Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 683

On September 1793, 9, the second day of the new imperial examination in Beihai Town, an extremely important military meeting was held in Khobduo City, thousands of kilometers away.

Before nine o'clock in the morning, more than 50 battalion-level and above officers and staff officers of the Western Front of the Northern Navy came to a conference room in the compound of the Khobd City Military Control Committee.

It is located in the southwest corner of Khobdor City, and used to be the government office of the Khobdor Counselor.The place where the meeting is held is the renovated Second Hall of the Government Office, which faces south and has five rooms facing each other, which is spacious enough.

When all the participating officers arrived and everything was ready, as the officer on duty outside the door shouted "Stand Attention", Liu Sheng and Fan Tong, followed by four guards, strode in.

The two first greeted and chatted with the military officers present at the meeting, and the officers also smiled and saluted. The atmosphere in the conference hall was warm and natural.After everyone was seated one after another, the officer on duty looked around for a week, 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 held an important meeting here, with the brigade commanders, regimental commanders, battalion commanders and combat staff officers from the Western Front. I would like to remind everyone that apart from the official orders issued after the meeting, other matters involved in the meeting The content must be kept absolutely confidential and must not be disclosed to the outside world! Commander Liu is now invited to speak!"

Well, in order to meet the needs of future operations, with the approval of Zhao Xin, the Northern Navy's troops stationed in Khalkha were upgraded to "Western Front Theater Command" two days ago, and Liu Sheng's Title was also changed from "General Commander" He became the "commander", and Fan Tong became the "deputy commander and political commissar".As for Jiang Ziping, the staff officer assigned to the two, Jiang Ziping, the Jiang Fan, is still handling the handover in Hulun Buyuer. It is estimated that it will be the end of the year when he arrives here.

After Liu Sheng got up, he glanced around at his eyes that seemed to be able to pierce people, and then said in a deep voice: "Some of you may know that three months ago, our outpost in Oranbulak We learned from two merchants from the ancient city that the Kokand Khanate sent troops to invade Kashgar. Because it was just rumors and there was no conclusive evidence, we did not take any action at that time.

However, the headquarters received a telegram from the Northern Navy Staff Headquarters yesterday, confirming this statement, because the Manchu Qing court had already received General Yili's six-hundred-mile urgent request!Now Manqing is caring about his head and ignoring his back, and has no mind to care about the affairs of Congling.For this reason, the Northern Navy Command ordered us to immediately dispatch troops to the south, take down the three key points of Gucheng, Balikun, and Hami in one fell swoop before winter, completely cut off the station line from Jiayuguan to Xinjiang East Road, and never allow Urumqi to defend the army Flee east! "

As soon as he finished speaking, the meeting room immediately became restless.After waiting for two years, it is finally time to go south!

Liu Sheng turned around and came to the north wall behind the seat. There were two huge blue curtains hanging on the wall. The staff officer on the side gently pulled the connecting rope. The huge map of the region was slowly displayed in front of everyone.

"We have been fighting the Manchu Qing for seven years. Everyone present here, including the soldiers below, now think that the Manchu Qing is a paper tiger, which can be broken with a single stab. This is true. Whether it is the Eight Banners soldiers or the Green Battalion, in front of us It was just being rubbed against the ground. It took us almost a year to widen and renovate the more than 1000-mile post road on Kebuduo South Road, even if we are blind, we understand what we are going to do next."

As soon as this remark came out, everyone in the room showed a smile on their faces, but Liu Sheng's next words and serious tone made their hearts tighten suddenly.

"But I want to warn you, this idea is bad! Since ancient times, there has been no victorious master, let alone a victorious general! The total area of ​​the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains is more than 200 million square kilometers, which is larger than that of Khalkha. Erka is a hundred times more complicated!
From now on, all of you must always keep in mind that going south to the Tianshan Mountains is not a matter of simply occupying and defending the more than 200 million square kilometers, but a matter of taking the situation in the entire Central Asian region into consideration.This time, we are likely to fight all the way to the west of Congling, where the people's conditions, terrain, and climate are even more complicated, and if we are not careful, we will lose everything! "

While Liu Sheng was talking, on the other side Fan Tong unconsciously thought of several powerful countries in another time and space, all of which were confused by the complex climate and terrain of the Pamirs and the Hindu Kush Mountains.There is the famous "Empire Cemetery", and it is scary to think about it.

"Boss Zhao's ambition is really great! But what he said in the telegram yesterday is quite reasonable, but it's really hard to chew the bones." Fan Tong secretly sighed in his heart.

Well, Zhao Xin's ambition was carefully and carefully considered.He didn't think so much at the beginning, he just wanted to inherit the Manchu Qing ruled areas in the Tianshan and Congling areas.

However, when he settled down and looked at the situation in the entire Central Asia region for overall consideration, he realized that his thinking was too simple.

After many discussions and exchanges of opinions with Liu Sheng, Wu Siyu, Wang Yuanfang and others, and after consulting Chen Qingsong and others for suggestions, Beihai Town's strategic plan for the Tianshan area was finally formed.

That is, on the basis of stabilizing the two roads north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, no matter what, they must leave Congling in the west and enter the west of the Pamirs to expand the original western territory.

It is said that after a long unification war, the Manchu Qing finally wiped out the Junggar tribe 35 years ago, put down the big and small Hezhuo rebellions, unified the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, and once again extended the territory of the Central Plains Dynasty to the Pamirs since the Han and Tang Dynasties. The political structure in western Central Asia is also undergoing intense turmoil and reorganization; and in the process, the surrounding areas of the Pamirs have become the center stage of the conflict game 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 ruler continued to launch wars in order to eliminate the separatist forces in the territory, which plunged the Khanate into a long-term war.The turbulence in the situation in the river spread to the Pamir area, whether it was the Badak Mountains, the Kokand Khanate, Kashgar and the Afghans all participated in this internal strife.

On the other hand, Ahmed Shah, the chief of the Pashtun tribe who was once the general of the Bukhara Khanate, became king in Kandahar in July 1747, created the Durrani dynasty, became the founder of the Afghan state, and During his reign, he continued to expand externally, conquering a vast area from Khorasan in the west, Kashmir in the east, Amu Darya in the north, and the Indus Valley in the south.After that, he launched an expedition to extend his power to the southwest of the Pamirs.

In addition, the British East India Company and the Tsarist Russian Empire are also about to move, and their tentacles of colonial expansion are about to extend to the hinterland of Central Asia, forcing Zhao Xin to make preparations in advance.

For example, the "Battle of Prahi" 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 an expansion line from the Himalayas to the Pamirs path.

Then there is Tsarist Russia. Although they were beaten up by the Northern Navy in Siberia, they have established multiple fortress lines on the Kazakh grassland to divide and surround them.In addition, they also sent "missions" to the khanates in Central Asia to collect intelligence and prepare for further encroachment and conquest.

For China at that time, among countries other than Pamirs, Badakshan and Kokand, two separate regimes after the disintegration of the Bukhara Khanate, were extremely important.They are not only bordering China; they are also located in the east-west traffic pass, which has always been a battleground for military strategists; they are also the intermediaries that the Qing Dynasty must rely on for exchanges with Bukhara, Afghanistan and other major countries in central and western Asia.

Although these two regimes both showed "obedience and submission" to the Qing Dynasty after the "rebellion of size and Zhuo" was put down, they actually had their own purposes.Badakshan, which has internal and external troubles, hopes to rely on the Manchu Qing and get shelter; while the Kokand Khanate wants to improve its prestige and share the interests of Eastern and Western trade in order to unify Fergana. Coveted.

The reason why the Kokand Khanate does not take the Manchus seriously and dares to send troops to Kashgar is that the news of the Manchus’ loss of Khalkha reached the Khan’s ears, and the Afghan mission 35 years ago during the tribute process Among them, those who provoked the bottom line of the Qing Dynasty without punishment also encouraged their rebellious psychology.

Although the rule of the Qing Dynasty covered the Congling area, its tentacles of military capabilities had reached the limit; compared with the Han and Tang, the most notable feature was that they never used troops west of the Pamirs.So when the Afghan mission's "disobedience" happened, the prestige of the Qing Empire in Central Asia suffered a heavy blow.Once the face of the Celestial Empire is no longer useful, the coveters will take advantage of the situation.

For Zhao Xin and the others, the reason why the Beihai Navy did not enter the customs for a long time, and the reason why Liu Sheng did not go south for a long time was also the same.We must know that once the rule of the Qing Dynasty collapses in a chain, the surrounding countries will take the opportunity to make troubles, and the North Navy will definitely be beyond its reach.

After the Manchu Qing unified southern Xinjiang 35 years ago, although they declared that they would not blame the descendants of the Hezhuo family, Samsak, the eldest son of Yamato Zhuoporonidu, fled to the Kokand Khanate.Out of the prestige of the Hezhuo family, in order to avoid dissatisfaction among the subjects, the ruler of Kokand tried every means to prevaricate the Qing court.

At that time, Qianlong didn't pay much attention to Samsak, because he was the only one left in the Zhuo family's direct lineage; after an investigation, he learned that his life was poor and under control, so he didn't take it seriously.

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 Yusup and Zhang Geer, are not easy-going lamps.In the history of another time and space, the two of them and their descendants became the tools of the Kokand Khanate to invade China.

Well, even if Maimat Yusup is just 13 years old this year and Zhang Geer is only three years old, his father Samsak is still alive and kicking!If this follower of the Baishan sect, who has been suppressed by the Qing government, returns to Kashgar, it will be like a bright light, and there will definitely be crowds.

In recent years, the Manchu Qing ruled all ethnic groups in the two groups of Tianshan Mountains with equal treatment on the surface, but in fact they adopted "pull one faction to fight the other" in order to divide and disintegrate.Now in the Kashgar region, except for the third-rank Achim Burke and the fourth-rank Burke who rule the city, there are no sects, and the lower-rank Burkes of the fifth, sixth and seventh ranks are mostly Montenegrin sects.

Regardless of the fact that both the Baishan faction and the Montenegrin faction belong to the Sunni sect, due to the differences in religious sects and viewpoints, the two factions have fought bloody wars for decades.

Today's Baishan School respects Hezhuo, while the Black Mountain School respects Manqing.The two sides seem to have nothing to do, but internal conflicts are still 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 Zuo Zongtang quelled the "Aguba Rebellion" and the Baishan faction also declined, that the struggle between the two sides finally subsided.

When Liu Sheng finished explaining the whole situation of the two roads in Tianshan, the officers who had been taught a good lesson suddenly realized.

Fan Tong also made a supplement later. He warned everyone present that if they want to maintain the stability of the north and south roads of Tianshan Mountain and completely eradicate the rebellion of He Zhuo's descendants, they must closely integrate border administration and border defense internally, and establish a military-political integration, military-civilian A unified border defense system; external forces must eradicate the use and support of Hezhuo's descendants.

Subsequently, a staff officer of the Western Front Command informed everyone about the enemy situation on Xinjiang East Road.Today's Hami, Gucheng, Balikun, and Turpan areas are under dual management by the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu in the Manchu Qing Dynasty 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 the information collected from many sources, the current deployment of Manchu Qing troops on Xinjiang East Road is as follows: Fuyuan City in the ancient city area has 600 Eight Banners soldiers, 1500 Green Battalion soldiers, and 600 Tuntian soldiers; Huining City in the Balikun area is garrisoned There are 800 soldiers from the Eight Banners, 3500 soldiers from the Green Battalion, and 1000 soldiers from Tuntian; Hami has an association of Green Battalion, and there are 5800 horse infantry. Turpan has not many troops, only 500 soldiers from the Eight Banners. The total number of the above is 14300. Those with false pay actually have 10700 troops.

In addition, in Dihua City in Urumqi, there are currently 3000 soldiers from Liangzhou and Zhuanglang, and 2000 soldiers from the green battalion, mainly from the green battalion from Liangzhou, Ganzhou, Yansui, Hezhou, Guyuan and other places.There are also a Shaanxi-Gansu Green Battalion cavalry stationed in Hutubi and Manas respectively, with a number of about 1000 and 1600 respectively, which can provide support for the ancient city. "

After Liu Sheng and other staff officers finished speaking, they said to one of the officers present: "Sa Musu!"

"To!"

"This operation will be led by your cavalry brigade, and the armored troops will follow behind you. You must give full play to the fast-moving characteristics of the cavalry, and quickly pass through the edge of the desert around Jiji Lake, so that the enemy troops in the ancient city will be trapped and have nowhere to go. , the dilemma of nowhere to retreat, resolutely eliminate them if they don’t surrender, and don’t give them time to procrastinate.”

"Yes!"

"This road is all grassland and Gobi, and there is no hiding place for large troops to march. It is 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 regiment-level officers present gave a few mocking chuckles.But Samusu looked at Liu Sheng with piercing eyes as if he didn't hear it.

As a former Bannerman armored soldier who joined the Beihai Navy as a captive, he has suffered so many stares and hardships all the way to this day.After being promoted to the commander of the cavalry brigade, Zhao Xin was approached by people across the crowd for advice on how to let a guy from the Eight Banners be in charge of an important cavalry. This position must be held by a Han Chinese.

Zhao Xin's answer to this is, you can do it!The territory of Outer Northeast and Khalkha of 200 million square kilometers is occupied, and the population of various ethnic groups under his command is nearly one million. Talking about the imperial Han like me, what a joke!
The combat meeting lasted all morning, and after Liu Sheng arranged the battle plan, all the officers attending the meeting raised their hands to speak; Wait until spring next year.

Fan Tong's explanation for this is that when marching in autumn, the grass is high and the horses are fat, which is conducive to long-distance cavalry raids.And it’s almost winter, and neither the Manchu Qing nor the Kokand Khanate is convenient for fighting, so we have a winter to rest and adapt to the local climate.Another thing is that the troops have to get familiar with the local language as soon as possible through the winter months and spread the policies of Beihai Town, so as to gain the sincere support of the people of all ethnic groups and gain a firm foothold in the three regions.

Finally, Fan Tong made ideological mobilization, and then announced the adjournment of the meeting.In the morning of the next day, the written orders from the headquarters were distributed to all units, which made the entire Western Front of the Northern Navy immediately busy.

In the morning five days later, tens of thousands of troops gathered outside the city of Khobd, and the tents all over the mountains turned the autumn field back into a grass-green ocean.And in this "sea", countless military flags of the Beihai Navy fluttered fiercely, like blooming sages.

The train team consisting of thousands of four-wheeled horse-drawn carts and more than 2000 camels set off before dawn, and Duo Ling Ding Dong meandered south.On the post road that is more than a thousand miles long, there are military depots built with yurt tents every fifteen miles along the way, specially for the grain transportation team to rest.

In the wilderness farther away, with the sound of the loud and clear rallying horn, groups of cavalry rolled across the ground in units of companies, the sand and dust brought up by the horseshoes filled the air, and the voices of commands and answers came and went one after another.

Half an hour later, when Liu Sheng and Fan Tong, who were riding on horseback, appeared at the gathering place of the cavalry with a team of guards, following the orders of the officers of various ministries, thousands of Mongolians and Daurs who dismounted and lined up The cavalry cheered loudly, and their rough and loud shouts resounded through the field.

After Liu Sheng and Fan Tong finished their review, five thousand cavalrymen immediately pulled out of the stockade. Under the guidance of red flags, they divided into ten columns and marched side by side; behind them were twenty armored vehicles and two infantry regiments. Formed a brigade of men and horses.

At this time, people outside the city of Khobdo trampled on horses, and the dust was like haze and fog. The military songs of the dispatching troops mixed with the roar of armored vehicles echoed on the grassland, and the momentum was extremely majestic and spectacular.Such a scene made all the Mongolian herdsmen who watched and looked into the distance dumbfounded and amazed.

(End of the seventh volume)
　Ahmed Shah was stationed in the area between Kokand and Tashkent in 1762. He tried his best to prohibit the trade between Central Asian merchants and the Qing Dynasty, and even organized an alliance against the Qing Dynasty with him as the core, and sent missions to Beijing intercedes for the Hezhuo family.When the mission arrived in Beijing to meet Qianlong, although they knelt down to present the memorial, they refused to kowtow.We must know that during the official pilgrimage, the vassal tribute envoy kneels three times and kowtows nine times to the emperor of the Celestial Dynasty, which is the bottom line that the Qing government cannot challenge. Face, and more directly threatened the basis of the legitimacy of the Manchu Qing Dynasty's rule.In addition, the letters of credence presented by the Afghan envoys advertised Ahmad Shah's martial arts everywhere, vaguely showing off his force and intimidating the Qing court.After that, although the Manchu Qing regarded him as a great enemy, they did not have the strength to send troops to punish him.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)