Chapter 239: Thousands of miles to fight, crossing the mountains and hills like flying

"No matter what, we must take the western entrance of Tiemenguan Canyon first."

Grant's ability to seize opportunities is max, but he only sent two companies to guard such an important pass? The enemy is fighting among themselves and is desperate.

"I will lead a battalion on a forced march and capture the pass first."

Dong Fuxiang volunteered to fight without hesitation.

"Go!"

Dong Fuxiang ran out of the door, mounted his horse and rode away.

There was a battalion of Gansu infantry and two battalions of cavalry stationed at Tiemenguan. In the narrow canyon, the infantry could march quickly without riding horses, which was faster than the cavalry pulling the horses.

The enemy's defense was negligent, so this golden opportunity had to be seized at all costs. Otherwise, it would be very difficult to take down the natural barrier of Tiemenguan Gorge.

Tong Lin continued to report, "As soon as Yakub Beg died, his eldest son, Bekhurli, and his second son, Haigula, began to fight for the throne. Haigula knew that he could not fight, so he appointed Hashim, a general under Yakub Beg, as the commander-in-chief of the army and sent troops to Kashgar to compete with his eldest brother for the throne."

Shao Quanzhong smiled and asked, "Who won?"

It's a good thing when enemies fight among themselves. It would be best if Haigula wins, because he's a loser and easy to beat.

"Before the two brothers started fighting, Hashim saw that Haigula was useless. He led his troops in rebellion, proclaimed himself king, and attacked Haigula's personal guards. Haigula fled alone and went to Kashgar to seek refuge with his eldest brother. Then, the eldest brother killed his younger brother without hesitation..."

Uh, that's really unexpected.

But the eldest brother does not laugh at the second brother. If Shao Quanzhong died now, the Huai Army might be worse than Yakub Beg's Hongfu Khanate.

Both sons are still minors, so they will have to split up immediately. Perhaps, Song Lao San, Lin Bo Zai and Shao Heng Zhong will do their utmost to protect their sons as the young masters? The others may just take care of themselves.

This is the trouble of warlords. Brotherhood cannot win over everyone, and the remaining subordinates follow them, and their common ideal is to get promoted and make money.

Unless one day, I raise the flag of rebellion and make a name for myself to overthrow the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty, maybe I can gather the hearts of the people. Before that, I can't afford to die.

However, if they wanted to overthrow the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty, Dong Fuxiang might remain neutral, while people like Nie Shicheng, Song Qing, Ma Yukun, and Fat Tiger might remain loyal to the Qing Dynasty. This is puzzling...

In order to expand his power quickly and win battles, Shao Quanzhong recruited people from all sides. Now, troubles have begun to emerge.

Fortunately, except for the newly joined Mongolian soldiers, all the soldiers are loyal to him. As long as he is alive, he can subdue anyone and it is not a problem.

Shao Quanzhong is quite confident in his ability to dance on several eggs. As long as his thinking does not slip, there are always more solutions than problems, and he will deal with it when the time comes.

Shao Quanzhong was distracted because of too many associations he had with the death of his opponent Yakub Beg. He didn't listen carefully to what was said below, and when he came to his senses, Tong Lin had already talked about a lot of the past.

"…Hashim was defeated and fled to Russia, but both sides suffered heavy losses. In the end, the one who benefited from this battle for the throne was Bai Yanhu. The Kokand soldiers who did not want to fight among themselves flocked to Bai Yanhu, the son-in-law of Yakub Beg. Now Bai Yanhu has 10,000 elite soldiers and is stationed in Kuqa. His power has expanded several times, and he has become a warlord among the Kokand people."

The invincible Xiao Qiang Bai Yanhu took advantage of the internal strife among the Kokand people. Originally, he had only more than a thousand defeated Northern Xinjiang Uighur soldiers under his command, but now he is standing up again.

It's useless. There are only 10,000 foreigners left in Kuche, and no one knows how many are left in Kashgar.

In short, due to lack of food, Shao Quanzhong trained his troops in Korla for two months without fighting a single battle. The enemy was about to be killed by internal fighting, and their vitality was seriously damaged. The situation was already a mess. "I suggest that we send troops to Kuche, drive away Bai Yanhu, and let the enemy's territory shrink rapidly. In this way, the enemy's logistics can further reduce the number of troops that can be supported, and the battle in Yili Province can be ended as soon as possible."

Hearing that there were only more than 10,000 enemy troops left in Kuche, Grant immediately suggested starting a war to capture Kuche. If he delayed, something unexpected would happen. If Bai Yanhu joined forces with Berkhur, it would be difficult to fight.

Shao Quanzhong turned around and looked at Emery, "How is our food supply situation now?"

"The autumn harvest in northern Xinjiang has ended. Manas and Turpan were under siege for two months, and the battle should be over soon. In the past two months, we have added more than 200 tractors. If we wait for another month, we can establish a steel logistics line from 80,000 troops to Korla. Now-"

Shao Quanzhong shook his head. "The war opportunity cannot wait for a month. Korla has also finished its autumn harvest. How many people can be supported by the local grain to go to the war?"

Emery pondered for a moment. "I don't recommend going on the expedition. The conditions are not met. We have been eating captured food and grass. Now, the local new grain can support seven battalions of infantry for half a month. Half a month is too short. Cavalry consumes too much food and cannot go. Heavy artillery needs tractors to transport. The narrow road in the canyon needs to be widened to be wide enough for tractors to travel. It will take at least two months for the engineers from various units to gather and repair..."

The Huai Army's infantry was made up of dragoons, each with two horses, which was tolerable. But a cavalryman with three horses was too wasteful of food, and the Mongolian cavalry, who had four horses each, was even less acceptable.

In peacetime, when there is no war, the horses can graze and eat grass. But in war, there is no time to graze, so the horses have to eat concentrated feed, which will not be able to sustain.

Shao Quanzhong did not hesitate. "Order Dong Fuxiang to lead four Gansu infantry battalions as the vanguard. I will bring two battalions of the Guards Brigade and engineers, light field artillery, rapid-fire artillery, and machine gun units to reinforce and capture Kuche. As long as there is fire suppression and no heavy artillery, it doesn't matter if the engineers use explosives to blow up the city. As for the lack of food, we can eat from the enemy when we get to Kuche. Didn't they just finish the autumn harvest there?"

Since Shao Quanzhong didn't want to lose the opportunity to fight, he made the decision. Emery immediately went to prepare food and fodder and arrange to send troops.

As the shrill assembly whistle sounded, Korla, which had been quiet for two months, became tense.

Fat Tiger who was watching had a look of dissatisfaction on his face. I am a regular soldier now, but I have no chance to go to the battle.

However, when Fat Tiger saw the speed at which the real regular army assembled, the neat sound of their military boots, and the momentum of rows of soldiers mounting their horses to march into battle, he was convinced.

When they got back, they shouted loudly, "Everyone gather, continue training, practice formations. If we need to dismount and fight, we are far from being veterans!"

Nearly 10,000 infantry, artillery, and engineering troops set out from Korla. Twenty thousand war horses drove out of the barracks in an orderly manner, followed by camel caravans carrying light artillery.

At noon the next day, Shao Quanzhong led two battalions of the Guards Brigade out of the Tiemenguan Gorge.

The three battalions of Gansu infantry were still walking slowly behind, pulling the five battalions of horses. The camel team carrying the light field artillery was even further behind. The team struggling to pull the rapid-fire artillery and Gatling machine guns was even slower on the rugged road. It was estimated that it would take four or five days to cross the canyon...

"Reporting to the commander, one of the enemy battalions guarding the pass is the one left by Hashim. Their commander has fled to Russia, and their morale is low. Half of them have already fled, and there are less than two companies left, and there is no follow-up supply of food and grass. We didn't realize them until we rushed to them, and we killed them all with grenades and bayonets."

Because of the internal strife of the enemy, the natural barrier of Tiemen Pass was easily taken with almost no losses. Shao Quanzhong's confidence increased greatly, "Keep moving forward, take Kuche, and drive out Bai Yanhu!"

"Report, a large group of cavalry appeared in the west."

Shao Quanzhong raised the telescope and saw that the western continent was covered with dust and sand. Six thousand cavalrymen emerged from the dust, carrying Bai Yanhu's flag.

I arrived just in time.

"It seems that the enemy has finished their internal fighting and finally remembered to send people to guard the Iron Gate Gorge. It's a pity that you are too late. Brothers, prepare for battle!"

(End of this chapter)

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