▲Zuo Zongtang (1812-1885) was photographed in Lanzhou in 1875
Lin Zexu, once met with Zuo Zongtang, marveled at Zuo's talent and learning, and gave him all his life's thoughts, and gave him a heavy entrustment:
Once something happens in the Western Regions, please take responsibility!
At the age of sixty-three, Zuo Zongtang fulfilled his trust in the most passionate way!
Zuo Zongtang asked for his life in danger, and led 60,000 Huxiang disciples to carry the coffin and go out on the expedition, all the way to the wind and sand, all the way to the dust.
▲The landscape of Lanzhou city in 1875
In 1866, after Zuo Zongtang took over as the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, he began to pacify the Tongzhi rebellion.
In 1872, he led his division into Lanzhou, and Bai Yanhu and other rebels were forced to flee to Xinjiang, and the rebellion was basically quelled.
▲In 1875, Zuo Zongtang's military camp in Lanzhou
▲In 1875, Qing soldiers holding flags and dragging artillery for drills
▲In 1875, in the barracks of the Qing army in Lanzhou, a four-wheeled cart dragging artillery
▲The artillery trailer of the Qing army, the cannon is engraved with a dragon (dragon body cannon)
▲The military camp near Lanzhou has a defensive earthen wall and a corner tower on the corner
▲ Towns near Lanzhou that were destroyed by the war
▲The mosque in the urban area of Lanzhou has a Chinese-style pavilion
▲Suzhou Mansion (Jiuquan) was razed to the ground in the Tongzhi Rebellion
In 1876, Zuo Zongtang moved from Lanzhou to Suzhou and sat in Suzhou to command the rebellion.
▲ Zhang Yao, a general of the Qing Army, organized a regimental training in Henan and was known as the Songwu Army
Zhang Yao led the Songwu army to follow Zuo Zongtang to the west, and Zuo Zongtang ordered his garrison Hami to build water conservancy and Tuntian valley.
In 1876, more than 5,000 stone of grain was harvested, which greatly eased the logistical pressure.
▲Qing soldiers in uniform in the Hami barracks
▲ The mosque in Hami City, you can see the Chinese roof and the Islamic dome side by side
▲Balikun (Zhenxi Mansion), in 1773, the Qing government set up Zhenxi Mansion here
Balikun is an important grain station of Zuo Zongtang in Xinjiang.
Zuo Zongtang established three routes for transporting military rations, and the end of the two routes was Balikun.
▲ The post station near Balikun has a fortress built on the top of the mountain
▲Urumqi was devastated by war and turmoil. In the background, the Tien Shan and Bogda peaks can be seen
On August 18, 1876, Liu Jintang's troops attacked Urumqi, only one cannon was used to blow up a city wall, the Qing officers and soldiers bravely entered the city, and the remnants of the enemy who defended the city fled in embarrassment, and Urumqi recovered in one fell swoop.
Keeping one-sixth of the country's land is a great success!