A single drop of water can fill a water tank.

- Nepali proverb

The officers and men at the front fought bloody battles against the Japanese invading forces and sacrificed their precious lives for the country. Ma Fang, who was in the rear, was not idle. He was struggling with his extravagant life.

In June 1943, in order to celebrate his appointment as the commander-in-chief of the 40th Group Army of the National Revolutionary Army, Ma Fang not only successfully squeezed out his brother Ma Qing, annexed the 5th Cavalry Army of the National Revolutionary Army, and built a luxurious private mansion in the eastern suburbs of Xining, named Xinlu.

The name of Xinlu comes from the Tang Dynasty poet Liu Yuxi's "Burrow Inscription". Xin comes from the sentence "Weiwu Dexin", and the lower half is incense, which alludes to the name of the Ma family's father and son, Zixiang and Shaoxiang; Lu comes from the sentence "Zhuge Wuhou Lu".

。 It is clearly a mansion that collects the people's ointment, but the name comes from "The Burrow", which in itself is a great irony.

Lin Sen, the head of the Republic of China, actually wrote the name of the house for the Ma Mansion.

The walls of many buildings in the Ma Mansion are inlaid with white jade, so it is nicknamed the Jade Mansion by the people of Xining.

Once, Niu Zhanhai was ordered to follow Ma Biao to the Ma Mansion to report his work, and took the opportunity to visit the legendary Ma Mansion.

The Ma Mansion is composed of 7 independent and connected courtyards, including the front courtyard, the middle courtyard, the south courtyard, the west No. 1 courtyard, the west No. 2 courtyard, the west No. 3 courtyard and the back garden. Each courtyard and important hall and house have secret passages to communicate with each other in case of emergency. The rooms are exquisitely and cleverly designed. The architectural style is simple and elegant. The whole courtyard is not only solemn and deep, but also reveals the mysterious and strange atmosphere of the old house.

The first courtyard is where Ma Fang works and receives guests. In the courtyard, there are jade halls, VIP halls, east halls, west halls, etc.

The second courtyard is the main courtyard, where Ma Fang lives and works. It was the political and military center of Qinghai Province at that time. This is where many of the big decisions and decisions come from. In the main courtyard, there is Ma Fang's living room and his son Ma Yuan's living room; the small building where Ma Yuan's wife Zhang Xunfen lives; There are also adjutant and staff buildings, the north conference hall, and the south reception hall.

The third courtyard is the women's building, which is where the female guests stay. This is a Chinese-style 2-storey courtyard house with a classical cloister wooden structure. The first floor is occupied by a maid. The second floor is dedicated to female guests. There is absolutely no entry for any man inside the building.

The fourth courtyard is a small garden, and the big and small houses are also in this courtyard.

The fifth courtyard is the station of Ma Fang's cronies and guards, called the guard building. There are also ancient oil mills and ancient water mills in the yard.

The sixth courtyard was where the slaves and coachmen lived.

The back garden at the southern end of the Ma Mansion is planted with many precious flowers and trees, as well as some pavilions. The famous Xiaoquan is also in this back garden. This is the place where he rests and chats with his wife, young master and young ladies in his spare time.

Niu Zhanhai wandered in the Ma Mansion, full of envy in his heart. He secretly made up his mind that he would build such a magnificent Niu Mansion in the future.

Niu Zhanhai and Ma Biao respectfully saluted Ma Fang, and then sat on the sofa opposite him.

Ma Fang exchanged a few words with them, and then told them the plan in his heart.

In September 1944, Uyghurs and Kazakhs in the three regions of Ili, Tacheng, and Ahsan (today's Altay) in Xinjiang could not bear the exploitation and oppression of the government and launched a large-scale armed uprising. After nearly a year of fighting, the rioters completely occupied the Ili, Tacheng and Ahsan areas, and used these three areas as bases to establish their own political power and the armed forces, the National Army, to wage a struggle against the national power in Xinjiang under the slogan of "killing the Han and destroying the Hui" and in the form of armed struggle. The national separatists usurped the gains of the revolution in the three regions and established the so-called Republic of East Turkestan in Ili.

The warlord Sheng Cai, who had failed to govern Xinjiang, was notorious and was transferred out of Xinjiang by Lao Chiang.

Lao Chiang reappointed Wu Zhong as the head of Xinjiang Province, and replaced the heads of various halls with Kuomintang figures. At the same time, Lao Chiang ordered the dispatch of cavalry from one army of Ma Fang's army to Xinjiang to quell the revolution in the three districts of Xinjiang.

The 5th Cavalry Army of the National Army was originally the 5th Cavalry Division, with Ma Fang's elder brother Ma Qing as the division commander. In 1935, Lao Jiang expanded the 5th Cavalry Division into the 5th Cavalry Army, and Ma Qing still served as the commander. In order to suppress the power of the Ma family to control the Hexi Corridor and maintain the road from Gansu to Xinjiang, Lao Jiang ordered Ma Qing to lead the 5th Cavalry Army back to Qinghai and appointed him as the supervisor of Qinghai Qaidam Tun Reclamation.

In August 1942, Ma Qing led the 5th Cavalry Army to the Lejiawan Barracks on the outskirts of Xining, and stationed with the 82nd Army of the National Army with Ma Fang's son Ma Yuan as the commander.

Although Ma Fang and Ma Qing are brothers, he has always coveted the military power of the 5th Cavalry Army held by Ma Qing.

He found Ma Qing and discussed: "You are now the commander-in-chief of the 40th Group Army, I am the deputy commander-in-chief, you are also the commander of the 5th Cavalry Army, and you are on an equal footing with the commander of the 82nd Army, so that others don't look good." It's better to give the post of army commander to a young man! ”

How did Ma Qing know that his younger brother Ma Fang had taken advantage of the opportunity of training officers of the 5th Cavalry Army and the 82nd Army in rotation, and gradually replaced the middle and lower-level officers originally arranged by Ma Qing of the 5th Cavalry Army with the backbone of the 82nd Army, causing Ma Qing's power to deteriorate and it was difficult to maintain the court.

Ma Qing knew that the actual power of the 40th Group Army was not in his hands, and this was his younger brother's conspiracy, but the candidate recommended by Ma Fang was his son-in-law Ma Chengxiang, and it was also an irresistible order from Lao Jiang, so he only handed over the army to Ma Fang for moderation and returned to his hometown Linxia County as a duke.

After Ma Chengxiang served as the commander of the 5th Cavalry Army, he plunged into Ma Fang's command and followed Ma Fang with all his heart. In this way, the 5th Cavalry Army became Ma Fang's descendant troops.

After Ma Fang annexed the 5th Cavalry Army, he extended his strength to the Hexi Corridor, and actually controlled the two provinces of Qinghai and Gansu. If he can control Xinjiang, he can become the ruler of China's great northwest - the king of the northwest. Therefore, his eyes had already coveted the fat shortage of the director of the Northwest Battalion of the Military Commission and the chief executive of the Northwest.

Lao Jiang ordered the 5th Army to "march west to Xinjiang and defend the frontier", which was in the hands of Ma Fang's domination of the northwest. He was immediately overjoyed and obeyed the order.

Ma Fang took a sip of the "Three Forts" tea and slowly said to Ma Biao: "Abba, I plan to send Ma Chengxiang to lead the 1st Cavalry Division to Xinjiang. However, he is my nephew and Abba's son-in-law, and I want to find someone who is able to follow him. So I want to borrow Niu Zhanhai, who is under Abba, to assist him for a period of time, and then he must return to Zhao. What is Abba's intentions? ”

Ma Biao thought in his heart: Since you don't believe in your nephew, why did you appoint him as the commander? You're clearly tearing down Abba's platform.

Ma Biao knew that he couldn't offend Ma Fang, so he had to reluctantly squeeze out a smile and say, "Okay." Then let the head of the cow go and return quickly. ”

Ma Chengxiang was born in a famous family, attended the famous Kunlun Middle School in Qinghai Province, the Qinghai Military Training Corps, and was also a graduate of the first-class general class of the Army University. He and Ma Fang's son and cousin Ma Yuan are Ma Fang's most trusted and capable young officers, and they can be regarded as Ma Fang's right and left hands in military affairs.

After receiving the order to go to Xinjiang, Ma Chengxiang clearly knew that his opportunity had come. He wanted to get rid of the fetters that bound him, and with the power of the 5th Cavalry Army, he fought the world in Xinjiang like his cousin Ma Ying back then. He geared up and made his own calculations: he will lead more than 10,000 brave and skilled iron horsemen to gallop on the vast desert and beautiful grasslands of Xinjiang. This was an opportunity for Ma Fang to further rule the northwest, and it was also a shortcut to his own regime in Xinjiang.

The 5th Cavalry Army is an army with the Hui and Salar as the backbone, with only a small number of Han Chinese, and the main military positions are almost all held by the Hui or Salar people, especially "Gan (Su), He (Zhou), Hui (Nationality), and Ma (surname)". Therefore, the 5th Cavalry Army is also known as the Hui Hui Army or the Horse Army.

The 5th Cavalry Army was nominally 1 corps, but in fact there were only two integrated brigades (6th Cavalry Brigade, Brigade Commander Han Rongfu; 7th Cavalry Brigade, Brigade Commander Han Youwen), each brigade has 3 regiments, each regiment is about 1,000 people, plus 1 regiment directly under it, 2 directly under the company (guard company and communication company), nearly 10,000 officers and soldiers, more than 12,000 military horses. This unit, from the soldiers to the generals, was able to achieve equestrian proficiency and accurate shooting, and was deeply influenced by religion and Ma Fang's autocratic education, so it formed a fierce and strong team.

Niu Zhanhai followed Ma Chengxiang and led the 5th Cavalry Army from the large military camp in Lejiawan, Xining, and meandered westward along the passage of water and grass in the Qilian Mountains, and walked for 3 months before reaching Xinjiang. Their Qijiaojing soldiers in Hami were divided into two routes, and the Salar officer Han Youwen led the 7th Cavalry Brigade, passing through Dashi Village, and stationed in the areas of Mulei, Qitai and Jimsar, with the headquarters located in Qitai City. The 6th Cavalry Brigade of Junzhi and Han Rongfu took over the defensive positions of the original provisional 3rd Division and stationed in the areas of Dihua (today's Wushi) and Jinghua (today's Hutubi County).

Although Ma Chengxiang was in Xinjiang, he was directly under the command of Ma Fang, and even the military salary was controlled and allocated by Ma Fang.

The stationing of the 5th Cavalry Army in Xinjiang greatly strengthened the military strength of the Nationalist power. The 5th Cavalry Army was a cavalry unit that fought in the vast and sparsely populated Xinjiang and was superior in mobility and flexibility to other arms, thus temporarily blocking the revolutionary army of the three regions on the west bank of the Manas River, thus creating favorable conditions for peace talks between the national power and the revolutionary camp of the three regions.

Ma Chengxiang was stationed in the old city of Dihua. His patrol of iron horsemen galloped unscrupulously through the city of Dihua. Horsewhips flutter in the air. Military horses defecate in the open. Pedestrians on the street are afraid that they will not be able to avoid it.

The people of Dihua originally thought that the 5th Cavalry Army could stabilize the situation in Xinjiang, but they didn't want it to be a miasma of smoke and make the people miserable. As a result, the people of Dihua complained.

One day, Niu Zhanhai wore a set of civilian clothes and came to the Grand Cross in Dihua Hancheng to watch a play. He overheard a lot of people talking about whether the 5th Army was not cavalry. After returning to the headquarters of Lao Mancheng, he immediately reported to Ma Chengxiang what he heard in the theater.

Although Ma Chengxiang is a member of Ma Fang's family, he is relatively open-minded. After hearing the resentment and disgust of the citizens, he immediately ordered the team to be assembled, and the patrol captain was severely whipped 10 horsewhips in public, and the discipline of "ten prohibitions" was formulated on the spot.

Ma Chengxiang knew very well in his heart that if he wanted to avoid repeating Ma Ying's old mistakes and taking root in Xinjiang, he must establish a good image of the 5th Cavalry Army in the eyes of the people, and he must not act barbarically, but be friendly to the people.

In addition to stepping up military training and carrying out ideological education on "loyalty to the monarch," he also often selected officers and men with the best equestrian and mounted archery skills to hold equestrian and mounted archery performances in the suburbs of Laomancheng or Dihua, and invited people from all walks of life in Xinjiang's military, political, business, and academic circles to watch them, so as to demonstrate the great might of the Fifth Cavalry Army.

He was ambitious, surrounded political leaders, recruited talents, and even adopted a series of measures in the fields of culture and education, religious belief, public opinion propaganda, and social activities. He opened a Muslim middle school in Dihua City, set up an office, and opened a newspaper to publish and distribute the "Xinxin Pao" edited by the Fifth Cavalry Army. He also often visited the famous Huihui Da Ahong Ma Liangjun in Dihua, hoping to open up his own field in the religious circles and influence more ordinary people.

In April 1946, after peace negotiations, the leaders of the Nationalist Power, the Soviet Union, and the revolutionary leaders of the three regions formulated 11 peace clauses, abolished the name of the "Republic of East Turkestan", restored the structure of the three prefectures of Ili, Tacheng and Ashan, and formed a joint regime in Xinjiang Province. The Nationalist regime's rule in Xinjiang was given a temporary respite.

After the formation of the joint political power of Xinjiang Province, the 5th Cavalry Army, which had been reorganized into an integrated division, was stationed in various parts of northern Xinjiang. The 6th Cavalry Brigade was stationed at Toutun River, the 7th Cavalry Brigade was stationed at Qitai, and the regiments were stationed in Changji, Hutubi, Fukang, Fuyuan, Muleihe, and Dashi.

Ma Chengxiang tried his best to establish a prominent image of Ma Fang in the minds of the soldiers and maintain the traditional style of the Ma Army. Although the 5th Cavalry Army belonged to Song Lian in terms of deployment, from the soldiers to the generals, they always thought that Ma Fang was their commander. After Ma Fang became the head of Qinghai Province, they would be called the head of the government. When Ma Fang was promoted to the governor of the northwest, they would be called the governor. They rarely talk about the national power, they rarely talk about the chairman. Therefore, it can be said that although this army is directly subordinate to the national power, the concept of local separatism is still firmly established in the ideological field of officials and soldiers.

Ma Fang's merger strategy for Ma Qing is a big fish eating small fish. Song Lian is no exception to Ma Fang. At that time, the Xinjiang Garrison General Headquarters adopted a series of annexation measures in order to gradually break away from Ma Fang's control and subordinate this force.

The military expenses and salaries of the 5th Cavalry Army were originally received and forwarded by Ma Fang to the Military Commission. After the 5th Cavalry Army arrived in Xinjiang, the military expenses and salaries were directly received by the Xinjiang Garrison General Headquarters, and even the military expenses of the only 6th and 7th brigades were directly distributed by the Garrison Command. The military department receives only its own military expenses. The military headquarters has only one direct company. This not only severed the economic relationship between Ma Fang and the 5th Cavalry Army, but also severed the economic relationship between the military headquarters and the brigades, so that the 5th Cavalry Army had to obey the orders of the Xinjiang Garrison General Headquarters, and put the military headquarters in a position of powerlessness.

The titles of the military headquarters and army commander of the 5th Cavalry Army were abolished, the military headquarters of the 5th Cavalry Army was changed to the cavalry headquarters, and the army commander was changed to the commander of the cavalry. Ma Chengxiang is very clear about all these mergers and restrictions, but he must be calm on the outside and gladly obey his orders, but in fact, he dares to be angry and dare not speak.

In order to comfort Ma Chengxiang, Song Lian promoted Ma Chengxiang's rank of major general to the rank of lieutenant general, which was actually a bright promotion and a secret demotion.

These tricks of intrigue and intrigue, Ma Chengxiang understands very well in his heart. He laughed at himself and actually complained to Niu Zhanhai: "I have less than 10,000 soldiers, and I will have less than 1,000 heads, and I will no longer even have the title of army commander, but will be changed to cavalry commander, which means that I can only command and command the army during battle." ”

said to Niu Zhanhai again: "Although I am also a lieutenant general, my immediate boss Song Lian is also a lieutenant general." Therefore, I can only wear the collar badge of a major general".

The 5th Cavalry Army originally had 1 garrison regiment directly under it. After entering Xinjiang, Song Lian transferred this regiment to a brigade directly under the garrison headquarters and stationed it in Fukang. As a result, this regiment was separated from the 5th Cavalry Army in terms of establishment, and only one company directly under the original military headquarters was equipped. In this way, this cavalry headquarters is actually an isolated headquarters with some wingmen and only one garrison company.

In any case, the 5th Cavalry Army still nominally retains the formation of the 40th Army. Ma Fang still often gave orders to the 5th Cavalry Army, issued welfare goods, etc. The headquarters maintained a subordinate relationship with the brigade as usual, and Ma Chengxiang was still called the army commander below, and Ma Chengxiang still faced the brigades and regiments as the army commander.

By the end of 1946, peace in Xinjiang had been decided. Ma Chengxiang responded to Ma Biao's repeated requests, and finally agreed to return Ma Biao's love to Niu Zhanhai.

Before leaving, Ma Chengxiang, Han Youwen and other officials of the Fifth Cavalry Army held a banquet at a Muslim hotel in Grand Cross to see Niu Zhanhai back to Guannei.

At the banquet, Niu Zhanhai said with a smile: "Back then, Bai Yanhu and Ma Ying both suffered defeat in Xinjiang, and then went into exile from southern Xinjiang to foreign countries. Today, Commander Ma and other brothers are full of talent and ambition, and they will definitely fight hard, carry them forward, and rewrite the times and history. ”

Ma Chengxiang picked up the teacup and said with great ambition: "By virtue of Brother Niu's auspicious words, we will definitely work hard to make the town prosperous, and create a new glory in history!" ”