Zuo Zongtang ordered an army of 30,000 troops to march out of Lanzhou to the north, pass through Gulang, Wuwei, Yongchang... Shandan and Zhangye and attack Jiayuguan!
The situation in Xinjiang can be said to have changed three times in a day. The Tsarist Russian army raided the Ili Valley and occupied all the Qing territory outside the Tianshan Mountains. Now thousands of lone troops in Rongquan are trapped in several ancient passes, relying on the dangerous geographical location and the bitter cold in winter. The weather is holding up!
Aguba's original expansion momentum had weakened, but under the stimulation of Tsarist Russia, he became arrogant and began to attack the Jungar Basin and the Xingxing Gorge in Anxi Prefecture in the snowy weather.
Suzhou Admiral Xu Zhanbiao had already had a fierce cavalry encounter with Agubai's vanguard outside Xingxing Gorge. Thanks to six newly supported field guns, he was able to push back Agubai's 3,000 cavalry troops!
Zuo Zongtang was worried. He knew that the most important thing after Emperor Tongzhi returned to the country was to take charge of the country. If the situation in the northwest deteriorated repeatedly before he took office, the conspirators in the court would definitely use the situation as an excuse, and even use the unfavorable war situation as an excuse to refuse to return. Government affairs.
Even if it was to bring joy to the emperor's pro-government, Zuo Zongtang's army had to enter the strategic counterattack stage before and after Emperor Tongzhi's wedding, that is, to send troops out of Xingxingxia to invade Xinjiang.
Time waits for no time. After Monk Taiwang and others reached a fundraising agreement and signed it, Zuo Zongtang had to take action without having to worry about funds. The Hunan Army stationed in the Gaolan Camp began to send troops to Yumen and Yumen in batches. It is quite close to Guazhou and Dunhuang.
What worries Zuo Zongtang even more is that Rongquan Feige sent a message saying that the British Sir Gordon's expedition had arrived in Tacheng. For safety reasons, after a brief repair, the expedition actually prepared to cross Zhungeer despite the snow. prairie.
Traveling far in the winter in northern Xinjiang is such a dangerous action, but Gordon and others have no choice but to do it!
Because although the wind and snow are dangerous, compared to the cruel Aguba, this is the safest option!
"We can't delay. It's better to freeze to death than die under Agub's butcher's knife! Tsarist Russia has captured the Ili Valley, and Agub's garrison in Dihua is even more ready to move. His ambition to go north to invade the Quanzhungeer grassland is boundless!"
"Once the spring comes, the Aguba rebels in Dihua will definitely launch a full-scale attack on the grassland. By then, it will be even more dangerous for us to return to the Central Plains!"
Gordon, Rongquan, Duoluo, Guan Lu and others discussed it for a long time, and finally had to make such a risky decision. A thousand Jungar grassland warriors who were familiar with the terrain escorted the expedition team to adventure in the snow-covered grassland season. travel.
Zuo Zongtang was shocked when he got the news. He immediately opened the map and searched carefully. "Oh my God! These people are really crazy... If you want to be safe at this time, you have to enter Kobuto Mongolia due west... This is life-threatening. ?"
Liu Jintang pointed at the map and said in alarm, "Tacheng goes east across the Namu River, the Lamasery and enters the Kobuto Grassland... This is basically a sparsely populated death land!"
"They had to find four wells in the wind and snow so as not to get lost...Cheke Well, Yiche Well, Holtrut Well, Zackson Well...the water from these four wells on the edge of the desert is used by herdsmen during summer grazing. In the gathering area, the sky and the earth are completely white in winter, how can I find it?"
"You have to look for it if you can't find it!" Zuo Zongtang snapped at the map angrily. "Send a letter to Xu Zhanbiao and ask him to go north and take my imperial envoy Guan Fang to meet with Jasak Tuhan! Just say I want to He casts a net to find someone!”
"I know that I have no right to order their Mongolian Khan. I am not high enough... But tell him that Agubai is the enemy of the Manchu, Han and Mongolian tribes. They showed no mercy when they killed the Mongolian herdsmen!"
"Even if I use a white-haired knife, I have to send troops to pick up people on the grassland! There is no room for bargaining! Go right away!"
At this moment, Zuo Zongtang already understood Gordon's plan. North of Dihua, in the center of the Junggar Basin, there is a vast desert called the Gurbantunggut Desert. To the north of this desert is the Ke There is not much territory in Mongolia, and to the south is the administrative district of Dihua Prefecture in Xinjiang.
Gordon and the others will definitely not go to the southern foot of the desert. They can only go to the more desolate north of the desert, which is Kobuto Mongolia. However, there are no road signs or towns in that area. They can only rely on four wells to find their way, one by one. Only by walking in the right direction can you reach a safe area.
After these four wells, there is the grassland to the north of Hami Mansion and Zhenxi Mansion. Of course, the expedition team cannot enter here because it has been captured by Agubai, and they have to go east.
Entering the territory of Zasak Tuhan, this is a prosperous place with abundant water and grass and slightly more herdsmen!
As long as Zhasaktu Mongolia welcomes the expedition team and sends it south to Anxi, Gansu Province, it will be considered as truly entering the safe land of the Qing Dynasty.
"More than a thousand miles! They are all wandering in the inaccessible desert grasslands...Aquba's scattered cavalry are also elusive. Isn't this looking for death?"
"You are really causing trouble to me!" Zuo Zongtang scolded him, but from the bottom of his heart he still admired this expedition team. Even the officers and soldiers in the army that conquered the west who knew the news secretly provoked Brother Thumb, saying something sensible. !
After Master Zuo's military order was issued, the marching army suddenly accelerated. Countless cavalry rushed into the distance with the military order. Zuo Jigao stirred up a gust of wind and thunder in the northwest.
"Commander... have some dry food! You haven't eaten anything in the morning, and lunch is still twenty miles away. Eat some compressed biscuits..." Liu Jintang carefully peeled off the parchment paper of the compressed biscuits and handed them over. He also held a pot of water.
Zuo Zongtang on horseback was facing the northwest wind all the way and had to deal with government affairs. He was so hungry that his chest pressed against his back. He took a bite of compressed biscuits that were heavy in oil, salt and sugar, and drank a few sips of cold water. Much relieved.
Looking at the biscuit in his hand, Zuo Zongtang sighed, "Good stuff! This is good stuff... How much pressure does this small piece of biscuit reduce for our logistics?"
"You said it's been so many years, how come no one of us has thought of this? You said we have all eaten this fried noodles, and it has been sold in Sijiucheng for hundreds of years, but no one has thought about pressing it into modules and turning it into dry food ?”
Liu Jintang smiled bitterly and said, "Hey... this is actually what foreigners call physics! Why didn't we think of it? Why did Xiao Letian think of it? In the end, people understand the principles of all things!"
"I have studied it. If someone can figure it out first, it means that they have certain rules on how to prevent food from spoiling and what nutrients the human body needs... These knowledges have certain rules. In other words, physics is our art of studying things!"
"Now that we have that theory, that is, the way of analyzing problems...only then can we have these little inventions and creations!"
"If we don't understand this principle, then I'm afraid we will always be behind others in the future... Others figured it out first, and then we suddenly realize it when we take a second look... Isn't it that simple?"
"But for such a simple thing, why didn't we think of it first, but others did? This is physics!"
The Qing Dynasty people's understanding of Western physics is different from that of people in the 21st century. The Qing Dynasty people are always willing to use the technique of investigating things to apply Western physics concepts.
Don't laugh at their lack of knowledge. In that era, Liu Jintang's thoughts were actually considered treacherous and evil. He just said it in front of Zuo Zongtang. If he said this in front of the Qingliu Confucian officials, I'm afraid he would be impeached. Stacked on the roof.
"Well... give an order to the Chinese shopkeeper named Fan Jin to give away as many portable compressed biscuits as you have... but I have to say it in advance!"
"The compressed biscuits given to my army must not contain a drop of oil. They must all use butter or vegetable oil...the money is included in my loan!"
"Haha, did you know... The Tanma over there in Xinjiang has received the latest news... The people under the rule of that bitch Agubo are already out of famine!"
"When our army fights over, food will be more effective than bullets!"
While the two were chatting, suddenly the sound of horse hooves came from behind the team, "Report... report to the commander... Jiangnan telegram!"
