When the smoke of Yaksa ended on nebuchadnezzar's peace paper, the northern frontier of the Qing Dynasty was lit again. Kaldan may not compare himself to Genghis Khan, but he at least pursues achievements like the first master. And the Russians also hope to gain a little more in the Far East by supporting the Mongol tyrant. When Kaldan marched east to defeat the Khalkha-headed territories of Shetu Khan and Jebtsundamba Hutuktu, he found that although he had acquired large tracts of land in the north of the desert, he had not been able to gain much livestock population at all. Tushetu Khan and Jebtsundamba Hutuktu led their men to flee south and defected to Daqing, hoping that Daqing would help them recover their lost territory.
For the Mongols, cattle, sheep and horses were the real territory. Without a population, even the largest land is useless. Moreover, Gardan's nephew Tse-alabutan established himself in the land of Bortala and controlled the North Tianshan Road, causing Kaldan to lose most of the resources of the western cities and was not exempt from embarrassment. In 1690, with the encouragement of the Russians, Kaldan decided to use force to intimidate the Qing Dynasty and make the Qing hand over the Khalkha people. To tell the truth, if the quasi-ministry had not been divided, Gardan might still have a slight chance of winning. With half a quasi-department wanting to oppress the Great Qing, he was also too big. However, just after the Battle of platform and the Battle of Yaksa, the Qing Dynasty's military arrangements in the direction of the north of the Beijing Division were insufficient, coupled with the poor intelligence work, although the Kangxi Emperor also decided to take care of Kaldan, but the deployment of troops was extremely slow.
▲ From the map, we can see the route of Kaldan to the south, first along the Krullen River to the east, and then along the Hulunbuir Grassland south, all the way to the water and grass, which is conducive to marching. Li Fanyuan Shangshu Arnani and Gushan Erzhen Jiertabu led the Qing army forward and first entered the Mongolian steppe. He had 20,000 soldiers under his command, mainly the Mongolian Eight Banners, and only a small number of Manchurian soldiers. However, the Mongolian Eight Banners were also an important part of the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty, and participated in important wars such as the Pacification of the San Francisco Rebellion. Arnani's forces were all lightly armed, and their main task was to detect Gardan's movements. When Erni discovered the trail of Gardan and informed the imperial court, Kangxi believed that "Arni's army is weak, and it is advisable to send 2,000 soldiers of the Ten Banners of Horqin and one of the forbidden army to lead the escort army."
▲ Horqin Mongol spear cavalry, living in the northeast region of the Horqin Mongols are more inclined to close combat and this 2,000 Horqin soldiers, is probably the most warlike part of Arni's army. It can also be seen that by this time in the Qing Dynasty, the combat effectiveness of the Mongolian Eight Banners had been seriously degraded relative to the period of entry. Arni's task thus shifted to a moderate battle with the paramilitary army in order to hold Kaldan back and wait for the follow-up forces to annihilate Gardan.
▲ When the Arni department and the paramilitary army had begun to contact, the other Qing troops were still assembling in the Beijing Division. The distance between Jingshi and the Urhui River is more than 500 kilometers.
Therefore, it has to be said that the Qing Dynasty did not do a good job in strategic coordination, and the Arni Ministry moved too early. If it was just reconnaissance, there would be no need to dispatch 20,000 troops. Arni was not attacked by Kaldan, in fact, he took the initiative to attack. At that time, Kaldan made a scattered nomadic form and plundered the southern Mongolian male and female livestock in the Uzumqin region on a large scale. Arnani must have received false information, mistakenly believing that Gardan's forces were scattered, and was deceived by Gardan's elaborate camp during the reconnaissance; in the course of reconnaissance, Arni felt that he had obtained a fighter plane and should have achieved the first success in time.
▲ Stills of the Dzungar Owl Gardan
Kaldan camped on a high hill, and the camp was very small, as if it did divide a lot of troops. Urni took advantage of the night and arrived at pingming, sending two hundred Horqin warriors and 500 Khalkha soldiers to raid the Dzungar camp, planning to loot and cause chaos. The result was that the tribes and the Khalkha soldiers fought for their children and livestock, and the movement could not be stopped, and they retreated]. The squad in charge of the surprise attack was confused because of the scramble for the spoils of war, but was attacked and killed by the paramilitary army, and retreated with heavy losses. Of course, Gardan undoubtedly had long been prepared for the surprise attack of the Qing army, and immediately led the army out of the camp to form a bow-shaped array to meet the enemy. Seeing that Gardan's formation was weak, Arni became more and more convinced that Kaldan had divided his troops and was understaffed, so he arranged his troops into a fish scale array, rode lightly, and attacked towards the center of Kaldan's formation. The spear cavalry of Korqin served as the forward, and the eight banners followed, and the khalkha and other tribes were divided into two wings. Rushing to the front of the paramilitary position, the Korqin troops charged first, but Gardan had already made a corresponding countermeasure, ordering the elite soldiers to dismount and fight, and block the Qing cavalry charge with spears and shields.
The Khalkha and other tribal soldiers on both sides attacked the paramilitary army with arrows, but they were suppressed by the fierce firearm fire of the paramilitary army, and the bullets were fired from the high slope, and the power was even greater, and the Khalkha army was undisciplined and fled. Since the strongest fighting force in Arnani's army was the 2,000 Horqin elite troops who supported him, he placed the Mongolian Eight Banners on both sides of the second line. The Qing army formed a triangular array of fish scales like swordfish, and the result was that the defeated Khalkha soldiers on both sides directly attacked the eight flags formation. The soldiers of the Khalkha and other tribes attacked each other, and then attacked the Eight Banners, and the Eight Banners led by Arni were not elite, and after being attacked, the formation was scattered. Seizing the opportunity, Kaldan sent ambush troops ambushed between the surrounding hills, formed two teams, and attacked the Qing army from the rear of the flank, the firearms bows were raining down, and the zambarak imported from Central Asia was like thunder when it was launched, and the fire and smoke were everywhere, making the Qing army more and more frightened and the formation more and more chaotic.
Zambrak musket
Oppressed from all sides, the Qing army collapsed in a hurry, killing each other, and Arni's adjutant general was also killed by the paramilitary army. (This vice admiral was not the capital Ofertab, but another man, and Jiltabu survived.) Under the protection of dozens of guards, Arni broke through the siege and gathered the remnants of the army, and there were only a few thousand people left, and more than 10,000 Qing troops were annihilated by Gardan. Gardan's uncle and brother Danzira followed the chase, capturing more than 500 large vehicles and all of them. The Dzungar side won easily and smoothly, met with little decent resistance, and the losses should be negligible.
In the losses of the Urhui River fiasco, although only 2,000 Horqin soldiers were elite, the rest were mediocre in battle, such a loss was not a big deal for the Qing Dynasty. But after all, tens of thousands of people were annihilated, and its deterrent power made "the Beijing division martial law, and each cow recorded the gunners sent to eight, which was almost better than the country." The codex inside and outside the city is closed, and the price of rice is more than three or two." The fierce battle of Ulan Butong is about to begin.
This article is the original manuscript of the Cold Weapons Research Institute. The original outline of the editor-in-chief, the author's residual star, and any media or public account shall not be reproduced without written authorization, and the offender will be investigated for legal responsibility.