At the beginning of June of the second year of Chengde, the first battle broke out in the Jiuduowa grassland, the Qing army took He Min as the main general, led 7,000 cavalry to rush for hundreds of miles to attack the camp of Luobzang Danjin, and ambushed the first division of the second army Li Mingliang in the northwest line, broke the Mongolian coalition army, killed more than 60,000 enemies in a battle, captured more than 25,000 alive, and the old tooth guard Altentur surrendered without a fight, a total of more than 40,000 war horses were captured, and countless baggage were carried out.

The defeat of the main force of Luo Buzang Danjin in the first battle is certainly a good thing worth celebrating, but Hongqing did not get carried away because of it, and on the day of the old tooth pass, he immediately divided his troops to attack, except for the Yue Zhongqi Department of the Northern Route Army, which was still responsible for exterminating the rebellion, Xie Ersu and other tribes, the Second Cavalry Division Lu Yousheng led more than 10,000 cavalry from the headquarters and Li Mingming, the first division of the Second Army, which belonged to him, used a large number of captured war horses to march to the Qaidam Basin with one person and two horses. did not give the deserted Lobzang Tenzin the slightest respite; After the Tashan Department of the First Army passed the old tooth pass, it marched to the southwest, aiming directly at the Bayan area where the source of the Yellow River is located, and swept all the rebellious Mongolian and Tibetan tribes all the way, whether it was a temple force or a tribal force, but if it did not fall, it would be exterminated; Zhang Miao of the Second Army led two divisions to march into Dari and Banma, and the task was also to exterminate the rebels everywhere, while Hongqing himself handed over the defense of strategic places such as Laoyaguan to Li Minxing, the governor of Sichuan, and then led the main force of the Third Army Cheng Guiwu Division, the Artillery Division and the 1st Cavalry Division to slowly march to the Qaidam Basin along the direction of the 2nd Cavalry Division, as a backup.

The Qing army divided its troops into many ways, and it seemed that each road was not very many, but the combat effectiveness was amazingly strong, and everywhere it passed, all the tribes and temple forces that dared to resist were all crushed into pieces by the powerful firepower of the Qing army, and in just two days, several large armies were progressing smoothly, and there were countless people who surrendered when they heard the wind, but Yue Zhongqi's department, which took the lead in launching the battle of Qinghai, encountered a little trouble - after the defeat of the Ba Nuan Sanchuan battalion, the Baba Gongga of the Wai Xie Ersu Department retreated in the city of Xining, and closed the four gates. put on a posture of stubborn defense, echoing the garrison of Shibao City, and was actually preparing to fight a protracted battle with the Qing army.

Xining is the capital of Qinghai Province, since ancient times is one of the important border towns, the city defense facilities are quite strong and perfect, the reason why it fell into the hands of the Wai Xie Ersu tribe, the reason is the same as the fall of the Banu Sanchuan battalion, are the riot Tibetans from the inside raid breached, the city defense facilities are almost intact fell into the hands of the mob of the Wai Xie Ersu department, of course, this so-called fortified city is only relative to the army of the cold weapon era, in the Qing army with heavy artillery, explosives and other sharp weapons, It is not too difficult to forcibly conquer Xining, but there is a rather thorny problem -- the first division of the first army of the Qing army has only more than 12,000 people, all of whom are infantry, and the cavalry assigned to Yue Zhongqi's department only has more than 1,800 remnants of the 1st Cavalry Brigade. It is bound to be difficult to achieve the predetermined strategic goal of quickly extinguishing the Qinghai rebellion.

Reason? It's very simple, the area of Qinghai is too big, the riot Tibetan army is hiding in the city, it is good to say, once they escape to the vast prairie, and then want to round up, it is not so easy, because of this, Yue Zhongqi actually has only one choice, not to fight Xining for the time being, first take Shibao City, close the west gate of Xining's enemies to escape, and finally come to catch turtles in an urn, and in one fell swoop wipe out the Wai Xie Ersu tribe in Xining City, this idea is undoubtedly good, but the problem has arisen again - Shibao City is located 80 miles southwest of XiningIf the Qing army wants to bypass Xining to attack Shibao City, it must leave enough troops to clamp down on the enemy in Xining, and the troops sent to attack Shibao City cannot be too much.

Stone Fort City, also known as Iron Blade Pass, is located in the southwest of Huangyuan County, since ancient times is a military town, during the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Army and Tubo around the Stone Fort City had several fierce battles, the most famous battle is the Tang Xuanzong period, Geshuhan oversaw the army stormed Shibao City, in order to pay the price of more than 35,000 casualties, only to break through only more than 400 people guarded Shibao City, such a tragic victory actually achieved the reputation of Geshuhan famous generals, it can be seen how difficult the Stone Fort City is, and now, There are more than 1,000 Tibetan troops in Shibao City, and if the Qing army wants to capture this city, how many lives should it take to fill it?

There is no doubt that this determination is obviously not so easy to make, Yue Zhongqi in the city guard of the Sanchuan camp of Banun, a full two days of deducing the large sand table, before making a final decision, on June 11, the second year of Chengde, led his troops to leave the Sanchuan camp of Banuna, the army was not fast, two days later before entering the city of Xining, but did not launch a rapid attack, but ordered the first brigade, the second brigade and the first cavalry brigade to set up a camp in the east of Xining City, in order to contain the defenders of Xining, and led the third brigade to ride the captured war horses around Xining, Went straight to Shibao City, in this regard, although the defenders in the city were aware of the Qing army's movements, but did not take it to heart, only sent a messenger to inform the defenders of Shibao City to strengthen their vigilance, other than that, there was no other action, obviously, Bagongga did not think that the Qing army could really take such a strong pass as Shibao City.

Stone Fort City is backed by Huashi Mountain, facing the Yaoshui River, located on a maroon cliff, the front cliff is steep, the mountains on both sides are varied, such as the goshawk spreads its wings, it is intimidating, the road leading to the city is only a mountain road that is not very open, the defenders only need to make wood and rolling stones, they can block the road of attack of the invading enemy, if they attack head-on, there are not tens of thousands of lives, it is difficult to take the stone fort city, even if the Qing army is advanced in weapons, there will be no exception, there is no other, the mountain road is narrow and difficult to walk, not to mention that the heavy artillery can't go, Even light infantry artillery is difficult to erect up the mountainside, and if it is arrayed at the foot of the mountain, it is difficult to attack Shibao City due to the problem of elevation angle, and it is such a precipitous and incomparable majestic pass in front of Yue Zhongqi!

"Division commander, this Guancheng ......"

Although he had learned a lot of information about Shibao City from the scouts in advance, when he really witnessed the precipitousness of Shibao City, Chang Shancheng, the commander of the Third Brigade, couldn't help but be frightened, and took advantage of the fact that all the soldiers under him were busy camping, and with a worried look on his face, he came to Yue Zhongqi, who was silently looking at the Xiongguan outside the Lixu, and spit out half of his words.

"What, you're scared, huh?"

As soon as he heard Chang Shancheng's words, Yue Zhongqi turned his head sideways, glanced at him coldly, and asked in a calm tone.

"Report to the division commander, the last general is not afraid of death, he is afraid that he will not be able to complete the task!"

Although Yue Zhongqi really accepted the first division in just a few months, he could use his old methods of governing the army, as well as with Hongqing's full support, the authority of the first division was already becoming more and more obvious, Chang Shancheng did not dare to speak wantonly in front of him, this hearing Yue Zhongqi ask the law, his heart couldn't help but be shocked, and he hurriedly stood upright, and his face was solemn.

"That's pretty to say, hey, you're always unconfident or unconfident in Yue, huh?"

As soon as Chang Shancheng said this, the sneering smile on the corner of Yue Zhongqi's mouth immediately became a little thicker, and he reluctantly asked again.

"The last general won't dare, but this is the ...... of the city"

Being asked by Yue Zhongqi like this, Chang Shancheng's black face was suddenly suffocated, and he couldn't say why, but the meaning was clear - both! This is not surprising, but anyone who is a general, when he encounters a Xiongguan like Shibao City, he will inevitably panic, especially at this time, there are more than 3,000 people under his hands, Chang Shan himself can't think of a clever plan to attack the city, and he doesn't think that Yue Zhongqi can come up with any good way to face this kind of Xiongguan, of course, this is not very good, Chang Shancheng only dared to muttered in his stomach, saying that he definitely didn't dare to say that he would come out in front of Yue Zhongqi.

"Guancheng is there, if you can't run, pass the order, all departments will rest on the spot, and after sunset, the chief officers above the battalion will go to the Chinese military tent to discuss matters!"

Although Chang Shancheng never said it clearly, Yue Zhongqi could hear his unfinished words, but he didn't take responsibility, nor did he explain in detail the enemy's strategy, he just gave the order with an expressionless face.

"Wow!"

Chang Shancheng was still waiting for Yue Zhongqi to say that he would know about taking the city, but he never thought that Yue Zhongqi would stop there, and he couldn't help muttering in his heart, but he didn't dare to disobey Yue Zhongqi's order, so he could only respond respectfully, and went straight to arrange all kinds of matters without mentioning it.

"What do you want to do with Qing Gouzi?"

"It's strange, it's been so long, and there hasn't been any movement, it's really strange."

"Yes, if you don't attack it, you won't attack it, and the siege will not be a siege, can you try to deceive me and wait to go down the mountain?"

……

The Qing army is a veteran of the march, the ability to set up camp is not bad, only half an hour before and after, a simple camp has been erected in front of the mountain a mile up, and at this time, it is only the end of the last card, far from the dark, but the Qing army has not even launched a tentative conventional attack, straight cat in the camp, except for some patrols, all into the tent to rest, such a posture, is on the close of the city of the Tibetan army generals can not help but look dumbfounded, Surrounded by the main general of the gate, Bahedati, you have made a blind guess as soon as you say a word......