"If you want to go to Ulungu, you have to stick to Beigen Mountain and then along the Ulungu River. Otherwise, the desert lies in the middle and it is impossible to pass."
The benefits of getting help from the Kazakhs showed up.
The old Tengda is well-informed. He once followed his tribe to the Altay area to visit the princes and nobles of the Oirat Mongolia and knew the way.
After hearing his instructions, Yu Lichun and others were really shocked and broke into a cold sweat.
Had it not been for the guidance of the local people, they would have suffered a serious disaster.
The Fifth Front Army originally thought that after passing Barkol Lake, the road would be smooth and the army would be able to spread out.
Unexpectedly, the terrain of the Western Regions is like a sandwich biscuit. There are vast deserts not only south of the Tianshan Mountains, but also north of the Tianshan Mountains.
He looked at Military and Political Zhang Tao.
"Lao Zhang, I'll leave the mission of raiding Altay to you, how about that?"
Zhang Taohun didn't care.
"Now Batur Hutaiji and Orqitu Khan are fighting fiercely over there in Bole, and they don't care about their home base at all. My journey there is probably an armed parade. On the contrary, you have to be careful when traveling south. "
Yu Lichun took his partner's reminder to heart.
"Don't worry, we will never advance rashly, we will just advance slowly."
The Fifth Front Army's southern route must also pay attention to cooperating with the Fourth Front Army's operations in southern Xinjiang to avoid uncontrollable changes in the battle situation.
Their route was a straight line, with the towering, steep and straight Tianshan Mountains to the south and the vast desert to the north. Only the narrow strip at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains was suitable for marching, so there was no need to worry about being outflanked or outflanked by the enemy.
Tens of thousands of troops are advancing steadily. In this place, no enemy can be a match.
The Fifth Front divided its forces at Lake Barkol.
Yu Lichun and Chief of Staff Xin Junle commanded the 7th Division and the 4th Cavalry Division to head towards Miquan along the Tianshan Mountains.
There is a road going west from Miquan to Yilibali, and along the way there are seasonal rivers from the snowmelt in the Tianshan Mountains to provide drinking water, which is extremely convenient for marching.
The operation led by Zhang Tao and deputy commander Xu Tiancheng of the Ninth Division and the two security divisions was much more difficult.
Going north from Barkol Lake is the desolate Gobi. It takes more than 800 miles to reach the Ulungu River.
Only when you reach the Ulungu River can you find oases and water sources.
The good thing is that because this road is in the deserted Gobi, the Northern Route Army is not afraid of being discovered by the Oirat Mongols and can have a sudden effect.
For this reason, the Northern Route Army prepared a large number of carriages to load supplies.
Fortunately, in order to help the army move, the headquarters urgently allocated a large number of tires.
After the carriage is replaced with tires, it can carry one-third more supplies and is easier to tow, which greatly saves manpower.
Even so, Zhang Tao decided to move forward and build supply and transfer stations along the way.
The Western Region is really too big, too big.
It's so big that the National Defense Forces have launched a full-scale attack, and all the forces here still know nothing about it and are focused on the enemy in front of them.
The first one to open up the situation was Liang Yue.
Although this man was born as a farmer, his keen military abilities have been tempered by years of fighting. He also has a very bold character and is not afraid of dangers.
Under his leadership and with abundant supplies provided by the empire, Liang Yue chose the most difficult and unexpected path.
When the Liang army suddenly appeared under Kashgar City, the defenders here were still confused.
This is the rear area of the Yarkand Khanate and an absolutely safe place in the minds of many people.
Especially good news keeps coming from the front, and the king leads the army to keep winning.
Who would have thought that a strange army would actually come here.
But no matter what, the defenders also understood that this was the enemy.
The city gates were closed urgently, and officials quickly sent people to deliver a message to Akxi, and at the same time organized the entire city to defend.
Looking at the city wall made of yellow sand, Liang Yue smiled broadly.
"This kind of defense is incomparable to the cities in the Central Plains. Tell the soldiers to use all their strength and spend the night in the city today."
Jiang Chaoyun also felt that it was not difficult to break the city.
"Brother, the people here are quite evil. What if you don't surrender?"
Liang Yue's face turned cold.
"If we don't surrender, we will kill them until they surrender. Are we going to let our brothers die in vain?"
The Liang army was mostly composed of the sons of Gan and Qin. They followed Liang Yue and fought in various places. They had long been regarded as flesh and blood brothers by Liang Yue.
After they marched into the Western Regions, they also recruited troops from the local area while fighting.
However, most of the people in this place believe in Islam and are extremely paranoid and fanatical, and less than one out of ten people can win over them.
The Liang Army is not the National Defense Force or the Empire, so it cannot carry out more detailed and thorough ideological transformation. In desperation, he had no choice but to speak with a knife.
Although this method is cruel, it is very effective in this already cruel place.
At least Liang Jun came all the way and saved a lot of trouble.
As for how to manage and restore the places they fought, let the empire have a headache.
It's hard to say whether Liang Yue's thoughts were involved.
Although he had to give up his past hatred in the face of the general trend. But it is obviously impossible to say that he does not hold any grudge against Zuo Mengeng.
If you create some trouble for Zuo Mengeng, he will feel better.
Little did he know that Zuo Menggeng could laugh out of his dreams at what he did.
Regarding the Islamic religion, Zuo Mengeng also had a real headache.
Especially the Western Regions, which have been separated from the rule of the Han family for too long.
At a glance, the language, skin color, customs, and beliefs of the people here are completely different from those in the Central Plains.
Even he didn't have much confidence that he could use the power of the empire to change this land.
Although Liang Yue's knife was full of blood, it also made the most stubborn part of the people disappear.
In the area after the Empire took over, the resistance was greatly weakened, and the difficulty of governance has been reduced to the lowest point.
Liang Yue doesn't know this yet, and maybe he will never know it in his life.
At this time, he only had the city of Kashgar in his eyes.
In the panic of the defenders, the Liang army set up their formations, deployed their cannons, and then continued to bombard them indiscriminately.
After receiving funding from the empire, Liang Jun also experienced the joy of Steel Storm.
If you have firepower, who is willing to fight for it?
Hot iron balls hit the city like raindrops, and the loose sand could even be touched by hand, let alone the indestructible cannonballs.
In just the first round of shelling, two-thirds of the east wall of Kashgar collapsed, and fully half of the troops were buried under the sand and ruins.
The officials guarding the city were so haunted by their souls that they realized what it meant to use a mantis' arm as a chariot.
Escape became the only option for the Yarkand people.
But it is a pity that the Liang army has a large number of cavalry.
Liang Yue gave an order, and the mighty cavalry circled the city and endlessly pursued Ye Erqiang's defeated troops.
In the end, not even a hundred people escaped.
However, it was these less than a hundred survivors who brought the most shocking news to the entire Western Region.
The once arrogant Tang people...
I'm home!
