revolution and trained them into a partisan force. Dalelkhan then joined forces with Osman Batur, an ethnic Kazakh guerrilla leader who had a larger following and backing from the Mongolian government. Osman Batur's mother was from the Qieruqi tribe, and Dalelkhan's mother asked her to have Osman take care of Dalelkhan. On account of the blood relations, Osman trusted Dalelkhan and gave him an important leadership position. Rebellion in 1944 In February 1944, Osman and Dalelkhan's Kazakh guerrilla force rebelled against Sheng Shicai's government and captured the Qinggil County seat. By April, the rebels had 1,000 fighters and spread the rebellion to Jeminay, Fuhai, Habahe and Chenghua (Altay). In October, the rebel forces established a revolutionary government in the Altay region. After the outbreak of the Ili Rebellion in the Ili valley, the Kazakhs began to cooperate with the Ili National Army, under the Russian commander A. Leskin. In February 1945, the rebels captured Jeminay. In early August 1945, Osman and Dalelkhan attacked Chenghua, with the help of the Mongolian army, but could not capture the city. In September, they surrounded the city. Nationalist Chinese defenders fled for the Mongolian border but were refused entry, and surrendered. On September 20, the guerrilla forces around Altay was organized into the Altay Kazakh Cavalry Battalion with Dalelkhan as commander. Coalition government Then, the political situation changed as the Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek pressed the Soviet Union to cease support for the rebellion. A ceasefire in October halted the fighting. On November 17, 1945, Dalelkhan issued orders protecting the legal and property rights of ethnic Han Chinese in the Altay region. In the summer of 1946, the leaders of the Ili Uprising agreed to set aside their declaration of an independent East Turkestan Republic and joined in a coalition government with the Nationalists in Dihua. Dalelkhan became the minister of the health bureau in the provincial government. Tensions remained high between the rebels in the three districts of northern Xinjiang and the Nationalist authorities which controlled the rest of the province. After the outbreak of full-scale civil war between the Nationalists and Communists in China proper, the Nationalists persuaded Osman Batur to change sides. Osman resented the Soviet influence in the revolutionary government and joined the Nationalists. Dalelkhan supported the Soviets and broke with Osman. In November 1946, Osman Batur attacked Fuhai. From January to March 1947, he launched five raids on Chenghua.