After the Mukden Incident occurred, Gen. Su kept his isolated command beyond the Greater Khingan mountain range free of both any of the fighting or any bodies of Japanese troops, and doing nothing of importance in support of either Manchukuo or Gen. Ma Zhanshan.In consequence the farmers settled along the Chinese Eastern Railway mainline west of Qiqihar had remained undisturbed by the upheaval gripping the land and were able to get in their harvests.The mutineers, calling themselves the Heilongjiang National Salvation Army moved eastwards aboard trains towards Qiqihar to join Gen. Ma Zhanshan in re-capturing that provincial capital.Ma Zhanshan had emerged onto the plains again from his shelter in the Lesser Khingan Range along the Amur River after the Japanese had defeated the forces in the north.The following day, after heavy fighting, Ma Zhanshan and Su Bingwen and the remnants of their forces left Hailar for the Soviet border and entered Russian territory on December 5.
