After Liao was assassinated, he was excluded by Chiang Kai-shek, and some of his troops were annexed by Chiang Kai-shek, becoming the 3rd Division, 14 Division and 20th Division of the First Army of the National Revolutionary Army, and later evolved into the clique of the Central Army. Some of them were recruited into the Fourth Army to participate in the Northern Expedition.

Liang Hongkai was also driven away by Chiang Kai-shek, and Li took over as the teacher. During the Northern Expedition, it was expanded into a fourth-front army with outstanding achievements, and was known as the "Iron Army" and the "Mother of Guangdong Army".

The Li Fourth Army consists of Chen 10, Chen 1 1, Zhang Fakui 12, Xu Jingtang 13 and the Ye Ting Independent Regiment. However, new contradictions have formed within the Guangdong army. First, regional contradictions. From the source of troops, 10 division belongs to Zhao (Qing) Department of Guangzhou, and comes from Guangzhou and the Pearl River Delta. 1 1 studied under Qin (Zhou), Lian (Jiang), Gao (Zhou) and Lei (Zhou) in western Guangdong. 12 is a Hakka division, from Meizhou and Shaoguan. * * * led an independent regiment near 12 division (Ye Ting and Deng were Hakka in Huiyang), and then there was a riot in Nanchang; Xu Jingtang's department is Li's direct line. After Jiang Guishou's war, the power of Guangxi quickly shrank back to Guangxi. Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi put all their eggs in one basket and attacked Guangdong. Xu Jingtang coordinated Guangxi in Dongjiang, and was defeated by Guangdong Army.

It is said that the local dialect at that time was also a sign of dividing factions. Xue Yue's troops speak Hakka, the 19th Route Army mainly speaks Cantonese and Mandarin, and Chen's subordinates are very popular with people who can speak Zhanjiang Leizhou dialect. Chaoshan people are excluded from the military system and can only go to the navy to recognize their hometown with Fujian people.