Similarly, Japanese prime minister Baron Tanaka Giichi knew that the deployment of troops could result in a conflict with the Chinese, which, rather than protecting Japanese citizens and economic interests, could further endanger them. As it happened, in an attempt to resolve the split between the Wuhan and Nanjing factions of the KMT, Chiang was forced to resign from his post of commander of the NRA and halt the Northern Expedition in August 1927, avoiding conflict.[10][9] With the threat of the NRA advance gone, the Japanese withdrew their troops from Jinan in September 1927.[11]