Even if the pines and cypresses grow well, they can only be used as firewood when they leave the land.

- Mongolian proverb

Niu Zhanchuan was stationed with his troops in the Tibetan area of Gannan.

He knew that Ma Ying had recently had a headache for the soldiers to harass the common people, and often emphasized the discipline of the army. However, the soldiers of Han Jinlu's brigade still went their own way. Ma Fubao and others defy the wind and committed crimes, ran to the Tibetan monastery without permission, and robbed the lamas of decent leather jackets, clothes, and other items, causing dissatisfaction among the Tibetans.

When Ma Ying received a complaint from the Tibetans, he was so angry that he scolded Ma Fubao and others for being bandits and robbers, and ordered them to be shot for public display despite Han Jinlu's repeated pleas.

Han Jinlu is a native of Shiwa, Xixiang, Hezhou, with a violent personality, and he draws a knife and stabs people when he disagrees. He was originally a company commander in the Northwest Army, followed Ma Xian to join the rebel army, and was appointed regiment commander by Ma Ying, and later promoted to brigade commander. In the battle of besieging Hezhou, Han Jinlu fought bravely, won several battles in Beiyuan and Madi, and began to be proud of his achievements, and looked down on Ma Ying a little.

Han Jinlu was dissatisfied with Ma Ying shooting his own subordinates, but he never had a seizure. After arriving in Minxian County, Han Jinlu proposed to arrange an official position for Ma Cunliang of the Old Western Army, which was opposed by Ma Ying. The fire in his heart broke out all of a sudden, provoking the soldiers belonging to the 27th Division of Ma Xian's old department to break away from Ma Ying's command.

Ma Ying repeatedly persuaded him to attack Gongchang (present-day Longxi County) together.

He thought that Longnan was rich and Gongchang was poor, and insisted on attacking Longnan, which was rich in property.

Ma and Han could not eliminate their differences, and finally parted ways, causing disunity between the Northwest Army and the Ning Navy, and also laying the groundwork for the later defeat.

Niu Zhanchuan followed the troops to the outside of Gongchang City and actively prepared to attack the city.

The troops of the Nationalist Army Jichang followed them to Gongchang and surrounded Ma Ying's army from Dongshan. The troops defending the city in Gongchang also began a counterattack from the west of the Ma Ying army.

Seeing that he was under attack, Ma Ying hurriedly commanded his army to retreat from the north to Shouyang Mountain, located southeast of present-day Weiyuan County.

Shouyang Mountain is the place where the South Silk Road must pass, with beautiful scenery and ancient pines. Niu Zhanchuan and the others didn't have the heart to enjoy the scenery and flowers, they just wanted to break through and escape for their lives. Helplessly, the road in the mountains is narrow, and the soldiers in the panic trample on each other. Many people fell to their deaths in ravines.

After nightfall, Niu Zhanchuan and others finally got rid of the pursuit of Jichang's army and fled to Minxian County, where they rested in Lujing Town, where Han people lived.

Han Jinlu broke up with Ma Ying in the old city of Taozhou, and led more than 2,000 people to reach the outside of Qinzhou (i.e., Tianshui) through Wushan and Gangu. They were no match for Feng Xiang's army, and after repeated defeats, they finally fled back to Minxian and rejoined Ma Ying's army.

One evening, Niu Zhanchuan sat on the grass on a high slope and enjoyed the beautiful sunset in Gannan. He saw Ma Ying pacing, slowly walking towards him, and quickly stood up and saluted a military salute.

Ma Ying is still immersed in thought. He glanced at Niu Zhanchuan, as if he was talking to himself, and as if he was saying to Niu Zhanchuan: "I think the military discipline of our troops is too poor, and when they encounter something, they go their own way, and the military orders are not smooth." In order to strengthen its strength and enhance its combat effectiveness, it is necessary to properly rectify this unit! ”

After speaking, Ma Ying walked away with firm steps.

The next day, Ma Ying announced that the existing 5,000 men and horses would be organized into an independent division, complete with weapons and horses.

Coincidentally, Ma Xian escaped from the city of Hezhou and planned to come to Min County through Taozhou. While passing through Choni, his family and belongings were robbed by the men of the local Tibetan Tusi Yang Jiqing, and not only his wife and nephew were taken captive, but one of his nephews was also killed.

Yang Jiqing is the largest Tibetan Tusi in Gansu and the last Tusi in China, with forests, canyons, snow-capped mountains and land within a radius of 600 miles from Zhuoni and Diebu.

Ma Xian cried to Ma Ying about his tragic experience and asked Ma Ying to do the right thing for heaven.

Han Jinlu was extremely indignant at Yang Jiqing's evil deeds and insisted on attacking Zhuoni.

Ma Ying agreed to send Han Jin-rok as a striker to set off for Choni.

At that time, there were some unscrupulous people in the old city of Taozhou who tried to loot the property of Tibetans, so many of them went with the army. They wantonly plundered Tibetans, lamas, and monasteries' cattle, sheep, and property. Han Jinlu used a fire to destroy Yang Jiqing's residence, the famous Zending Temple, and the stereotypes of Tibetan scriptures that have been passed down from generation to generation, causing hatred between Tibetans, Hui, and Han Chinese.

At this time, Jichang led the army to chase after him again.

Ma Ying led all the men and horses to evacuate Taozhou and transfer to Labrang.

During the lunar month, Yang Tusi returned to the old city of Taozhou and took crazy revenge on the people of the foreign race, killing many innocent people.

Ma Ying's army raided the Nationalist army in Mandala Mountain, and then moved into the territory of Qinghai Province. After they arrived at the security guard (i.e., Tongren County), the people of the four villages opened the door to welcome them and prepared beef and sheep and fried noodles for them.

Only one stockade is closed.

Ma Ying's face turned blue with anger, and he ordered to attack the gate of the village and kill the old, weak, sick and disabled who did not have time to escape.

In January 1929, on the Chinese New Year's Eve of the lunar calendar, Niu Zhanchuan followed the army led by Ma Ying to Guide County, took advantage of the thick ice of the Yellow River to cross the Yellow River from the ice bridge and entered Garagou.

Ma Lin personally led two regiments of cavalry to intercept his nephew Ma Ying. Niu Zhanxiang also came with the army.

Before the two armies fought, the cavalry of Ma Lin's two regiments mutinied under the leadership of the regiment commander Ma Heiying, and all of them surrendered to Ma Ying.

Ma Lin escaped from danger under the protection of several personal guards such as Niu Zhanxiang.

Ma Ying looked at the distant figure of her cousin Ma Lin, and scolded unwillingly: "Second cousin is really a turtle son of the National Army!" ”

Niu Zhanchuan knew that his second brother Niu Zhanxiang was by Ma Linde's side, but because he was afraid that he would be affected, he never told Ma Ying the truth.

Ma Ying immediately combined the two regiments of Ma Heiying into an independent regiment and appointed Ma Heiying as the commander.

Niu Zhanchuan and others reached Lushar (i.e., Taer Monastery) and clashed head-on with the troops of Sun Zhong, the head of Qinghai Province. After fierce fighting, they wiped out an entire regiment of Sun Zhong and captured several "38" heavy machine guns.

Ma Ying reorganized the captured soldiers into a guard company.

Niu Zhanchuan felt that Ma Ying's approach was a little inappropriate, so he suggested: "Commander, after all, they are outsiders, and they are not suitable as the leader's guards, so they should be scattered into various teams, right?" ”

Ma Ying smiled confidently and replied, "It can also be used to change the minds of these people." ”

Ma Ying took advantage of the victory and pursued Sun Zhong's army to Shangwuzhuang near Xining, and then took it when he saw it and withdrew to Lushaer.

Halfway through, a soldier recruited from the guard company fired a shot at Ma Ying's younger brother, Ma Jie, but missed.

Ma Ying was so angry at his credulity at this time that he immediately ordered the entire company to be disarmed, and then executed one by one.

At that time, Ma Ying believed that Sun Zhong's troops of the Nationalist Army were vulnerable, so he actively planned and prepared to attack Xining, the capital of Qinghai Province, which had just been established as a province.

Two days later, Ma Ying received a secret letter from Uncle Ma Qi in the lobby, persuading him not to attack Xining, otherwise it would be bad for himself and the people.

Ma Ying accepted Uncle Lobby's advice and led his army to leave Xining and attack Huangyuan instead. They rested in the area of Lime Gully in Dabeichuan, Xining, and prepared to drive from Biandukou to the Hexi Corridor in Gansu Province.

Before leaving Qinghai, Ma Ying took advantage of the favorable terrain to deploy troops and wait for work, giving the Nationalist Army the second powerful blow after entering Qinghai.

The Nationalist army suffered heavy casualties and finally retreated in defeat.

Ma Ying calmed down and calmly left Qinghai Province.

Biandukou is located in the middle of the Qilian Mountains, is the only way from Qinghai to Gansu, the terrain is dangerous, the two mountains are sandwiched, the cliffs are soaring to the sky, forming a very long mountain valley. The river in the canyon is turbulent, and the waves are upside down.

Niu Zhanchuan and they crossed the dangerous Biandu Pass and came to Ganzhou (today's Zhangye, Gansu Province).

At that time, there were not many national troops in the Hexi Corridor, and only a small number of troops were scattered in various places.

Ma Ying's army was outnumbered and invincible. They were stationed in Chow Mein Zhuang and Shandan County in Minle County, and they did not harass the local people except for asking the people to provide grain and forage.

One day, Ma Ying asked Niu Zhanchuan tentatively: "The current regime in Xinjiang is corrupt, the people are increasingly dissatisfied, and the territory is also very vast. If we move westward into Xinjiang, will there be great prospects for development? ”

Niu Zhanchuan's eyes widened in surprise, and he said after a while: "Commander, most of our team are from Hezhou, and they miss their hometown and family very much. Xinjiang is not only far away, far from Hezhou, but also very desolate, and I am afraid that people will not agree to go to Xinjiang. ”

Ma Ying smiled and said, "You can try to ask other soldiers." ”

Niu Zhanchuan ran a long circle, but no one was willing to go to Xinjiang. In particular, Ma Xian and others of the Northwest Army opposed it even more, insisting that the army should move eastward and seize the fertile Ningxia.

Ma Ying did not insist on her opinion.

On January 25, 1929, he led his army to Yongchang County in the southeast.

There was a battalion of infantry of the National Army stationed in the city of Yongchang, and the number was not large. The battalion commander Xu Mian is a native of Xunhua, who has been stationed in Hezhou for many years, and has the concept of being a fellow villager to Ma Ying.

Through informal negotiations, Ma and Xu reached the following understanding: Ma Jun will not enter the city. Xu Mian supplied the necessary grain and grass for the Ma army. The Ma army continued eastward.

At this time, Yang Jiechen, the head of the militia regiment of Yongchang Defense, shot and killed one of Ma Ying's deputy brigade commanders.

As a result, the agreement that had just been reached between the two sides was torn up.

Ma Ying's officers and soldiers were furious and immediately launched a siege of the city in retaliation.

In less than half a day, the county seat of Yongchang fell.

Xu Mian and Yang Jiechen were captured by Ma Ying in a street fight.

Ma Ying persuaded the two to surrender.

Both of them resisted, and were finally pushed to the beheading by Ma Ying.

Ma Ying then killed 2,290 defenders, militias, and uncooperative civilians.

Ma Ying sent Ma Yingbiao to lead more than a dozen people to Minqin County to predict: as long as the other party gives some grain and grass, he will not attack the county seat.

When the police in Minqin County saw that there were only more than 100 troops sent by Ma Ying, they did not take it seriously and shot Ma Yingbiao's son.

Ma Yingbiao failed to negotiate, so he returned to Yongchang with his son's body and reported to Ma Ying truthfully.

Ma Ying scolded angrily: "Rina's! Toast without eating and eating penalty wine! ”

He immediately sent Han Jinlu to lead an army to attack Minqin County.

Minqin County is bordered by the Tengger Desert in the east and the Badain Jaran Desert in Inner Mongolia in the north. The quicksand piled up in the north of the county is as high as the city wall, and children usually climb up and down the ground to play.

Han Jinlu's army did not spend much effort to conquer the county seat of Minqin, slaughtering the county magistrate, the militia group, and the people who resisted.

When Ma Ying and Niu Zhanchuan entered the city, they were already full of corpses and could not be stopped. More than 4,000 bodies were buried afterwards.

Ma Ying looked at the piles of dead people and sternly reprimanded his subordinates: "You kill the common people like this, who will supply our grain and grass in the future?" No more killings of civilians will be allowed. ”

Ma Ying discussed with Ma Xian and decided that Ma Xian would first take 8 horses and other gifts and set off to Shanxi to contact the head of Yanshan.

Ma Ying inspected the troops near Beihu in Minqin County, and ordered the officers and soldiers to return the women and clothes they had taken captive, and not to bring any of them into Ningxia.

When Ma Ying entered Ningxia, he first visited the Mongol prince's mansion in the Alxa Banner.

On the one hand, the Mongol prince warmly welcomed him, and on the other hand, he euphemistically proposed that there was not much grain and grass in the desert area, and he was afraid that he would encounter many difficulties if he lived for a long time, suggesting that Ma Ying would attack Ningxia.

Ma Ying understood and only stayed in the prince's mansion for 4 days, and was led by a guide assigned by the Mongolian prince to Yinchuan, the provincial capital of Ningxia.

After the capture of Yinchuan, Ma Ying appointed administrative personnel from various counties to carry out the work of conscription and tax collection, and allocated 30 new recruits to each battalion as a supplement, expanding the brigade into a division, and there was a great tendency to use Ningxia as a base area and further develop.

In less than two months, the troops of the Nationalist Army Jichang arrived in Guangwu in Ningxia from Lanzhou.

Ma Ying's army went to Guangwu to defend against the enemy, but Jichang's army had many heavy weapons and fierce firepower. Ma Ying gradually couldn't resist, retreated one after another, and finally retreated to the Yinchuan area.

Seeing that he couldn't parry, Ma Ying burned the weapons and ammunition that he couldn't take away with him, and then all retreated.

At this time, Ma Xian returned from Shanxi with the liaison personnel sent by Yan Shan.

Ma Ying thought that with a backer like Yanshan, he could counterattack Ningxia, so he led the army to the west.

In early May, the Ma army laid siege to Ningxia for the second time.

After two days of hard fighting, Ma Yi, the commander of the independent division, was killed, and the rest of the officers and men suffered heavy casualties.

Jichang's army rushed out from the four gates of Yinchuan, southeast, northwest and northwest.

The Ma army retreated on all fronts and retreated to the Linhe area of Sansheng Gong in Suiyuan Province and stationed there.

Ma Ying had been stationed in Suixi for two months, and felt that all supplies were very difficult, and when he was thinking about the future of his subordinates, he suddenly received a letter from Ma Ying from Beijing.

After his defeat in Liangzhou in the autumn of 1928, Ma Cheng transferred from Xining to Nanjing, met with Jiang Jieshi, and boasted about the strength of his old army in Gansu.

Jiang Jieshi then appointed Ma Tao as the commander-in-chief of the 15th Road, and allocated a batch of clothing and flour.

When Ma Cheng learned that Ma Ying had retreated to the Hetao area, he appointed Ma Xian as the commander of the first column, Ma Cunliang and Han Jinlu as the division commanders of the first column, Ma Ying as the commander of the second route, and Ma Hushan and Ma Qian as the division commanders of the two divisions.

Ma Xian first summoned Ma Xian and Ma Ying to Beijing for a meeting.

Ma Ying left with Niu Zhanchuan and a few others.

The troops were suddenly leaderless, and the internal contradictions became more and more superficial. The Northwest Army system is in a class of its own. Ma Qian, who is directly related to Ma Ying, also expressed his dissatisfaction.

Since retreating to the barren Hetao, there has been no food and money, and it is even more difficult to be subdued. In winter, even if there is no fighting, they will freeze to death. As a result, the mood of the troops was very low.

In late autumn and early winter, Ma Peixian, the commander of the 2nd Brigade, died of illness, and Ma Yingbiao, the deputy battalion commander, encouraged more than 1,000 people to leave the Hetao and cross the river from Dengkou to Lingwu in Ningxia to accept the reorganization of Jichang.

The army that opposed Feng Xiang began to take Feng Xiang's side.

Ma Qian also accepted Jichang's establishment and went straight to Ganzhou from the North Road to serve as the commander of the garrison. Han Jinlu, Ma Rucang, and Wang Zhanlin also led their troops from Hedong in Ningxia through Xihaigu, and transferred to Gangu and Qinzhou in Gansu to attack cities and seize land, creating conditions for Ma Xian to occupy Longnan in the future.

Ma Ying lived in Beijing for two months, and after many meetings with Ma Ying, he could not come up with a specific plan, so he had to wait for his subordinates to send him a roster.

Ma Xun did not have any materials to submit to the report, and indulged in the eight alleys all day long.

Jiang Jieshi gradually saw through Ma Xian's inability to call on his subordinates, and in a fit of rage, he removed him from his post as commander-in-chief of the 15th Route Army.

Ma Ying and Ma Xian saw that Ma Cheng had fallen, so they had to make another plan. Ma Xian still returned to Hetao from Pingsui Road, and led the team from Ningxia to Gansu to occupy the Longnan region.

Ma Ying left Beijing and went to Jining, Shandong Province, to meet Ma Kui.

In order to expand his own power, Ma Kui decided to send Ma Rulong to Suiyuan in a special car from Pingsui to pick up Ma Ying's troops after studying with Ma Ying.

When Ma Rulong arrived in Suixi, Ma Yingbiao had already led the troops to leave there, and the rest of the departments were reluctant to go to the mainland, only Ma Ying's brother-in-law Ma Hushan and younger brother Ma Jie and more than 100 people came to Shandong.

Ma Kui organized Ma Ying's army into two battalions, and sent the Ma Ying brothers to Nanjing, where they were introduced to Jiang Jieshi by Ma Fuxiang.

Jiang Jieshi heard Ma Ying's name for a long time, and enthusiastically kept the brothers to study at the military academy.

Ma Fuxiang was worried that Ma Ying's brothers would become Jiang's people in the future, which would be unfavorable to his sons and nephews, so he suggested to Jiang Jieshi that Ma Ying be handed over to Ma Kui for education.

With Jiang Jieshi's permission, Ma Ying returned to Ma Kui's side and served as a nominal senator.

Soon, the Central Plains War broke out.

Ma Ying was arranged by Ma Kui on Ma Quanliang's trip to fight against Yan Shan and Feng Xiang in the area of Anyang County, Henan Province on the Longhai Line.

Ma Ying assisted Ma Quanliang in commanding the battle, and was tempered in a large-scale civil war, accumulating rich experience.

Soon, the Great War of the Central Plains ended with the defeat of Jiang and Yan Feng.

Ma Ying still returned to the headquarters of the 15th Route Army and had the opportunity to come into contact with Zhang Yashao, Wu Yingqi and other latent revolutionaries.

When these revolutionary comrades saw that this young man from the northwest was sober-minded, had a good work style, could endure hardships, loved to learn, and had no bad habits, they introduced the Ma Ying brothers to join the Socialist Youth League (the former name of the Communist Youth League), and secretly planned together how to leave Shandong and return to the northwest to regroup.

Niu Zhanchuan was full of suspicion and distrust of these revolutionaries, and privately persuaded Ma Ying many times to be careful.

After Ma Ying heard it, she just laughed twice, no