Zhao Xin and his beauties happily inspected the area, while Liu Sheng and Fan Tong had to continue their military operations.
The importance of capturing Cullen City lies in its symbolic significance, but the actual significance is actually not much. Liu Sheng did not move the headquarters into the Office of the Minister of Affairs, but set it up at Tulahetai Station forty miles south of Kulun; he was annoyed when he saw those towering temple buildings, and as for those wearing The lama in red gave him a toothache even more. So he was too lazy to contact these people, and left all negotiations to Fan Tong and two staff officers.
The Northern Navy troops stayed outside Cullen for eight days, mainly cleaning the battlefield and burying corpses. The Mongolian funeral ceremony advocates nature and does not pay attention to luxury. Generally, they are buried deeply without leaving traces. This does not damage the grassland vegetation and does not affect grazing. According to the instructions of the captured prisoners of war, the bodies of the Tushetu Khan tribe and the Chechen Khan tribe were buried separately; and messy things such as flags were burned.
Taking into account the customs of the Mongols, after consultation and communication between Fan Tong and Zhangqibul Doji, more than a hundred lamas were invited from Danba Darji Temple to recite sutras and salvation for the Mongolian cavalry who died in the battle. Because it lasted seven days, Fan Tong specially took 100 kilograms of tea bricks and 100 pieces of blue cotton cloth from the logistics as the cost of inviting the lama.
The move of the Beihai Navy was a big surprise to the Mongolian herdsmen. When the ceremony continued on the second day, herders in twos and threes walked out of Kulun City and came to the place where the corpse was buried to worship. Seeing this, Fan Tong ingeniously set up ten large pots near the ceremony place and cooked rye porridge with tea leaves; anyone who wants to drink it can do it for free!
Good guy, now the people of Kulun City were in a state of excitement, and they went out of the city in droves to drink porridge. On the sixth day of the salvation ceremony, many herdsmen even came from more than a hundred miles away. Fan Tongtong saw it and quickly sent a telegram to Zhang Jingxuan, who was in charge of logistics coordination, asking him to transport another 200 tons of grain from Kyaktu.
After the Battle of the Tula River, the Northern Navy captured more than 500 prisoners. In addition to the wounded who needed to be sent to field hospitals for treatment, more than 200 others would decide their whereabouts after receiving an education. For these illiterate Mongolian archers, grandiose principles are of no use at all, and it is more important to be practical.
When the prisoners drank the fragrant butter tea and gnawed two rye cakes with uneasiness, the Mongolian soldiers from the Northern Navy appeared on the scene. They wanted to say three things to the prisoners, and there were more. Can't remember either.
The Mongolian soldier who spoke was young, only in his early twenties. He held a loudspeaker and his voice was so loud that it made the ears of the prisoners buzz.
"As long as they still side with the evil Manchu Qing court and are enemies of the Beihai Navy, we will mercilessly eliminate them! Anyone who is not an enemy of us is a good brother!"
"From now on, the various ministries under the rule of Beihai Town will no longer draft soldiers and send slaves, and there will no longer be slaves. Everyone, including the prince Taiji Lama, is equal regardless of high or low!"
A group of prisoners heard this in confusion, with disapproving expressions on their faces. All equal? Stop joking! Who doesn't know that Prince Taiji and the great Lama Na are both born noble people, while they themselves are humble people reduced to dust.
At this time, a Mongolian soldier of the Northern Navy standing opposite saw the expressions of the prisoners, and immediately raised the loudspeaker in his hand and asked loudly: "What? You don't believe it?"
No one among the prisoners spoke, so who the hell dared to say they didn’t believe it? If you lose your life by talking nonsense, those two rye pancakes just now will be in vain.
At this moment, I heard the soldier covering his heart with his right hand and saying: "My previous name was Harinao Hai. I used to herd cattle for the Buddha in Qingning Temple. I was a slave without a surname! But now, I have a surname, Yun. It’s called Yunyan!”
The prisoners sitting below all raised their heads and looked at Yunyan in surprise. They did not expect that the Beihai Navy would even accept slaves and even give him a surname to open an account. This was really a great blessing.
Harinaohai means "black dog". Like the Han people, the Mongolians, who lack medical care and medicine, also give their children base names in order to make ghosts and gods look down upon them and gain peace. But Black Dog is not. Since his grandfather's generation, his family has been slaves for the lamas to herd, so he does not deserve a good name.
The surname "Yun" was given by Liu Sheng. He once had a classmate with the surname Yun, who was Mongolian, so he used it. Later, many Mongolian soldiers in the Northern Navy had the surname Yun. But Liu Sheng didn't know that the Mongolian surname Yun actually came from the Tumut Left Banner. The surname Yun was not random, there was a reason.
In 1578, Amada Khan named Sonamcuo, the living Buddha of the Gelug sect, as "Da Lai III". Later, the third Dalai reincarnated into Amada Khan's home and named him Yundan Gyatso. From this, among Amada Khan's descendants Some people began to use the word "cloud" in their names. In the Qing Dynasty, as the Sinicization of the Tumut area deepened, the word Yun gradually evolved into a surname.
It is said that after Liu Sheng did this, decades later, the Mongolians with the surname Yun in the entire Mongolian region were divided into two groups-Beiyun and Nanyun. The Mongolians surnamed Yun in the south are all descendants of Ada Khan and claim to be descendants of the Golden Family, but most of them have become ordinary people; while many people in the northern Yunli are serving in the army and have become guards of Khalkha Mongolia and Siberia. Backbone.
At this time, I heard a prisoner below say disdainfully: "Oh, it's just a ransom fee. When I save enough money, I can redeem myself and open an account with Taiji Butler."
I bet this man is also a slave. Although the slave class in Mongolian society in the Qing Dynasty was small in number, it was relatively solid and always struggled at the bottom of society. These people are called "Bohanle" in Mongolian. There are several sources. First, they are those who violated the law and were deregistered as slaves; second, they were financially bankrupt and sold themselves into slavery; third, they are immigrants who have no household registration in the banner.
Although the law at this time allowed slaves to pay a large ransom fee and become civilians, the problem was that everyone was so poor that no one could afford it. So those slaves continued to work for the flag owners and lamas from generation to generation in order to survive.
Yun Yan couldn't help but laugh and said: "After you open an account, you are still a slave!"
The prisoner was furious. Just as he was about to stand up, he was held back by his companions on both sides.
"What's wrong? Do you think I made a mistake and am embarrassed? Ask the people around you, how many of them are free citizens? Do you dare to say no to the flag leader? If you are asked to work hard, you must work hard. I ask you to go to Karen as an errand, do you dare not to go?"
"Do you dare to eat a bite of the meat of the cattle and sheep you have raised by yourself?! The foal born from the mare, no matter how strong it is, is it going to be given to the princes and Taijis as mounts? All year round, we rely on We filled our stomachs with goat's milk and dried milk, and relied on the wool that the gentlemen gave us in exchange for salt and tea. These were the days of free people, and we slaves had to rely on their grace to even find a wife. ! Why? Just because you are poor? Just because you are so hungry that you steal a bite of food? Or because you lost two sheep?!"
"I..." The prisoner lowered his head in frustration and helplessness. He had never thought about such a problem. Yes, why?
A prisoner who was nearly forty years old said: "It has been like this on the grassland for thousands of years. What's the use of it? Recite Buddha's name well and make more offerings to the Buddha, so that you can have a good pregnancy in the next life and no longer live such a miserable life. .”
Yun Yan glared at the other party and said: "Reincarnation? Do you deserve to be alive in this life?!"
Seeing that the prisoners were silent, he then made a shocking statement: "To tell you the truth, there is no ransom fee at all in Beihai Town, and there are no slaves. Everyone is a free citizen! Even our commander-in-chief, with his Thousands of troops, what they eat and wear every day is no different from me, a big-headed soldier!"
Buzz~~ Now many of the prisoners couldn't sit still and began to chatter. Yun Yan walked up to the prisoner who had just tried to challenge him and asked in a kind tone: "Brother, what is your name?"
"I, my name is Xirigoulige..." The other party's voice was very low, but it still caused a burst of chuckles from the surrounding prisoners. His name means "yellow paparazzi."
Yun Yan said: "Stay and follow us."
Xirigoulig shook his head and said, "My mother-in-law is already over fifty..."
"Is she the only one in the family?"
"There is also a younger brother who is five years younger than me."
"That's all. I'll stay and do chores for two months. I'll feed you three meals a day. I'll give you fifty pounds of flour a month as wages and clothes. If you can work until winter, I'll give you another one. Head sheep.”
Xirigoulige looked at Yunyan blankly, with an expression of disbelief on his face, and the prisoners around him were also stunned. Three meals a day, clothes distributed, fifty kilograms of flour a month given to the sheep, and just doing chores. How can such a good thing happen in the world?
One of the prisoners pinched his thigh hard, and the pain he felt showed that this was definitely not a dream.
"How about it? Do you want to do it?" Yunyan patted Xi Rigoulige's shoulder.
A prisoner behind Xirigoulige said: "Brother Yun, are you telling the truth? You don't need us to help you fight with your life?"
"Haha, do you think we need your help in fighting the war?"
"Uh..." The prisoner was startled when he heard this, and then smiled awkwardly.
Xirigoulige finally nodded slowly and hesitantly, and said in a deep voice: "Then I'll do it."
"Count me in."
"And I."
As a result, the North Korean Navy in charge of publicity did not even mention the standards for severance pay. More than 200 prisoners had already become members of the North Korean Navy's Logistics Department. They will be scattered and resettled. They will be mainly responsible for taking care of the horses that pull the carts. Others will be responsible for helping the herdsmen buy sheep and cattle, helping the cooking soldiers of various ministries to carry water and chop firewood, etc.
On July 26, the 12th Regiment, which served as the vanguard, took the lead in setting off southward, marching towards the Bukuk Station 60 miles away, followed closely by 15 armored vehicles, a cavalry battalion and the corresponding logistics team. All follow-up troops will set off before the end of July, and by then only one garrison battalion will remain here in Cullen.
There is still a 900-mile journey from Tulahetai Station to Serwusutai, the key node that connects Uliasutai and Inner Mongolia. According to the troops' daily marching speed of 60 miles, it will take more than ten days to get there.
After arriving at each station along the way, the leading troops will first carry out some work such as feeding and trimming the horses, and then wait for the logistics team to arrive the next day to resupply and set off again. At this time, the logistics troops had to be busy renovating the station, building warehouses, fortifications, and setting up radio stations to welcome the arrival of the large group of people from behind.
Liu Sheng thought very clearly that the most important thing at the moment was not the marching speed, but to ensure the safety of the transportation lines, firmly control every station, and move forward steadily.
You must know that station lines are not only used for military purposes, but also for commercial routes. As long as Serwusutai is blocked and Shanxi merchants are isolated from the four hundred miles of Gobi, Beihai Town will control the commercial channels leading to the west and north. When autumn comes, no matter whether it is the Tuxietu Khan tribe, the Chechen Khan tribe, Sanyin Nuoyan or even Tangnu Ulianghai, they will all become grasshoppers on the hot pot, obediently going to Kulun or Chacha. Ketu did business with Beihai Town to prepare supplies for the winter.
Now let’s talk about the “Southern Detachment” on the Western Front.
After setting off by boat from Chiyan City on July 5, after six days of sailing, the first thing they had to face was the Russian castle of Amukhabashang, which was also Tsarist Russia’s first castle on the Yenisei River. A large military fortress. Amukhabaishang was the name of the Qing court, and the Russians called it "Abakan".
Since all ships coming down the Yenisei River must pass under the castle, it is no surprise that the "Southern Detachment" must capture this place to avoid even being blocked by others.
Although the Russians built the castle tall and majestic and tightly guarded it, the wooden materials could not withstand the bombardment of the Northern Navy's artillery shells. When the five mortars mounted on the flat-bottomed boats fired more than fifty shells in a row, the Russian troops and the conscripted men stationed in the castle were already covered with casualties. Before the ground troops could launch an attack, the local garrison commander had already flown a white flag and left the city to surrender.
In order not to waste time, Hu Ji, who led the "Southward Detachment", notified the garrison commander and chief executive of Abakan, ordering them to go to Chiyan City to handle the surrender matters before the end of July and wait for the local garrison chief's announcement, otherwise they would have to wait for them. What will happen is another bombing campaign by the North Navy.
After that, the "Southward Detachment" set out again, uprooting many Russian military strongholds along the way one by one. By the time they passed through the canyon of the Sayan Mountains and arrived at Kmukmqik all the way through the arduous journey, it was already the end of July.
The sudden appearance of the Northern Navy in the Tangnu Ulianghai area stunned the Mongolians grazing here. They thought it was the Rakshasa people who had invaded. Since most of the archers from Zasak in Tangnu Ulianghai were recruited to Uliasutai, after the Northern Navy crossed the border, except for the few Karen posts along the way, they could not be seen for hundreds of miles. to the Mongol cavalry.
When the fleet went all the way east, crossed Wenggon Mountain, and entered the territory of the Sarajik Ulianghai Banner, the Mongols finally reacted. More than 3,000 cavalrymen composed of temporarily recruited herdsmen came to Zasak in various departments. Under the leadership of Tai Ji, they surrounded him from all directions.
The problem is that it is now the rainy season. As the upper reaches of the Yenisei River, the Wakmu River has many tributaries and abundant water. The Northern Navy's flat-bottomed boats have no problem sailing; the most terrible thing is that except for a small number of small fishing boats, the Khalkha Mongols Outside, there are no big ships at all. The Mongolian cavalry who came one after another first drove small boats and even gathered on both sides of the river to shoot arrows at the fleet. However, the bullets fired from the boats quickly drove the cavalry away, and the fishing boats were also hit by rockets. Shen made the Taijis who led the team jump in anger.
However, when the fleet went south along the Barji River and crossed Lake Tribo for five miles, it could no longer move forward. Huji immediately ordered the troops to abandon the ship and land ashore. Under the leadership of the guide, they headed towards Bayan Brak at a rapid march speed.
At this time, the Mongolian cavalry chasing behind them was only two days away from them, and the 20,000 troops sent by the Qing Dynasty from Uliasutai, who were preparing to use the Kyaktu Western Front Military Platform to copy the Northern Navy's back path, were also at this time. Just completed the assembly and are heading towards Bayan Brak.
As a result, both sides originally planned to take a retreat, but an unexpected battle began in the valley of the Tes River.
