class="mw-ref" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEFeigon200242_12-1" rel="dc:references">[[#cite_note-FOOTNOTEFeigon200242-12|Feigon<span class="mw-reflink-text"><nowiki>[11]</nowiki></span>]]</span><span class="mw-ref" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEFeigon200242_12-1" rel="dc:references"></span><span class="mw-ref" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESchram1966106_13-0" rel="dc:references">[[#cite_note-FOOTNOTESchram1966106-13|2002}}{{Sfn<span class="mw-reflink-text"><nowiki>[12]</nowiki></span>]]</span><span class="mw-ref" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESchram1966106_13-0" rel="dc:references"></span><span class="mw-ref" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTECarter197661.E2.80.9362_14-0" rel="dc:references">[[#cite_note-FOOTNOTECarter197661.E2.80.9362-14|Schram|1966}}{{Sfn|Carter|1976}}<span class="mw-reflink-text"><nowiki>[13]</nowiki></span>]]</span><span class="mw-ref" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTECarter197661.E2.80.9362_14-0" rel="dc:references"></span> Chiang's army then marched on Wuhan, but was prevented from taking the city by CPC General Ye Ting and his troops.{{Sfn<span class="mw-ref" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESchram1966112_15-0" rel="dc:references">[[#cite_note-FOOTNOTESchram1966112-15|Schram|1966}}<span class="mw-reflink-text"><nowiki>[14]</nowiki></span>]]</span><span class="mw-ref" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESchram1966112_15-0" rel="dc:references"></span> Chiang's allies also attacked communists; in Beijing, 19 leading communists were killed by Zhang Zuolin, while in Changsha, He Jian's forces machine gunned hundreds of peasant militiamen.{{Sfn<span class="mw-ref" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESchram1966106.E2.80.93109.2C_112.E2.80.93113_16-0" rel="dc:references">[[#cite_note-FOOTNOTESchram1966106.E2.80.93109.2C_112.E2.80.93113-16|Schram<span class="mw-reflink-text"><nowiki>[15]</nowiki></span>]]</span><span class="mw-ref" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESchram1966106.E2.80.93109.2C_112.E2.80.93113_16-0" rel="dc:references"></span><span class="mw-ref" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTECarter197662_17-0" rel="dc:references">[[#cite_note-FOOTNOTECarter197662-17|1966}}{{Sfn|Carter|1976}}<span class="mw-reflink-text"><nowiki>[16]</nowiki></span>]]</span><span class="mw-ref" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTECarter197662_17-0" rel="dc:references"></span> That May, tens of thousands of communists and their sympathizers were killed by nationalists, with the CPC losing approximately <span>15,000</span> of its <span>25,000</span> members.{{Sfn<span class="mw-ref" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTECarter197662_17-1" rel="dc:references">[[#cite_note-FOOTNOTECarter197662-17|Carter|1976}}<span class="mw-reflink-text"><nowiki>[16]</nowiki></span>]]</span><span class="mw-ref" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTECarter197662_17-1" rel="dc:references"></span>