Since the Opium War, China has been caught in a dilemma of internal and external troubles. With the uprising of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom inside and the threat from the sea on the outside, in this era of smoke and smoke, China has come to the hutong mouth of the turning point of history.
In 1865, Agubai from the State of Kokand in Central Asia invaded Xinjiang with the support of the British, and the northwest war was urgent.
For a time, the Qing Dynasty became two factions. They were the main war faction headed by Zuo Zongtang and the main war faction headed by Li Hongzhang, and internal disputes were endless, and Cixi fell into a dilemma.
Li Hongzhang is strongly opposed to the recovery of Xinjiang, thinking that Xinjiang is a land outside the country, a vast desert, and a thousand miles of red land, even if Xinjiang is only a large area of land after it is recovered, Xinjiang's recovery and non-recovery will not hurt the vitality of the Great Qing Dynasty. It advocates that the state should focus on coastal defense, prevent the enemy from attacking from the sea, and strengthen naval construction.
Of course, Zuo Zongtang would not agree with Li Hongzhang's words. "The north and south roads of the Tianshan Mountains are rich in grain production, melons and fruits are abundant, cattle and sheep are everywhere, and herds of horses are herded." Coal, iron, gold, silver and jade are abundant. The so-called desert of a thousand miles is actually a basin of treasures, "to fight back against Li Hongzhang."
If we take the current position, we cannot feel the difficulties of the Qing court at the beginning. In order to suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Hui uprising, the population of the whole country lost more than 20 million, and it was extremely difficult to recover Xinjiang at a time when the country was poor and the people were weak.
But even so, Li Hongzhang did not see a deeper crisis. In the northwest, war is raging, and Britain and Russia are poised here, just to get a piece of the pie.
If there is a crisis in the war in the northwest and the Xinjiang region is occupied by Agubai, then Tsarist Russia will definitely send troops to occupy Ili, and there is even more idea of continuing to infiltrate the interior. The British, on the other hand, encroached on China step by step by occupying Tibet.
Judging from the situation at that time, if the Qing court refused to recover Xinjiang, it would definitely cause Britain and Tsarist Russia to cause China to be the end of the crossbow, and the crisis caused by this would not only be unsafe in the northwest, but also worry about the security of the interior.
The reconquest of Xinjiang was not only a moment for the Qing court to show its determination, but also made Britain and Russia jealous, in order to maintain the stability of the country's territory, the battle for the recovery of Xinjiang was an inevitable battle.
Agupa was born in Tashkent in 1820 and belongs to present-day Uzbekistan.
In the spring of 1864, rebellions occurred in many areas of Xinjiang, and separate regimes appeared in Kuqa, Kashgar, Turfan and other places.
In 1865, as the governor of the State of Kokand, Agubai went to Xinjiang on the orders of Alimu Kurhan to engage in activities to split Xinjiang. Under the military oppression of Agubai, he conquered the tribes of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang.
In April 1865, Agupa supported Busuluk to establish a puppet regime known as the "Jedshar Khanate".
With the continuous military victory of Agubai, in May 1867, Agubai abolished the "Zhedshar Khanate" and established the "Hongfu Khanate".
Although Agubai was brave and warlike, his personality was cruel and unkind, and after taking over most of Xinjiang, he adopted a repressive rule in the local area.
The local population was forced to convert to Islam and the Islamic code "Shariat" was made the supreme law.
In order to expand the armament, the excess tax was adopted, which was 3 times that of the Qing court.
The measures taken by Agubai caused serious dissatisfaction among the locals, and the local people dared to be angry and dare not speak out because of Agubai's force.
The reason why Agubai dared to invade Xinjiang was because of the support of the British. The british aimed to divide Xinjiang through Cuba and turn it into a puppet state, divided into British spheres of influence.
The Russians also want to encroach on China through division, but the Supporters of the Russians are not Agua.
In Central Asia, the British and Russians were in the same situation, and the British attacked Central Asia in order to prevent Tsarist Russia from going south and ensuring their own security in the north.
Later, the Russians saw that Agubai had taken control of Xinjiang and were forced to contact Agubai. At first, Tsarist Russia did not recognize the regime established by Agupa. When the Qing army attacked Agubai, the Tsarist Russia not only did not support, but also took advantage of the fire and robbery.
Zuo Zongtang formulated the strategies of "first going north and then going south" and "slowly advancing in a rapid battle." In order to be able to suppress the rebellion in Xinjiang in one fell swoop, careful arrangements have been made. Through the planning of grain and grass, the rectification of military discipline, and the improvement of weapons, a combat department consisting of The Daoist officers Liu Jintang and the Dutong Jin Shunbu was organized, with a strength of about 60,000 to 70,000 troops.
In April 1876, Zuo Zongtang entered Suzhou (present-day Jiuquan). Because of the limitation of water sources, it took to go out of Jiayu pass in batches, reachEda Balikun via Hami, and attacked the north road first after converging alloy shunbu. At the same time, Zhang Yao was ordered to defend Hami and prevent the Turpan enemy from attacking.
After the Qing army arrived in Xinjiang, Agubai rushed from Aksu to the Toxun Department for deployment.
In August 1876, the Qing army adopted the tactic of attacking the west from the east, ordering Liu Jintang and Jin Shun to set out from Fukang, avoid the road with insufficient water sources, and unexpectedly appear in the ancient pasture land north of Urumqi.
After clearing the enemy on the periphery, the city wall was bombarded with artillery, and after the city wall collapsed, all the soldiers rushed into the city and annihilated more than 5,000 enemy people.
On April 14, 1877, Liu Jintang led the main force of 10,000 people to the south, and then added a fort on the outskirts of Dabancheng. The Qing army bombarded the city with flowering cannons, and in the battle to conquer Dabancheng, a total of more than 2,000 enemy people were killed, more than 1,000 people were captured, and 120 rebel leaders were captured.
On April 24, Liu Jintang led an army to attack Turpan, and Agubai's second son, Hailagu, abandoned the city and fled, capturing more than 20,000 rebels.
Under the fierce offensive of the Qing army, Lian Ke opened up the exhibition and Jintai and recaptured Turpan. At this point, the Qing army divided into three roads and recovered three cities in a row.
The people of Xinjiang had long been miserable under the oppression of Agubai, and when they heard that the Qing army was coming to attack, they revolted in the city. The Qing army shelled the rebels on the periphery, and inside there were rebels fighting with Agubai. Agubai saw that the trend had gone and died of anger (some people said that he was poisoned).
In September 1877, the Qing army took advantage of the victory attack, Liu Jintang led the 32nd battalion of Mabu as the forward, zhang Yao led the 16th battalion of Mabu as the rear, a total of more than 20,000 people, advanced westward, successively taking Karashar and Korla.
On 22 October, the army of Bai Yanhu and Burke Huri was defeated. On the 24th, Aksu was conquered.
The Qing army's attack was so overwhelming that the enemy troops entrenched in the western four cities were terrified. The Khotanese rebels asked the Qing army to surrender and took the initiative to lead troops to besiege Yerkand.
On December 17, the Xiang army of Yu Hu'en, Huang Wanpeng and other troops arrived in Kashgar and recaptured the city in one fell swoop that night. Burke Huri and Bai Yanhu fled into Russia with the remnants. On the 21st of the same month, Liu Jintang recaptured Yeerqiang, and on the 24th, he recaptured Yingjishal. On January 2, 1878, the Qing army recaptured Khotan.
At this point, the war to recover Xinjiang was over, and soon after Tsarist Russia was forced to withdraw from Ili under the prestige of Zuo Zongtang.
After the recovery of Xinjiang, Zuo Zongtang appeased the people, reduced the tax burden of the war zone in order to open up production, and distributed land to peasants who had no land and little land, and distributed livestock to peasant households without livestock.
Zuo Zongtang's series of policies were supported by all ethnic groups in Xinjiang, and in contrast to Agubai's approach, the Qing government was supported and supported by the common people.
Zuo Zongtang regained Xinjiang and crushed the british and Tsarist ideas of separating China and occupying China. After a series of wars, the strength and integrity displayed by the Qing army made Britain and Russia jealous, ensured the stability of the northwest, and maintained the unity of the country. If Zuo Zongtang is not determined to recover Xinjiang, then some of our travel to Xinjiang today will still need to obtain a passport.
The recovery of Xinjiang also ensured the security of Tibet from the side, and after the war in the northwest was resolved, the Qing government was able to exert sufficient energy and specialize in coastal defense.