Chapter 189 Zuo Zongtang pacifies Guanlong (6)
That night, Zongtang sent a letter to the Prime Minister's Yamen: The Russians have been in Yili for a long time, and their feelings are beyond words. Respectfully hold on to the correct opinions and reject them, completely shutting their mouths and taking away their breath. Only since ancient times, the distinction between prosperity and decline, strength and weakness, is based on reason and power. In the current situation, China's military power cannot be used to inflict heavy losses on those who have decided to revolt, so how can they prevent the Russians from seizing the opportunity?
In Xinjiang, Marquis Rong was deeply entrenched, and Jingdu had only a few troops to protect him. The armies on the rear route have been engaged in protracted campaigns for a long time. Although the number of troops has increased, there are still many shortages, they are as redundant as usual, and they have no fighting spirit. I hope that he can conquer the key points and go to the army quickly, but he is really not sure. He is also worried that the enemy will increase the trouble and make him more miserable in the future.
Gan, Liang, Su, Dunhuang, and Yumen all produce grain and livestock in Benguang. Since the rise of the army, donations have been frequent and the people have been depleted. The grain has been exhausted but the livestock is empty. Now the only remaining people are all skinned and bones; most of the cultivated land is deserted year after year, how unimaginable!
Therefore, Zongtang wanted to arrange things from within and plan things anew. As far as military affairs are concerned, if you want the Du'er people to be cunning, you must first conquer the Fen tribe, and if you want to harvest Yili, you must first conquer Urumqi. If Wucheng is restored, I will strengthen my military power, build up the garrison as a long-term plan, and appease the Rong to calm down their farming and herding habits, it will not succeed, but it is obvious that it cannot be violated! The situation in Wucheng is solid, and then it is clearly stated that the territory of Yili and our territory are not allowed to be used by others.
Suzhou can be obtained within the year. Once it is obtained, select a person who is dedicated to the task, attach importance to his commission and pay, and set up a general grain station in Suzhou to handle its dispatch and receipt, and merge the various military specialties into one. Depending on the situation, the generals who have left the border will be selected, and they will advance into a quick battle and capture Urumqi suddenly.
Yi Xin, the chief minister of the Prime Minister's Office and Prince Gong, received the letter and replied: Don't worry, Mr. Zuo, capture Suzhou and then define Xinjiang.
Emperor Tongzhi received Zongtang's two memorials and quickly issued an edict: "According to Zuo Zongtang's memorial, the salary of Lu Mi was postponed, and his behavior was erratic." When the scriptures ordered Mutushan to perform a secret investigation, he was ordered to perform a secret investigation. According to Mu Tushan's re-examination, Cheng Lu didn't know how to check and control, and there was a reason for participating in the payment. According to Zuo Zongtang's report, Chenglu falsely accused Liang of being a bandit and killed more than 200 people. This admiral has a bad heart and a serious crime, and it is really difficult to tolerate him for a day.
The deputy capital commander, Jin Shun, immediately took charge of his troops, and went out to take charge of Chenglu's troops. He sent an order to Chenglu to be dismissed from his post and asked for questioning. On the same day, he selected and dispatched personnel to Beijing to await punishment. There should be no delay or any delay. Give way.
Zongtang, the left minister, was responsible for the military affairs of Shaanxi and Gansu. He declared his strength for several years, and the local area was gradually cleared, and the great work was completed soon. All subsequent aftermath matters and the management of people's livelihood depend on the minister's careful planning.
When it comes to Xinjiang’s military affairs, we must plan the arrangements from within or re-predict and regulate them. In the future, when the army leaves the customs, important ministers will be needed inside the customs to pacify them, as well as to raise pay, food, and transshipment. This will especially depend on the strength of the ministers to manage and deploy the troops so that the enemy's battalions in front of them will not have to worry about their rear. The minister has the overall situation in mind and has planned for this in advance. As soon as the Gan territory is leveled, we must first make an overall plan for the payment and military affairs, and report them according to the facts.
The imperial court is so deep that it can't suddenly retreat from its ambitions. Take one month off to rest and recuperate. The military situation in Hezhou and Suzhou is still recorded in detail at any time to comfort the relationship.
Zongtang accepted the order and said: "This is the beginning of my emperor's personal reign. I hope his ambitions will be fulfilled."
Curtain guest Yu Shaonan said: "There is a rumor in the palace that our emperor and Empress Dowager Ci'an were very pleased with Alute, the daughter of the number one scholar Chongqi, so they appointed her as queen." The Empress Dowager Cixi was very angry, saying that because the empress was young and lacked etiquette, the emperor was not allowed to go to the middle palace to attend to government affairs. Concubine Hui was a virtuous concubine, so even though she was relegated to the position of concubine, she should be given more attention.
Zongtang sighed and said, "Mother Yan is the only one who has authority. It's hard to explain her authority!" We are chatty people, so we do this too much; the war in Suzhou is in full swing. Xu Zhanbiao reported that on the 15th of last month, Ma Wenlu led all the Fen bandits out of the city and stormed our army's camp; on the 15th of this month, Ma went out of the city again and joined forces with the Baiyan tiger bandits to attack our army; on the 21st, Ma Wenlu set up an ambush, went out of the city to lure me, and executed him. I have more than 200 people.
Yu Shaonan said: "Don't worry, Commander Zuo. Jin Shun, Song Qing, Zhang Yao and other 40 battalions of troops will arrive soon to join Xu Zhanbiao's troops. There are a total of 60 battalions of more than 30,000 troops, which is enough to besiege the city and destroy the thieves."
Zongtang said: The city of Suzhou is strong and vast, and Ma Wenlu has been working hard for eight years. The muskets and cannons are very difficult to explode. Are the mountain-splitting cannons, screw cannons and imitation Prussian seven-shot breech guns made by the Lanzhou Machinery Bureau practical? ?
Yu Shaonan said: "Qi Zuo Commander, they have experienced actual combat, and the soldiers all praise that their power is no less than that of the barbarians."
Zongtang said: "Lai Junmen has many talents, and he is especially good at developing guns and artillery. He is a rare talent. I will ask my emperor again to discuss the situation."
On May 15, 1873, Xu Zhanbiao's Pioneer Battalion, Jinshun Eight Banners Army, Song Qingyi Army, Deng Zeng Artillery Battalion, Yang Shijun, and Tao Shenglin's Lao Xiang Army gathered at the foot of Suzhou City.
Song Qing, the commander of Yijun, said to Xu Zhanbiao: "How many bandits are there in and around Suzhou City?" I heard that last month Commander Xu engaged in a battle with Hui, and Ma Wenlu dug people's hearts out to sacrifice the flag. Ma Wenlu became violent and Ling Chi Cunzhen, I can't understand my hatred!
Xu Zhanbiao, the commander of Guoyong's battalion, was on his way; Ta'er Bay was broken, and the remnants of Bai Yanhu's troops refused to patrol forward. In Suzhou City, there are still the remnants of Agubai's 3,000 fennel, Ma Zhenguo's 2,000 Tufen and Ma Wenlu's 3,000 fennel. Ma Wenlu, Fenmu, was originally the commander of Zhenbiao Dusi. He was good at using a fork and a spear, and he could hit the target without fail from a distance of three hundred paces.
Deputy Commander Jin Shundao: Commander Zuo's self-made seven-shot breech-loading gun can hit a distance of five hundred steps; Ma Wenlu's death has come! Dongguan and Suzhou are closely connected. If you want to defeat Suzhou, you must first defeat Dongguan. My artillery is powerful. I can use the flowering cannon, the mountain-splitting cannon, and the Krupp breech-loading cannon to bombard me once and for all.
On May 28, Deng Zeng's artillery team fired a volley of hundreds of guns for seven days, destroying dozens of Dongguan walls and battlements. Qing troops from all walks of life swarmed in and captured Dongguan.
Dongguan was lost and Suzhou's gate was wide open. Xu Zhanbiao, Song Qing, Jin Shun, Yang Shijun and others quickly formed a camp, built forts, installed artillery, dug trenches, and besieged the enemy.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Bai Yanhu abandoned Suzhou and fled to the west to attack Ma.
Ma Wenlu also knew that he was doomed and wanted to abandon the city many times. However, there were many forts outside the city and soldiers everywhere.
On June 6, the Qing army fired all guns and artillery and attacked the city brazenly. After two months of continuous attack, more than a thousand corpses were left without any advance.
Zongtang heard the news and came to supervise the battle in person.
All the soldiers worked hard, regardless of their own safety, and guerrilla Zhang Lin and general Yang Shijun died in battle.
The food supplies in Suzhou City had also been exhausted. Ma Wenlu was unable to advance or retreat and was so troubled that he carried out a massacre for three days to vent his anger.
Zongtang was shocked and hurriedly summoned his generals, saying: Although the Suzhou city wall is strong, it must be destroyed within a month! Building strongholds and dredging trenches, adding troops to besiege, digging into the ground and blasting walls, and bombarding the city to defeat it are all ways to destroy the city. Liu Jintang arrived and joined hands with the princes to fight to the death.
On the tenth day of September, Liu Jintang led 2,000 troops and rushed there.
Cui Wei, the camp officer who returned to Fenmu and Jingshan Camp, said: "I have reported to General Liu that after half a siege of the city, Suzhou's food supplies have been exhausted, and the people in the city are eating each other!" I thought that the people in the city were in panic and no longer had the will to fight. Under the bid, he led more than a hundred light cavalry and circled the city shouting, disrupting his will!
On that day, Cui Wei and others went around the city shouting: Suzhou is about to be destroyed, Ma Wenlu's death is coming, please make your own plans!
The foreign voice was "tsk tsk, tsk tsk", and the listener was attentive. Suddenly, more than a hundred soldiers with guns and ammunition entered the camp gate, tied up Ma Wenlu and others, and escorted them to Zuo Zongtang's camp.
Ma Wenlu paid homage to Zongtang and said, "Commander Qi, we are willing to surrender. We are willing to lead the generals to suppress the rebellion outside the pass and redeem our sins with our merits!"
Zongtang said: "My minister has raised 30,000 troops, and Erhui has 7,000 troops. The two armies are facing each other. If they fight, they will fight, and if they die, they will die!" It is life and death. But when you are at the end of your rope, you wantonly kill 20,000 defenseless and weak people! Is there any justice? You have no conscience, you are immortal, the sky is covered with dust! Immediately pass on my order to the minister, all the fenmu people in Suzhou City will be killed, and not a blade of grass will be left!
Suzhou was conquered, and Ganlongping was reached. Emperor Tongzhi was very happy, and quickly issued an edict: Zuo Zongtang had made great achievements in suppressing bandits, and was awarded the title of co-organizer of the bachelor's degree, and the rank of first-class light chariot captain. Jinshun was punished by reinstatement and dismissal, and he was rewarded with a yellow mantle and a clear title of "Yong" in Hua Ling. Admiral Song Qing was particularly brave and wore a pair of flower feathers. Liu Jintang made an indispensable contribution to Jinji Fort by storming directly, and was rewarded with the rank of captain of the first-class light carriage. Yuan Baoheng, Zhan Shifu of Zhan Shi Mansion, raised military salary without any mistakes, and rewarded the top rank.
