Zhang Peiyuan was a Han chinese

Han Chinese

Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...

 general, commander of the Ili garrison. He fought against Uighur and Tungans during the Kumul revolt, but then secretly negotiated with the Tungan general, Ma Zhongying

Ma Zhongying

Ma Zhongying, also Ma Chung-ying was a Tungan Chinese Muslim warlord during the Warlord era of China. Ma Zhongying's birth name was Ma Buying . Zhongying was a warlord of Gansu province in China during the 1930s. He allied himself with the Kuomintang, which gave his soldiers an official...

 to form an alliance against Sheng Shicai

Sheng Shicai

Sheng Shicai was a Chinese warlord who "ruled" Xinjiang province from April 12, 1933 to August 29, 1944....

 and the Soviet Union. Zhang's army had about 3,000 soldiers. They almost destroyed Sheng's armies when the Soviet Union invaded in the Soviet Invasion of Xinjiang

Soviet Invasion of Xinjiang

The Soviet invasion of Xinjiang was a military campaign in the Chinese northwestern region of Xinjiang in 1934. White Russian forces assisted the Soviet Red Army.- Background :...

and overran Zhang's forces. Zhang committed suicide to avoid capture by the Russians at Muzart Pass during a snow storm.