In 1865, the Kokand Khanate Agubai bandits invaded Xinjiang, and later established the "Zhedshar Khanate", gradually occupying most of Xinjiang; later the Kokand Khanate was annexed by Tsarist Russia in the north, and a large number of remnants fled from Central Asia into Xinjiang, rapidly expanding Agubai's command to nearly 100,000 people. In August 1876, the Qing court, which finally freed its hand, appointed Zuo Zongtang, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, as the minister of Qincha, officially starting the war to recover Xinjiang.
Recover northern Xinjiang in 3 months
The first battle was the ancient pasture land (present-day Miquan), the northern gateway to Dihua (present-day Urumqi, Xinjiang), the capital of Xinjiang. On August 12, Liu Jintang, the main force of the Qing army, approached the ancient pasture land and built a fort, and bombarded the ancient pasture wall with German Krupp breech guns. At dawn on August 17, the Qing army rushed into the city and engaged in a fierce street battle, annihilating more than 6,000 enemy defenders at the cost of 158 killed and 450 wounded. The Qing army took advantage of the victory to march forward, and on August 18, before Agubai could assemble 5,000 cavalry reinforcements from southern Xinjiang, it regained the empty city of Dihua.
Shortly after the recovery of Dihua, Liu Jintang was unfortunately seriously ill and bedridden. Therefore, Zuo Zongtang sent Jin Shunbu to attack all parts of northern Xinjiang. By November, after Agubai's power in northern Xinjiang had been completely eliminated, Xinjiang had also entered the season of heavy snow and mountain closures, and it was very difficult for the marching army to transport grain. The Qing army had to go to rest, replenish the troops, organize the equipment, and prepare for the next action after the weather improved.
Agubai was heavily fortified in places such as Daban castle
After the loss of northern Xinjiang, Agubai realized that the days when the Qing army went south would not be too far away. However, if the Qing army wanted to go from Dihua to southern Xinjiang, it had to pass through Dabancheng, which is the famous city in the Uyghur folk song "The Girl of Dabancheng". Beginning in November 1876, Agupa built a fortified castle around Daban castle and sent the "Grand Master" Ai idelhuri to lead a 5,000-strong defensive force.
In addition, in the south of Dabancheng, Toxon stationed 6,000 troops and 5 artillery; southeast turpan stationed 8,500 people and 20 artillery, the three cities into a horn, the garrison of more than 20,000 troops is also the main force of the Agubai army, eliminate them, the southern Xinjiang region can be one down, so Zuo Zongtang concentrated 25,000 elite troops, and equipped with powerful artillery to attack.
The main force of the Agubai army was annihilated
On April 14, 1877, Liu Jintang, who had just recovered from a serious illness, led 15,000 troops and artillery to the south, and marched rapidly to complete the siege of Dabancheng. On the night of the 19th, the forts, moon castles and battlements in Dabancheng City were all blown up, and the Qing army took advantage of the situation to launch a general attack, completely annihilating the Agubai army in the city, capturing more than 1,200 people, including Aiydhuri, while the Qing army suffered more than 100 casualties.
The Qing army took advantage of the victory to march into the city of Toxon, and at the small cost of more than 90 casualties, it annihilated more than 2,000 enemy personnel, captured hundreds of warhorses, and more than 2,000 guns. The remnants of the enemy burned the stored grain and gunpowder, fled south in a hurry, and Toxon declared his recovery. At the same time, about 10,000 Qing troops from hami and Barikun marched westward to Turpan, and the defenders chose Kaesong to surrender due to the strong combat strength of the Qing army.
Agubai was dead
At this point, the main force of Agubai's army was annihilated, and the gateway to southern Xinjiang was wide open. In the early morning of May 29, 1877, the desperate Agupa died violently in Korla, and his son Berkhuri won the infighting at the time of his sons' death, inheriting the precarious "Khan's throne" left by Agubai in Kashgar. At this time, it was a good opportunity for the Qing army to take advantage of the opportunity to attack, but the hot weather on the Turpan front hindered the action of the army.
It was not until August 10, when the weather began to cooler, that the Qing army began to continue its march. On August 25, Liu Jintang led 32 battalions of horse infantry as forwards and drove westward. Because the enemy dug the river and formed a flood area of more than 100 miles in front of Korla, the Qing army marched extremely difficultly, and it was not until October that it entered the empty city of Korla, and the grain it carried was also discarded or eaten, but thanks to the hundreds of thousands of catties of grain dug out in the cellar, it was able to turn the crisis into safety. When Zuo Zongtang learned of this, he exclaimed, "This situation is extremely dangerous!"
The Qing army won the final victory
On October 12, Liu Jintang selected 2,500 elite soldiers as the vanguard and pursued the enemy army. The Qing army was like a bamboo, galloping 2,000 miles a month, defeating the enemy army twice, and recapturing Kucha, Aksu and Ush in one fell swoop, and was warmly welcomed by the people of all ethnic groups everywhere they went. At the same time, the enemy army was also completely chaotic, first with the Khotanese general asking the Qing army to surrender, and then, he Buyun, the former Kashgar garrison who surrendered to Agubai 12 years ago, also announced that it was anyway.
On December 17, the Qing army arrived in Kashgar, the enemy's old home, and Berkhuri had no foothold on Chinese soil, so he had to flee into Russia with the remnants of the night. In mid-December, Yarkand and Ingishar were restored, and on January 2 of the following year (1878), Khotan was also conquered. The Agu gang that has been ravaging Xinjiang for 12 years has finally been completely eliminated from Chinese territory!