Zuo Zongtang recovers Xinjiang·
Sherwin-David Bancheng
Zhang Yihu
Those who destroy me are not enough to hide my truth, and those who praise me lose their ears. --Zuo Zongtang
(1) The mighty division
The Old Xiang First Army, founded during the Xianfeng years, has been accumulating wei for more than 20 years. In the first battle of Jiangnan, he conquered Taiping; turned to Huanghuai and pursued the Twist army; boiled troops in Shaanxi and Gansu to quell the "rebellion"; troops went out of Xinjiang and resumed Wuyuan in a war. At this time, it is majestic and famous!
Liu Jintang, president of the Old Xiang Army, has the full title of his position: The Prime Minister's Camp Affairs Office, the President Ma Bu Quanjun, the Reward Wearing of Yellow Horse Coats, the Rank of Sanpin Qing, the Rank of Cloth Envoy, the Rank of Knight Lieutenant, the Fafuling Abaturu, and the Gansu Xining Bingbei Road. Its three titles of secretary of state and envoy are all false titles; the title of knight lieutenant is a knighthood and can be hereditary; Batulu is a brave number, which means "hero" and "warrior"; only Gansu Xining Bingbei Dao is a real post. Bingbei Dao is a civilian post, Juzheng Sipin, but because Liu Jintang has the title of Sanpinqing and the title of Envoy, he should actually enjoy the treatment of Sanpinqing. Sanpinqing is a Beijing official, and the envoy is a local official, ranking high in the second pin and the Beijing official, so The three pinqing should be ranked first.
At this time, in the old Xiang Army, there was also a Daoist member: Hua Ling played Dao Luo Changhu according to the title of Envoy to Shaanxi. Luo Changhu was from the shogunate of Zuo Zongtang, and during the Western Expedition, he served as a Daoist in charge of the Laoxiang army camp, and later served as the deputy commander of the Laoxiang Army, that is, the deputy commander of the Laoxiang Army.
The old Xiang army had made great achievements in battle, and the fierce generals were like clouds. After the end of the Shaanxi-Gansu War, Liu Jintang's subordinates accumulated as many as dozens of people who were named as viceroys! In the lao xiang first army, there were more than thirty named viceroys, but the well-known surnames were:
Tan Bacui, Tan Shanglian, Yu Huen, Xi Dacheng, Zhang Hongsheng, Tan Heyi, Huang Wanpeng, Tao Shenglin, Dai Hongsheng, Chen Guangfa, Zhang Chunfa, Xiao Yuanheng, Li Longbao, Tang Renhe, He Changfa, Zhang Pei, Li Youcheng, Chen Jianhou, Li Siyi, Zhao Baolin, Kuang Yizhi, Ge Zhiqing, Peng Mingda, Duan Baixi, Xiao Gongzhao, Wang Yihe, Shen Daofa, Ouyang Sheng, Liu Xiaoshan, Su Youqing, Tang Zongyao, as well as the general officers with the rank of viceroy, Dong Fuxiang, Wu Hengshan, Zhu Lingyun, and so on.
Among the above-mentioned named admirals, Tan Bacui, Tan Shanglian, Yu Huen, Xi Dacheng, and Zhang Hongsheng were in the forefront, because these five people each held the actual position of general soldier, Tan Bacui was the general soldier of Ningxia Town, Gansu, Tan Shanglian was the chief soldier of Hanzhong Town, Shaanxi, Yu Hu'en was the chief soldier of Shaanxi Shaan'an Town, Xi Da became the general soldier of Balikun Town, Gansu, and Zhang Hongsheng was the chief soldier of Suzhou Town, Gansu. In battle, these five often serve as commanders of each other, so they are often ranked first in the rankings.
In the Qing Dynasty, the military officials were the highest rank of garrison generals, flag battalion commanders, and local admirals, and they were from Yipin. The garrison generals and the flag battalion were directly subordinate to the imperial court, and under normal circumstances, they were all Manchus; the admiral was under the orders of the local governor. According to the "Qing History Manuscript and Chronicle of Officials", there were about twenty-three posts of adjudicators in the country at that time. Although the governor is in charge of the military, he is not considered a military office, but a civilian office. The Han people held military positions, and generally reached the top when they reached the top of the viceroy.
A named admiral is a titan who has no actual position. In times of war, military merits should be rewarded and posts should be promoted. The old Xiang army fought many wars and made many meritorious contributions, so there were many people who were promoted to general soldiers and admirals. Although these people have been promoted to commander-in-chief and admiral, first, there is no real shortage to be released, and second, in addition to leading soldiers to fight, they probably will not do anything else, so they have been staying in the barracks, so that the ranks of more than 10,000 people in Lao Xiang are as many as dozens of named admirals, as well as named general soldiers with the rank of admiral, and so on, and even more countless. These people are all good and veterans of leading soldiers to fight for the rest of their lives! Chairman Mao once said that cadres are the decisive factor. The old Xiang army had so many competent and good "cadres", coupled with the leadership of Liu Jintang and the command of the old marshal Zuo Zongtang, of course, they were invincible and became the famous heroes at that time.
(2) "Absolute" battle Dasaka
On the first day of March in the third year of Guangxu, Liu Jintang and his troops suddenly crossed the Tianshan Mountain! On the third day of March, the army reached Chai Wo Pu not far from DabanCheng. Liu Jintang used Chai wopu as a stronghold of the Western Expeditionary Army, ordered the construction of a fortress, and sent troops to stay behind. Detective Malay reported that the Thief Army of Dabancheng city did not yet know that the officer army was approaching. Liu Jintang immediately made a decision, ordering Yu Huen, Tao Shenglin, Huang Wanpeng and others to lead the horse team to Daban as fast as possible and occupy the strategic high ground outside the city; Order Tan Shanglian, Dai Hongsheng, Chen Guangfa, Tan Heyi to lead the infantry team and directly attack Daban. The whole army must arrive at Daban before the five drums and encircle Dabancheng!
Since the recaptural of Urumqi in September last year, the young "President Liu" has been "resting" for more than half a year. This time, when the soldiers were sent to the south road, he decided to show his hands and beat the enemy down in one battle!
The generals were at the behest of the order, and the armies were like arrows off the string, shooting straight at Dasaka. On the way forward, a dozen cavalrymen (scouts) of the thief army confronted the officers and soldiers head-on. The generals, without saying a word, annihilated them all.
In order to prevent the officers and soldiers from entering, the Agubai thieves channeled the lake water to the grass lake on the outskirts of Bancheng, and soaked the grass lake into a swamp, and the silt was deep and the horse's belly was difficult to pass through. Yu Hu'en and others bravely competed for the lead, leading the horse team to pass first, approaching Dabancheng. On the way, they encountered two more enemy soldiers, and the officers and soldiers took advantage of the situation to capture them, interrogate them, and learn about the enemy's situation.
Before five more, all the officers and troops from all walks of life arrived at Bancheng. Yu Hu'en, Tao Shenglin, and others were lined up at Chengzuo Shangang; Tan Shanglian, Tan Heyi, Dai Hongsheng, and Chen Guangfa were deployed at the top of houshan; Huang Wanpeng, Cui Wei, and Bi Dacai were united with Yu Hu'en to form a formation; Yu Zhonghai and Yu Yichang were in formation with Tan Shanglian and Tan Heyi. All the officers and troops surrounded Dabancheng on all sides, and the seams were tightly closed!
On a March morning in Xinjiang, the fog filled the air, and there was silence inside and outside Dabancheng. The morning sun rose and the fog gradually dissipated, at this time, the defenders at the head of Dabancheng City suddenly found that on all sides were majestic and neat "left" army! The defenders were in a state of chaos, firing indiscriminately, and occasionally wounding the officers and soldiers. Officers and soldiers do not take it seriously at all. Liu Jintang personally came to the line of fire and led his entourage to inspect the city and trenches. The thieves shot wildly at him. Liu Jintang's entourage was wounded, Liu Jintang's war horse was shot and killed, Liu Jintang did not care at all, he changed into a new war horse, and continued to patrol. Liu Jintang inspected the city, first, to conduct fire reconnaissance and understand the enemy's firepower configuration, combat effectiveness, and other situations; second, to deliberately lead the enemy troops out of the city to engage in battle, to give them a annihilating blow, first to kill the enemy's courage, and even to take advantage of the situation to attack the city and seize Dabancheng in one fell swoop.
However, the enemy troops in the city saw that the officers and soldiers had undecided on all sides of the city, the flags of the officers and troops were waved, and everyone was enthusiastic, and they had long been frightened and scared, where would they dare to go to war? So, just shoot at the outside of the city.
Liu Jintang patrolled the city all the way, and ordered all the way: strictly guard against death, and no one is allowed to escape! At the same time, fortifications were built on the main road to Toxon, ready to block enemy reinforcements.
On the fifth day of the first month of March, Tan Bacui sent the flowering cannon to the front, a total of three statues. Liu Jintang immediately ordered the erection of a fort and prepared to bombard. On the same day, a group of five or six hundred enemy troops came from the direction of Toxun and approached the Qing position. This enemy army did not know that the Qing army had surrounded Dabancheng. Liu Jintang received the retribution and immediately ordered the governor Tao Shenglin to lead his troops to attack. When the two armies met, each firing artillery and bullets at each other, the enemy did not know the depth and shallowness, and led the team to pounce on the positions of the officers and soldiers. Probably the enemy had never encountered any hard roles before, so it did not pay much attention to the officers and soldiers. Yu Hu'en looked at it, and the boy was still quite rampant! Spearmen (often found in "Water Margin") were immediately dispatched to engage in hand-to-hand combat and immediately kill more than a dozen enemy troops. At this time, General Tao Shenglin and Xia Xinyou were encircling the enemy army from the left and right flanks, and when the enemy army saw it, it began to panic and quickly retreated. The officers and soldiers couldn't help but say, taking advantage of the situation to chase, catch up with one, and end up with one; catch two, and result in a pair. The enemy army lost its soul and only complained that Daddy had two legs missing. As they were catching up, another group of enemy troops appeared in front of them, about a thousand people. The enemy troops who had scattered in front of them fled into the new enemy line, and before the new enemy could figure out what was going on, they turned around and ran away.
Tatsuha'aidhuri of Dabancheng is still waiting for Haygula's rescue. Left and right, but there is no rescue coming. The crowds in the city are fierce, and Ai Edelhuri plans to lead the team to break through. However, will Liu Jintang, who began fighting at the age of sixteen, let him break through?
Liu Jintang ordered all armies to strictly hold their positions to prevent enemy clashes. At night, bonfires are lit on all sides to illuminate the entire city of Daban as if it were daylight.
Little by little, terror struck the hearts of the Andiyan thieves, and panic began to spread throughout The city of Daban.
On the sixth day of March, the fort was built. Liu Jintang instructed the generals Hou Minggui and Dusi Zhuangwei (a cannonball expert under Zuo Zongtang) to put the cannon in place, and demanded that the enemy battery be destroyed first. Then, the shelling extended, bombarding the Moon City, the battlements, and then extending into the city.
After the drumming at the beginning of the night, in the night that had just calmed down, the three cannons of Liu Jintang's army suddenly spewed out huge fireballs at the same time, and the sound was tremendous. Then, the three cannons took turns to roar. Liu Jintang ordered: The shelling should not be interrupted!
The forts in the city collapsed, and the Moon City was also blasted open. In the end, Hou Minggui, Zhuang Wei, and others simply came to a great place, and even hit the gunpowder depot in the city with one shot!
With a loud bang, the mountain cracked, the wind suddenly rose, the flames widened, the thieves stored medicine bombs and all the flowering seeds, the bang was shocked, the thieves were shattered, and the remains were piled up. ("Zuo Zongtang's Complete Works, Recitals, Conquering Dabancheng and Toxun Jianchaohui Ke turpan Manchu and Han Cities Detailed Situation Please Reward And Contribute to the Fallen Each Member of the Fold")
The powder magazine was burned, and the enemy army in the city completely collapsed! The soldiers desperately opened the east gate of the city and rushed out in a group, but their way out was blocked long ago, and they fell under the guns and spears of the officers and soldiers when they rushed to the front, and the rest retreated back into the city.
Liu Jintang issued an order: Anyone who is caught in the city dressed differently will be rewarded. The so-called people who dress differently are the commanders of all levels in Andijan. For a time, all the officials and commanders at all levels in Anjiyan, except for those who were killed, were all arrested and taken to Liu Jintang's account.
On the seventh day of March, the fighting ended. In this battle, the enemy did not slip through the net by one man or one horse. Statistics on the results of this battle:
More than 2,000 thieves were killed, killed, and burned, more than 1,200 were captured, more than 800 thieves and horses were captured, more than 1,400 pieces of sharp guns and ordnance, and one bronze cannon was a large flower. ("Zuo Zongtang's Complete Works, Recitals, Conquering Dabancheng and Toxun Jianchaohui Ke turpan Manchu and Han Cities Detailed Situation Please Reward And Contribute to the Fallen Each Member of the Fold")
In this campaign, one and one Ofiyan Datong Ha (chief), six Fat Sedi (battalion officers), and fifty-eight officers and staff members of Anjiyan and Nanbacheng Yuzi Bashi (sentinel commander) were captured. Fifty-two officers and men were killed and 116 were wounded. It can be said that a huge victory has been achieved at a small cost! Turning over the history of ancient and modern warfare, it should be very rare to achieve such results in the battle of attacking and attacking, especially if the casualties of our own side are so small.
(3) Post-war resettlement
Zuo Zongtang has always attached great importance to post-war pacification, and regarded it as an important part of the strategic campaign deployment, and made arrangements in advance before the war. He also went out of his way to instruct his generals that they must take military discipline seriously and not to take advantage of the chaos of war to plunder the people. After each battle, proper arrangements were made for the capture and the local population. Liu Jintang and Zhang Yao could all understand Zuo Zongtang's adherence and intentions very well, and always conscientiously implemented the policies and disciplines stipulated by Zuo Zongtang.
At the end of the Battle of Daban, Liu Jintang ordered the Daoist luo Changhu to interrogate the captured governor of Anjiyan. Through interrogation, Luo Changhu learned that the people captured in this battle were The Andijans, the Uyghurs in the Southern Eight Cities and Turpan, Toxun and other places, the Qarasar Turks (Mongols) and the local Muslims.
Andijan Chase Haai Idelhuri was willing to surrender to the Qing army, and asked the Qing army to allow him to write to Agubai, persuading Agubai to surrender, tie up Bai Yanhu and send it to the officials and troops, and return it to the southern eight cities. Andijan, who was captured, said that he could persuade Agubai to surrender. Liu Jintang tempted Idelhuri and said that he planned to send him back to persuade Agubai. However, Iyderhuri insisted on staying in the barracks to show his mind and sent only his cronies back. Liu Jintang then handed over the captured officials of Aiyderhuri and other cadres of Andiyan to Yu Hu'en and The urumqi Admiral Tang Xiuzhai and other prisoners, and sent Ai'Ederhuri's cronies back to communicate with Agubai.
The British had said that they had sent someone specifically to discuss surrender with Agupa. They told Agubai that the leader of the Qing Dynasty was now Zuo Zongtang (previously Jing Lian, etc.), and this person was very powerful. The British then took it upon themselves to "surrender" to the Qing Dynasty Prime Minister Yamen in place of Agubai. Prime Minister Yamen consulted Zuo Zongtang on this, but Zuo Zongtang was opposed to The British intervention and disbelieved the matter. However, judging from the active request of Iyderhuri to persuade Agubai to surrender, it seems to prove that what the British said may be true. Ai is one of the core members of the Agubai group, and his confidence in persuading Agubai to surrender proves that Agubai must have considered, said, and even arranged for the surrender to Zuo Zongtang. Agubai considered surrendering before the war, indicating that he was very afraid of Zuo Zongtang's famous name.
In addition to the above-mentioned Andiyan people, Liu Jintang followed Zuo Zongtang's established policy and released all Uyghurs, Turgun specials, and indigenous Hui people in the southern eight cities, regardless of officers and soldiers, and distributed clothes and food. The officers and men agreed with them that whenever the officers and men attacked, they would ask these people to come and surrender as internal agents, provide intelligence, or persuade the leaders of the enemy army to come and surrender. How could these prisoners of war, who had been waiting to die, suddenly have their lives returned, not be grateful? So he bowed his head in thanks and shouted away.
The daban castle captured by the officers and soldiers was a new city built by Agubai to defend the officers and troops, specially at the pass between the two mountains, and was actually a military fortress. Therefore, there seem to be not many ordinary people in the city.
Before the officers and troops marched south, there were more than 300 Hui people in Daban, who had secretly run to Urumqi to ask the officers and soldiers for protection and resettlement. After Dasaka was recaptured, Liu Jintang gave them special preferential treatment, arranged for them to arrive in the old city of Banban, pointed them out to the localities, and distributed them to cultivated cattle and seeds, so that they could cultivate and plant and live and work in peace and contentment.
(4) Campaign inventory
The Battle of Dabancheng, no matter how measured it is, is a classic example in the history of war. The great success of the Battle of Dabancheng depended mainly on the following points:
First, fully understand the enemy's situation and make bold decisions. Liu Jintang has been in the battlefield for a long time, and his command experience is very rich, and he has his own style. He had been stationed in Urumqi, which was only two or three days away from Dabancheng, for half a year, and must have already sent detectives to find out the situation in Dabancheng and toxon, Turpan, and other places. In addition, two or three hundred local Hui people escaped from Daban to Urumqi to join the official army, and these people would naturally report the situation of Dabancheng to the officers and soldiers. Therefore, it is certain that Liu Jintang was very familiar with the enemy situation before he sent troops.
The total number of enemy troops defending Dabancheng was about 3,500 or more, and Liu Jintang's first army mabu twenty battalions (Zuo Zongtang said to the imperial court when he reported the Turpan campaign that "Liu Jintang led the 19th battalion of mabu from Urumqi to the south of the ridge on the first day of March", and when he reported on the battles of Daban and Toxun, he also called "Luo Changhu ..., leading six battalions of mabu, from the southeast to Turpan; Liu Jintang led himself... The fourteenth battalion of Mabu, advancing from the southwest, directly pounded Toxon", then the number of twenty battalions was combined. After Dasaka and Toxon were returned, they should be the same number), 12,000 or 3,000 people, three times the number of enemy troops. Our army's morale is strong and its weapons and equipment are well-equipped, far surpassing our opponents. Therefore, Liu Jintang resolutely made the decision to completely annihilate Daban to defend the enemy.
The second is the suddenness of the campaign launch. Zuo Zongtang's deployment of a large army to the south depended on the time of jin Yunchang's first army's advance and stop. Zuo Zongtang arranged in turn: When Jin Yunchang's troops passed through Balikun, Zhang Yaosong's entire army marched west from Hami (pointing to Turfan); when Jin Yunchang's troops crossed the ancient city, Xu Zhanbiao's Shu army marched south (pointing to Turpan); when Jin Yunchang arrived in Urumqi, Liu Jintang handed over the defense of Urumqi to Jin Yunchang and negotiated follow-up deployment, that is, he led the old Xiang army to the south (pointing to Daban and Toxun). Based on this estimation of time, Zuo Zongtang believes that it is more appropriate to launch a war in early April. But Liu Jintang couldn't wait so long. Or rather, he had waited too long. He demanded that the war be launched around the time of the "Flower Dynasty" (February 12) in advance. However, he did not report his thoughts directly to Zuo Zongtang, but wrote to Tan Xinke, who was beside Zuo Zongtang, about his thoughts. When Zuo Zongtang saw the letter, he couldn't help but cry out in his heart! He was worried that Liu Jintang would venture in alone and cause trouble, which would be too much to take care of. He immediately adjusted his deployment and ordered Zhang Yao and Xu Zhanbiao to act in advance and not to wait for Jin Yunchang; at the same time, he also urgently ordered Jin Yunchang to march all the way to The Ancient City, the Ancient City, and Urumqi to choose a place to deploy and protect the Yundao, and not to go to Wuyuan to meet with Liu Jintang first. Liu Jintang then officially reported to Zuo Zongtang that he would choose the first day of March to march south. - Sixty-six-year-old Zuo Zongtang, who has always demanded a steady chance of winning in war, does not count to ten or twelve points and refuses to shoot; while Liu Jintang, who is just in his early thirties, is full of vigor, heroic and sensitive, and his blood is boiling. Zuo Zongtang certainly admired Liu Jintang's style, but he was particularly worried that he would suffer setbacks (Liu Jintang's father and uncle died in battle), and repeatedly reminded and asked Liu Jintang not to be impatient. Therefore, Liu Jintang's current march was not only unexpected by the enemy army, but even by Zuo Zongtang. Afterwards, it turned out that after the officers and troops surrounded Daban, Toxon's Haigula and Bai Yanhu still thought that Liu Jintang's troops were still in Urumqi. Due to the suddenness of the campaign, the enemy has simply lost any time and space to turn around and escape.
Fully understanding the enemy's situation and our own situation, making correct and decisive decisions, and because of the suddenness of the campaign launch, our army has completely and thoroughly grasped the initiative in the campaign, and will never give the enemy any chance to fight back and escape, so it is better than the easy victory and better than the victory that has already been won.
Dasaka fought a battle, closing the door and fighting dogs. The officers and soldiers were mighty and thunderous; the thieves were killed and wounded, and none of them escaped the net. Liu Jintang played the divine power of the Western Expeditionary Army, which was enough to make the Agubai Thief Army feel frightened and played the role of "determining victory or defeat in a battle". After the Battle of Daban, the enemy army in the southern eight cities collapsed almost at once, looking at the wind and fleeing, and the officers and troops never encountered very effective military resistance.
Liu Jintang firmly implemented Zuo Zongtang's policy of appeasement, released the Hui people from all over the places who were surrounded by Anjiyan and returned to their hometowns, so that the people of the eight southern cities could understand the policies of the officials and the army and the kindness of the imperial court, thus playing a role in isolating and disintegrating the enemy army to a large extent.
(5) Hair must be white
However, Zuo Zongtang really pinched an old Khan for the Battle of Dabancheng! Zhang Yao and Xu Zhanbiao, who were late to Liu Jintang's action, successively reported the success of retaking the two cities of Turpan, Manchuria and Han, while Daban's side has been silent! This simply made Zuo Zongtang reach the point where he could not sleep and eat, and sat restlessly. After receiving Zhang Yao's report, he wrote to Zhang Yao and Luo Changhu, who was sent by Liu Jintang to lead his troops to participate in the Turpan Campaign, to inquire about the situation of the battle in Dabancheng.
In a letter to Zhang Yao, he said:
Yi Zhai intended to gather and annihilate, Bayi hui was somewhat deterred, and the eight cities of Shunan were easy to be caught off guard. However, there is no good strategy for attacking the stronghold, except for the blossoming cannon, only digging tunnels to attack one, but when the drama thief swears to die, the two strategies are also difficult to see the merit, and the elite are injured, and the military morale may be sluggish, and it is frequently seen and heard every year, and there are many covers. Yi Zhai is good at using soldiers, and it is easy not to take refuge this time, especially his loyalty and courage. However, he could not be relieved, so he took Luo Mengwei (Luo Changhu) and Tan Xinkeshu, and briefly learned about the layout of their attacks, saying that the ancient bureau was difficult to transport grain, and there was little grain in Wuyuan, and the mules in the troops were tired for a long time, and they were deeply worried about the lack of transportation. The younger brother was worried that because the army was not full of food, or forced to engage in it, causing many losses and losses, and worried about repeated attacks, causing the military situation to be indignant, falling into the middle of the thief's plan, turning around Tuwei, and becoming more and more anxious. After Meng Wei will be Turufan, it is unknown whether he is still anti-Da Bancheng? There is no word on how to calculate everything. (The Complete Works of Zuo Zongtang, Epistles, 1379. Answer to Zhang Langzhai)
As can be seen from the above, Zuo Zongtang was most worried about the unfavorable attack on the stronghold, the setbacks suffered by the officers and troops, and even the loss of elite soldiers. Second, he learned from Luo Changhu's letter to Tan Xinke that Liu Jintang's army was having difficulty transporting grain. He was worried that Liu Jintang would hastily start a war without being completely sure because of the difficulty of grain transportation, and if this was the case, then the officers and troops might be stuck by the enemy and fall into the trap of the enemy. "Spreading tuwei, the more anxious it is", eight words, revealing the deep anxiety and uneasiness of a generation of Yuan Rong Zuo Zongtang.
He also wrote to Luo Changhu and inquired about the battle against Daban:
Within a few days, Panda Ban Jieyin did not arrive, that is, the Honorable Office would not be seen in Tulufan, and the war cloud of Da ban was not examined? In terms of the situation, the officers and troops marched out with full strength, attacking this big city, and the thieves were numerous and fierce, and they had no other worries. However, the offensive and defensive momentum is special, the long siege is early, the thief is in the place of death, and its trapped struggle is in its own mind, although it is only a sporadic clown, it cannot be taken lightly. Yi Zhai is heroic, the most refined in the military, and knows the camera to move. In addition to the blossoming cannon and the tunnel, there is no other long-term strategy, in case the poor are in the corner, the sturdiness is not out, the two strategies are used at the same time and the gap is difficult to grab, the damage will be more, and if it is like this several times, it will be sharp and grinding, and it is difficult to reuse. This servant's repeated fundraising can not be relieved of the person also. (The Complete Works of Zuo Zongtang, Letters, 1381. with Luo Mengwei)
The main force is "sharp and sharp, I am afraid that it will be difficult to reuse", what serious consequences will it be? That would ruin the political future of Liu Jintang and Lao Xiangjun! What is even more serious is that if such a situation occurs, the entire military operation of the Western Expedition will suffer a major setback, the process of recovering Xinjiang will be forced to stagnate, and the strategic goal of recovering Xinjiang will add unpredictable variables! "Spreading tuwei, the more anxious it is", "Repeatedly planning for maintenance, can not let go", through these words, it is clear that you can see Zuo Zongtang's beard as white, and feel the deep sorrow of an old minister on the battlefield.
Of course, this is just a false alarm. The reason was that Liu Jintang reported to Zuo Zongtang on March 13 (the same day to recover Toxun) after disposing of the affairs of Dabancheng Yiying. Liu Jintang's good news was presented all the way from Urumqi and the ancient city. Zhang Yao, Xu Zhanbiao, and other troops completed the Battle of Turpan on March 13, and their good reports were presented by Turpan and Hami. Zhang Yao's triumphant report arrived in Suzhou around March 29, while Liu Jintang's good news did not arrive in Suzhou until about April 25, and Zuo Zongtang waited for more than a long time in anxiety for more than a month (on April 13, the imperial court also ordered Zuo Zongtang to quickly order Liu Jintang and others to conquer Daban). When Zhang Yao sent a good report and wrote to Zuo Zongtang, he only said that Liu Jintang sent Luo Changhu to lead his troops to attack Turfan, but he forgot to say that Dabancheng had been conquered!
Zhang Yao received Zuo Zongtang's letter and immediately replied to Zuo Zongtang, informing Daban and Toxun of the war situation, and Zuo Zongtang's hanging heart could be put down. However, Liu Jintang's good news still has not been delivered!
April 25, 2003 - One and a half months and three days after Liu Jintang conquered Daban, Liu Jintang's triumphant report came to Zuo Zongtang's hands! Zuo Zongtang wrote to Liu Jintang after writing a report to the imperial court with "great excitement":
Thank you to Toxon, what a blessing! For more than a month, it has always been suspected that he has not been able to get the report of The Success of Daban, and Luo Observation (referring to Luo Changhu, qingshi Daotai meimei observation - author's note) according to the seventh day of the first month of the month carved Tan Xinke letter sent by Daban, and also said that the thief was strong, and did not say whether he could hope to succeed or not, and his contempt could not be relieved. The situation reported by Admiral Song Wusun and Admiral Xu of March 13 was detailed before the eleventh day and slightly compared to Turpan, and Gai did not know that it was Ri Xiongxu and Fu Toxon. Luo Mengwei also complained that he did not report the situation of the capture of Dasaka. Lang Zhai was on the way at the time, and only according to the report of Sun and Xu, he did not have time to treat the Daban War. (The Complete Works of Zuo Zongtang, Letters, 1386. with Liu Yizhai)
Later, Zuo Zongtang said in a letter to Liu Jintang:
Connecting the good news and letters sent by Toxon, the grass is thinner than Chen, delivered by six hundred miles, thinking of heavenly joy, rewarding the rich, and those who care about the overall situation are not happy with the same deep. This time, the opportunity to gain momentum, especially in Dasaka to cut off exhaustively, is enough to make the mad thief lose his courage, regret to be late, did not ke xian Da Chencong, deep pity. On the fifteenth day, the news of the local camp was issued, and the two successful reports of the honorable office were also delivered, so the pen was written and played, the narrative was exquisite, and the great deeds were enough to show the greatness, and the private feelings were also smooth.
It is conceivable that when the good news of conquering Dasaka and recovering Toxon finally came to Zuo Zongtang's hands, Zuo Zongtang should be so happy and relieved! However, "deep pity" and "private feelings" imply Zuo Zongtang's euphemistic admonitions to Liu Jintang and even his own layers of resentment about this matter. This also shows that Liu Jintang is not enough to understand the old marshal.
Liu Jintang was born as a general, not from a poor background like Zhang Yao and Jin Yunchang, plus he was talented, outstanding in battle, and far out of the crowd, so it was inevitable that there would be some arrogance and pride, and his words and deeds were not as mellow and convergent as Zhang Yao and Jin Yunchang. After the battle between Dasaka and Toxon, Zuo Zongtang, in his letter to Liu Jintang, once again admonished Yin Yin:
However, the four words of "tranquility and far-reaching" are exhorted, and there is no other word. (The Complete Works of Zuo Zongtang, Letters, 1386. with Liu Yizhai)
Tranquility and far-reaching, that is, to maintain inner peace, to look long-term, not to be carried away by the victory in front of you, and not to be proud of the victory.
Edit: Zihe
Image source: Network