 He was succeeded by Han Fuju, who was loyal to the warlord Feng Yuxiang but later switched his allegiance to the Nanjing government headed by Chiang Kai-shek.Han Fuju also ousted the warlord Liu Zhennian, nicknamed the "King of Shandong East," who ruled eastern Shandong Province, hence unifying the province under his rule.In 1937 Japan began its invasion of China proper in the Second Sino-Japanese War, which would eventually become part of the Pacific theatre of the Second World War.