Early the next morning, Sadik planned to say goodbye and leave. After all, he was a blind man and couldn't do any physical work. He felt very sorry for eating and getting food. However, Yunyan advised him to stay for the time being and wait until he recovered before leaving because the injury on his foot had not yet healed.
In fact, Sadik had nowhere to go, so he settled in Wujiazhuang. In the days that followed, Yunyan and Timur still left early and came back late, leaving two people to look after the house every day. Although the identity of the caravan is to provide cover, it still has to show off. Furthermore, the radio station hidden in the cargo is very important and must be guarded by someone.
After a few days, the team members discovered that this Uyghur man had very good ears and could hear any noise in the yard, even if it was a mouse sneaking around the corner. The so-called "blind but bright-minded" refers to people like him.
As time went by, Samuba, the telegraph operator who stayed behind every day in the team, would occasionally hum some Mongolian folk songs, which made Sodik feel very novel. In fact, there are many Mongolians on Xinjiang East Road, such as the Eight Banners soldiers from various places. Sadik has also heard them humming Mongolian long tunes, but he has never heard Samuba singing.
"The white clouds are floating in the blue sky, and the snow-white sheep are covered under the white clouds. The sheep seem to be speckled white clouds, scattered on the grassland, so charming..."
In addition to Mongolian songs, Samuba and the others also sang something like the "Three Major Disciplines" in Chinese, which made Sodik confused. He could understand what a soldier was, but he couldn't take a needle or thread, and he wasn't allowed to search his pockets, and he was compensated according to the price... Are there such officers and soldiers in the world? Anyway, he has never encountered it.
As a wandering singer, Shadik would naturally ask about the origin of these songs, but every time Samuba would change the subject in an unclear way, saying that he had heard them.
That's not all that puzzled Sodick. Every day when it gets dark, Samuba will go to the room full of goods next door. Not long after he enters, there will be a strange "tick-tick-tick" sound; although the sound is very slight, it is still there. It's quite rhythmic, it lasts for a long time and then stops.
This Mongolian caravan is so strange!
When the injury on his foot was almost healed, Sadik decided it was time to leave and could no longer cause trouble to others. So when Yunyan and the others came back at night, he told them.
Yun Yan listened silently and asked, "It's such a cold day, where are you going?"
"I want to go back to Yihe City for a visit. Don't worry about me. In Chinese terms, one person is full and the whole family is not hungry. Haha~"
Barkol was called "Yihe" in the official name of the Qing court, and Yihe City was attached to Guocheng, where the Zhenxifu Yamen was also located. As for Huining City in the southeast, it is where the Eight Banners garrison is located. It is where Yunyan and the others often hang out these days.
As the captain of the team, Yunyan was very aware of the team's next move. He was worried that Sodick would be involved in the war, so he asked tentatively: "Brother Sodick, have you heard that the Zhibei Navy is coming to the grassland to the north? ?"
Sadik shook his head blankly, and then asked: "Is it Bogda Khan's army? Is there going to be a war in the north?"
Although Beihai Town occupied Khalkha and captured Khovd, the two places were thousands of miles apart, and separated by the vast Gobi and Tianshan Mountains, they were too far away. Besides, since the Northern Navy occupied Khovd, the commercial route from there to the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains has been cut off.
Yunyan smiled and said: "The Northern Navy was not sent by Bogda Khan. It was specially sent to fight them."
Sadik asked in surprise: "Why?"
Timur from the group spoke up and said, "Help the poor drive away the princes, Taiji, and officers and soldiers who oppress the people, and let the poor make decisions."
Sadik was shocked and said in astonishment: "There are still officers and soldiers in the world who make decisions for the poor? Are you kidding me?"
"Of course! The life on the grassland is very different now." Timur's tone was extremely sure, and he said with unfinished meaning: "It won't be long before they come. Brother Shadik, your great revenge must be avenged." The day is coming too!"
Sadik suddenly realized something. He grabbed Yunyan's arm and tremblingly said, "Tell me quickly!"
Well, the reason why Yunyan advised Sodik not to go
Yihe, because they received a telegram from the battalion headquarters last night. They were notified from above that the two regiments of the main force planned to launch a surprise attack on Yihe and Huining cities on the 18th day of the 10th lunar month to defeat them in one fell swoop.
And today is already October 15th. If Sadik goes there, he will definitely run into him.
The reason why the Northern Navy's cavalry units delayed dispatching for so long after taking over the ancient city area was because in order to gain time, the cavalry brigade had one person and two horses to attack for sixty or seventy miles every day. Although the task was completed, the result was that the baggage was wasted. The team and the main force were far behind, with a distance of more than ten days between the two sides. Then there was another snowstorm, so the operation had to be postponed.
Fortunately, although the cavalry brigade stood still and left the baggage train behind, there was no need to worry about food and fodder.
The ancient city area has ushered in a period of agricultural development since the 24th year of Qianlong's reign. More than thirty years have passed. Now, in Qitai alone, there are more than 10,000 acres of military villages and more than 40,000 acres of commercial villages. .
According to the information the Beijing Intelligence Station received from Ruan Yuan last year, the total amount of grain stored in official warehouses in the entire town of Didao (Zhenxi Prefecture, Dihua Zhili Prefecture, under the Chief Secretary of Gansu Province) is now as high as more than 500,000 dan; and the cavalry brigade is from Fu As much as 50,000 shi of highland barley, barley and peas were found in the official warehouses of Yuancheng, Jingyuan City and Mulei City, which indirectly confirmed this information.
Besides, if you really don’t have enough food and grass, you can still summon the "North Sea Divine Beast"!
On November 24, 1793, when more than 3,000 cavalrymen from two regiments of the Northern Navy appeared at the gates of Huining City and Yihe City, the Qing troops in the two cities were immediately shocked, and the shrill sound of gongs sounded at the top of the city. , and then the city gate was closed tightly, and a lot of wood and debris were blocked.
He Lun, the commander-in-chief of Barkol who was guarding Yihe City, and Yong'an, the leading minister who was guarding Huining City, were all dumbfounded when they heard the news. When they learned that the Beihai Navy was coming from the north, the two of them realized that the ancient city must have been lost almost at the same time, but immediately broke out in a cold sweat.
Even though there was a blizzard a few days ago and the roads were difficult to travel, Mulei City was less than a hundred miles away from Barkol, so why didn't there be any news at all?
Barkol's Eight Banners Soldiers and Green Battalion didn't know much about the Northern Navy, and many people had only heard about it once. Although He Lun and Yong An knew more, they were limited to correspondence with the capital and the news in the pond. Previously, Baoning, the left deputy general of Dingbian, led the remnant troops to flee south. Although it made them nervous for a while, two years later, the Beihai Navy has remained stationary, which also made the defenders in Zhendi Road relax.
The Northern Navy did not fire artillery to attack the city as soon as they came up, but fired a surrender letter at the top of the city. Although He Lun knew that the situation was not good after reading it, he was a veteran general after all; he had fought with Fu Heng in Burma, and with A Gui in Jinchuan, and had made many military exploits, so how could he surrender willingly. He immediately recruited a team of merchants and horses from the people and households in the city, and gathered more than 5,000 people. Baoning in Huining City did the same, and began to mobilize all the Manchus in the city, regardless of men, women, old and young, to prepare to defend the city.
In addition, the two also planned to send people to sneak out of the city after dark and ask for help from Hami and Urumqi respectively.
But they still don't know that all the post roads leading from Barkol to other places have been cut off by the Northern Navy, and the people in the vanguard have disguised themselves as Qing troops and are guarding the post station waiting for the messengers to come.
When the footage returned from the drone showed that the Qing troops in the two cities not only refused to surrender, but also summoned civilian courage, Deputy Brigadier Bayan immediately ordered the artillery fire.
The cavalry troops brought all mortars this time, so the sound when they fired was very small, but the movement on the city wall was loud!
The successive explosions frightened the soldiers and civilians in the city. The Qing army at the top of the city thought that the Beihai Navy was going to attack the city, so they immediately fired back. However, after fighting for a long time, they found that they had not hit anything. The Beihai Navy was still nearby. Staying away for a long time!
The sky-blocking artillery fire caused death and injuries to the defenders on the city. Whether it was a cannon worth several thousand kilograms or a small cannon weighing more than a hundred kilograms, all were blown to pieces.
At this time, the Northern Navy outside the city began to move. They dispatched two platoons, and under the cover of several machine guns, they rushed straight to the city gate with explosive packets. Just as the remaining defenders at the top of the city were about to fire their arrows, they were hit again by a hail of crackling bullets. There were heavy casualties.
With a huge explosion, countless people in the city were stunned,
A large hole was blown out of the city gate of Huining City. Upon seeing this, Yong'an, the leader of Barkol's team, drew his sword and led his subordinate Geshiha and dozens of Eight Banners soldiers into the smoke-filled city gate, preparing to fight with the incoming enemy troops. Unexpectedly, the enemy did not encounter them. When the smoke cleared, two dark muzzles appeared outside the city gate. In a dense rain of bullets, dozens of people fell into the city gate.
The situation in Yihe City on the other side was similar. As soon as there was a huge explosion at the city gate, the people who were gathering suddenly dispersed. The frightened horses were also running around in the city, neighing continuously.
Seeing the heavy casualties among his men, Commander-in-Chief He Lun knew that the situation was over, so he sent someone to inform the prefect Shu Yong'a, and then sadly returned to the Commander-in-Chief's Yamen. Surrendering was absolutely impossible. All he could do was to kill his wife, concubines, and children first, then set a fire in the General Military Mansion, and then wipe his own neck.
Shu Yong'a, the prefect of Zhenxi Prefecture, and the magistrate of Yihe County were ashen-faced when they learned that the city had been breached in a blink of an eye. Shu Yong'a was Barkol during the fifty years of Qianlong's reign, and he didn't understand the power of the Northern Navy at all, let alone the magistrate of Yihe County. These two people also held the belief that they would never surrender. The whole family hanged themselves and committed suicide.
Although the resistance throughout the city of Huining was over, the troops outside the city did not rush into the city. Instead, they sent people to climb to the top of the city and broadcast the notice of peace and security back and forth in Mongolian and Mandarin through electric speakers. The reason for doing this was because during the previous attack on Fuyuan City, the Manchu officers, soldiers and their families in Hecheng were afraid of being massacred, so they first fought street fights with the Northern Navy, and then set fire to the city.
It’s really not necessary!
On November 26, 1793, after two days of rest, Bayan ordered one of his regiments to stay in Zhenxifu, while he led a regiment and set off towards Hami.
Today, there is only one passage connecting the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, which is the "Tianshan Winding Road" passing through the Heijuan Mountains. Although the total length is only thirty-five miles, the Black Cyan Ridge with an altitude of three thousand meters is the only way to pass and cannot be avoided. The climate there is weird and changeable, and even the locals can't tell when a blizzard will happen.
Bayan led 1,500 cavalrymen, spent two days, braved wind and snow, and passed the winding road of Tianshan Mountain without any danger, and appeared at Nanshan Pass two days later. At this time, the Beihai Navy no longer needed to hide its whereabouts, and displayed its flag openly, shocking the Hami defenders.
After hearing the news, the king of Hami, Erdesir, was busy gathering soldiers and civilians to defend the city, and sent a letter to the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu for help. He also called Xiao Jiujiu, privately sent people to contact the Northern Navy, and also sent Here comes the local specialty dried cantaloupe.
We must know that in history, the reason why the Hami kings have been able to survive for more than two hundred years and have been guarding the east gate of Xinjiang is because they have seen clearly from the time of the first generation Hui King Ebedullah. With insufficient control, he can only rely on the big tree to make profits. Therefore, whenever the climate changes, the Hui Wang family will seek refuge with different "benefactors". The first is the Yarkand Khanate, followed by the Junggars, and finally the Manchu Qing Dynasty.
Now in Beihai Town, Erdsil thinks it's nothing. As long as his wealth can be guaranteed and the family's rule in Hami can be continued, who can he hang out with?
His idea is actually typical of the Sufi order regime in the Hezhong area, which is desperately trying to consolidate its wealth advantage and only pursues the two indicators of actual control of land and franchise, not the size of the territory.
King Hui, who is a descendant of the Mongols, flaunted his fabricated status as a saint and became a local leader who transcended the existence of the sect in the image of God and King. Outsiders could not drive him away, and he would not expand outwards.
Although the Qing government implemented a system of prefectures and counties in Hami, it adopted a regulatory system for internal ethnic affairs at the local grassroots level, which were managed by the local Bokes and Zasaks. To put it simply, it is an administrative system in which the military and the government are integrated and the military dominates the government.
Although the Uighurs in the Hami area also implemented household registration, it was only to prevent them from causing rebellion. As long as military control of the East Road of Xinjiang can be ensured, even if he returns to the Wang family's fish and meat village, he will turn a blind eye and at most he will be reprimanded for going too far.
However, Erdsil's plan is doomed to fail. Even if Beihai Town pursues autonomy in ethnic internal affairs, it will never allow such a thing to exist. Even if it sends 10,000 kilograms of cantaloupe, it will be in vain!
Facing the artillery fire of the Northern Navy, Hami's Qing Dynasty
The army was completely unable to resist, and in just three days, Hami City and Huicheng were successively occupied by the Northern Navy, while Erdsil was strictly ordered to stay in the palace and not to go out.
One day in early December 1793, the blind singer Sadik followed Yunyan's team back to his long-lost hometown in an excited mood.
