Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 549

The Tesi River, the southern foot of the Sayan Mountains (Tannu Mountain), and the valley in the east of the Chahan Toro Sea.

It is located in the northwest of Mongolia in another time and space, only a little over 25 kilometers away from the Mongolian-Russian border.However, in this time and space, this place is located in the northernmost part of Zhasaktuhan Banner, bordering Khobdo in the west and Tangnu Wulianghai in the north, and it is eight or nine hundred miles away from the nearest border.

As the commander of the "Southern Detachment", Hu Ji felt that compared with those Mongolian cavalry, the biggest difficulty for the troops at present is the difficult marching route.

Although the Northern Navy started in the vast mountains and forests in the outer northeast, the soles of the soldiers have long been accustomed to the terrain of the mountains.But here on Mount Tangnu, besides the undulating mountains and dense forests, in summer, weeds and shrubs are overgrown, and there is not even a decent road.Most of the soldiers' energy was spent on widening the roads and clearing obstacles to allow the passage of ammunition and supply vehicles and horses.

This time, the "Southern Detachment" in order to quickly take Uliasutai and outflank Khalkha Mongolia's rear, although it did not carry long-range firepower such as 75mm field guns, it still carried a lot of mortar shells and ammunition .

In order to save the soldiers' physical strength, the team is specially equipped with four 10-ton crawler transport vehicles and more than 30 heavy-duty horses.To put it simply, an 82mm 2B14 mortar weighs nearly 42 kilograms, and each row is equipped with one, with a total of 40 mortars, which is 1.67 tons; each gun is based on 2 bases and 60 shells However, the weight of a round of 3VO36 mortar shells is 3.14 kg, and the net weight of the shells alone is as much as 7.5 tons, not counting the wooden box for packing each round.

In addition, there are rifles, machine gun ammunition, spare parts for vehicle repairs, fuel, pack horses, personnel rations, medicines, etc. There are a lot of them.

The troops walked along the dense forest in the valley for almost two days, and when it was almost four o'clock in the afternoon on the third day, the front reconnaissance platoon reported that they would be able to enter the relatively flat grassland and hilly area in ten miles.Huji asked the accompanying guide and confirmed that [-] miles to the south is the last stop of Uliasu Taibei Road - Bayanbulak Karen, so he ordered the reconnaissance platoon to continue reconnaissance and seize the clearing at night. Karen, you can't let an enemy go.

"Order the troops to rest where they are!" Huji asked the staff officer after giving the order, "Where are the Mongols behind?"

The staff officer showed distress and said: "The company responsible for the disconnection has not been contacted yet."

Hu Ji said angrily: "What happened?!"

"Head, the signal interference of the radio station in the mountains is too strong, and we have been in touch. I will immediately ask the communication platoon to send someone to the ridge to install the antenna."

"Send a squad to look for them, you must get in touch with them, and you must keep track of the movements of the pursuers!"

"Yes!"

Hu Ji thought about it in his heart. According to the current marching speed, it will take two days to reach Jinjilik Karen, which is the end point of Uliasu Taipei Road Station.After that, the troops had to cross the Tesi River, and then go another six hundred miles southeast to capture eight stations.

Huji sighed in his heart, and murmured: "There is a long way to go!"

At this time, on the large grassland thirty miles south of the Tesi River, 500 Qing army forwards from Uliasutai had just arrived at Zhuerkuzhutai Station, and the brigade led by Dingbian Left Deputy General Bao Ning There are still twenty miles away from here.

The team composed of more than 2 Mongolian cavalry has been extending southward for hundreds of miles. This large group of troops includes some troops from the Tuxietu Khan tribe, the Zaktu Khan tribe, the Sanyin Nuoyan tribe, and the Congke tribe. Buduo recruited a large number of Mongolian arrows.

The reason why people from the Tuxietu Khan tribe will also be here is that since the 38th year of Qianlong, the Qing court has stipulated that the prince Zasak of the four Mongolian tribes in Khalkha, etc., will be stationed in Uliasutai in shifts every year to assist in setting the border Deputy General Zuo dispatched troops and horses, inspected the tribes, and took care of the establishment of the Karen station.

Arriving at Uliasutai together with the [-]-mile urgent edict sent by Qianlong, there is also a personal letter from the fourth Jebtsundamba Norbu Tsangtu Batan Wangshuke.Qianlong specially instructed Baoning in the upper edict to buy time without delay.If the army rations are insufficient or horses die on the way, you can buy cattle, sheep and horses from the herdsmen along the way with silver or silk.

The call of the Great Living Buddha and the decree of Bogda Khan allowed Baoning to quickly gather the needed soldiers and horses, so when the [-] shi of sorghum noodles and wheat noodles shipped from Khobdo arrived in Uliasu After taking office, he immediately ordered troops to be dispatched.

As I said before, in the entire Khalkha Mongolian region, the Manchu and Qing Dynasties only had farms in Khobdo, so they also stored a large amount of military rations.It’s summer now, and the water transport on the river is smooth. The military rations transported from Khovd are all transported by water along the Zabuga River and the Uliasutai River, and they can arrive in seven or eight days.

From the beginning of the battle between the Manchus and Galdan, due to the long logistical difficulties, the number of mobile troops used by the Qing court at a single time was only a few thousand at most, and the rest were logistics personnel and auxiliary soldiers several times more than the mobile troops.For example, when Zhaohui and Cheng Gunzabu went on an expedition to Amur Sana and entered the Kazakh Khanate, they also used [-] main troops.

However, the Beihai Navy is different from any opponent in the Qing Dynasty. Zhao Xin's deeds of fighting 600 Tsarist Russian troops with [-] people in Aihui City are already known to everyone.Therefore, Qianlong knew that even if he wanted to take advantage of the North Navy's retreat, a few thousand troops would not be able to defeat Chaktu, and he had to use tens of thousands of troops to launch a thunderous blow.Only in this way can we go further south and cooperate with Agui's troops on the southern line to encircle and annihilate the Northern Navy on the grassland and Gobi.

Ahem, to put it bluntly, it is to use human lives to fill it in, and exchange quantity for quality.

On the southern line, the 30 troops led by Agui, a scholar of economics and strategy, have just left Suiyuan, and the forward troops have just arrived at Ulan Hada Station in the northeast of the Sizi Tribal Banner.The reason why they are walking so slowly is nothing else but to buy sheep as military rations; this is not buying tens of thousands of sheep, but [-] sheep.Most of these sheep will be made into air-dried mutton by the peasants for carrying on the march.

Agui's daily correspondence is now complaining that the allocation of military rations in Shaanxi and Gansu is too slow, and the replenishment of military rations cannot keep up with consumption.The reason for this is that there are more than [-] Qing troops on the southern front; Yu Ding and the escorts, accompanying doctors, craftsmen, laborers, etc. are all counted, and there are more than [-] people.

So this time the Khalkha Mongol defense battle is a battle of life and death for the Qing Dynasty!Now that a large part of the Northeast has been lost, if Outer Mongolia is not even protected, then the Manchu Qing policy of "taking Manchuria as the foundation of the country" will become a big joke, so Qianlong also went all out.

As for Baoning, the main reason is that Kulun City is too far away from Uliasutai, and there is no news within seven or eight days of more than 3000 miles, otherwise he would not have left in such a hurry.

The vanguard troops of the Qing army will only stay at Zhuerku Zhutai Station for one day, and tomorrow they will have to head towards Chahantuoluohaitai Station, which is [-] miles away.The army is marching, although the stations along the way have been notified in advance, but the task of the forward is to ensure that the opponent is ready in advance.

That night, the reconnaissance company of the "Southern Detachment" launched a sneak attack late at night and took Bayanbulak Karen cleanly.However, they learned a bad news from the captives, that a large force of the Qing army was coming here.The company commander who led the team heard that the enemy had more than [-] troops. Regardless of the fact that it was already late at night, he immediately asked the messenger to send a report to the headquarters.

So Hu Ji was woken up from his sleep by the orderly, and he was shocked when he heard the report from the staff officer. He suddenly felt a lot of pressure and his head was buzzing!
One thousand and two against twenty thousand, and they don't know the other party's firearms and equipment.He knew that he was not as unpredictable as Zhao Xin, so he dared to pick 1 people with [-].This battle is definitely not easy to fight, if you don't pay attention, the whole army will be wiped out.

He immediately asked people to summon Mi Shilang, the deputy captain of the "Southern Detachment", the chief and deputy officers of each battalion, and the staff of the regiment headquarters, and held a combat meeting overnight.While waiting for someone, he asked his staff to send a telegram to Chiyan City and report to Zhao Xin. In addition, he asked the two guides who were sleeping soundly to come over and ask about the situation.

Afterwards, when the awakened officers rushed to the regiment headquarters one after another, Huji immediately reported the current situation, and then analyzed: "Although the purpose of the Qing army in the south is unknown, according to my estimation, they are probably going to It is obvious that they would not take this route if they were going to fight the Eastern Front troops.”

The military officers present carefully looked at the station route map spread on the table by the lantern, and then nodded in agreement with Huji's words.

"We now have strong enemies in front and pursuers in the back. If we want to retreat, we can only go back the same way, fight with the Mongols behind, and then return to the Balji River area to avoid their edge. Although this can avoid the troops Casualties, but there is one biggest problem, food supply."

After that, he pointed to the north and south sides of the Huakemu River on the map and said: "Of course, we can attack the Mongolian tribes on both sides of the Huakemu River, or buy cattle and sheep from herdsmen. But the problem comes again Ah, ammunition! Once the ammunition can't keep up, the surrounding Mongols will surround you like a tide, and then we can only fight with them with bayonets."

At this time Michelang said: "I understand what you mean, so what do you say?"

Huji flicked his finger, pointed to Bayanbulak Karen on the map and said: "This is the only passage for the Qing army to take the western line of Chaktu. There is Tesi River in the south and Tangnu Mountain in the north. If the Qing army wants to pass through, You can only walk in the valley north of the river bank. I asked the guide before. The Chahan Toro Sea Station is located in a dangerous terrain. It is located to the east of the Tesi River. Set up a battalion, set up blocking positions on these hills, block the Qing army on the other side of the Tesi River, and fight hard!"

At this time, a battalion commander asked: "What if the Qing army goes up the river and circles our flank?"

Huji thought for a while and said: "Then retreat to Bayanbulak station, and I will send a company to meet you at Jinjilik station. The headquarters of the detachment will be set up in Bayanbulak. Anyone who has different opinions, immediately carry."

The battalion-level officers present looked at each other, and finally a deputy battalion commander said, "What if we can't stop the Qing army?"

"Then let's go east along Qiaktu West Road, to Qiaktu!" Hu Ji looked around at everyone present and finally asked, "Are there any questions?"

Mishilang pondered for a moment, then raised his head and said to Huji, "I will take the first battalion to Chahan Tuoluohai, and you and the second battalion and the logistics personnel will stay in Bayanbulak."

"Okay, now I order the first battalion to gather immediately after dawn. You will be led by the deputy detachment leader. The task is to build a position around the Chahan Toro Sea Station. The reconnaissance company will cooperate with you to take down Jinjilik and Chahan in advance. These two stations in Tuoluohai. We want to fight the Qing army for time, and we must let them stumble on the other side of the Tesi River!"

"Yes!"

"The Second Battalion, the headquarters and relevant logistics personnel will set off with you and arrive at Bayanbulak at noon tomorrow to build fortifications."

"Yes!"

Hu Ji raised his hand to look at the watch on his wrist, which was given to him by Zhao Xin, and finally said in a deep voice: "It is already 03:30 in the morning, and I don't have time to sleep anymore, so hurry up and set it up."

The officers were all gone. At this time, the staff brought the radio operator to report an unexpected news to Huji. The radio operator couldn't get in touch with Chiyan City at all, and the Eastern Front troops couldn't get in touch either. The road is blocked by mountains and mountains.

When Huji heard this, he secretly groaned in his heart, this is really like what Zhao Xin often said about "house leaks"!But he couldn't show it, so he could only let the operator go to rest first, and try again when he arrived in Bayanbulak tomorrow.

In the early morning of August 1791, 8, the reconnaissance company that ran all night arrived at the Chahan Toro Sea Station, and soon discovered the Qing army's vanguard flag on the other side of the Tes River, and they immediately launched an attack on the station.The dozen or so arrows stationed in the station were not opponents at all, and they were beaten with heavy casualties when they met each other.

When the gunshots rang out, the generals of the Qing army on the other side of the river were extremely surprised, wondering how could there be blunderbusses here?He immediately asked one of his subordinates, Xiaoqi School, to lead more than 20 people, and prepared to ride their horses across the half-deep river to check the situation.Unexpectedly, when the Qing army reached the middle of the river, there was a sudden burst of gunfire, and more than 20 armored soldiers fell into the water and died, and the horses fled back to the shore neighing.

The co-leader who led the team turned pale with shock, but because he had been stationed at Uliasutai and had never seen the Beihai Navy, he couldn't figure out who would dare to kill the officers and soldiers.

However, when a flag with a black circle on a red background and a white five-pointed star in the middle was erected at the station on the other side of the river, he was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly shouted: "No! It's the Northern Sea Pirate! Go back and report to the Commander." !"

As soon as the words fell, there was a sudden "Boom!" in the grass on the other side of the river, boom!A mortar shell exploded in the ranks of the Qing army, whether it was human or horse flesh and blood instantly flew into the air, killing and wounding more than 20 Eight Banners Mongolian cavalry on the spot.

"Not good! The thief has a cannon, run away!"

In an instant, the remaining hundreds of Qing soldiers fled in all directions like frightened waterfowl on the river bank.On the east bank of the Tesi River, several sporadic gunshots rang out, and several Qing soldiers who ran at the end were knocked down from their horses.

At this time, a Bei Haijun stood up from the grass and shouted to his squad leader: "I hit that guy in the leg! I'll go and catch him!"

After all, he jumped into the river more than one meter deep in one depth.The squad leader didn't care too much when he saw this, he greeted the last soldier and followed him into the water.

　Since the 19th year of Qianlong, some performances of the Khalkha princes in dealing with the Junggar issue aroused Qianlong's deep suspicion.When the rebellion subsided, in order to appease the Khalkha ministries, Qianlong pinched his nose and appointed Cheng Gunzabu as a general again.In the 38th year of Qianlong, the Qing court finally seized the opportunity to remove Chebudengzabu from his post on the charge of "occupying nomads and eroding horses and silver", and cut off the rank of prince.Since then, Qianlong has never appointed Khalkha Mongols as the left deputy general of Dingbian.Starting from the 45th year of Qianlong, all the Dingbian left deputy generals were nobles from the Eight Banners, and they were all from the Eight Banners of Manchuria.At the same time, as a consolation and compensation to Khalkha, Qianlong stripped off some civil powers of Dingbian Zuo Deputy General and handed them over to the Khalkha Prince.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)