Where did Liu Xian go? Did he really return to Khotan?

For the first few days, Donald didn't doubt it. But when Aksu, Ush, Kucha, and Karasar surrendered or were pacified by the expeditionary army, Donald knew that Liu Xian was by no means simply returning to Khotan.

When Donald asked to see Liu Xian again and again but couldn't, when Zhang Zhongkui pushed him back to Khotan every time he wanted to go to Khotan, Donald knew no matter how stupid he was-Liu Xian was deliberately avoiding him.

But the Chinese's ability to play tai chi is not too clever, even if Zhang Zhongkui is not a slippery person, with the help of a group of people around him, he pushed Donald for more than ten days. Until the former Tsarist Turkestan Governor of Tashkent - former Tsarist Russian Minister of War Chief of Staff, once served as the Governor of Russian-occupied Poland, known as the "Semi-Tsar" Konstantin. Petrovich. Kaufman transferred all the tens of thousands of Russian troops who were preparing to attack the last of the three Central Asian resistances, the Khiva Khanate, from the Red Water Bay on the southeast coast of the Caspian Sea to Tashkent, and sent 2,000 vanguard troops into the Kokand Khanate. The atmosphere of the whole situation was immediately tense.

Donald didn't care whether Liu Xian was in Khotan or somewhere else, and all his attention was on the 'confrontation' between China and Russia, lest Russia's brain suddenly attack.

Now a single spark in the tense atmosphere can detonate an entire powder magazine. Zhang Zhongkui added fuel to the fire and sent a force to reinforce Andijan.

At this time, the British no longer cared where Liu Xian was, and they were nervously watching the reaction of the Russians. As for the Russians, they naturally regarded Zhang Zhongkui's attitude as Liu Xian's attitude, and Liu Xian was undoubtedly classified by them as an enemy. In this case, there is no need for the Russians to pay attention to Liu Xianam's whereabouts.

Both sides left Liu Xian behind.

So what is Liu Xian doing at this time? He was not in Khotan, nor was he in Kucha, Ush and other four places, let alone the Mongol princes of Turghut and Heshute, but was leading 2,000 Qin cavalry under the leadership of Ishak, the general of the former Reciding, and Kucha Aqimu Berke of the former Agubo regime - crossing the Tianshan Mountains and advancing into Ili.

Although the Silk Road and the Xinjiang Avenue since ancient times are not compatible with the north and the south. Even the Xinjiang National Highway of the Red Dynasty in later generations, from Kashgar to Ili, you need to first pass through Wushi, then through Aksu and Kuqa to Xinyuan, and then all the way to Ili Prefecture, a total of 2,5600 miles.

But this is not to say that the Tianshan Mountains are really insurmountable. Historically, both the Wusu Ancient Road and the Shatth Ancient Road have been a crucial step in Xinjiang's strategy.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty made peace with Wusun in order to fight against the Xiongnu; During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the Western Turks controlled the Tianshan Mountains and ruled the Tarim Basin; The Tang Dynasty's westward conquest of the Turks and the friendship with the Turks were all achieved through the Guò Wusun Ancient Road.

The Xiat Ancient Road starts from Ili Zhaosu in the north, reaches Wensu in the south of Aksu Prefecture, communicates the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, with a total length of more than 200 miles, which is a shortcut from northern Xinjiang to southern Xinjiang, and is also the most precipitous ancient pass on the Silk Road. Two thousand years ago, the two Han Dynasty and the princess came from here to a foreign country; The former Tang Xuanzang Master climbed the 3,500-meter Hadamuzi Daban from here to the Buddha country Qiuzi at the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains......

The reason why the name of the ancient road in later generations is not obvious is that the engineers of the Red Dynasty were powerful and mighty, and they built many kilometers of highways in Xinjiang by digging caves, and naturally people forgot the two ancient roads.

Liu Xian sent troops to Andijan and made such a big noise in Central Asia, first, it was really to teach a lesson to a small country like Kokand, and secondly, to attract the attention of Tsarist Russia. Let them focus all their attention on Kokand, on Andijan, and thus ignore Ili.

Liu Xian took the opportunity to send troops to recover Ili!

Under such a strategy, a long-term march in a conventional state will naturally not be successful. The road is more than 2,000 miles away, not to mention whether Liu Xian can conceal his whereabouts for so long, Turpan, Urumqi and other places are still in the hands of Tuo Ming, and it is impossible for him to let Liu Xian lead the army to Guò.

And then there is Ili's Abutla, who is not a fool, no. With the time to react, soldiers and horses will definitely be raised to resist.

The nine cities of Ili, among which the four cities of Gongchen, Guangren, Huining, and Ningyuan, dealt with the threat from the east.

Liu Xian had to fight a quick battle in this battle, and he could not take the conventional route, but took the ancient road of Xia and directly entered Zhaosu County in Yili Prefecture in the later generations.

A hundred years ago, in the battle of Qianlong to pacify Dzungaria, Dzungar Khan Dawaqi was defeated in Gedeng Mountain in the southwest of Ili, the Qing army captured more than 20 leaders of the Dzungar department, and there were 6,500 descendants. The route taken by Dawazi is the Old Way of the Charteat.

With a total length of more than 200 miles, the Schatter Ancient Road spans the two climatic zones of the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains. Zhaosu is located on the northern slope of the Tien Shan Mountains and has a humid climate with rainy summers, while the Nanmuzart River Valley, located on the southern slopes of the Tien Shan Mountains, has a dry climate with higher summer temperatures. The high temperature causes the glacier to melt rapidly, often causing flash floods. The flash flood will cause the Muzart River to swell, cutting off the ancient road and making it impossible for people and animals to pass through.

It's the end of June, and the temperature on the trail is completely late autumn.

Isshak was born into a noble family of the indigenous people of Kucha, and he had only heard of it and had never visited it himself. Liu Xian dragged him into the army and used him as a guide, but in fact, he was afraid that he would be in chaos after he left.

Ishak can be said to be one of the most capable generals under Rexiding, and he is quite prestigious in Kuqa and Aksu, and Liu Xian will never be relieved if he is not tied to his side.

After all, what he has to do now is unpredictable, and if Ishack raises troops after Liu Xian's army leaves, cutting off Liu Xian's retreat, it will be very unpleasant.

The boundless Muzart Glacier is an important part of the Khan Tengri Peak Glacier Area in the western Tien Shan Mountains. Liu Xian has seen its introduction on the Internet in the past, but the number of people has never been there.

Tens of thousands of years of geological movement have caused the peaks on both sides of the ice valley to fall off, covering the glacier with a layer of stones, and looking at it from the front, the huge glacier is like a brown dragon, pouring down from the white snow-capped mountains.

As a result of the squeezing movement, a hill-like ice tower was raised on the glacier with criss-crossed, and the melting of the glacier caused many wide and deep ice gullies to be washed out on the glacier less than five miles wide, and the roaring glacier at the bottom of the gully was deafening and awe-inspiring. From time to time, there will be ice peaks cracking, and the sound is loud and crisp, which is creepy.

Fortunately, Liu Xian did not need to march on the glacier, and the gap where the Shatthart Ancient Road is located is the crater in the southern part of the Muzart Glacier. The terrain is very dangerous, the peaks on both sides of the ice crater are majestic, thousands of steep, standing at the foot of the mountain and looking up, the silver light flashes, towering into the clouds, and the fog is heavy. A closer look reveals several black houses on the hillside to the east of the crater, a barracks made entirely of pebbles, bunkers, and a bunker on a cliff at the very front of the crater. These are all historical relics that have long been submerged in the long river of time.

I don't know how many years ago, it could still be used for a long time to garrison troops, but now with the change of glaciers, with the change of climate and geography of Xinjiang, it has been dissipated.

Liu Xian led the army to advance, with 2,000 cavalry, with three horses. But except for the one on horse, the remaining two war horses were full of large and small pockets and baskets. It was full of food, horse feed, gunpowder, guns and ammunition, and the necessary medical medicines.

The troops marched slowly, only more than 200 miles of the ancient road of Chart, and it took six days to completely pass Guò. At that time, the material burden of the whole army had shrunk by half.

There were only five days' worth of grain and horse feed, but Liu Xian was in no hurry to attack Ili. Instead, at the foot of Mount Gedeng, where Dawazi Khan was defeated, the whole army rested for two days.

In the early morning of the third day, the whole army set out for the north. People are matched with three horses, and Huiyuan City, the head of the nine cities of Yili, was clearly imprinted in Liu Xian's eyes that night. R1152