On September 19, 1793, on the second day of the new imperial examination in Beihai Town, an extremely important military meeting was held in the city of Khovd, thousands of kilometers away.
Before nine o'clock in the morning, more than fifty officers and staff officers from the Western Front of the Northern Navy arrived at a conference room in the compound of the Military Control Commission in Khovd City.
This place is located in the southwest corner of Khovd City. It used to be the government office of the Counselor of Khovd. The meeting place is the renovated second hall of the government office, facing south and facing north, with five rooms in front, which is spacious enough.
When all the participating officers arrived and everything was ready, as the officer on duty outside the door shouted "stand at attention", Liu Sheng and Fan Tong, followed by four guards, strode in.
The two first greeted and talked with the officers attending the meeting, and the officers also smiled, saluted and exchanged greetings. The atmosphere in the conference hall was warm and natural. After everyone sat down one after another, the officer on duty looked around inside and outside, and then nodded to Fan Tong.
"Everyone be quiet!" Fan Tong stood up and announced the start of the meeting, and the room gradually calmed down.
"Today, we are holding an important meeting here, which includes the brigade commanders, regimental commanders, battalion commanders and operational staff officers of the Western Front troops. I would like to remind everyone that in addition to the formal orders issued after the meeting, other matters involved in the meeting The content must be kept strictly confidential and must not be disclosed to the outside world! Commander Liu is now invited to speak!"
Well, in order to meet future combat needs, with the approval of Zhao Xin, the North Navy's troops stationed in Khalkha were upgraded to the "Western Front Theater Command" two days ago, and Liu Sheng's title was also changed from "General Commander" Became "commander" and Fan Tong became "deputy commander and political commissar". As for the chief of staff of Jiang Fan Jiang Ziping assigned to the two, he is still handling the handover in Hulunbuer. It is estimated that it will be the end of the year when he arrives here.
After Liu Sheng stood up, he first glanced around with his piercing eyes, and then said in a deep voice: "Some of you may know that three months ago, we set up a post in Olan Brak. We learned from two merchants from the ancient city that the Kokand Khanate sent troops to invade Kashgar. Because it was just a rumor and there was no conclusive evidence, we did not take action at that time.
However, the command received a telegram from the Northern Navy Staff yesterday, confirming this statement, because the Manchu and Qing court had received a six hundred-mile expedited order from General Yili! Nowadays, the Manchu and Qing Dynasties are thinking about their head and not their body, and they no longer care about the affairs in Congling. For this reason, the Northern Navy Command ordered us to immediately send troops south to seize the three key points of the ancient city, Barkol, and Hami before winter, completely cut off the station line from Jiayuguan to Xinjiang East Road, and never allow the Urumqi defenders to Escape eastward! "
As soon as he finished speaking, the conference room immediately became agitated. After waiting for two years, it is finally going south!
Liu Sheng turned around and came to the north wall behind his seat. There were two huge cyan curtains hanging on the wall. The staff officer on the side gently pulled the connecting rope. One curtain covered part of Khalkha, the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, and Central Asia. A huge map of the area slowly appeared in front of everyone's eyes.
"We have been fighting against the Manchu Qing Dynasty for seven years. Everyone here and even the soldiers below now feel that the Manchu Qing Dynasty is a paper tiger, which can be broken with a poke. This is true. Whether it is the Eight Banners soldiers or the Green Battalion, in front of us It was just being pressed to the ground and rubbed. It took us almost a year to widen and rebuild the post roads of more than a thousand miles of South Khovd Road. Even a blind man understood what we were going to do next."
As soon as these words came out, everyone in the room showed a smile, but Liu Sheng's next words and serious tone made their hearts suddenly tighten.
"But I want to warn you, this idea is unacceptable! Since ancient times, there has never been a victorious army, let alone a victorious general! The total area of the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains is more than two million square kilometers, which is larger than Khalkha. Both the terrain and the people's sentiments are larger than Khalkha is a hundred times more complicated!
From now on, all of you must always remember that going south to the Tianshan Mountains is not just about occupying and defending these two million square kilometers, but about taking the overall situation of the entire Central Asia region into consideration. This time, we are likely to fight all the way to the west of Congling, where the people's sentiments, terrain, and climate are even more complicated. If we are not careful, we will lose everything! "
As Liu Sheng said this, Fan Tong also unconsciously thought of several powerful countries in another time and space, all of which were confused and defeated by the complex climate and terrain of the Pamir Plateau and the Hindu Kush Mountains. There is the famous "Imperial Cemetery", which is scary just thinking about it.
"Boss Zhao is so ambitious! But what he said in yesterday's telegram is quite reasonable, but it's just too fast to crack." Fan Tong sighed secretly in his heart.
Well, Zhao Xin’s ambitions were based on careful and multi-faceted considerations. He didn't think so much at first, he just wanted to inherit the Manchu rule in the Tianshan and Congling areas.
However, when he calmed down and considered the situation in the entire Central Asia region, he found that his thinking was too simple.
After many discussions and exchanges of opinions between him and Liu Sheng, Wu Siyu, Wang Yuanfang and others, and after consulting suggestions from Chen Qingsong and others, Beihai Town's strategic plan for the Tianshan area was finally formed.
That is, on the basis of stabilizing the north and south roads of the Tianshan Mountains, we must leave Congling in the west and enter the west of the Pamir Plateau to expand the original western territory.
It is said that after a long-term unification war, the Manchu Qing Dynasty finally eliminated the Junggar tribe 35 years ago, quelled the Hezhuo rebellion, unified the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, and once again extended the territory of the Central Plains dynasty to the Pamir Plateau since the Han and Tang Dynasties. At present, the political structure of western Central Asia is also in the midst of intense turmoil and reorganization; and in this process, the surrounding areas of the Pamirs have become the center stage of conflicts and games between the central dynasty and the Central Asian powers.
The first to bear the brunt was the decline of the "Bukhara Khanate" and the establishment of the "Mangote Dynasty". The new rulers continued to launch wars in order to eliminate the separatist forces in the territory, causing the Khanate to fall into long-term war. The turmoil in the river spread to the Pamir area, with Badakshan, Kokand Khanate, Kashgar and Afghans all involved in the civil strife.
On the other hand, Ahmed Shah, the chief of the Pashtun tribe who was once the general of the Bukhara Khanate, proclaimed himself king in Kandahar in July 1747, founded the Durrani dynasty, and became the founder of the Afghan state. During his reign, he continued to expand externally and conquered a vast area starting from Khorasan in the west, Kashmir in the east, the Amu Darya River in the north, and the Indus River Basin in the south. Afterwards, he launched an expedition and extended his power to the southwestern region of the Pamir Plateau.
In addition, the British East India Company and the Tsarist Russian Empire were also preparing to move, and their tentacles of colonial expansion were about to extend to the hinterland of Central Asia, forcing Zhao Xin to prepare in advance.
For example, the "Battle of Plachi" that took place 35 years ago was considered by later generations to be the beginning of the British East India Company's establishment of colonial rule in India. As a result, the British opened up a line from the Himalayas to the Pamirs. expansion pathway.
Then there is Tsarist Russia. Although they were beaten by the Northern Navy in Siberia, they have established multiple fortress lines on the Kazakh grasslands to divide and surround them. In addition, they also sent "missions" to various Central Asian khanates to collect intelligence and prepare for further encroachment and conquest.
For China at this time, among countries other than the Pamirs, Badakshan and Kokand, the two separate regimes after the disintegration of the Bukhara Khanate, were extremely important. Not only do they border China; they are also located at a strategic crossroads between the east and west, and have always been a battleground for military strategists; they are also the intermediaries that the Manchus must rely on in their exchanges with Bukhara, Afghanistan and other major countries in western Central Asia in recent years.
Although these two regimes both showed "submission and submission" to the Qing Dynasty after the "Big and Small Hezhuo Rebellion" was put down, they actually had their own purposes. The Badak Mountains, which were suffering from internal and external troubles, wanted to rely on the Manchu Qing Dynasty to gain protection; while the Kokand Khanate wanted to improve its prestige and benefit from the trade between the East and the West in order to unify Fergana and at the same time also exert influence on Kashgar. Coveted.
The reason why today's Kokand Khanate does not take the Manchus seriously and dares to send troops to Kashgar is because the news that the Manchus lost Khalkha reached the ears of the Khan. Thirty-five years ago, the Afghan mission was During the tribute process, provoking the Qing Dynasty's bottom line without being punished also encouraged their rebellious mentality.
Although the rule of the Manchu Qing Dynasty covered the Congling area, the reach of its military capabilities had reached its limit; compared with the Han and Tang Dynasties, the most notable feature was that it never used troops west of the Pamir Plateau. So when the Afghan mission's "disobedient act" occurred, the prestige of the Qing Empire in Central Asia suffered a heavy blow. Once the face of the Celestial Kingdom is no longer useful, the coveted people will take advantage of the situation and take action.
For Zhao Xin and others, the same reason was why the Northern Navy had not entered the Pass, and Liu Sheng had not gone south. We must know that once the Qing Dynasty's rule collapses in a chain, neighboring countries will take the opportunity to cause trouble, and the Northern Navy will be beyond its reach.
After the Manchu Qing unified southern Xinjiang thirty-five years ago, although they announced that they would not blame the descendants of the Hezhuo family, Samsak, the eldest son of Hezhuo Polonidu, fled to the Kokand Khanate. Because of the prestige of the Hezhuo family, in order to avoid causing dissatisfaction among their subjects, the rulers of Haokand tried to deal with the Qing court in every possible way.
At that time, Qianlong didn't take Samsak seriously because he was the only one directly connected to the Zhuo family. Later, after an investigation, he learned that he lived in poverty and was under control, so he didn't take it seriously anymore.
Although Qianlong was not a prophet and did not know what would happen in the future, Zhao Xin and the others knew it very well!
You must know that Samsak's two sons, Maimat Yusupu and Zhang Geer, are not fuel-efficient lamps. In the history of another time and space, the two men, their descendants and their descendants all became the tools of the Kokand Khanate to invade China.
Well, even though Maimat Yusupu is just thirteen years old this year and Zhang Geer is only three years old, his father Samsak is still alive and kicking! If this believer of the Baishan Sect, who has been suppressed by the Qing government, returns to Kashgar, it will be like having a bright light, and people will surely gather around him.
In these years, the Manchu Qing Dynasty's rule over the two ethnic groups in the Tianshan Mountains was superficially equal, but in reality, it adopted the method of "pulling one faction to fight against the other" in order to divide and disintegrate. Nowadays, in the Kashgar region, except for the third-rank Aqimu Bek and the fourth-rank Bek who are in charge of the same city, most of the lower-ranking Beks of the fifth, sixth and seventh ranks are from the Black Mountain sect.
Even though the White Mountain sect and the Black Mountain sect both belong to the Sunni sect, due to their different sects and different views, the two sects have been fighting bloody wars for decades. Their brains are leaking, and they have been enemies for generations.
Today's Baishan sect respects Hezhuo, while the Blackshan sect respects Manchu. On the surface, both sides are fine, but internal conflicts remain serious, especially in Kashgar, which has become a factor of long-term instability in the Pamir region. In the history of another time and space, it was not until the "Agubai Rebellion" was put down by Zuo Zongtang, and the Baishan Sect also declined, that the struggle between the two sides finally subsided.
When Liu Sheng finished explaining the entire situation on the Tianshan Road, the officers who had been taught a lesson suddenly realized.
Fan Tong then added something. He warned everyone present that in order to maintain the stability of the northern and southern routes of the Tianshan Mountains and completely eradicate the rebellion caused by the descendants of Hezhuo, we must closely integrate border affairs and border defense internally, and establish a system of military and political integration, military and civilian A unified border defense system; externally, we must eliminate the use and support of the descendants of Hezhuo by external forces.
Subsequently, a staff officer from the Western Front Command informed everyone about the enemy situation on the East Road of Xinjiang. Today's Hami, Gucheng, Barkol and Turpan areas are under dual management by the Manchu and Qing governors of Shaanxi and Gansu and the governor of Urumqi; the former is responsible for money and grain affairs, and the latter is responsible for local government affairs and military affairs.
"According to intelligence collected from many parties, the current deployment of Manchu and Qing troops on the East Road of Xinjiang is as follows: 600 Eight Banners soldiers, 1,500 Green Camp soldiers, and 600 field soldiers are stationed in Fuyuan City in the ancient city area; Huining City in the Barkol area is stationed There are 800 Eight Banners soldiers, 3,500 Green Camp soldiers, and 1,000 Field soldiers; there is a Green Battalion Association in Hami, with 5,800 horse infantry. Turpan does not have many troops, with only 500 Eight Banner soldiers. The total of the above is 14,300 people, excluding shortfalls. The actual strength of the troops was 10,700, despite the fact that they were underpaid.
In addition, there are currently 3,000 soldiers from Liangzhou and Zhuanglang and 2,000 soldiers from the green camp in Dihua City in Urumqi, mainly from the green camps of Liangzhou, Ganzhou, Yansui, Hezhou, Guyuan and other places. There are also a Shaanxi-Gansu Green Battalion Cavalry stationed in Hutubi and Manas respectively, with about 1,000 and 1,600 people respectively, who can provide support in the direction of the ancient city. "
After Liu Sheng and other staff members finished speaking, they said to one of the officers present: "Samusu!"
"arrive!"
"Your cavalry brigade will take the lead in this operation, and the armored troops will follow you. You must give full play to the characteristics of the cavalry's fast movement and quickly pass through the desert edge area around Jizhi Lake, so that the enemy forces in the ancient city will be trapped and have no way out. , a dilemma with no way out, we will resolutely eliminate it if we don’t surrender, and we won’t give them any time to delay.”
"yes!"
"This road is all grassland and Gobi. There is no place for large troops to hide when they march. It's up to you whether you can cut off the post road on time."
"Commander, don't worry! If you can't complete the task, I'll see you first."
Hearing this, some of the regimental officers present let out a few mocking chuckles. But Samusu acted as if he hadn't heard anything and looked at Liu Sheng with bright eyes.
As a former bannerman soldier who joined the Northern Navy as a prisoner, he has been looked down upon and suffered a lot along the way to this day. After being promoted to cavalry brigade commander, someone in Chuanzhong came to Zhao Xin for advice on how to let a guy from the Eight Banners Soldiers be in charge of an important cavalry. This position must be filled by Han people.
Zhao Xin's answer to this is, if you can do it, go ahead! It occupies two million square kilometers of territory in the Outer Northeast and Khalkha, and has a population of nearly one million of various ethnic groups under its command. It’s ridiculous to talk about a royal man like me!
The combat meeting lasted all morning. After Liu Sheng laid out the combat plan, the officers participating in the meeting raised their hands to speak; some offered guarantees, and some raised difficulties. Many people asked why they chose to act after the fall instead of Wait until next spring.
Fan Tong's explanation for this is that when marching in autumn, the grass is tall and the horses are fat, which is conducive to long-distance raids by the cavalry. Moreover, winter is coming soon, and it is inconvenient for both the Manchu and Kokand Khanates to fight, so we have a winter to rest and adapt to the local climate. Furthermore, the troops must pass through these winter months to familiarize themselves with the local language as quickly as possible, spread the policies of Beihai Town, gain the sincere support of people of all ethnic groups, and gain a firm foothold in the three areas.
Finally, Fan Tong made ideological mobilization and then announced the adjournment of the meeting. By the next morning, written orders from the headquarters were issued to all units, causing the entire Northern Navy's western front troops to immediately become nervous and busy.
Five days later in the morning, tens of thousands of troops gathered outside the city of Khovd, and tents all over the mountains and plains turned the autumn wilderness back into a sea of grass-green. And in this "sea", countless military flags of the Northern Navy are fluttering fiercely, like blooming mountain dandelions.
The baggage convoy, consisting of thousands of four-wheeled horse-drawn carriages and more than 2,000 camels, had already set off before dawn, winding its way southward. On the post road that is more than a thousand miles long, there are military stations built with yurts and tents every fifteen miles along the way, specifically for the food transport teams to rest.
A little further in the wilderness, as the loud rally horn sounded, groups of cavalry rolled past in company units. The dust brought up by the horses' hooves filled the air, and the sounds of commands and responses came one after another.
Half an hour later, when Liu Sheng and Fan Tong on horseback appeared at the gathering place of the cavalry with a group of guards, following the orders of the officers from various ministries, thousands of Mongolian and Daur people dismounted and lined up. The cavalry cheered loudly, and their wild and loud shouts resounded across the field.
When Liu Sheng and Fan Tong completed their review, five thousand cavalry immediately moved out. Under the guidance of red flags, they were divided into ten columns and marched together; behind them were twenty armored vehicles and two infantry regiments. A large team of people.
At this time, people were trampling horses outside the city of Khovd, and the dust was like haze. The military songs of the departing troops mixed with the roar of armored vehicles echoed on the grassland, and the momentum was extremely powerful and spectacular. Such a scene made all the Mongolian herdsmen watching from a distance stunned and amazed.
(End of Volume 7)
Ahmed Shah stationed troops in the area between Kokand and Tashkent in 1762. He tried his best to ban the trade between Central Asian merchants and the Qing Dynasty. He even organized an alliance with him as the core against the Qing Dynasty and sent envoys there. Beijing intercedes for the Hezhuo family. When the envoy arrived in Beijing to see Qianlong, although they knelt to present the memorial, they refused to kowtow. We must know that during the official pilgrimage, the vassal tribute envoys knelt three times and kowtowed nine times to the emperor of the Celestial Dynasty. This was the bottom line that the Qing government could not challenge. It was unthinkable to make an exception for a certain country in full view of the public. This was not only related to the "Celestial Dynasty" and the emperor. Face, more directly threatened the legitimacy of the Manchu Qing Dynasty's rule. In addition, the credentials submitted by the Afghan envoys everywhere boasted of Ahmed Shah's martial arts, which vaguely meant to show off force to intimidate the Qing court. After that, although the Manchu Qing Dynasty regarded it as a major enemy, they did not have the strength to send troops to punish it.
(End of chapter)
