People are unlucky, ghosts blow lamps, hens cry and dogs dig pits.

- Hui proverb

In June 1933, Niu Zhanxiang served as a guard in the provincial government in Xining.

One day, he heard that Ma Lin, the head of Qinghai Province, had taken advantage of the victory of the Ma army at Yushu to request the Executive Yuan of the Nationalist Power to return the Labrang region to Qinghai Province.

Labrang was the land of Qiangrong in ancient times, and later became a settlement area of the Tibetan people. In 1709, Labrang Monastery was established. The Qing Dynasty set up the Labrang Branch, which was subordinate to the Xunhua Department in Gansu. In 1929, when Qinghai was established as a province, it was renamed Xiahe County and assigned to Gansu Province.

A month later, the central government did not respond to Ma Lin's request.

Ma Lin was a simple-minded general, who fought bravely and invincible, and was praised by the Republic of China regime. However, he was an old warlord with relatively conservative ideological concepts, who was more than able to do things steadily but not enough to innovate, liked to be greedy for money, and knew almost nothing about administrative management, and most of the officials he appointed could only flatter and curry favor and enrich his own pockets, with the result that the political and economic situation in Qinghai became increasingly grim.

Ma Lin set up a temporary maintenance fee collection office in each county and forcibly issued treasury maintenance bills, which continued to depreciate and turned into a pile of waste paper. The following year, Ma Lin ordered the issuance of temporary maintenance bonds in Qinghai Province. As a result, prices have skyrocketed, and public resentment has boiled.

Niu Zhanxiang found that Ma Lin's nephew Ma Fang had become the biggest winner in the war to defend Yushu at this time, and he was a rising political star. As the supreme military commander of Qinghai, he was young and promising, full of vigor, bold and decisive in his work, and good at winning the hearts of the people, and was a typical representative of the new school of warlords.

Niu Zhanxiang saw that Master Ma was getting more and more difficult, but he couldn't do anything about it.

At the same time, at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains outside the Yumen Pass, Sheng Cai and Ma Ying were suspicious of each other, fighting wits and courage, and performed a wonderful drama.

On 2 September, Luo Wengan, the foreign minister of the Nationalist regime, arrived in Dihua.

Luo Wengan is nominally inspecting Xinjiang's affairs, but in fact he wants to continue to carry out the tasks that Huang Musong has not completed.

On the 8th, Luo Wengan attended the inauguration ceremony of Sheng Cai and Liu Wenlong in Dihua.

The next day, he hurried to Turpan to meet with Ma Ying. As for what they discussed, Niu Zhanchuan didn't know.

On the 15th, when Luo Wengan was about to leave Dihua and return to the mainland, Sheng Cai suddenly convened a temporary military meeting. At the meeting, the main battle faction led by the Belarusian Germanic officer Bapingut was arrogant, which happened to coincide with Sheng Cai's inner thoughts.

As soon as the meeting ended, Sheng Cai held a Hongmen banquet. At the banquet, he detained Ma Ying's representative, Zhang Yashao, and three others.

The wicked sue first.

On the 16th, Sheng Cai sent a telegram to the Nanjing Nationalist Government, putting all the blame for provoking the war on Ma Ying, making Luo Wengan's peace mediation in Xinjiang come to naught.

On the 26th, the 127th meeting of the Nanjing Executive Yuan, presided over by Wang Jinwei, finally decided to reorganize the Xinjiang provincial government, and appointed 13 people, including Liu Wenlong, Sheng Cai, Zhang Yuan, Zhu Ruiqi, Ma Ying, and Hoganiyazi, as members of the provincial government. The list was later approved by the 377th meeting of the Central Political Conference of the Kuomintang and publicly released by the Executive Yuan.

Sheng Cai complained about this and made it clear that he opposed the appointment of Ma Ying as a member of the provincial government.

Zhang Yuan had earlier been removed by Jin Ren as the commander-in-chief of the East Road to suppress bandits, and returned to Ili gloomily. He was a representative of strong opposition to Sheng Cai.

On the 28th, Luo Wengan returned to the mainland through the Soviet Union and came to Ili to personally attend Zhang Yuan's inauguration ceremony. After the ceremony, Luo Wengan fully expressed his request for peace to Zhang Yuan, hoping that Zhang Yuan would cooperate with the provincial government and unite as one.

Zhang Yuan replied mercilessly: "I just don't let Sheng Cai be the border supervisor!" Everything else is easy to talk about. ”

Luo Wen, who was exhausted by the three of Ma Ying, Zhang Yuan and Sheng Cai, was unable to do anything, so he had to make a detour to Siberia to return to the mainland. Speaking to reporters at the Tianjin railway station about the breakdown of peace in Xinjiang, he said: "Sheng Cai suddenly convened a military meeting, decided to declare war on Ma Ying, and arrested the peace talks delegates sent by Ma Ying at the banquet, making the current peace impossible to maintain." War in Xinjiang is inevitable. ”

When Sheng Cai suddenly detained Zhang Yashao and other representatives of the peace talks, Ma Ying and Niu Zhanchuan were discussing issues with Ma Fuyuan in Yanqi County in southern Xinjiang.

Three days later, when they returned to Turpan, they also learned that their representatives had been detained by Sheng Cai, and they were furious, scolded Sheng Cai for his treachery, and immediately ordered the officers and men to prepare for battle and fight Sheng Cai to the death.

After the defeat in the Battle of Ziniquan, Ma Ying knew very well in her heart that she could not defeat Sheng Cai with her own strength. So, he planned to cooperate with Zhang Yuan, who had contradictions in Tongsheng.

After Luo Wenganxi went to Ili, Ma Ying's representative also went to meet Zhang Yuan.

Zhang Yuan really agreed with Ma Ying's plan. The two sides agreed to attack Dihua from the east and west and overthrow Sheng Cai's reactionary rule.

At this time, Ma Ying occupied a vast Xinjiang territory stretching from Hami in eastern Xinjiang through Shanshan and Turpan to Yanqi in southern Xinjiang. The power of Ma Heiying went from the west of the town in the north to the north along the border of Mongolia to the south of Ashan. Ma Shiming's forces infiltrated from Dabancheng to Chaiwobao near Dihua.

Sheng Cai had a dignified Xinjiang Provincial Army, and the area defended was only a narrow strip of land from Qitai in the east and Tacheng in the west.

On October 9, Ma Ying held a grand military parade in Turpan and announced that he would completely eliminate the reactionary Sheng Cai.

Sheng Cai was not to be outdone, and telegraphed the whole country in Dihua, announcing a crusade against Ma Ying, a traitor of the Republic of China.

Ma Ying ordered Ma Heiying to immediately command 2,000 men and horses to move south and besiege Tacheng, an important town in northwest Xinjiang.

The sky in Xinjiang, which had just cleared, was once again covered with a thick cloud of war.

The Second Battle of Sheng and Ma began.

At the beginning of the war, the situation was very unfavorable for Sheng Cai. Chen Jishan, who was guarding Tacheng, sent an urgent telegram asking for help, saying that the Ma army had surrounded Tacheng for 3 days and was in critical condition. If there is no foreign reinforcement, the consequences of Tacheng are unpredictable.

Sheng Cai dispatched Liu Bin, chief of staff of the Office of the Governor, to lead the White Russian army to reinforce Tacheng in a panic.

On October 12th, Sheng Cai set off with the warm farewell of the people of Dihua. His troops divided into two routes, all the way out of Qitai, through Qijiaojing, attacking Shanshan, in an attempt to cut off Ma Ying's retreat back to Hami and Gansu; The other route was personally commanded by Sheng Cai and directly attacked Daban City, the gateway to Turpan.

Dabancheng is a small town between Dihua and Turpan, located in the narrow Chaiwopu-Dabancheng basin, in a semi-closed state, surrounded by mountains on three sides, facing the west of Dihua, is the geographical and climatic dividing line of northern and southern Xinjiang, and is the throat of northern and southern Xinjiang since ancient times.

After Ma Zhongying received the report of the arrival of Sheng Cai's army, he ordered the nickname "Fingerless Regiment Commander" stationed in Daban City to lead his troops to quickly occupy the high ground of the Hougou Pass and hold on. He personally led a brigade of infantry, together with a regiment of Ma Yanliang's cavalry stationed in Tuoxun County, to Dabancheng at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains, and carried out defensive battles on the high ground to the south.

On the 13th, the troops of both sides were nervously building fortifications and preparing for battle.

In the early morning of the 15th, Niu Zhanchuan's position was first attacked by the Xinjiang Provincial Army. Sheng Cai still used the Northeast Volunteer Army as the vanguard, fiercely attacking the hilltop position of the Ma army.

The Ma army was condescending, and the guns were fired in unison.

Niu Zhanchuan stood on the high ground and looked down on the battlefield, only to see that the Xinjiang Provincial Army suffered heavy casualties and was forced to retreat. The armored vehicles of the White Russian army were overloaded and crushed the bridge over the Poplar River. Follow-up vehicles are coming. The soldiers panicked and rushed to cross the river first. It was crowded for a while.

The cavalry of the Ma army chased them to the river and slaughtered the Xinjiang provincial army.

Niu Zhanchuan stood on the cliff and clapped his hands happily.

Sheng Cai escaped from the siege with a soldier. He rode a long horse, looking back at his army. He looked at the wolf-smoked Daban Castle and sighed that he was born at the wrong time.

The Ma army captured 4 mountain guns, 1 armored vehicle, more than 300 rifles and several machine guns, as well as a large number of baggage.

This battle quickly turned the duel of 10,000 people in Daban Castle into a pursuit and extermination war. The red-eyed Ma Ying cavalry chased after Sheng Cai's ass and beat all the way to Dihua City.

At the same time, Ma Heiying successfully occupied the old city of Tacheng without firing a single shot. The officers and soldiers set up ladders and iron pots on their heads, and bravely attacked the new city.

The Black Lovsky regiment of the White Russian army, which had arrived from Dihua, lifted the siege of Tacheng.

At this time, although Sheng and Ma each won one win and one loss, in fact, Sheng Cai seemed to be more critical. Although the siege of Tacheng was lifted, Sheng Cai's fiasco in Daban City made the battle situation around Dihua very dangerous.

In late October, Ma Ying personally led about 2,000 elite cavalry to the north through the Tianshan Gorge and attacked the county town of Fuyuan on the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains.

At dawn on the 27th, the Ma army set up two ladders from the northwest of the county and began to attack the county seat of Fuyuan, but was found and repelled by the defenders in the city.

The Ma army turned to attack the northeast corner of the wall, but was repulsed by the defenders.

At night, the militia guarding the county seat of Fuyuan sent personnel to Fukang overnight to ask for help.

Ma Ying commanded his subordinates to dig several tunnels at the east gate of the county, trying to blow up the city gate, and using the night to attack the county seat of Fuyuan.

On the afternoon of the 29th, the Ma army entered the city smoothly through the tunnel, but was unfortunately discovered by the patrolling defenders. The defenders hurriedly lit chili peppers, cigarette sticks, and thatch, and smoked the tunnel, forcing the horses to retreat from the tunnel. The Ma army's offensive tactics of using tunnels were declared bankrupt.

At dawn on the 30th, the Ma army detonated the explosives in the tunnel of the East Gate, and at the same time used machine gun fire to cover it, and began to attack the East Gate.

After the east gate was blown up, the defenders mobilized 10 teenagers to carry soil to fill the gap, and the gap was sealed in one day and night.

Soon, reinforcements from the Xinjiang Provincial Army arrived. Ma Yingcai reluctantly withdrew his troops.

After half a month of fighting, Sheng Cai deeply felt that his military strength was insufficient. In order to achieve his ambition of dominating Xinjiang, on the one hand, he tried his best to block Ma Ying's fierce attack militarily, and on the other hand, he began to use his political skills and purposefully held secret talks with the Soviet consul general in Dihua.

In December 1933, Sheng Cai signed a secret agreement with the Soviet representative Bogotin:

1. The Soviet Union provided Shengcai with arms worth 3 million rubles, including 30 aircraft (including crews), machine guns, rifles, communications equipment and other arms and wartime materials.

2. The Soviet Union promised that the Soviet Red Army would enter Xinjiang when Sheng Cai thought that conditions permitted, and put down the rebellion of Ma Ying and others.

3. Xinjiang agreed to give the Soviet Union the right to mine mines, oil and gold in Xinjiang.

4. Xinjiang agreed that the Soviet Union would build a railway from Zhugucha to Dihua.

5. The White Russian army may be retained in Xinjiang, but individual haters of the Soviet regime should be purged, and their posts should be replaced by officers agreed to by the representatives of the Soviet Union.

Sixth, Xinjiang must be purged of officials hostile to the Soviet Union.

7. Xinjiang should promote and nurture the current ideology of the Soviet Union.

Ma Ying also had contacts with the Soviet Union.

Most of the senior staff around him were students from the Soviet Union. Ma Heiying entered Ahsan and Tacheng, and also contacted the Soviet side many times, trying to persuade the Soviet Union to support Ma Ying's struggle to overthrow Sheng Cai. However, at this time, Sheng Cai used Onishi to promote Ma Ying as a lackey of Japanese imperialism in Xinjiang, which made the Soviet Union suspicious.

In the end, the cooperation between the two sides came to an end.

At the end of 1933, Moscow authorized TASS to publish several editorials commenting on the situation in Xinjiang, claiming that Japan and Britain were fiercely vying for Xinjiang and that both had plans to conquer Central Asia and then attack the Soviet Union. The Soviet Red Army was going to help the local regime in Xinjiang calm the situation while respecting China's sovereignty.

Sheng Cai's statement in Xinjiang echoed the Soviet Union's statement. In order to gain Soviet support, he pretended to be progressive, enthusiastically absorbing Soviet experts and progressive partisans.

On December 9, 1933, Nanjing's "National Salvation Daily" published a telegram from Zhang Yuan to the Nationalist regime, claiming that the 8th Division of the Ili New Division had intercepted the first batch of military supplies sent by the Soviet Union to Shengcai, including clothing, firearms, ammunition and artillery. Sheng Cai used Ashan and Tacheng as collateral; The second batch of supplies is on its way.

Ma Ying's representative in Nanjing also declared that Sheng Cai had signed a secret treaty with a certain country.

On the 11th, TASS officially announced that the news published in Chinese newspapers that Sheng Cai had signed a secret treaty with the Soviet Union and ceded Xinjiang land to the Soviet Union was not true. The Soviet Union authorized TASS to deny this.

When Sheng Cai secretly negotiated with the Soviet Union, it was when Ma Ying led an army to besiege the county town of Fuyuan. Although Ma Heiying near Tacheng was forced to lift the siege of Tacheng, but the men and horses basically did not suffer losses, and at this time, the main force was suddenly sent to attack Suilai County (today's Manas County) west of Dihua, which once again echoed Ma Ying's military action.

For a time, Dihua's western front was tight.

Four times a day, Liu Wenlong sent urgent telegrams to Sheng Cai, who was fighting Ma Ying, forcing Sheng Cai to retreat to Dihua City.

The Northeast Volunteers and the White Russian Army lived up to their expectations, and after fierce battles, annihilated Ma Heiying's army at Stone Ladder in the southwest of Hutubi County.

Ma's death was the first step in Ma's strategic defeat.

Sheng Shicai solved Ma Heiying, which was equivalent to firmly controlling the northern frontier.

At the same time, his troops began to press on Ili from Tacheng, trying to force Zhang Yuan there to submit.

Sheng Cai concocted a series of so-called conspiracy riots in Dihua to crack down on internal unstable elements, detain conspiracy rebels, and eliminate dangerous forces that had joined forces with Zhang Yuan and Ma Miao. In fact, most of the people he arrested were former officials, including commanders of the Northeast Volunteer Army and leaders of the White Russian army, all of whom were secretly executed around 1939. Liu Wenlong, the head of Xinjiang Province, was also framed by Sheng Cai for attempting assassination and imprisoned for 10 years.

Sheng Cai personally served as the commander-in-chief of the city defense in Dihua, appointed Yang Yaodu as the commander-in-chief of the former enemy, deployed two White Russian cavalry regiments with Bekdiev as the brigade commander in the southern suburbs of Dihua in Wulabo and Cangfanggou, deployed Zhang Fengyi, You Desheng, Sun Qinglin and Jiang Youfen's troops in the area of Dawan, Ningxia Bay and the airport in the southeastern suburbs, and ordered the Meng Xi Infantry Brigade to join the same regiment to guard Hongshan, Liudaowan, Suquangou and Shuimogou in the northern and eastern suburbs, the Yangshutang Brigade to guard the West Bridge in the western suburbs, and Lu Yulin and the merchant group to guard Nanguan and Xiguan. The training battalion, military cadets and secondary normal students of the Superintendent Office guarded Seoul and Manseong, and his younger brother Sheng Qi commanded the Guard Regiment to guard the Superintendent's Office.

The Xinjiang Provincial Army stationed about 9,000 troops in Dihua, plus students from major and middle schools, business groups, and militia groups, totaling about 20,000.

On the night of January 12, 1934, the defending troops of the Xinjiang Provincial Army and Ma Ying's main force fought fiercely for a night in the southern suburbs of Dihua.

The Xinjiang Provincial Army was unable to support and retreated to the city.

In the early morning of the 13th, the Ma army surrounded Dihua like an iron bucket. The cavalry was unstoppable, and the tide stormed the southern beam.

The Xinjiang Provincial Army stubbornly resisted.

The two sides refused to give in to each other, and the fighting was inextricably linked, and the casualties were very heavy, forming a situation of confrontation.

On the 16th, Ma Ying saw that the attack on Nanliang was not smooth, so he concentrated his forces and turned to attack the weakly defended airfields, radio stations and other places, and successfully occupied the two places. A large gap appeared in the defense line of the Xinjiang Provincial Army.

On the morning of the 17th, as the main forces of the Xinjiang Provincial Army were fortified outside the city, the city of Dihua was empty. In an emergency, Sheng Cai organized a large number of students to temporarily participate in the battle to defend the city, and urgently organized more than 3,000 people from militia groups and merchant groups to distribute spears and axes to defend the city. At the same time, Sheng Cai again urgently requested the assistance of the Soviet Red Army.

Ma Ying seized the airfield and seized a plane. He then forced the pilot, Zhang Xuzhi, to fly the plane, while he sat on the plane and threatened the pilot with a gun to take off.

Niu Zhanchuan and the others turned pale with fright, but they couldn't persuade Ma Ying.

The plane roared into the sky.

Zhang Xuzhi threw three grenades at Sheng Cai's office and dropped leaflets to persuade him to surrender, but they did not have the slightest effect.

On the 18th, the Soviet Red Army sent planes from Tacheng to aid Shengcai. These planes used heavy bombs to bomb the positions of the Malay troops non-stop. The results of the bombing were enormous. After that, on sunny days, Soviet planes bombed in droves, causing heavy casualties to the Ma army.

In the early morning of the 19th, Ma Ying concentrated his superior forces and took advantage of the time when the Soviet planes had not yet arrived, and suddenly launched a fierce attack on the southern Liang of Dihua.

The Xinjiang Provincial Army, which was guarding Southern Liang, began to retreat.

Sheng Cai hurriedly rushed to the forward position, took out his pistol and shot 3 routed soldiers one after another, so as to deter the whole army and stabilize the defense line of Nanliang.

The ruptured Xinjiang Provincial Army, under the coercion of Sheng Cai and the assistance of the White Russian army, fought desperately and regained the lost position.

After a day of fierce fighting, the casualties of the Ma army were as high as 1,000. They no longer have the strength to launch a large-scale attack on Dihua.

Niu Zhanchuan and others temporarily stayed overnight in a house on the slope of the Red Mountain.

The cold wind whined against the strips of cloth on the windows, making a whining sound, like the groans of dying soldiers on the battlefield, pitiful and terrifying.