Just more than five hundred miles away in Guazhou to the west of Jiayuguan, Zuo Zongtang's first fierce general, pioneer Xu Zhanbiao, was stationed here.
It’s a bit interesting to say that the army under Zuo Zongtang is known as the direct descendant of the Hunan Army. They are all soldiers recruited from Hunan, Hubei and other places. However, the first warrior vanguard he led in this Western Expedition was not a descendant of Hunan. A Sichuanese!
Xu Zhanbiao, a native of Xichong, Sichuan, started as a soldier and gradually accumulated military merits, and finally became an admiral and general based entirely on his own ability! The official position starts from the first rank!
This guy can be said to be a role model in the Shu army and a benchmark for the counterattack of the lower class people in the late Qing Dynasty!
Xu Zhanbiao's fortune is different from that of Zuo Zongtang and others. These leaders of the Hunan Army were more or less scholars, while the admiral of the Shu Army was a poor boy who joined the army and started as a big-headed soldier.
During the Taiping Rebellion, many peasant uprisings also occurred in Sichuan. Xu Zhanbiao repeatedly performed extraordinary feats in the Guoyong camp in Sichuan, becoming commander of a thousand soldiers, commander-in-chief, and general-in-command... and was eventually directly promoted to admiral!
After Zuo Zongtang's Western Expedition, Xu Zhanbiao's Shu army began to march north to invade Gannan, and stormed Lanzhou from the south to firmly control the Gansu-Shaanxi rebellion's attempt to harass Gannan and northern Sichuan.
When the situation in Gannan stabilized, Zuo Zongtang appointed Xu Zhanbiao as the vanguard and led 12 battalions of Shu troops with a total of 6,000 fine cavalry into Suzhou, Ganzhou, and Anxi Prefecture... Xu Zhanbiao calmed down the situation in the entire Hexi Corridor by himself.
At this moment, Zuo Zongtang's Chinese army was able to walk safely and smoothly on the Hexi Corridor. They only encountered harassment from flying sand and rocks instead of continuous rebel attacks. Xu Zhanbiao's Shu army took the greatest credit here.
After pacifying Suzhou, Zuo Zongtang ordered Xu Zhanbiao to station in Guazhou City, the capital of Anxi Prefecture, and began to eliminate the rebels in Anxi Prefecture. By 1871, all the post roads from Guazhou to Xingxingxia were controlled by the Qing army.
Although the general direction of history has not changed, the subtleties have also quietly changed!
It was precisely because of Xiao Letian's appearance that the situation in East Asia changed at that time. Several wars with France and Tsarist Russia greatly depleted the enemy's strength.
The Agub rebels, who had received a lot of military aid from Tsarist Russia in history, did not receive that much in this world. Perhaps he himself did not know that a large amount of Tsarist Russian supplies consumed in the war in the Far East should have been given to him.
Agubai did not receive as much military aid as in real history, so he naturally did not have more supplies for the Gansu and Shaanxi rebels. However, Zuo Zongtang's Hunan Army received a lot of advanced military aid due to its good relationship with the Chinese.
This gap alone caused a great deviation in history. According to the real historical summary, even the rebellion in Gansu and Shaanxi was not quelled in 1871, but now the entire territory of Gansu and Shaanxi has been recovered, and Xu Zhanbiao's army has already reached the stars. gorge!
Only one day after the flying pigeon passed the message, Xu Zhanbiao received the military order from Commander Zuo. When he learned that there was a British expedition team on the bitter cold grassland in the north, walking in the wind and snow on the way back home, this Shuzhong The general's eyes turned red.
"What a good man! What a good man! If you dare to walk in this solar term, Kebuduo, Zasak Tuhan...you have the guts! Come here, point me to the general's camp!"
The military drums sounded in the small general's camp in Guazhou City, and the generals and commanders from each battalion hurried over on horseback wearing helmets and crowns!
In the important military town in the northwest, a Sichuan accent can be heard, which makes the local people feel very strange!
"Time is running out, so I won't waste everyone's time! Pass the commander-in-chief's order... After receiving the military order, our cavalry formally stormed the Xingxing Gorge. After occupying the last pass, the cavalry went deep into the hinterland of Hami and continued to harass and fight..."
"This battle is not about gains and losses in one city or one place. What we want is to hold back all the five thousand cavalry that Aguba put here and drag them to the Hami area, instead of sending a single soldier to Zhenxi Mansion in the north... …”
ah? The generals were stunned for a moment, "This weather? Cavalry harassment? We are not afraid of fighting... But the non-combat attrition in this weather will definitely be huge!"
"Our Shu army is not afraid of dying in battle, but we are fearless enough to freeze to death...this? This, this, this..."
With a bang, Xu Zhanbiao snapped at the military case, "I have to fight this battle even if I freeze to death! And let me tell you, I have to be at the front in the first battle to attack Xingxingxia!"
"Even if I die, I will be the first to die! You know how to use a hammer! The five thousand turtle sons that Agubai placed in Hami...are all of no use!"
"Take out all the six newly delivered Huashan cannons! Take away all the shells as well, and give them a good beating!"
"Now that the general has made his decision, we are all going to risk it...but the general has to let the brothers understand it! We can also encourage him..."
Xu Zhanbiao stretched out his hand and pointed at the map, "Did you know that Tacheng sent a British expedition team more than forty days ago, and the British Gordon, the admiral general of the victorious army during the Long Mao War, is the captain!"
"This expedition team also brings Lord Long Live's imperial guards... What are they doing in the northwest? Why don't they want to see with your own eyes how we fight! Lord Long Live has not forgotten us warriors and has personally sent his cronies here!"
"Right now, the expedition team has almost arrived at Zhasak Tuhan! They are looking for an opportunity to go south and enter the territory of Anxi Prefecture... If we don't lure Aquba's soldiers away at this time, who will attract them!"
With just this sentence, the entire General Hall was in an uproar, and all the fighting men were so excited that they couldn't sit still!
"Really? Really? Hahaha...Long Live Lord actually sent an imperial envoy to see us?"
"Finally, our lives have not been in vain! Nothing to say, just follow the command of the commander-in-chief, let alone the snow, we still have to fight this battle!"
"You are not afraid of death when you are fighting, but you are afraid that your death will be meaningless...fuck you!"
Xu Zhanbiao stretched out his hand to suppress these excited men, "Actually, I think this battle is not difficult to fight! In the past few months, our detailed operations west of Xingxing Gorge have sent countless intelligence. After careful analysis, it seems that those people in Agub are It’s really the end of the line!”
"Look! Although Agubai's power has annexed the entire southern Xinjiang and the surrounding areas of Dihua in northern Xinjiang, he also has his army in Turpan, Hami, and Zhenxi Prefecture in the east!"
"But Hami Mansion and Zhenxi Mansion were captured last, and they also relied on the deserters of the Gansu and Shaanxi rebels... His power in these two areas is very weak!"
"Where is Hami? Hami is the first gateway into and out of Xinjiang, and the Xingxing Gorge post road is the lifeline of road traffic in the entire Xinjiang!"
"Hami and Zhenxi are home to Uighurs, Hans, Hui tribes, and Mongolians... many ethnic groups gather here, and there are many caravans. The people here are more civilized than those in southern Xinjiang... To put it bluntly, they have seen real markets and know how the Han people are. How rich life is!"
"It's actually very difficult to promote Aguba's approach here. We can easily get the support of the people!"
"The latest information shows that five thousand Aguba cavalry have already plundered Hami and Zhenxi to a great extent. The people have been poor due to years of war, but now even their food rations have been taken away!"
"Do you think this is an opportunity? Let me tell you, let's bring all the portable food to this war! It will definitely be miraculous by then!"
The atmosphere in the General Hall suddenly became lively. They were all veterans of the war, and they did not need to bang heavy hammers to sound the drums. At that time, a combat plan for the three-arms assault was formulated.
The entire Guazhou suddenly became chaotic. More than 6,000 Shu army elite cavalry from twelve battalions began to move their defenses, and local civilians hired with tens of thousands of dollars began to help the army transport supplies.
There are only twelve Huashan cannons sold by the Chinese. These precious cannons are transported on two-horse carts like eyeballs, and the shells are separated by straw.
The warehouse was opened, and boxes of compressed biscuits, Ryukyu black rock candy, canned beef... not a single bit of this portable military ration was left behind and all were transported away with the army.
Anyway, Marshal Zuo has made it clear that he has reached a fundraising agreement with the Chinese people. From now on, the Western Region Investment Bank will handle all the food, drink, and diarrhea of the army.
If Xiao Letian's family has great achievements, who will eat him if he doesn't? Don’t save anyone, just eat with all your heart!
It is a total of three hundred miles from Guazhou to the front line of Xingxing Gorge. The cavalry will arrive in one and a half days with their baggage in two days at the latest!
The northwest wind during this period also provided cover for the army. When the Aguba rebels in Xingxing Gorge saw Xu Zhanbiao's military flag, they were not prepared at all.
