 Cao was victorious in the Zhili–Anhui War (1920) though the credit belongs to his chief lieutenant, Wu Peifu, the greatest strategist in China at the time.Relations with the Fengtian clique, which gave nominal assistance against Anhui clique, deteriorated and Wu again brought victory during the First Zhili–Fengtian War (1922).In the next two years, the Zhili clique scored successive victories which led to Cao Kun's ascendency to the presidency via bribery.