Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 542 Soldiers Approaching Cullen City

On July 7, a cavalry company serving as the vanguard of the Northern Navy Cavalry Regiment arrived near Boronor Station, 9 miles north of Kulun.

When the red flag with the white five-pointed star appeared on the hills on the east side of the Boluo River, followed by people wearing dark green camouflage uniforms, rain-proof cloaks, and rifles on their shoulders. Northern navy cavalrymen with sabers slung across their saddles.

There are more than 300 Mongolian cavalry stationed at Boronuoertai Station. They are no longer post soldiers, but cavalry under the command of Sangzaidorji, the king of Zhasakdoro County.These arrows from the Chechen Khan Banner didn't know much about the Northern Navy, and they even dismissed the cavalry of the Northern Navy.

When the co-leader who led the team learned from the sentry that more than 100 people from the North Sea had arrived, he immediately made a decision to "violate his ancestors" and teach this group of ignorant North Sea thieves a lesson.

"Kill the Northern Pirates! Only [-]% of Ma Benguan will be captured, and the rest will be yours!"

The mounts of the Northern Navy cavalry mainly come from the captured Kaba Golden Horses with a shoulder height of 1.45 meters to 1.55 meters from the battle against Tsarist Russia.This is a kind of mountain horse from the North Caucasus, strong, muscular and durable, with an uncanny ability to find its way in mist and darkness.

As for the famous Don horse in another time and space. Sorry, it hasn't been bred yet!
The Northern Navy was led by Bock, the company commander of the third company of the first cavalry battalion.This is a Daurian. After the battle that took place in the 53rd year of Qianlong’s reign when the Qing army fought against the Russian army in Heilongjiang City, Bok, who was thrown in Heilongjiang City due to injuries, resolutely took refuge in the army after being rescued by the Northern Navy and out of danger. the Northern Navy.

When Bork saw through the binoculars that the Mongolian cavalry at the Boronor station had started to move out, a sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he immediately issued an order: "Machine guns ready!"

The firepower of a single cavalry company in the Northern Navy is still quite strong. Each company is equipped with two to three 7.62 mm caliber PKM general-purpose machine guns, one for each row.Ordinary cavalry has one man and two horses, while the machine gun team has two people and six horses, two of which are dedicated to carrying ammunition boxes and spare parts.The weight of the ammunition box with a capacity of 3.9 rounds is 12 kg. Two horses can carry up to [-] full ammunition boxes and related parts such as chain loaders and spare barrels.The purpose of this is to ensure that the small cavalry unit has enough firepower to break through when it is besieged.

It is said that using this thing to deal with the Mongolian cavalry who outflanked from the two wings is really invincible.So Bok was not interested in watching. He just ordered his platoon leader to capture a few prisoners, and then concentrated on studying the map.

After the machine gunner in charge of the left wing entered the simple shooting position, he used the scope to search for the target for a long time, and finally set the starting target on a guy more than 500 meters away.There is no way, that guy's clothes are too eye-catching among the Mongolian cavalry, at least he is a third-rank official.

On the top of this person's helmet stood a thumb-thick lynx mantle, and below it was a scarlet helmet tassel hanging in a circle; on the front and rear beams under the helmet's treasure cover plate seat, there was also a shiny silver-plated cloud dragon. .The armor on the guy's body was even more fancy, with pythons embroidered on the chest and shoulder pads, and the silver-plated cloud dragon was also inlaid on the shoulder pads.

That's it, it's you!

When the short shooting sound of "da da da" sounded, the Mongolian cavalry who had already rode their horses up the hillside didn't know what happened, but the horses under their crotches were far more alert than humans. They had already realized that they were in a death trap. So he used roaring and restlessness to remind his master to retreat.

However, these Mongolian cavalry had never been on the battlefield and rarely used muskets, so they didn't know what machine gun shooting meant, and thought that the Northern Navy was setting off artillery battles to scare them.

Since the defeat of Amursana in the 22nd year of Qianlong, Khalkha Mongolia has never had a large-scale military operation.The generation that went to the battlefield is either getting old or passing away, while the younger generation of Mongols have forgotten what blood and fire are.

With the random shooting of two machine guns and the subsequent rifle shooting, the twenty or so Mongolian soldiers who were attacking in front suddenly found out, where are the partners behind them?
Twenty or ten minutes later, when the cavalry finished cleaning the battlefield and escorted a dozen dejected captives to the Boronor station five miles away, the dozens of Mongolian soldiers who stayed here had already run away. No, they didn't even bother to set fire to it.

"I don't agree! You are using sorcery, what kind of heroes! If you have the ability to wrestle with me, come on! Come on!"

The captured Mongolian leader of the Xiangbai Banner urged Wendurgan to blah blah since he regained his composure, but the Bei Haijun outside the hut ignored him, which made Wendurgan even more annoyed.

what is this?It's so frustrating!Ping, pong, pong, and crackling, the enemy hadn't even reached [-] steps, and there were heavy casualties on his side, and the co-leader was also killed in battle, and then they were captured alive by others.

After Wendul's dry saliva dried up, the dilapidated door was opened.Because the thatched hut was very dark, the captives in the hut did not see the appearance of the man who walked in. They saw the man pointing at Wendurgan and the other two Mongolian soldiers, speaking a very familiar Mongolian dialect. : "You, you, and you, get up and follow me!"

Not surprisingly, the visitor took them for interrogation.When he saw Bok, the commander of the cavalry company, Wendurgan looked at his Mongolian-like face and blurted out: "Are you a Mongolian?"

"Daur people." The corner of Bok's mouth twitched, and he continued to reprimand without waiting for the other party to distinguish: "Is it you who have been yelling just now? Being a prisoner is not honest! Save your energy, to tell you the truth, among us, casually Whichever one you choose to clean up is more than enough for you!"

After finishing speaking, he motioned for his subordinates to feed the three of Wendurgan with a glass of water. After the three of them had finished drinking, he said, "Tell me, what's the situation with Cullen now?"

Wen Duergan still couldn't swallow that breath, he wiped his chin with his bound hands, and said proudly: "You are also a man, challenge me one-on-one, if you win, I will tell you everything I know!"

"Hahaha~~" Bok laughed loudly, then suddenly got up and said, "Untie him!"

Half an hour later, Wendurgan, with a bruised nose and a swollen face, was lying on his back in the courtyard of the post station, with no strength left; the cavalry company commander Bok, who was standing with his hips on his hips, was also bruised and purple on his face, panting.Such a scene made all the onlookers secretly click their tongues.

After a while, Wendurgan finally sat up and said sadly: "I lost, you can ask whatever you want."

At nine o'clock that night, the cavalry regiment's brigade and baggage team arrived at Boronor Station one after another.The first thing the regiment leader Samusu and deputy commander Bayan did after they arrived was to send a report to the Eastern Front Command, and then listen to Bok's report.

These two are definitely outliers in the Beihai Navy. Both of them were originally from the Eight Banners soldiers stationed in Hunchun.

In the 49th year of Qianlong, Zhao Xin and the others fought against the Manchus for the first time and captured [-] prisoners. Samusu and Bayan were one of them.These people first did hard labor for two years, including pickling fish, logging, and panning for gold. Although it was hard work, Zhao Xin never treated him harshly in terms of food and clothing, so the thirteen captives were grateful.

After the Northern Navy captured Hunchun for the first time in 51 years of Qianlong, the family members of the thirteen captives were taken to Beihai Town. Since then, they joined the Northern Navy and began to serve Zhao Xin wholeheartedly.

At the beginning of Qianlong's 52nd year, the Northern Navy began to form cavalry units. With their outstanding riding skills and loyalty to Zhao Xin, Samusu and Bayan stood out from the crowd and became the company commanders of the first two cavalry companies. .After that, he followed Zhao Xin to fight Tsarist Russia, and was promoted to battalion commander and regiment commander all the way.

"How many enemies does Cullen have?" Samusu opened his mouth and asked as soon as he entered the room.

博克道：“根据俘虏的交待，车臣汗部的23个旗、40个佐领全到了，一共有6000多人。土谢图汗部20个旗、52个佐领来了一半，大致有3000多人。差不多有1万人吧。眼下他们都驻扎在库伦东南方向的昭莫多。”

The young staff officer under Samusu made marks on the map while listening.Zhaomodo is located on the Kent Ridge in the north, with thousands of walls standing, hills in the east, and Tula River in the west. Considering that Khalkha Mongolian soldiers are mostly cavalry, it is very likely that they will line up along the river and guard the mountain pass of Kent Ridge at the same time.

"Is the situation reliable?"

It was only then that Bok reported that he and that Mongolian Wendur did a one-on-one fight. Hearing that Bok threw the opponent so hard that he couldn't get up, Samusu and Bayan couldn't help laughing.

After laughing for a while, Samusu's face became serious, and he said in a deep voice: "Before going south, the headquarters organized a meeting with the chiefs of the various regiments, and the chiefs deliberately talked about the Great Victory of Chaomo 100 years ago. It seems that Khalkha The Mongols want to learn from Kangxi, relying on the mountains, and fight us condescendingly."

Bok asked curiously: "The great victory of Chaomo? Who is with whom?"

With one hand behind his back, Samusu pointed to the map and explained: "100 years ago, Kangxi's imperial conquest led a battle with 10 people and Galdan's [-] troops. It was said that it was [-], but actually There are only fifty thousand."

Bayan looked at the map and thought for a moment: "It seems that the enemy wants to lure us to Zhaomodo, and use the mountains and dense forests there to set up ambushes and surround us on three sides."

Samusu saw through the Khalkha Mongols' intentions, and couldn't help but said triumphantly: "They want to lure me over, but I won't be fooled."

He immediately said to the staff: "Send a report to the headquarters. Starting tomorrow, our department will no longer arrange alternate advances. The whole regiment will move together to occupy Kuyitai. I want to see, let Kulun not fight, and see who will go first." in a hurry."

Since the cavalry regiment served as the vanguard, due to the pressure on logistical supplies, it basically advances alternately in companies.For each company's daily raid distance, the goal is to capture at most two post stations; if the distance between the two post stations exceeds 100 miles, only one will be occupied.In the evening, the following brigades and transport teams arrived one after another, and then the next company, recharging their energy, repeated the above rhythm again the next day.

The reason for this is mainly related to the ration supply of war horses; in addition, this is also the reason why Zhao Xin has never dared to expand the size of the cavalry even though he had captured a large number of war horses from the Russian and Qing troops.

Let me say in advance that the horse is half the life of the cavalry, and those who say to let the horse eat weeds can wash up and sleep.

Horses can eat grass, but it must be during non-combat time and return to the pasture to eat high-quality forage, such as alfalfa.As for weeds, their nutritional value is very low, and some are poisonous.If you let a war horse eat wild grass, it will become thinner and thinner, unable to run fast on the battlefield, and eventually its resistance will decline, and it will easily get sick.

During the march, if the horse is fed on grass, it needs to eat for more than 12 hours a day.You must know that horses are different from cattle and sheep. Horses have a small stomach and rely on a rectum to function.Therefore, it is often seen that horses are eating no matter it is day or night, and they seldom have free time; Stuff something.

In fact, when the cavalry marched and fought, they had to use the mobility of the cavalry to quickly intersperse during the day, and only had time to feed the horses at night.The problem is that it is impossible for soldiers to let their horses go out to graze at night... What should they do if the enemy sneaks up on them?Looking for a horse in the dark?Therefore, during the march and battle, the horses have to eat the same food as the soldiers, and the treatment is much higher; even sometimes the soldiers have to guarantee the rations of the horses when they are hungry.Only in this way can we maintain combat effectiveness.

In the Northern Navy, the ration requirements for war horses of the cavalry unit are twice as high as those of soldiers; the daily food standard for all war horses is 20 catties of refined grains - including soybean flour, egg whites (if eggs are not enough, replace protein powder) and wheat flour .Calculated on the basis of one person and two horses, the cavalry regiment has more than 2000 people and more than 4000 horses can have a daily ration of more than 40 tons.

When a large-scale cavalry unit is marching and fighting, once the logistics supply is cut off, causing the horses to starve, the mobility of the troops will immediately drop; even if the horses are dead or alive, they can only carry them for one day at most, and the horses will all wilt on the third day up.

Just like ordinary people keep pets, cavalrymen love their horses more than pets.Who would be willing to let his horse exhaust himself for a day and then die?
Not to mention the Beihai Navy, even the Qing Dynasty would not do this.So if Samusu sent someone to investigate Zhaomodo now, he would see tens of thousands of horses grazing on the pasture, eating non-stop.

It is said that an hour after the telegram was sent, the Eastern Front Command called back: "I agree with your department's plan. In addition, we will not fight the siege of Kulun City, remember!!!"

After reading the telegram, Samusu passed the message to the deputy head of the regiment, Bayan, and said with a smile: "The commander-in-chief's order came at the right time! To be honest, I am impatient to serve those lamas in Kulun city! "

At the same time, in the city of Kulun, 210 miles away, thousands of lamas and monks from Kalkha Gezasak are gathering in their own "Aimak" to perform rituals. The Zasak princes who came here have already participated in the activities during the day.

The monks' move was at the request of Song Yun, Minister of Affairs of Kulun, to conduct a 21-day "Protection of the Nation and Alleviation of Disasters", and it is now the fifth day.

The so-called "Aimak" is a fixed institution set up by Jebtsundamba Hutuktu for lamas and monks from all over the country to study in Kulun. It is the center of the entire Khalkha religious activities. There are a total of [-] , all located in the monastery Kulunli in the city of Kulun.In order to prevent mixing with the secular population, the interior of each Aimak is separated by a fence, led by the head of the Kazha, and supervised and managed by Lama Gesigui.

Now Jebtsundamba Hutuktu has gone to Rehe, so the management of the entire monastery Kulun falls on the two Lamas of Dornier, Damcharabuja and Lobsangdarja.

In the Qing Dynasty, Khalkha Mongolia had a total of six lama banners, which were the exclusive territory of monks, and were managed by the six Hutuktu Lamas.Among them, Jebtsundamba had the largest territory, and it was only in his territory that there were positions similar to prime ministers and deputy prime ministers appointed by the Qing court.

These two former are in charge of government affairs, while the latter are in charge of religion, and sometimes they overlap with each other, and their powers run side by side.This can be seen from their formal positions officially conferred by the Qing court.

The former is Erdeni Shanzhuo Teba who is in charge of teaching Anmin Jebtsundamba Lama's disciples and handling Kulun affairs, referred to as "Shan Zhuo Teba".The latter is "Khenbu Nomen Khan in charge of the Jebtsundamba Hutuktu Sutra Altar and the Prime Minister's affairs for monks", referred to as "Khenbu Nomon Khan".

Right now, the North Navy is getting closer and closer to Kulun. Although the two ministers in charge of Kulun affairs of Manchu and Mongolia have advised Lama Dornier, Damcharabuja and Lob Sundarja to lead the monks to evacuate and go to the old place on the shore of Lake Kuvsgul, but Thousands of monks were studying in the city, and there were tens of thousands of temple servants, slaves, cattle, sheep and horses. If they were to evacuate hastily, it would definitely be a heavy loss.

Therefore, after two days of discussions between Dornier Lama Damcharabuja and Lob Sundarja, they finally decided to send a secret envoy to contact the North Navy.

The two lamas who were in charge of this negotiation task, Shanzhuo Teba and Khenpo Nomen Khan, gave them a negotiation upper limit of 50 stones of corn and [-] head of sheep, or the corresponding gold and silver.In short, it is to spend money to eliminate disasters, even if it is blackmailed by the Beihai Navy, it must ensure the safety of the monks and internal property of the "Temple Kulun".

The problem is that there is currently martial law in all parts of Kulun City, idlers and others can’t go out without a warrant from the minister in charge. After finally spending money to buy off the soldiers on duty outside the monastery Kulun, they quietly left the city. The time has come to July 7th .

At this time, the Northern Navy cavalry unit was already on its way to Kuyitai Station, and Fan Tong and Liu Sheng also set off together after meeting at Tashaertai Station. The large force was only 280 miles away from Kulun City.

(End of this chapter)