Per the terms of the Tanggu Truce, the Imperial Japanese Army withdrew to the line of the Great Wall, and regular units of the National Revolutionary Army of the Kuomintang government of the Republic of China was withdrawn to south of the new demilitarized zone. Within the zone itself, which partially encompassed the major cities of Tianjin and Beijing, public order was to be maintained by a lightly armed “Peace Preservation Corps”. Per the terms of the Tanggu Truce, any disputes that could not be resolved by the Peace Preservation Corps would be settled by agreement through direct discussions between the Japanese and Chinese governments.