 However, Sun's forces became short of food and restive from their inactivity.In January 1934 with his forces threatened with starvation and talk of mutiny, Sun Dianying was forced to march his 60,000-man army west from Suiyuan province into Ningxia, governed by Ma Hongkui.Supported by his fellow Ma warlords Ma Hongbin, Ma Bufang, and Ma Buqing, Hongkui resisted, starting a war for Ningxia.