The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 670: The River Rookie Competition

Time flies, winter goes and spring comes.

April 1791, 4 AD, the 4th year of Emperor Guangzhong of the Chinese Empire, formerly the th year of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, was the second day of the third lunar month.

Crown Prince Mo Zhousen rushed from Lanzhou to Xi'an again, holding the imperial seal and axe bestowed by the emperor, and went on stage to pay homage to the general.

This was the second expedition planned. Dayu sent out 30,000 troops. After arriving at the destination, they were first stationed in Anxi (Anxi, Gansu), Hami, and Zhenxi (Barkol).

After Li Xianwen lured out the Hui rebels and some Hasakah people with ulterior motives, he immediately marched westward to wipe them out.

These 30,000 people, led by the Beijing Camp Yangwei Army, are divided into three infantry regiments, one cavalry regiment, and one artillery regiment, totaling 8,700 people.

This Beijing camp led by Dong Jinfeng, whose members mostly support the idea of killing colonial imperial Han elements, has become quite famous. They were the main force in the Yaqiping chaos four years ago.

The remaining 20,000 people were recruited from Guanzhong, northern Shaanxi, and Helong.

Either their family members were killed in the chaos in the northwest and they were thirsting for revenge, or they were also deeply influenced by the classical Han and Tang Dynasty imperialism that began to spread in the northwest and gradually became the mainstream in Shaanxi and Gansu.

Therefore, even though it is a newly formed army, its desire and will to fight are extremely strong.

After the ceremony, Crown Prince Mo Zhousen personally read out the imperial edict from the emperor, naming the army for this western expedition the Dingxi Army, and promoting Dong Jinfeng as the general of Dingxi as the commander-in-chief of the army. He appointed the royal family member Gao Pinghou and the army brigadier general Mo Houzan as the military supervisors, and set out to the Western Regions.

The large flag with a black background and red tiles and a dragon, which was popular in the northwest, was used as the flag of the Dingxi Army, which was considered as semi-recognition of them at the official level.

At this time, the first phase of the troops sent by Dayu to fight against Li Xianwen's control was called the Northwest Army, the more than 40,000 Han and Mongolian cavalry led by Chen Guangyao was called the Western Expedition Army, and the second phase of the army led by Dong Jinfeng this time was called the Dingxi Army.

Mo Houzan was originally named Huang Gongzan. He was the son of Huang Gongzhi, a member of the former Annan Mo family who occupied Mengtiangang (Dian Bien Phu) in the northwest of Guangnan.

After entering Bac Ho, in order to win over the Dien Bien Phu army and absorb members of the Bac Ho Mo family for his own use, Mo Zi Bu treated Huang Gongzan as his nephew's grandson and changed his name to Mo Houzan.

Historically, after Mohou Zan was defeated by the Zheng Lord, he fled to China under the protection of his trusted generals, and was finally settled by the Qing government in Urumqi, which was later known as Annangong in Niao City. He and his descendants became Han people, and his descendants also participated in the fight against Yakub Beg.

Now he is serving as a military supervisor again, which can be regarded as a kind of reincarnation.

Just two months after the ceremony of appointing generals in what was known as the Crown Prince's Western Expedition, the Prime Minister of the Northeastern Mission, General Chen Guangyao, was promoted from Duke of Jiading to Duke of Dingguo for his military merit in capturing Suwu City (Irkutsk).

He personally led 10,000 Mongolian cavalrymen from the northern desert, 10,000 Mongolian cavalrymen from the southern desert, 5,000 Solon, Barhu and Oroqen cavalrymen, 5,000 Dongyang Zhenfan Dragon Cavalrymen, 5,000 Jibei Iron Cavalrymen from the Northeast Envoy, 8,000 guards cavalrymen drawn from the Central Beijing Camp Army and the Guards, as well as 70,000 Mongolian herdsmen and more than 400,000 livestock.

When the snow had not completely melted, we crossed the Altai Mountains, passed through the south side of the main peak of the Altai Mountains, Friendship Peak, and entered the Irtysh River Basin.

After arriving here, the army cut down trees and built boats upstream of the river, and then sailed downstream using the Irtysh River as a guide.

On June 13, the Western Expeditionary Army captured the Russian fortress of Ust-Kamenogorsk, a major town in the upper reaches of the Irtysh River. Most of the 600 Russian soldiers in the fortress were killed in the battle, and the rest surrendered.

On June 27, the Western Expeditionary Force arrived at the most important Russian fortress on the Irtysh River, the Semipalatinsk Fortress (Semey, Kazakhstan).

This is the most important stronghold of the Russian army in the East besides Irkutsk.

Three hundred and twenty kilometers northwest of this fortress is Pavlodar, the last stronghold of Sharo in the entire Central Asia and Western Siberia.

Six hundred kilometers straight to the west is Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan in later generations. The relatively pro-Russian khans of the Kazakh tribe basically all roamed in this area.

The Semipalatinsk Fortress can barely be considered a part of Western Siberia, so it is still quite cold in June, with only 21 or 22 degrees Celsius at noon, and the rest of the time it can even drop below 10 degrees Celsius.

However, the enthusiasm of the Western Expedition Army was not dampened by the cold at all. One hundred and twenty thousand people and more than four hundred thousand livestock suddenly appeared outside the Semipalatinsk Fortress like divine soldiers sent from heaven.

The fortress is located on the north bank of the Irtysh River. There is no gate in the south of the city. The stone wall of the fortress stands directly on the river bank. The area between the river and the city wall was deliberately not leveled, forming a narrow muddy area as a natural defense.

To the east of the fortress is a lush hill. The Russian army built more than ten small fortress-style artillery batteries on this hill, and about 700 Russian soldiers and their families were stationed here.

To the north of the fortress are terraced mountains, with the highest peak reaching into the clouds. The snow on it never melts all year round. Along the way are Gobi sand and gravel without any trees to block the view. The Russian army can have a clear view of the situation to the north from the city.

To the west, there was only a small path about two kilometers wide between the Irtysh River and the mountains that could be passed through, and the rest of the area was inaccessible to the army.

It is indeed the fortress chosen by God!

Outside the Semipalatinsk Fortress, Yang Kaijia reported to Chen Guangyao, "It's definitely impossible to get to the north. The Russians don't even use their cannons. The muskets on the city walls alone are enough to inflict heavy casualties on us.

A detour to the west is also not feasible. The scout company reported that the passage between the Irtysh River and the high mountains west of the city is too narrow. The Russians have built artillery batteries high up in the mountains, and passing through would incur heavy casualties.

Fu Kangan glanced at the map and interjected, "Perhaps they don't even need cannons. They can just throw rocks from the mountains, making it difficult for our army to pass through."

“At the same time, since the southern city wall is too close to the river, the artillery on the top of the city wall can completely block the river. Unless we have gunboats over 500 tons, it is best not to force our way in.

And I'm sure there are probably stakes buried by the Rakshasas in the river, so any boat larger than that won't be able to pass through."

Yang Kaijia went on to add that the Semipalatinsk Fortress was indeed that difficult to conquer.

"Damn it!" Hailancha was so disgusted that he couldn't help but curse: "All along the way, the Luosha people's fortresses are like hedgehogs in this extremely cold weather. It seems that we will have to fight hard again."

"King Shunyi, your ancestors have lived in the west for a long time. Do you know how many fortresses there are to the west, and are they all so difficult to attack?"

The one called the King of Shunyi by Chen Guangyao was Celing Namjale, the King of Shunyi of the Northern Torghut Route. He was the son of the hero Wubashi who returned from the east. This time he also brought 500 Torghut light cavalry with him.

"Apart from Semipalatinsk right in front of us, there aren't many Russian fortresses to the west.

Only a few thousand miles to the northwest, in the region known to the Russians as the Ural Mountains, are there numerous fortresses. Among them, Yekaterinburg is named after the current Russian Empress and is known as the Imperial Fortress, said to be impregnable.

Chen Guangyao nodded. This basically matched the confession of the Rakshasa captives, so he smiled and said to the generals:
"Then there's nothing to worry about. Pavlodar is too small with only a few hundred Russians. They can't come to support the Semipalatinsk Fortress. The rest are thousands of miles away, so it's too late to support them.

Then this isolated city, no matter how difficult it is to capture, will not be able to withstand our army.

Saigo, get your Japanese warriors ready and start chewing the hard bones. The first one to reach the top will be given a 5,000-koku estate in Jilin."

"Yes, sir. I'll prepare it right away!" Saigo Takamitsu answered loudly with a satisfied smile on his face.

Although there were no serfs in the Wuqianshi Manor in Jilin Province, there was no shortage of them in mainland Japan. As long as there was land to farm, many farmers would go to Jilin, where the climate was similar to that in the East.

Therefore, this 5,000-koku manor is extremely valuable, at least to the Japanese.

"Fu Kang'an, lead three thousand elite cavalrymen to Astana. If you can find the descendants of Abulai Khan, take them under your control.

I think as long as they are not stupid, they will know who to help. With the help of these local Kazakhs, our chances of winning will be even greater."

The situation in Kazakhstan at this time was rather complicated and could be roughly divided into three Yuz (wings).

The Small Juz on the western wing, primarily nomadic on the northern shores of the Caspian Sea, were weak and had little contact with China, making them unworthy of mention. The Middle Juz on the left wing later occupied central and northern Kazakhstan. Their former ruler, Abulai Khan, repeatedly traveled to the Qing dynasty to seek titles, and became a vassal of the Qing.

The Great Juz on the right wing roamed between Lake Balkhash and the Land of the Seven Rivers. The place where these people actually roamed was the territory of China. They were relatively close to China, and their greatest desire was to be allowed to roam in the Land of the Seven Rivers.

These three Yuzu were not subordinate to each other and each had its own Khan. Moreover, the Khan of Yuzu was not the emperor-like Khan that people in the Central Plains thought of, but more like an elected leader.

He could only manage the tribes under his control, while the rest of the tribes were managed by his own petty khans.

Only when Yuzi encountered a major event or foreign invasion would the Yuzi Khan summon all the small khans to a meeting to discuss.

Abulai Khan was the Khan of the Left Wing Juz. He had always sided with both China and Russia, but generally speaking, he regarded Tsarist Russia as the biggest threat. He was forced to submit to Tsarist Russia, but he was sincere in his desire to submit to China for both national defense and trade.

Of course, there was also the reason that the Qing Dynasty exterminated the Dzungars and saved Abulai Khan from danger.

After receiving the order, Fu Kang'an hurried down. When capturing the Ust-Kamenogorsk fortress, the army captured a Kazakh tribe, who were used as guides to find the Middle Yuz tribe near Astana.

Of course, there were also many veteran Qing generals in Fu Kang'an's army, such as Hai Lu, who was recommended to Mo Zibu by Heshen. He had followed Zhao Hui in pursuit of the Junggar to the vicinity of Astana, and he still knew some of the distance and direction.

"Prince Shunyi, go and gather the Khans of the various vassal states accompanying the army and immediately begin commanding the nomadic herders to roam freely. Be prepared for a few months of fighting."

This is why Chen Guangyao brought with him 70,000 to 80,000 herders and hundreds of thousands of livestock.

Since the Western Expedition had reached the Kazakh steppe, there was no plan to just take a look around and go back. All the soldiers were prepared to fight for one or two years, or even two or three years.

These herdsmen and the livestock they carry, as well as the compacted rice and flour on the backs of cattle and horses, are the supplies for the army.

Celing Namuzhaer, the Shunyi King of the Northern Torghuts, also hurried down to make arrangements. The herdsmen are not like the army, and many people are still on the road.

Moreover, it is impossible for nomads to release hundreds of thousands of livestock around the Semipalatinsk Fortress at once, as the grasslands here simply cannot support it.

Therefore, it is necessary to graze the animals in a dispersed manner on the 200-kilometer grassland from the Ust-Kamenogorsk Fortress to the Semipalatinsk Fortress.

It is impossible to arrange the grazing work for tens of thousands of herders in a short period of time unless you are a genuine Mongolian.

Celing Namjale is not only capable, but also a master. This guy can't even fight his father Wubashi, but he is very good at leading the tribe in grazing.

Under his influence, the Torghut people in history presented a strange scene: they were not very good at fighting, but their population recovered quickly and they had a lot of cattle and sheep.

Zhunbu, Korla.

The Governor of Kokand and Kashgar, Muhammad Aimar, was indeed fooled.

In May, when the weather had just started to warm up, he forcibly mobilized 20,000 vassal troops from various Hui tribes, 9,000 Kokand soldiers, and some civilian laborers, almost 50,000 people, claiming to have 200,000 troops, to attack, regardless of the fact that it was the season for livestock breeding and spring plowing.

Well, there's nothing wrong with bragging about it. This is basically the maximum number of people that the Hui people can mobilize for fighting in recent years.

However, the more people came, the more Li Xingtai despised them.

The second son of the Prince of Ningxia has more than just muscles. If he had only muscles, he would not have been able to gain the respect of all the bad boys in the city and even in Gansu when he was in Lanzhou.

Maybe if you ask him to take care of people's livelihood and govern the local area, he really can't do it, but when it comes to fighting, his brain can definitely be considered good.

"The Hui people only have about 500,000 people, and they are scattered across the vast southern Xinjiang. It's a great achievement for them to gather 20,000 troops on a normal day.

For example, during the rebellion of the Hezhuo brothers, even if we put all our resources into it, we could only muster about 20,000 soldiers.”

Li Xingtai pointed at the dark crowd in the distance and said to Qi Lin, "They claim to have 200,000 people, but the actual number is at least 40,000, and probably more than 50,000.

It seems that, let alone treating them as fellow tribesmen, the Kokand people simply don’t regard the Hui people as human beings!”

Qi Lin couldn't agree more. They were the ones who created the White Lotus Sect by using this method to uproot people so that they could take them away. They didn't expect that the Kokand people would use this trick even after they actually occupied the Hui tribe.

"With 500,000 people and constant war, there are at most 200,000 men. Excluding the elderly and children, it would be good to have 100,000 men.

The 30,000 or 40,000 men recruited this time were basically not enough for every three men in a household to contribute one, which was even more severe than raking only one out of three men.

If we can't win this battle, or even if we win but can't capture much food and fodder, we'll be in trouble."

After hearing Qi Lin's words, Li Xingtai laughed heartily. "In that case, let's show weakness first. We must make them confident enough to continue fighting. The longer we drag it out, the better."

As he spoke, Li Xingtai's eyes turned cold. "It would be best to delay until their rations are almost gone. Then, after defeating them, we wouldn't even have to pursue them. They would starve most of their men to death on the way back."

This is a true general. Not only was he not frightened by the enemy army that was said to have 200,000 troops, but he saw the instability of the enemy army and planned in advance how to kill the enemy.

Of course, all this will be decided on the battlefield. If we can't hold on, everything will be in vain.

Almost at the same time, the siege of Urumqi by the Hui people and the Hasakah rebels was also underway.

However, their strength is completely incomparable to the southern Hui army led by the Kokand people.

Even between the Hui people and the Hasakah people, there are huge grudges between them, and both sides do not trust each other.

The leader of the Hasakah rebellion was Big Juz, Ali Krik, the nephew of Borot, the right-wing Khan who roamed around Lake Balkhash.

At this time, the Hasakah people had only a superficial faith in Islam, and most of their religious customs still followed their traditional shamanism.

But Aliklik was different. He was one of the few Islamic zealots among the Hasakah people. Therefore, after Dayu overthrew the Qing Dynasty, he immediately parted ways with his uncle Borot Khan, who had often sent people to Beijing to pay homage to him.

In the following years, Ali Creek occupied the entire Seven Rivers area and took the city of Ili, greatly increasing his prestige and strength.

Attracted by so many benefits, more than 300,000 of the 400,000 herders of Great Juz defected to Ali Krik. On the contrary, his uncle, the orthodox Khan Borot, was squeezed out and almost unable to survive.

The Hui people were mainly fanatics from Turpan, Hami and other places. They were driven out by the vanguard of Li Xianwen's Northwest Army, namely the 36 Huiliang clans, and went to the land of Qihe to seek refuge with Ali Creek.

However, due to belonging to different tribes, and the fact that these fanatics believed that Ali Creek was not devout enough, the two sides had considerable differences on many issues.

Their mutual suspicion even made Luo Siju feel a little unsatisfied.

Because these two groups were seemingly united but actually at odds, neither was willing to fight hard, resulting in tens of thousands of people surrounding Urumqi for two months without even climbing the city wall once.

"Fuck you, you immortal boss! I'm going to fight you guys to see who finishes eating the food first." Luo Siju cursed and immediately retreated behind the battlements to catch up on his sleep.

Sure enough, the only people who can fight in the river are the Rakshasa people and the Bukit Bek people. No matter how many people there are, the others have little combat power at all.

(End of this chapter)