Chapter 367 The Beacon Fire in the Western Regions
No matter which dynasty we were in, the border guards were the hardest working group of people.
Most of the frontiers are bitter cold places. These people maintain the borders of China here, but few people know their names.
This is a group of unsung heroes!
In addition to the ancestors' conquests, China's current territory owes a lot to generations of frontier garrison soldiers. The forts delineate the borders of China.
There were a total of 89 garrison troops on duty in Chichikkalun, 56 of them were Han Chinese, and the others were Mongolians and Manchus.
The garrison is equipped with five 500-pound iron cannons. Among the garrison soldiers are 40 gunners, 10 gunners, 20 archers, 15 spearmen, and four officers.
Everyone has lived together for generations, and there has long been no ethnic distinction between them.
As Dong Shuheng said, we are all Chinese, so what should we do to distinguish them clearly? Anyway, they all look similar.
Because Luo Dalin is a little older, he is honest, he never bullies young people, and he has rich experience in guarding Karen, so when the garrison commander is away, everyone usually listens to him.
Although he is only a general manager, his status among Karen is extremely high.
Something huge happened in the imperial court recently. Although it has not been announced, gossip has spread from Ili.
The imperial court has changed. General Yili has surrendered to the new dynasty. This is a big deal. The brothers in Karen have been a little unstable recently.
Especially those garrison soldiers who are not of Han origin. They don't know what to do in the future? Can they continue to eat military rations? Everyone is confused.
I heard that the new dynasty was headed by Han people, which further aggravated the worries of these Manchus and Mongols.
"I see, you are all thinking too much. All matters in the imperial court are between the big shots, and it has nothing to do with us small garrison soldiers?" Luo Dalin is not very good at talking, but after all, he has more experience and knows a lot.
reason.
He just tells these young people the truth that he believes in.
Think about it, no matter who is the emperor, someone will have to guard the border. Even if someone comes to replace them, there will still be people on the border to farm and graze.
No matter what, it seems they won't starve to death.
The job of garrison soldiers was more of an obligation. The imperial court gave them land, and they helped the imperial court guard the borders. As for military pay, it was just a symbolic amount.
Food can be eaten for free, but most of the food is handed in by the people on the frontier.
"Just wait. If the new dynasty can send someone to replace us, that would be a good thing. We can go home and farm in peace, and our wives and children can stay warm, isn't that good?" Luo Dalin said again.
"But now, the errands have to continue. If something goes wrong, the new dynasty will still condemn you!" Luo Dalin said.
"Uncle Luo, look to the west. Are those Kazakh shepherds?"
While Luo Dalin was talking, a young Manchu boy asked.
In this fort, everyone lives in this remote place all year round.
They have long been as close to each other as brothers. Everyone usually calls Luo Dalin "Uncle Luo".
Recently, the garrison commander went back to rest, and among the Karens, Luo Dalin is in charge again.
Just a few days ago, a small tribe I knew well wanted to go east for grazing and handed over ten sheep to Karen.
Luo Dalin took the initiative and killed two of them, and everyone improved their food.
One of the Mongolian garrison soldiers in Karen also fell in love with a little girl from the Kazakh tribe.
The girl was tall and round, and when she was riding on a horse, her butt seemed to be able to cover the saddle.
The young man fell in love with the girl's big breasts and big butt. He begged Luo Dalin to help him secure a match.
Luo Dalin could only agree to wait for the tribe to return home and help him propose a marriage. Girls from nomadic tribes were not worth much, so as long as he could spare some money, he would readily sell the girl over.
However, this Mongolian child has lived in Karen for several generations and has been influenced by the Han people around him. He insists on marrying someone through a matchmaker.
Han culture is so powerful. The Chinese nation will be dominated by Han culture, not because there are many Han people, but because Han culture is inherently powerful in integrating and assimilating.
Luo Dalin followed the young man's hand and looked to the west. The water vapor on the lake was steaming. Under the sunlight, the surrounding air seemed to contain a twisted force, making it difficult for Luo Dalin to see the situation in the distance.
He seemed to see a large herd of horses. Kazakhs like to herd horses and eat horse meat. The horse intestines they make taste really good. Therefore, it is not surprising that there are many horses in their herd.
But something seemed wrong today. There seemed to be human figures on those horses. However, Luo Dalin was not sure yet because the opponent's team was too far away from his side.
There is a beacon above Karen. This communication method has been circulated for thousands of years and has always been an essential skill for Chinese garrison troops.
As a garrison soldier, you must be able to use beacon messages, and you must also be able to read beacon messages.
The beacon smoke cannot be stopped at the same time. All the soldiers who see it must pass on the beacon smoke. It is like a relay.
"Wheel, prepare the beacon smoke. Let's take three beams first." Luo Dalin said to a young Manchu boy.
"Uncle, I haven't used beacon smoke in many years. Maybe it's the herdsmen in the brigade? If you put it in the wrong way, you will suffer."
The young man said worriedly. The Qing Dynasty's frontiers have been at peace for a long time, especially in the west. Since the fall of the Jungar Khanate, no one can threaten the Qing Dynasty.
Of course, they didn't know that Kazakhstan had surrendered to Tsarist Russia. The giant bear had already extended its claws to the edge of the Western Region.
"Wheel, don't talk nonsense, hold on tight, you heard me right." Luo Dalin ordered the wheel and shouted to the others in Karen: "Everyone, get ready, fill up those cannons first."
Today's events were a bit unusual. Combined with the changes in the east during this period, Luo Dalin felt slightly uneasy.
At this time, the herds were approaching slowly, and Luo Dalin finally saw clearly what kind of herds were here, and there were clearly a large area of cavalry.
"It's a large group of cavalry." someone shouted.
Luo Dalin didn't speak at this time. He squinted his eyes and looked at the endless cavalry in the west, trying hard to estimate their number.
Four bunches of black smoke? No, five bunches of black smoke, Luo Dalin estimated in his mind.
"Wheel, go and release five beams of black smoke." This means that the number of enemies is more than 50,000.
Naturally, Luo Dalin would not think that so many cavalry were here to transfer. The presence of so many cavalry in such a place must mean war.
The Kazakhs paid a huge price just to bring these people together.
Because this will seriously affect their normal grazing activities.
With so many cavalry, half of the men in Kazakhstan must have been gathered here.
The garrison soldiers in Karen had never seen such a scene before. They could only execute it mechanically under Luo Dalin's order.
At this time, people need a backbone.
Luo Dalin has never seen such a scene in his long life.
He just heard what his elders said, and now he can still give orders just because he is more familiar with Karen's work.
After a while, five thick black wolf smoke floated up from Karen. Unseen in the distance, another Karen saw five wolf smoke in the sky, and then also lit five beacon smoke.
Karen in the border area saw the smoke but did not report it, and was punished as a serious crime.
The beacon smoke reached the last Karen, and then spread all the way eastward along the Ili River city. The people around the city ran towards the city when they saw the beacon smoke.
The beacon smoke is passed all the way like a string of dominoes.
In Huiyuan City, Zuo Jigao, who had just settled down and was taking over the government affairs of the Western Regions, was interrupted from his work.
Just when he was about to get angry, he saw the anxious eyes of the messenger.
Before Zuo Jigao could ask questions, the messenger soldier gasped and said: "Daduhu, five beams of smoke, coming from the west."
Zuo Jigao is very knowledgeable and naturally knows the ancient communication method of beacon smoke.
Fifty thousand enemies? Are they from Tsarist Russia or Kazakhs? There is no way to judge these specific information in the smoke of war.
But no matter what the enemy is, facing it is Zuo Jigao's only choice.
"Invite the generals of each division to hold a meeting at the Duhu Mansion. Send five teams of scouts to the west in batches to explore the enemy's situation." Zuo Jigao ordered.
At the moment when he gave the order, the smoke was still passing because Zuo Jigao did not give the order to stop passing it.
Zuo Jigao still had a total of 40,000 troops in his hands. Where there were no cities along the way, he built military stations, and where there were cities, he stationed troops. Therefore, the troops in his hands were continuously diluted.
The most elite ones in his hands now should be the First Division, the 18th Division, which were later supported from Chang'an, and the 11th Division of the Hubei Army brought out from Hubei.
Only the equipment of these three divisions is the latest equipment in the Renaissance Army.
As for his original 12th to 16th divisions, they have not completely completed the change.
Dong Shuheng cannot produce hundreds of thousands of breech-loading rifles in just over two years. Maybe he can in the future, but now, the production capacity of China Ordnance Industry is still far from enough.
Therefore, Zuo Jigao's army did not have completely reloaded breech-loading guns, and his army was divided into two levels based on whether it was completely reloaded.
All the A-class divisions were equipped with breech-loading rifles, while only part of the B-class divisions were re-equipped.
Among them, the First Division of the Army, as the main veteran force in the Renaissance Army, has all been equipped with Type 54 rifles.
The First Division was still led by Wang Congzhi, who also served as the deputy commander-in-chief of the West Route Army.
Zuo Jigao served as the Great Protector of the Western Regions and the Commander-in-Chief of the Western Route Army. He had great power and was regarded as a local official who was under the control of military and political affairs.
As a direct descendant of Dong Shuheng, Wang Congzhi led the most elite division in the Western Regions, which may not be a restraint on Zuo Jigao.
Dong Shuheng naturally believed in Zuo Jigao, but the Western Region was thousands of miles away from the Central Plains and the roads were inconvenient, unless the railway planned by Dong Shuheng was opened to traffic one day.
Otherwise, it would be impossible for Dong Shuheng to be placed in the hands of one person with complete confidence.
The original Ili General's Mansion was now changed into Zuo Jigao's Grand Protector's Mansion.
At this time, stars gathered in the mansion, and an emergency military meeting was held here.
On the other side, the beacon fire continued to pass eastward, like a giant dragon stretching its body.
The beacon fire spread from Yili to Luntai, then to Hami, and then along the Yumen Pass and Jiayuguan Pass all the way eastward along the Great Wall.
Many of the beacon towers on the Great Wall are in dilapidated condition.
Since the Qing Dynasty, the role of the Great Wall has gradually weakened, it has lost its previous maintenance, and many places are dilapidated.
In what seemed to be an abandoned beacon tower, an old soldier wearing a Ming army bugle uniform lit the beacon tremblingly.
Many remote beacon towers on the Great Wall were lit one after another, as if they were guarded by the heroic spirits of their ancestors. Old soldiers appeared from nowhere and faithfully fulfilled their family mottos according to the instructions of their ancestors.
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"When a beacon fire starts, it spreads thousands of miles!"
In Xinjing City, Dong Shuheng is organizing a meeting for officials from the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications.
At the meeting, Dong Shuheng issued a fatal order to the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. China's postal and telecommunications delivery system must be established before the end of the year. As long as it is on Chinese soil, postal and telecommunications letters must be able to reach them.
At the same time, Dong Shuheng required that except for the southwest plateau and the extreme north, the telegraph office must lay out telegraph networks in various places before the end of the year. This includes the Western Regions.
Compared with the southwest plateau and the extreme north, it is easier to lay telegraph in the Western Region.
Over thousands of years, a mature road has formed from the Central Plains of China to the Western Regions. Along the Hexi Corridor to the west to Hami, Turpan, Luntai, and Ili, and to the south to Kuqa, Aksu, Kashgar, and Congling in Shannan.
Dong Shuheng hoped that the telegraph could at least reach Ili in the Western Regions, which would be the front line of the confrontation between China and Tsarist Russia in the future.
After Tsarist Russia's successive defeats in the Far East, it will definitely set its sights on the Western Region of China, which is closer to the core area of Tsarist Russia and is more beneficial to Tsarist Russia. Compared with the expedition to the Far East, attacking the Western Region of China is more beneficial to Tsarist Russia.
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"President, there is a fire in Xishan." The meeting was in progress and Wei Yuxiang ran in and interrupted the meeting. This was a rare occurrence.
"What's going on?" Dong Shuheng asked.
Things are a bit strange. If the Renaissance Army delivers news, they also use sentries or telegraphs.
The ancient method of transmitting information, beacon fire, has long been abandoned by the Renaissance Army.
"I have sent people to Xishan to ask, and it was an old soldier from Xishan who lit it. The beacon tower there has long been abolished, and there are no garrison soldiers. The old soldier has only been stationed there for generations, and now his home is near the beacon tower.
in the village.”
"His family said that today he saw the beacon tower on the west side of the Great Wall was lit, so he went crazy and asked his sons to carry him up the mountain. He went straight to the beacon tower with the smoke fuel that had been kept at home."
"Then, regardless of the opposition of his family, he lit the beacon fire."
"The black smoke from the five peaks means that there are 50,000 troops pressing down on the border. The beacon fire coming from the west means that there is an enemy situation in Western Xinjiang."
Suddenly, Dong Shuheng understood.
The allied forces of Tsarist Russia and Cossacks arrived in the Western Regions. Just like in history, Dong Shuheng did not expect that he would get the news in this way.
"Everyone, the beacon message, which has been abandoned for hundreds of years, is still fulfilling its mission at critical moments. Those old soldiers beside the Great Wall have not received a penny from the country."
"They only relied on word of mouth to pass on the mission of communication. Do you, the Chinese postmen and telecommunications people, also want to learn from them and learn from the spirit of these old soldiers? Why can our Chinese nation be able to live forever?
It has been passed down because of countless Chinese heroes like this, who are the backbone of China!"
Today, Dong Shuheng was a little excited when he spoke.
Just now, the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications raised many difficulties with Dong Shuheng. Now after hearing this, he couldn't help but bow his head. He felt ashamed, endless shame.
Those beacon towers on the Great Wall have been abandoned for hundreds of years, but they are still able to operate. What does this rely on? It is definitely not material protection. Only the spirit in people's hearts can occasionally achieve this level.
Only the spirit is immortal!
This storm did not bring panic. In the Western Region, Zuo Ji's 100,000 troops were capable of stopping these invaders.
Dong Shuheng asked Wei Yuxiang to write an article introducing the spirit of the garrison soldiers and published it in the newspaper.
He also called on young people in China to go to the Western Regions. Dong Shuheng wrote in a newspaper:
If you are a scholar, you can go to the Western Regions to spread Chinese culture, and the government will build schools for you.
If you are a farmer, you can go to the Western Regions to cultivate farmland. The snow water on the Tianshan Mountains has nourished a lot of fertile land, and the government will allocate farmland to you.
If you are a craftsman, you can also go to the Western Regions, where you are needed for construction and the government will build factories for you.
Even if you are a woman, you can go to the Western Regions. There are a large number of men there who protect the Western Regions. They need families. Please give them a warm family.