Since the large-scale construction of the Liaoning Arsenal, the equipment of the Feng army has been upgraded to a new level, and the strength of the Feng army has also improved by leaps and bounds, so the Anhui department has also stationed heavy troops near Rehe to defend. In the case that the customs cannot be touched for a while, if you can open the situation from the north, it will be a good move.

So after the domestic incident gradually subsided, Zhang Hanqing's eyes turned to Outer Mongolia.

On the Mongolian Plateau, there are many nomadic peoples who have lived on the Mongolian Plateau since ancient times, such as the Xiongnu, Rouran, Hui, Turkic, etc. During the Song Dynasty in China, Turkic power faded out of the region and the Mongols moved in. The Mongol vassals belonged to the Jin dynasty, and in the early 13th century, Genghis Khan, the leader of the Mongols, unified all the Mongol tribes in the region and established the Mongol Empire. The Yuan Dynasty established by Kublai Khan later included most of present-day China, the Mongolian Plateau, and the Outer Northeast.

During the Ming Dynasty, the remnants of the Mongol forces retreated to the outside of the Saiwai Dynasty, maintained the Northern Yuan regime, and confronted the Ming Dynasty. Later, the Manchu rulers allied with the Mongol tribes of Monan, entered the Central Plains, and established the Qing Dynasty. Other Mongol tribes in Mobei and Moxi also gradually became vassals of the Qing Dynasty. As for the division of the political regions of the Republic of China, there are 4 departments and 2 regions under its jurisdiction, as well as 116 banners, 4 pastures, and 36 sub-divisions.

The relationship between the Mongolian ministries and the Qing government was quite different. They either married into Manchu rulers or were conquered by force. The Inner Mongolian ministries that were close to the Qing regime had a close relationship with the central government, while Outer Mongolia, which was far away from the central government, i.e., Khalkha Mongolia or Mobei Mongolia, had always been relatively distant from the central government.

The Central Government set up ministers in Kulen (present-day Ulaanbaatar) to prevent the secession of Mongolia. For those who have been annexed in the era of Nurhachi and Huang Taiji, it is called Inner Mongolia, and then it is called Outer Mongolia, and those who have meritorious service can continue to be hereditary, and those who have doubts about Zhongqin, such as Chahar, will send the Manchu Chahar to govern, Tumut is ruled by the general of Suiyuancheng, and the Daur people are disposed of in a similar way.

From the 16th century onwards, Tsarist Russia operated Siberia and began to communicate with Outer Mongolia. After the Opium War, while forcibly occupying China's northeastern and northwestern territories, Tsarist Russia deliberately sought to occupy China's Mongolian region in order to realize its dream of "Yellow Russia." It successively formulated the "Miller Plan," the "Murawiev Plan," and the "Badamaev Plan," and arrogantly proposed to occupy a large area of Chinese territory from Siberia to the foot of the Great Wall.

To achieve this, a series of despicable methods are employed. However, the Sino-Russian treaties before 1870, although they seriously undermined China's sovereignty, did not change the hard fact that Mongolia belonged to China.

But Tsarist Russia is still ambitious! In 1727, China and Russia signed the Treaty of Brensky and the Treaty of Kyakhta (collectively known as the Treaty of Brensky), which affirmed that Mongolia belonged to China. But Tsarist Russia gained the privilege of trade in Kyakhta and Outer Mongolia.

In 1854, the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia, Muravyov, said that "in the event of a coup d'état in China, the new Chinese government should not be allowed to extend its power to Mongolia, in which case Mongolia should be protected by Russia." Most of the unequal treaties signed between Tsarist Russia and the Qing government included clauses on Russian interests in Mongolia. During this period, Russia vigorously promoted economic, cultural, and military exchanges with the Mongol ministries.

After the Xinhai Revolution, with the gradual collapse of the rule of the Qing Dynasty, under the instigation of the Tsarist Russian consul in Kulen, the 8th Jebtsundamba of the Living Buddha of Outer Mongolia sent Handa Dorji and Chelin Zimit to Russia. Tsarist Russia believed that the time had come to divide Mongolia, and began to cultivate pro-Russian forces, and distributed weapons in large quantities, preparing to create Outer Mongolia independence.

On November 30, the Russian and Mongolian troops surrounded the Yamen, the Mongolian minister of affairs of the Qing government in Kulen, disarmed the Qing army, and escorted the minister of affairs Sanduo and his entourage out of the country. On December 28, Jebtsundamba took the opportunity to declare the independence of Outer Mongolia (Uriya Sutai) and appointed himself as the "Ezhen Khan" of the Nikko Emperor, but it was not widely recognized. A year later, the Russo-Mongolian Pact and the Commercial Pact were signed, which established the de facto rule of Tsarist Russia over Mongolia.

When the news broke, the whole country was in an uproar, and the government and the people were outraged, and Inner Mongolia also issued a solemn statement that it would not recognize all the treaties of the Kulun puppet government.

On October 3, 1912, Kosovets, the former Russian minister to China, signed the Russian-Kuk Treaty with the government of Jebtsundamba in Kulen. In 1913, the Tsarist authorities forced the Beiyang government under Yuan Shikai to sign the Sino-Russian Declaration. The statement stipulates: Outer Mongolia recognizes China's suzerainty and is part of China's territory. China and Russia recognize the autonomy of Outer Mongolia. China is not allowed to station officials, troops, or immigrants in Outer Mongolia. Tsarist Russia could, and Mongolian affairs needed to be resolved by agreement between the two countries.

The treaty left China in name only, while Tsarist Russia still controlled Outer Mongolia. In 1915, the Sino-Russian-Mongolian Entente was re-enacted, confirming the 1913 document, and Tsarist Russia was very satisfied with this. On June 7, 1915, China, Russia and Mongolia signed the Kyakhta Agreement in Kyakhta, which concretized this statement. Accordingly, on June 9 of the same year, Outer Mongolia announced the abolition of the "independent Great Mongolia".

Yuan Shikai canonized the 8th Jebtsundamba as "Khutuktu Khan", maintained the status of an autonomous prince, and pardoned independence activists, and Outer Mongolia was autonomous, but in fact controlled by Tsarist Russia.

In 1917, the October Revolution broke out in Russia, and the "autonomous" Outer Mongolia lost its backer, and Outer Mongolia returned to the embrace of the motherland. In 1918, the Chinese government garrisoned Kulen on the pretext of preventing the spread of Sovietism and the turmoil in Siberia. Although the Russian government issued another declaration on China in early 1919, announcing the abolition of the unequal treaty signed between Tsarist Russia and China, in fact it continued to support the independence of Outer Mongolia.

In the same year, the garrison and the upper echelons of Outer Mongolia reached the document "64 Articles for Improving the Future Status of Mongolia", demanding the abolition of autonomy, but at this time, the main force of the northwest frontier garrison under the leadership of Duan Shuzheng went out of Mongolia to fight with the Feng army in Rehe, and Mongolia was empty.

At the time of the change of the Beiyang government, the living Buddha of Jebtsundamba did not change his mind and was ready to move. Later, Duan Qirui's government was anxious about the Qingdao issue, and the idea of establishing a "Great Mongolia" came to his mind again. Soviet Russia seized the opportunity to issue a declaration on Mongolia on 25 July, reasserting that Outer Mongolia was an independent state and demanding the establishment of diplomatic relations with it.

However, the princes of the three Mongolian alliances (Che League, Tu League, and Hanchen) jointly sent a secret letter to Chen Yi, the envoy of Kulun Town, and voluntarily canceled autonomy and restored the old system. As an encouragement, the Beiyang government canonized Jebtsundamba as Bogdor Khan.

Zhang Hanqing clearly knew that although this inconspicuous move in history was eventually withdrawn by Xu Shuzheng of the Anhui faction by force, this move made China lose the hearts of the upper princes of Outer Mongolia. Later, the main force of the Xu army returned to the interior to participate in the warlord melee, and only a small number of troops were stationed in Kulen and the Mongolian-Russian border trading city (present-day Altan Prague).

On November 24, 1924, under the leadership of Choibalshan and others, the empty Mongol Restoration officially separated from the Chinese territory. Although the government of the Republic of China has always refused to admit it, with the defeat of the Great War of Zhifeng, the government has been unable to intervene, and the fait accompli has become irretrievable.

Then the Japanese army invaded China, and the whole country fell into great chaos, and there was no way to return to heaven. In 1945, in order to obtain the promise of the Soviet Union not to help the CCP, Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist Government allowed the so-called referendum to be held in October of the same year (the Soviet army also voted) and officially recognized its "independence", and from then on, de jure Mongolia no longer belonged to China.

In 1921, the Soviet Union instigated the independence of the Tangnu-Ulianghai region, which was formerly part of Outer Mongolia, and formally annexed it in 1944, and carved up a total area of about 170,000 square kilometers of fertile land. Every time Zhang Hanqing reads history so far, he can't help but "make heroes cry"!

A map of China reveals Mongolia's strategic location: its division is like cutting China off, and it is only 600 kilometers from Mongolia to Beijing, and there is no danger to defend all the way to the Great Wall of Zhangjiakou. Because between Erenhot and Beijing, only the north and south of Zhangjiakou have mountains as barriers, and the north of Zhangjiakou is almost a flat river.

In the sixties and seventies of the last century, when Sino-Soviet relations were tense, it was said that the mechanized and armored units deployed by the former Soviet Union on the Sino-Mongolian border could reach Beijing in three days at the earliest, forcing Mao Weiren, who was the number one Chinese cattleman, to mobilize one-third of the country's elite troops in the suburbs of Beijing.

The important strategic position of Outer Mongolia has always been valued by Soviet Russia, and it is no wonder that later Stalin simply said to Song Ziwen, the negotiator of the government of the Republic of China: "To tell you honestly, the reason why I want Outer Mongolia is completely from a military strategic point of view. If a military force were to attack the Soviet Union from Outer Mongolia, as soon as the Trans-Siberian Railway was cut off, Russia would be finished. ”

And if China owns Mongolia, thousands of kilometers of the vast Trans-Siberian Railway are directly threatened. If the Chinese army is arbitrarily cut off, it will be impossible for Soviet Russia to supply and support the Far East, and whether it will be able to continue to hold the Far East is still a matter of five to five.

It was also for this reason that after the Kuomintang was castrated, Grandpa Mao, the leader of New China, took the initiative to ask the Soviet representatives how to deal with the reunification of Outer Mongolia and Inner Mongolia. The representative of the USSR replied: "We do not advocate such unification, since this can lead to the loss of a large piece of territory in China." ”

Grandpa Mao believed that Outer Mongolia and Inner Mongolia could be united and incorporated into China's territory, and the Soviet representative told him, "This is impossible, because the Mongolian People's Republic has already enjoyed independence, and the Chinese government recognized the independence of Outer Mongolia after Japan's surrender." The Mongolian People's Republic has its own army, its own culture, and its own path of cultural and economic development, and it has long tasted the taste of independence, and it may not voluntarily give up independence at any time. If it merges with Inner Mongolia at any time, it will be to form a unified and independent Mongolia. ”

Ren Bishi, who was attending the talks at the time, also interjected at this time, saying that there are 3 million people in Inner Mongolia and only 1 million in Outer Mongolia. In view of this information from the Chinese side, Stalin sent a telegram to Grandpa Mao, stating: "The leaders of Outer Mongolia advocate the merger of all Mongolian regions of China with Outer Mongolia on the principle of an independent and unified Mongolia, and the Soviet government expresses its opposition to this plan, because it means cutting off many areas from China, although this plan does not threaten the interests of the Soviet Union." We believe that even if all Mongolian regions are unified into one autonomous region, Outer Mongolia will not give up its independence and exercise autonomy within China's territory. Naturally, the decision on this matter belongs to Waimeng himself! ”

This is already an unmistakable threat. However, in view of the international situation after the founding of the People's Republic of China, it was impossible for China at that time to solve the Mongolian problem in the hands of the Soviet Union.

After Stalin's death, Grandpa Mao and Premier Zhou formally asked the Soviet leaders for Mongolia for the second time, but they were refused, and in the end, the question of Outer Mongolia was left to posterity, so that 1.566 million square kilometers of land no longer belonged to China.