Chapter 224: Fight without bloodshed

"Report! Twenty thousand enemy troops in Hami, led by Bai Yanhu and his deputy Ishaq, have abandoned the city and fled."

Uh, Bai Yanhu ran away again.

Bai Yanhu is not a coward. He dared to lead his men from Yili Province back to Suzhou to support Ma Wenlu. He is quite courageous.

However, he had fought against the Huai Army twice in Dongzhiyuan and Suzhou, and was well aware of how powerful the Huai Army was.

The first time, they were unable to win the field battle. The second time, the Huai Army had a large number of heavy siege artillery and could not defend the city.

Now the 80,000 Huai Army troops have arrived at Barkol, and are slowly approaching in a siege situation. The small city of Hami is totally incomparable to the tall and solid city walls of Jijinbao and Suzhou. With 20,000 against 80,000, how can they possibly defend it?

In addition, Hami is the enemy's bridgehead. It is an isolated city within the enemy's control area and is difficult to defend.

The morale of the Kokand people was frustrated after the fierce attack on Barkol failed. The Kokand people then took Kuche and advanced to Toksun, threatening Turpan and Dabancheng behind the rebels.

In this situation, unless Bai Yanhu is completely stupid, he will definitely run away.

Shao Quanzhong laughed loudly towards the sky; this was exactly the effect he wanted.

Ma Hualong was a big traitor comparable to Hong Xiuquan. He fought desperately during the conquest of Shaanxi and Gansu, especially when attacking Jijinbao.

The bandits in Ili Province and the invaders from Kokand did not have the careful preparations made by the fifth generation leader Ma Hualong, so they rebelled and invaded rashly. Their foundations were much weaker and their troops' combat effectiveness was far worse.

The conquest of Ili Province was a logistical battle, and the sooner the better. The logistical burden of an army of 80,000 on a long expedition was simply too great.

Shao Quanzhong didn't have time to waste with these little bastards as he had a big battle to fight with the Russians later.

Therefore, the actual situation was different from what the imperial court thought, that the expedition to Ili Province was very difficult. As long as the logistics were sufficient, Ili Province was not difficult to conquer.

In fact, the imperial court underestimated Ma Hualong's ability and harm. Shao Quanzhong suffered a loss in the battle of Jinjibao. The imperial court could not fully understand his merits. A large part of the sacrifices made by the Huai Army in Gansu were dedication.

Fortunately, Shao Quanzhong was well aware of the Huai Army's contributions, so the soldiers and generals would not suffer any losses.

As for Shao Quanzhong himself, he received an annual salary and dividends, and his merits were calculated after the battle. Losses within the dike were compensated by losses outside the dike, and in places where it was easy to fight, the merits counted by the court were greater.

The Huai Army captured Hami without bloodshed. Shao Quanzhong issued the next order immediately without waiting to enter the city.

"Shao Hengzhong will lead the 1st Mixed Division to station in Hami, Lin Bozi will lead the 2nd Mixed Division to station in Balikun, and the rest of the troops, with Dong Fuxiang's Gansu Independent Division as the vanguard, will take the northern route and rush to Dihua!"

Each unit followed the order, but Shao Quanzhong did not follow the headquarters. He was going to follow Shao Hengzhong's team to take over Hami. He had to first understand the actual local situation and deal with post-war matters before catching up with the main force.

A large force is charging forward with cannons, and even with steam tractors, they can only travel eighty or ninety miles a day, which is considered fast. This speed is far from that of a pure cavalry squad, so they will definitely be caught up.

Wen Lin, the leader of the Qing army defending Barkol and assistant minister in Hami, also left his subordinate Nerji stationed in the whole city of Barkol, and he himself led two thousand beggar Qing soldiers to follow Shao Quanzhong, preparing to return to Hami to govern.

"Shao, I looked at the map. In terms of straight-line distance, the closest city to Hami is Turpan. Why would you attack Dihua, which is farther away?"

Shao Quanzhong looked at Curious Baby Mark Twain with a smile, "Military secrets."

In fact, the intelligence department had previously learned that Bai Yanhu had built a series of fortresses along the line of Dabancheng and Turpan, ready to defend them to the death and consume the food of the Western Expedition Army. Not far to the south, there were also troops stationed by the Kokand Aqub Beg in Toksun, and the situation was more complicated.

On the contrary, due to the construction of a solid defense line in the front, the bandit’s old nest Dihua became empty. Therefore, the General Staff formulated a strategy of attacking Dihua directly from the north, and then attacking Dabancheng to Turpan from Dihua, Barkol and Hami. This is a relatively difficult fortress group.

"Report, there seems to be another group of bandits ahead."

There was smoke and dust billowing ahead, and Lao Xingwu could see that there were about four to five thousand horses marching. Could it be that the bandits had returned?
Shao Hengzhong ordered his troops to stop their alert, but the enemy stopped far away. A local general with a big beard came with only a few of his men on horseback. When he arrived in front of Shao Quanzhong's horse, he saluted on the horse and said, "The imperial army has arrived. We are finally saved."

The native had a high nose and deep eyes, but he spoke Chinese very well. Seeing Shao Quanzhong's surprise, he quickly introduced himself, "I am Bo Xier, the Prince of Hami. I was unable to defeat the rebel army and was forced to wander the grasslands, waiting for the imperial army for a long time."

Well, the situation here is complicated. It doesn't mean that all the natives have become rioters and bandits. There are still many natives who are willing to be loyal to the Qing Dynasty. This is different from the situation in Shaanxi and Gansu where almost all the enemy forces under the command of Ma Hualong are rioters.

He was a prince, Shao Quanzhong bowed on his horse and said, "Greetings to the prince."

Bo Xier shook his hands and said, "I am just a small local king. I am all thanks to the Lord Zhongcheng for saving me. How dare I accept the Lord Zhongcheng's gift? Now that the bandits have retreated, please follow me into the city so that I can welcome you."

Shao Hengzhong's troops entered the empty city of Hami to pacify the residents, and Shao Quanzhong followed into the city with Boxil and Wenlin.

To Shao Quanzhong's surprise, there were many Han people in Hami City who were intact, while the entire city was massacred.

Wen Lin, the assistant minister next to him, sighed, "The situation here is different from that in Shaanxi and Gansu. The bandits make a living by herding, and they need the Han people to plant the land for them and provide them with food. But we Manchus and Mongolians, because we have disputes over pastures, they kill everyone they see, and the losses are heavy."

Ma Hualong organized a massacre of Han people to clear out the territory and establish his own regime. The Han people here were originally a minority and had the heavy responsibility of grain production, so although they were bullied, they were not massacred...

Glancing at the Prince of Hami who was loyal to the Qing Dynasty and had not surrendered to the enemy, Shao Quanzhong began to ponder. It seemed that the strategy adopted in Ili Province could not be the same as that adopted in Shaanxi and Gansu.

The indigenous people here account for 90% and the Han people only account for 10%. It is impossible to expel all the indigenous people. We have to digest and disintegrate them.

After patrolling the city and verifying Wenlin's statement with the Han residents, Shao Quanzhong ordered, "Hengzhong, in Hami, we must identify the local natives and let them report on each other. If the children of a family have joined the bandits, or if they have participated in the massacre of the whole city, the men will be castrated to build the railway, and their families will be sent as slaves. The remaining good natives should be comforted."

"Report! The latest telegram from Zhangye."

The telegraph line had been extended to Zhangye, and Shao Yuan also moved the logistics headquarters there, so that news from the rear could be sent by express horses at any time.

Shao Quanzhong took it and saw that it was a telegram from London.

"Brother Shao, Jiming and I have already arrived in London. We did not buy or rent a house, but stayed at the home of Luo Weilin, a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

Mr. Luo is the founder of Beijing Union Hospital. He is now retired and very friendly to Hua Xia. Jiming will be with his grandchildren and have playmates. I have already contacted the primary school that Jiming will attend next year. Everything is fine, don't worry."

His wife and children were safe, and the situation in Hami was also understood. Shao Quanzhong did not participate in the welcoming banquet organized by Hami Wang and Wenlin. He waved his whip and said, "Sixth Lady, let's go and catch up with the main force."

…………

South America, Eastern Republic of Uruguay.

Thick smoke billowed from the sea, and a strange large fleet came in a mighty manner.

More than twenty warships flying the Union Jack, escorting sixty large transport ships flying the Stars and Stripes, sailed unimpeded across the Atlantic Ocean and arrived off the coast of Montevideo, the capital of the east coast.

(End of this chapter)

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