Chapter 256: Qinglu's Decisive Battle in Tashkent
Chapter 256: Qinglu's Decisive Battle in Tashkent
Five days later, the express messenger, which traveled eight hundred miles, arrived in Turpan.
The telegraph line has been extended to Turpan, but not to Dihua. It will soon be extended to Korla through Toksun, giving priority to meeting the military needs of the Western Expedition front.
The 800-li express stopped here and could be sent slowly to the capital. The text of the treaty was sent to the Military Affairs Office, along with Shao Quanzhong's secret memorial to supplement the explanation.
The formal treaty text can make the court pretentious and full of the tone of the Celestial Empire. But I, Shao Quanzhong, cannot be buried by future generations. I still have to let the bigwigs of the Military Affairs Office know the truth.
It was already noon when the Grand Council received the telegram, and the bigwigs had already left court and gone home.
Wen Xiang, who was on duty, did not dare to delay such an important event and immediately reported it to the Empress Dowager Cixi.
An emergency meeting was held in the East Warm Pavilion of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and the little emperor and all the military ministers were called in to work overtime.
"My Lords, although we have gained an advantage in this treaty, Shao Quanzhong is too bold to promise the British and the natives to fight the Russians. Are the Russians so easy to fight? Have we ever won against them before? I suggest that we reprimand Shao Quanzhong and stop him from clashing with the Russians and causing trouble for the court."
As the foreman, Wenxiang was the first to stand up and express his attitude. It was his duty.
Prince Gong immediately disagreed, "As far as I know, the British are the most powerful country in the world. If we form an alliance with the British, we should be able to defeat Russia. This is a good opportunity for the Qing Dynasty to take revenge on Russia for bullying us before. Maybe we can get back the land we ceded before."
"You probably know that, right? The British have no troops in Central Asia. What's the point of just supporting them? The people who died are from our Qing Dynasty."
There was a cough from behind the curtain, and the Empress Dowager Cixi's voice came out, "Stop making noise. You don't have the bearing of an important official at all."
The military ministers were silent, listening to the two Empress Dowagers muttering a few words. Ci'an rarely spoke, "Shao Quanzhong wants to recover the land conquered by our ancestors and expand the territory for our Qing Dynasty. We must support this."
Ci'an usually didn't talk, but when she spoke, her decision was final and no one dared to object.
Cixi added, "Since we have taken their money and land, we must fight this war. Even if the Huai Army loses tens of thousands of soldiers, it doesn't matter. We have gained an advantage, right? Give Shao Quanzhong an order, don't be too honest, just fight the Russians and give an explanation to the British and the local barbarians, don't lose too many soldiers. Even if Tashkent cannot be taken, it will be a great achievement for him to defend Kokand and Bukhara. Send a telegram."
"Whoo!"
The military officials and the two Empress Dowagers were both excited but also worried. They were worried that Shao Quanzhong would be defeated by the Russians and not only would he lose the land in the treaty, but he would also have to cede land and pay compensation to Russia.
He also secretly hoped that Shao Quanzhong would not be so aggressive, and would conserve his strength, so that he could fight the Russians to a draw and get the benefits in the treaty. Based on Shao Quanzhong's previous performance, he had not suffered any losses, so this was very likely.
However, although the Huai Army had won victories all the way before, Russia was different from the bandits and Yakub Beg. They were real powers, and it was not certain whether they could defeat them.
When Shao Quanzhong submitted a memorial, the bigwigs in the capital collectively stopped eating.
…………
One hundred and twenty miles northwest of Samarkand, there is the small town of Gallaor.
The town was in shambles, with cries and shouts everywhere. The streets of clay houses were stained with blood, and the herdsmen's tents around the town were set on fire. Three thousand Cossacks were killing people.
The peasants who worked the land could not escape and suffered heavy casualties. A group of Uzbek herders, along with their wives and children, rode wildly on horseback, chased by ferocious-looking Cossack bandits holding Chaksi sabers.
Dust rose from the east road, and the ground was shaking slightly. The herdsmen looked up and saw three thousand soldiers and horses emerging from the dust. They were wearing Qing Dynasty uniforms and holding two large flags with crooked Manchu characters on them that they could not recognize.
Three thousand cavalrymen from the Solon Camp and the Xibe Camp arrived, dismounted immediately, formed into an array, and pointed their guns at the pursuing Russians.
The Bukhara herdsmen were extremely surprised. They heard that the government had sent Prince Ahad to pay homage to the Qing Dynasty and recognize the Qing Dynasty as their suzerain state. They did not expect that the suzerain state was so powerful and immediately sent troops to rescue them.
The Cossacks immediately stopped their horses, hesitating whether to clash with the suddenly appearing Qing army.
They had a psychological advantage over the Qing army. Several leaders had a brief discussion and were about to start fighting when smoke and dust rose behind Solon and the Xibe camp, and Wang Nima arrived with 3,000 Tibetan cavalry.
The Tibetan cavalry did not dismount, but attacked from both wings of the Solon and Xibe camp infantry formations, preparing for a coordinated battle.
The Cossack leader raised his telescope to observe. The enemy had 6,000 people, all equipped with advanced breech-loading carbines. We are here to rob, not to fight. What good would it be if we win? Withdraw and let the main force deal with them. We also need to report to our superiors that the Qing Dynasty has joined the Central Asian battlefield.
The Cossacks turned back with the loot.
Who knew that the other side's 6,000 men were all cavalry, and the Solon and Xibe battalions were special forces that were proficient in both infantry and cavalry, and they had been following behind the 3,000 Cossacks.
The Cossacks did not dare to stop and fled all the way to their home base in Tashkent in the northeast. After running 360 miles in three days, they finally reached Gulistan, an important oasis town on the Syr Darya River, and they were relieved.
Gulistan is a walled city. If I run into Gulistan and defend it, I will definitely be able to stop your 6,000 cavalry. At the same time, I will ask Tashkent for help. Once my Russian regular army arrives, you will suffer.
The exhausted Cossacks ran to the city of Gulistan. The city gates were suddenly closed, and a large number of infantrymen who were ready for battle emerged from the city walls. Thousands of breech-loading muskets fired at the same time, and hundreds of defenseless Cossacks fell off their horses.
A large flag was raised on the top of the city wall: "Gansu Army - Dong".
The Cossacks were hit head-on and were terrified. They wanted to go around the city - but they couldn't.
Large numbers of cavalry appeared from the east and west at the same time, and twelve battalions of Gansu cavalry rumbled over from both sides.
Six thousand cavalrymen followed behind him and were slowly approaching.
Oh, Heaven, oh, Earth, what bad things have we done - ahem, we have done a lot of bad things.
But why, with only 3,000 of us, were we surrounded by more than 20,000 people? Isn't this bullying?
We Cossacks have conquered the world, how could we endure such humiliation?
The Cossack leaders were furious and made a decision immediately - they all dismounted and surrendered smoothly.
Dong Fuxiang was very dissatisfied with the mission he had received to annihilate all the Cossacks, and he didn't even bother to glance at the more than 2,000 Cossack prisoners.
He turned around and complained to Karis beside him, "Oh, it's over. Since the Western Expedition, the Gansu Army has been the vanguard all the way, but now it has become a small force to deal with small fry. The chance of making great contributions in the future is gone."
Karis smiled and said, "Xingwu, you have already made the first contribution to the Western Expedition. You should also let others make some contributions. You can't take all the credit, right?"
Dong Fuxiang smiled cheerfully, "That makes sense. Karis, you've worked hard along the way. Now I finally have time to accompany you. Let's go back to the city and sleep!"
"You good-for-nothing, who's going to sleep with you in broad daylight? I'm going to ride my horse by the Syr Darya."
"Okay! We can sleep by the Syr Darya!"
Dong Fuxiang stretched out his arm sideways, grabbed Kalisa onto his horse, and rode towards the Syr Darya River.
"Mmmm, let me go, you rude fellow-"
A trail of dust appeared on the road, and the sound of Dong Fuxiang's hearty laughter and Karis's angry voice could be heard.
…………
Dong's troops are now ordered to reorganize and serve as the reserve army, while also protecting the food supply routes to the rear.
Shao Quanzhong personally led a main force of more than 60,000 people to attack the Russians.
Lin Bozai's Mixed Division was the vanguard, cooperating with Song Qing's Armored Brigade to take the lead.
The two mixed infantry divisions of Nie Shicheng and Shao Hengzhong were the central army, and the light field artillery units, rapid-fire artillery units, and Gatling machine gun units cooperated as the main combat force.
With its own guards brigade, heavy artillery unit and command center as support, Ma Yukun's cavalry brigade provided guard on both wings and went forward for reconnaissance.
The 60,000-strong army slowly and steadily approached the city of Tashkent, where 30,000 Russian regular troops were gathered.
(End of this chapter)