Among the four famous officials of the late Qing Dynasty in history, Zeng Guofan was good at being a man, Li Hongzhang was good at being an official, Zhang Zhidong was a great scholar, and only Zuo Zongtang was an outlier.
His nickname is "Left Mule" - he takes life and death lightly and will do anything if he doesn't accept it.
The actions of the first three people were no longer worth mentioning and disappeared into thin air. Only Zuo Zongtang regained Xinjiang and preserved China's Western Region in history.
Historically, when the Central Plains Dynasty was strong and powerful, the Western Regions were in the hands of China. Once the Central Plains Dynasty declined and entered a period of rise and fall, the Western Regions would break away.
The Western Regions in later generations could still be in the hands of the Chinese, and Zuo Zongtang made great contributions.
Dong Shuheng originally sent Zuo Jigao to the Western Regions because of his understanding of Chinese history and his tenacity and drive.
Only by doing the impossible can you become a hero.
In the Protector's Mansion, Zuo Jigao stood in front of the huge map of the Western Regions and said in a deep tone: "Everyone, since ancient times, those who can take back the Western Regions and those who can defend the Western Regions are all great heroes handed down from generation to generation. Whenever dynasties change,
, the Western Region will become the most unstable region. We must now defend this ancestral industry during this critical period."
"No matter who wants to touch him, we will kill them all until they are afraid and until they dare not take action."
While speaking, Zuo Jigao tightened his grip on the hilt of the sword at his waist.
He has always regarded himself as a chivalrous man, wearing a gentleman's sword on his waist. A great chivalrous person serves the country and the people, and strives for the country and the nation!
The sword in his hand embodies the awe-inspiring righteousness he has accumulated from years of studying. There is a faint sound of the sword, and it seems to be ready to be unsheathed.
"I decided: General Wang will lead the 1st Division, and the 18th Division will be the main forward, and march westward along the Ili River Valley. I will lead the 11th and 12th Divisions behind, the 13th Division will stay in Huiyuan City, and the 14th Division will stay in Huiyuan City.
Shi Nan went down to Shannan to accept the land of Shannan."
The 15th and 16th Divisions had already dispersed and garrisoned on the road.
Time waits for no one, the war has started, and everyone does not even have time to discuss. Zuo Jigao Qiankun makes an arbitrary decision and decides on the plan to deal with the enemy.
There are no bells and whistles, just a head-on confrontation. This combat deployment is very consistent with Zuo Jigao's style.
Moreover, he showed his attitude by placing the 1st Division and the 18th Division, which had the strongest firepower, in the front.
Just go up and do it, do it until the other person has no temper, and do it until the other person is afraid.
This is how we deal with nomadic tribes. We want the Kazakhs to know that China is more terrifying than Tsarist Russia.
Not only that, four cavalry regiments from four divisions were drawn out, and 4,000 cavalry were temporarily drawn from the cavalry under General Yili's mansion who surrendered to cooperate.
Two cavalry regiments were left to cover the two wings of the army. The remaining eight thousand cavalry went to Gongchen City in the north and Haratal to detour to the shore of Lake Balkash to block the enemy's retreat.
This is the usual way for the Fuxing Army to entertain "guests". Once the bad guests are here, don't leave.
When you come to China as a guest, there is no principle of coming when you want and leaving when you want.
Qizike Kalun, Luo Dalin ordered his garrison to fire the first warning shot in front of the enemy from a distance of four to five hundred meters.
The shell fell in front of the huge cavalry group and rolled for hundreds of meters on the sandy ground by the lake before hitting a big rock and stopping.
This did not elicit any reaction from the cavalry.
On the contrary, when they saw the beacon smoke, the enemy knew that their whereabouts had been revealed, and their cavalry speeded up.
Among the large cavalry, a Cossack cavalry artillery battalion was sent out and lined up facing Karen.
Tsarist Russia's artillery was more advanced than the Qing army's artillery on Karen, and had a longer range.
"Boom, boom, boom..." Tsarist Russian artillery fired, causing earth and rocks to fly on Karen.
Some new recruits who had never fought in any battle were so frightened that they hid and some even peed their pants.
"Don't panic, everyone, be careful to hide. The beacon smoke has been released. Everyone just needs to hold on to Karen and wait until reinforcements arrive." Luo Dalin shouted loudly. A fragment of a flying city brick scratched his arm, and blood flowed out and stained his arm.
His uniform was red.
But as the current backbone of Karen, Luo Dalin was not panicked at all, at least on the surface.
As an old garrison, he knew that the enemy would not attack with prisoners. As long as Karens like them were breached by the enemy, they would all be killed.
But he did not tell his men this fact, because it would not inspire their will to fight, but would instead plunge them into despair.
Most of these subordinates took over the border guarding duties from their fathers, and their ability to scare the scattered Cossack tribes was fine.
Where have I seen such a big scene?
And at this time Luo Dalin could see clearly that although most of this huge team were cavalry composed of Kazakh herdsmen, there were about 10,000 people with completely different attire and temperament.
The cavalrymen were wearing uniform red straight military uniforms and black tall round hats. Their appearance and temperament were completely different.
Luo Dalin had seen the Rakshasa people, and he had already recognized that that group of people was indeed the Rakshasa cavalry.
But he didn't know why the Rakshasa people got mixed up with the Kazakhs. He had heard before that the Kazakhs and the Rakshasa people were enemies.
Kazakhstan has now been merged into Tsarist Russia. Even many Kazakh tribes themselves do not know this news, let alone Luo Dalin and others.
Moreover, as a garrison, Luo Dalin's knowledge was limited, and his opportunities for contact with the outside world were limited to those Cossacks who often crossed the border to herd.
In addition to a battalion of artillery, covered by about 500 cavalry, suppressing Karen.
All the other cavalrymen quickly passed the road beside Karen and headed towards the Ili River.
A small Karen, even if it is captured, has no meaning to this coalition. Their entry this time is to penetrate into the hinterland of General Yili's Mansion, and it is best to break through Huiyuan City. It will definitely be shaken by then.
All of China.
Therefore, the commander of the coalition forces, Leonid, the commander of the Tsarist Russian Cossack cavalry, ordered that only the army should be used to guard these small fortresses on the Chinese border, and not spend too much time on them.
This order accidentally saved the lives of Luo Dalin and others. If the coalition forces sent out all their artillery to bombard them with all their strength, Karen would not be able to hold on for long.
Facing the enemy's shelling, the artillery on Karen stopped for a while. The main reason was that the gunner was frightened and hid.
But soon, Luo Dalin grabbed them by the collar and carried them back.
Regardless of the wound on his arm, Luo Dalin personally helped them load ammunition, and then counterattacked the passing cavalry team.
I saw those cavalrymen strutting past Karen.
Luo Dalin, who was usually very kind, became violent in his heart for some reason, and there seemed to be a fire burning in his chest.
He thought of his family living by the Ili River.
"Brothers, cheer up. After these people passed by, they attacked the city by the river. Your family members, old and young, all live there. If you don't fight now, when will you wait?" Luo Dalin held it in for a long time and finally said what was in his heart.
Out.
When everyone heard this, they realized that these cavalrymen were all bandits! They were not here to herd cattle or parade.
After these people passed by, they went to the rear to kill people and set fire to them.
Thinking of this, everyone's bloody courage immediately recovered. Everyone felt ashamed of their cowardice just now.
People in China are like this. No matter how cowardly they are at ordinary times, for the safety of their families, they dare to risk their lives at critical moments.
"Damn it, fight with them!"
"Fight!"
"If a person dies and a bird looks up to the sky, he will not die for tens of thousands of years!"
"Eighteen years later, I'll be a good man again. I'll fuck that bitch Kazakh."
Everyone worked together to reset the cannon.
Then it was fired and the shells flew into the passing cavalry camp.
At this time, these cannons were their only means of defeating the enemy, and the enemy team was far beyond the range of other weapons.
Enemy artillery was still firing at Karen.
But Karen, who has stood here for hundreds of years, remains unmoved, and is only occasionally blown away by pieces of rubble.
Many people on Luo Dalin's side were injured and fell to the ground.
But Luo Dalin's words just now reminded them of their families at the rear. At this time, everyone had already put life and death aside.
Ignoring the enemy's artillery fire, they continued to reload several artillery pieces on the Karen.
These artillery pieces have been cast for many years. Although they are very troublesome to load, at this time, every time a cannon is fired at the cavalry group, they can defeat a group of enemies.
It would take a long time for all 50,000 cavalry to pass through this Karen.
Luo Dalin led his men to increase the firing speed of the artillery to the fastest speed.
Their hearts were full of anger, unwillingness and helplessness.
They seem to want to avenge their families in advance in this way.
If everyone hadn't still had some hope in their hearts - maybe the family could hide in the city and the reinforcements would arrive from the rear.
However, Luo Dalin knew that it would be difficult, because those cavalry were not just Kazakh cavalry, and there were artillery in the cavalry team.
These artillery can greatly improve the efficiency of their siege.
The Cossacks finally passed the pass along the Karen side.
Chichik Karen was still standing there, and the Cossack artillery only shattered one of Karen's legs.
Even the Cossack gunners were surprised how strong these small fortresses were.
They did not waste their troops to attack Karen. After the large force passed, the artillery battalion that originally attacked Karen also left and headed east.
The people on the Karen also suffered heavy casualties. These people were all injured in the artillery battle.
Luo Dalin slumped down beside Karen's parapet in exhaustion, leaning his back tightly against the damaged parapet.
He is old and his physical strength is not as good as those of the young men. The garrison soldiers in Karen are helping to rescue their comrades whenever they can.
Most of the injured garrison soldiers had their skin, flesh, muscles and bones broken by the gravel. The enemy used solid bullets. Those who were hit by the shells had already died and could not die anymore.
At this time, Karen was also in a mess. The screams of injured soldiers could not be heard.
There was blood everywhere, and the broken limbs of the soldiers who were directly hit by the shells were scattered everywhere. During the battle just now, everyone held their breath.
Now that the enemy was gone, the breath was half gone, and only then did everyone regain their composure.
Some young soldiers couldn't help but vomited. Some of them were blank-eyed and stunned on the spot.
"Don't let me stand there. Save the people who should be saved, and deal with the Karens who should be dealt with. The brothers who were blown to pieces should also be put together for me. We have to take them back. They are all in the same pot.
Yes, we can't just leave them here."
With that said, Luo Dalin dragged his tired body, supported the parapet, and moved on Karen's garrison. He picked up an unknown arm and clamped it under the creaking nest, and then continued to move forward.
To find.
This time he seemed to have found the body, and he carefully pieced the arm together with its owner.
Others also took action.
After all this was done, Luo Dalin took his brothers and had a meal together in Karen. He cooked half of the lamb that had been marinated there.
Everyone ate and drank together. Luo Dalin asked the wounded to stay and take care of Karen, while the lightly wounded took care of the seriously wounded.
And he counted the remaining fifty garrison soldiers in Karen who were still capable of fighting, and asked them to line up outside Karen.
"Brothers, now that group of enemies has rushed to the rear, obviously heading for our homeland. I, Lao Luo, am not a hero, but I am not a coward either. I can't wait here for my family to be slaughtered by those people."
"I am ready to go back. Even if I die with my family, I will use my last breath to drag down a few enemies. Those who want to go back will go with me, and those who don't want to go back will just stay and take care of the wounded in Karen. I
Lao Luo will never blame him in his heart."
After saying that, Luo Dalin limped toward the east, leaning on a spear.
"Luo Tou, I'm coming with you."
"I'll go too!"
…
Everyone said something to each other, and followed Luo Dalin's footsteps with weapons in hand. He followed Luo Dalin closely.
Looking for the cavalry footprints on the ground, he headed east.
They went here with the intention of dying, and here they went for the sake of their family, so there was no room for turning back. Even if they died, they had to drag in a few enemies to pay for their family members who were about to die tragically.
Luo Dalin and the others didn't know that a large army was marching in the opposite direction to them.
The army marched westward along the spacious and flat Erie River Valley.
In summer, the river is wide and the water flow is gentle. All the logistics materials of the Renaissance Army are placed on the large flat-bottomed boats. They move forward together with the large army.
If there were more boats, Zuo Jigao would have wanted all the soldiers to go down the river.
The Yili River is a very good river. It nourishes the arid lower reaches. Because of the obstruction of the Kunlun Mountains, the lower reaches of the Ili River are very dry. But the lower reaches are flat.
Moistened by the Yili River, a green corridor is formed. Populus euphratica forests grow on both sides of the corridor. Where there are few trees, there are large expanses of green grass.
You can see a city far away. These cities are much smaller than Huiyuan City.
Most of the people living there are families of soldiers and soldiers guarding the border.
The locations of these cities were very carefully selected. A large amount of fertile farmland was cultivated around the cities. People built canals to divert water from the Ili River to irrigate farmland.
The farmland is very regular, like building blocks stacked one after another.
This kind of scene always reminds people of the Central Plains.
Zuo Jigao had recently become unaccustomed to the local environment, felt unwell, and went on an expedition despite being ill. He did not ride a horse, but sat on a big boat in the river.
On the right bank of the Yili River are his 11th and 12th divisions. The children of Northern Hubei can endure hardships.
They had no complaints about the wind and sand on their way westward.
Being far away from their families and hometown, they have no complaints.
They still have no complaints about settling down in this distant Western Region in the future.
They trusted Zuo Jigao. These people were originally recruited into the Hubei army from a life of hunger.
It was after joining the Hubei Army that they had enough to eat. Their families were also given land, which enabled them to improve their lives.
They have all sold themselves to the Hubei Army and the Fuxing Army.
So what if the wind and sand in the Western Regions are strong? Can it be more uncomfortable than being hungry every day?
So what if you settle down in the Western Region? Anyway, you are the only one settling here, and the land at home is just left to your parents and brothers.
Not many of these people are the only children in the family.
Besides, even if you can't marry a wife from your hometown, it would be a good idea to marry a wife from the Western Regions here in the future!
The thoughts of these people are so simple, but they are so cute!