Chapter 266: The Camel Soldiers' Expedition to the West

The Qing army left naturalization, thousands of miles of escape road for more than three months, more than 500,000 people, only less than 100,000 remained, almost all the women, children, old and weak were lost, only those high-status banner people, officials, wealthy businessmen's family members have a car to ride, can follow the Qing army all the way out of the desert Gobi. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoAs for the women and children who walked on foot, they either died in Mobei Mongolia or fell into the hands of the Mongols.

The old men, who had no effect on the Mongols, were killed, and the women were turned into trophies for meritorious soldiers; Children have become slaves.

After passing through the almost barren Khalkha Mongolian Desert, there are lush grasslands and forests in front of it, which is completely different from the Khalkha Mongolian Desert Gobi, where the humid air currents of the Arctic Ocean can reach here, bringing abundant precipitation, where there is a large amount of snowfall in winter, accumulating thick snow, and when the weather warms, the snow melts, providing vegetation growth, and also forming a number of rivers, and also forming the world's richest lake with fresh water storage.

Seeing the continuous green grasslands, the lush pines, spruces, birches and aspens on the hills, and the various wild animals running in the fields, Kangxi burst into tears: "We are finally here!" Almost there! We won't starve! You can find food everywhere here! ”

Because Kangxi and they entered the territory of the Buryats, the Khalkha Mongols, who had been following behind for more than two months, no longer followed and pursued. finally threw off the little tail in the back, which also made Kangxi excited.

"Your Majesty, the servants will take people to hunt, and then let a group of people go to collect wild fruits." has been skinny to the bones, the hair on his head has grown out, his hair is full of unkempt hair, a small braid hangs behind him, and the official uniform on his body is in tatters, looking like an old flower Tuhai said.

"Go ahead! I'm dying of hunger! Kangxi said.

……

The ancient Silk Road, which used to be the exchange and trade road between the East and the West, because after the Anshi Rebellion of the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty went into decline, and the ancient Silk Road opened up by the Han Dynasty and connected the East and West also went into decline. In the Song and Yuan dynasties, because of the development of shipbuilding, the maritime Silk Road arose, and the trade between the East and the West mainly relied on the sea, and this ancient road was gradually abandoned. In the Ming Dynasty, there was no longer a shadow of caravans on this ancient road.

Nowadays, there is a huge army on the ancient Silk Road, the bright red Ming flag of the Chinese army is particularly conspicuous, behind the Ming flag, several blue loyal battalion flags, Li Zishuai flag, Hao Zijiang flag and other flags fluttering in the wind. The army was an army of all camels, on which the soldiers rode and where food and ammunition were transported.

This army was the loyal battalion army of the Yarkand Khanate in the west, with Li Laiheng as the marshal, with more than 50,000 soldiers and more than 50,000 auxiliaries under his command.

The Yarkand Khanate was a khanate established by the Turks in southern Xinjiang by taking advantage of the weakening of the Timurid Empire created by the Mongols to defeat the Mongols. Although the sultans of the Yarkand Khanate were of Mongol descent, they were Celestial cultists and were alien to the Mongols. The Yarkand Khanate and the Dzungar Khanate to the north were in constant conflict. Although the Mongols were weakened, the emaciated camels were larger than the horses, and the Turks were still afraid of the Mongols.

In real history, because the Qing army defeated the Dzungar Khanate, a large number of Mongols were slaughtered, but the Turkic population grew rapidly. When the Qing army pacified Dzungaria, it brought in a large number of Han and Mongolian soldiers, and those Han and Mongols took root in Xinjiang. However, the Turks have always regarded the Han and Mongols as outsiders, and have rebelled over the years. In the beginning, the Turks were small in number, and the rebellions were easily suppressed. However, by the end of the Qing Dynasty, the population of the Turks had far exceeded that of the Han and Mongols in Xinjiang, and finally a larger rebellion broke out, which was finally suppressed by Zuo Zongtang.

A few years ago, the power of Dzungaria still existed, and the Turks were as honest as a dog. However, in the past few years, there has been internal strife in Dzungaria, and the Turks have begun to move.

If the original course of history had continued, Galdan would have quickly dealt with the civil strife, freed up his hands to deal with the Turks, and finally destroyed the Yarkand Khanate, leaving the Turks under his feet. It was not until the fall of Dzungaria that the power of the Turks re-emerged, and there were constant rebellions for many years.

Now it is the loyal battalion to serve Wang Yu's decree and set out to conquer the Yarkand Khanate. Accompanying the army was Wang Yufeng's envoy Li Guangdi.

Li Guangdi's mission is to make the Dzungar Galdan a vassal, since he wants to make others submit, of course, it is impossible to just bring gifts to visit the door and persuade others, but also to have enough strength to persuade others. Wang Yu's favorite thing to do is to speak with strength, so this time Li Guangdi's mission was actually an elite camel cavalry force of 500 people, of which 450 were breech-loading rifled gunners and 50 were sharpshooters using Mini rifles.

The suppression of the Turks and the co-optation of the Mongols were Wang Yu's plans for a westward expedition, preparing to deal with different people with both hands.

Wang Yu regarded the Tianfang Sect as a more vicious enemy than the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and the Manchu Eight Banners could assimilate, but it was very difficult for the Tianfang Sect to assimilate, unless the atheists such as Stalin or Wang Huzi were brought over, and the soul-touching labor reform and Marxist-Leninist education of the believers in the Tianfang Sect could be changed.

The loyal battalion marched long distances, each carrying his own rations, the staple food of which was baked dry and hard multigrain bread, packed in cloth bags, and the food bags hung on the camels. Other non-staple foods include jerky and various canned foods produced by Nanyang Company, which are transported by camels.

The expedition to the Yarkand Khanate required passing through the Gobi Desert, which lacked water, and the camel army set out to carry fresh water in addition to enough food and ammunition.

The Nanyang Company provided the Loyal Battalion with a batch of iron kettles, and each soldier carried a kettle on his back. In addition to the drinking water carried by the soldiers themselves, some of the camels responsible for the transportation of the baggage also carried water bladders, which were filled with fresh water. And camels do not need to drink water as often as war horses, which reduces the consumption of fresh water.

Before the expedition, an envoy had already been to Dzungaria, and by this time Galdan had already defeated his enemies and became the Khan of Dzungaria.

Huozhou City, today's Turpan. At present, this city is controlled in the hands of the Yarkand Khanate, and after the Western Expedition army left the Gobi Desert, it was necessary to enter the northern frontier with abundant water and grass. Because the Mongols had not yet been fully subjugated, the road from the north to Xinjiang had not yet been opened, and the Loyal Camp took the Silk Road. Since you take the Silk Road, Huozhou can't get around.

"Lord Qiyu! There's an army coming from outside the city! A Turkic soldier reported to the general defending the city.