This would actually make a fair amount of sense. When the Republic of China (as in, the government that became Taiwan after the communist takeover) was formed in 1912, it was taken over by General Yuan Shikai. Here's a bit of history about that.

Shikai, who had the previously ruling Guangxu Emperor poisoned, was dismissed from his position by the Regent, Zaifeng. Rebellion against the Qing dynasty spread like wildfire only three years later, with 14 of the 15 provinces rejecting Qing rule.

Yuan Shikai was restored to his military position, at which point he assumed command of the Beiyang Army and swept aside the Wuchang Uprising at Wuhan, in the Battle of Yangxia. He then succeeded in having Zaifeng removed from the regency and became the de-facto dictator of the newly-formed Republic of China.

What are the odds, then, that the former general stoked the flames of rebellion using his military connections, and then presented himself as the solution to the rebellion to the desperate and weakened Qing government in order to put himself back in a position to seize power?

Isn't this also the same thing that the KMT later did when overthrowing the Beiyang during their war with the Nationalists, using their position of military dominance of the nation to institute authoritarian rule?

Remember how Stalin rose to power? Ambitious Communists in positions of power are all too willing to step on the necks of their comrades in order to advance their stations; As long as the party itself remains strong, those bearing the mantle of leadership are expendable, and likely to have 'accidents' if they go against the grain of the party.