Anxi, located in Gansu.

Named after Emperor Kangxi's defeat of the Geldan Department here, the name of Anxi also comes from the meaning of stability in the northwest, but his old man obviously did not expect that more than two hundred years later, this important place located in the Hexi Corridor and linking the four provinces of Gansu, Qingdao, Xin and Tibet has become the last remnant of the Qing army of the Eight Banners.

These Eight Banner cavalry, all drawn from all over the country that year, came to the northwest at the end of the rebellion, there were more than 10,000 people, and this was also the last armed force of the Manchus.

And Kangxi would definitely not have thought that not only did the northwest not last forever, but it was in continuous turmoil in the past few decades, with ethnic minority rebellions inside, British and Russian invasion outside, and Xinjiang Province was invaded by Agubai, an Andijanite, and the establishment of the Hongfu Khanate lasted for more than ten years.

I am afraid that only an iron-fisted strongman like Zuo Zongtang can rely on the 60,000 Hunan army as the main force, stubbornly pacify the northwest, and recover Xinjiang Province.

"It's just that I'm not Zuo Zongtang after all." In the camp, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, Chang Geng, sighed and frowned, he didn't expect the Xinhua army to play a trick under his nose, with more than 30,000 infantry to drag himself, but the cavalry turned around and copied the Mongols' lair, not only defeated Mongolia, but also pulled the Mongolian 30,000 cavalry to the northwest, thinking of the extra 30,000 Mongolian elite cavalry, he was restless.

Although the Mongolian cavalry is not as good as back then, or even inferior to the elite hussars of the northwest tribes in their hands, they are much more powerful than the last 10,000 Manchurian Eight Banners in their hands, after all, this is the elite division that was once famous all over the world, and even when Zuo Zongtang was ordered to quell the rebellion in the northwest, he also mobilized them from Mongolia many times to fight against the cavalry in the Hui army.

What worries him even more is that according to the report of the spies, after the Xinhua army got the Mongolian cavalry, not only did it not immediately enter the northwest battle, but instead gathered in the Yinchuan area to practice at night, and constantly transported a large number of foreign guns from Shanxi to arm those Mongolian cavalry.

Therefore, whether or not foreign aid can be found has become the top priority, but this foreign aid is really!

Three thousand Anglo-Russian troops have arrived in Ili and are heading towards Kashgar, according to the British envoy, as long as they agree to their conditions, the latter two countries will send another 10,000 troops to support themselves, although it sounds quite tempting, but Chang Gung is not stupid, naturally knows how many embarrassing conditions will be waiting for him if he wants to get this kind of support.

He's pedantic, he's conservative, he's loyal, but he's not stupid!

How could Britain and Russia have such good intentions to help themselves, they have taken a fancy to Xinjiang Province and the Northwest, they don't want Li Mo to sit in the world so quickly.

In addition to adding 30,000 cavalry, the general in the opposing formation is obviously still an old man, he knows that the northwest region is vast, so he is not impatient or impatient, steady and steady, and also ordered the troops not to disperse, so that the originally prepared attack tactics can not be carried out at all, at this time, if you do not accept the "aid" of Britain and Russia, I am afraid that sooner or later you will end up with all the ammunition and food, and your head will be in a different place.

So what to do?

If you accept help, there will definitely be a lot of embarrassing conditions, according to that Li Mo's words, he is a traitor to Greater China, but if he doesn't accept Britain and Russia, then he will definitely not be able to survive for two years, and the longer the time, the more unstable the army, how should this road go?

Maybe he should have sent a telegram to Li Hongzhang, or he would simply abandon the northwest and go back to Jiangnan in Sichuan, but in this way, the cavalry of all ethnic groups in the northwest would definitely not be willing to go, in that case, even if he returned to the southeast with 10,000 Han troops and 10,000 cavalry of the Eight Banners, I am afraid that he would be hollowed out.

The left is not right, the right is not appropriate, Chang Geng's head is about to rise, so he had to get up and prepare to go outside the camp to breathe, but at this time, there was a sudden commotion outside the tent, and he hurriedly shouted: "Come on, what's the noise outside!" ”

"Report, Lord Governor, Ma Anliang, the commander of the Ma Family's army, and Dong Fuxiang, the commander of the Gan army, said that they wanted to see you, and the humble post had already told them that the lord would not see the guests today, but they were still making noise outside the tent, saying that there was something urgent to report."

Ma Anliang? Dong Fuxiang!

Chang Geng's face changed suddenly, these two people are not simple characters.

Ma Anliang is the eldest son of Ma Zhanao, the four leaders of the rebellion, after Ma Zhanao surrendered, he was called Yanjing, and Li Mo happened to return to Shaanxi Province when he attacked Yanjing, so he avoided a catastrophe.

This person is brave and strategic, like his father Ma Zhanao, are ambitious and bold people, after returning to Shaanxi, he immediately took over the position of the leader of the Ma family's army, during this period of time, he kept saying that the king was diligent and guarded, but secretly he continued to encourage the religious masses, and wantonly recruited people, only one year his Ma family army has grown from only three battalions to more than 10,000 people today, and has become the largest force in the Shaanxi and Gansu army!

Most importantly, this person was a Muslim, and he had been deeply influenced by his father to establish a Muslim state in the northwest, and even in Yanjing, he still traveled between the various Hui gathering areas in the name of missionary work.

And another Ganjun commander Dong Fuxiang is also not a good person, he has practiced martial arts since childhood, and when he was young, he had many contacts with the green forests in the northwest, as a Han people, not only did not resist the Hui army when he rebelled, but rebelled against the Qing Dynasty with them, and the blood of the Han people on his hands was not much less than those Hui army, and after seeing that he couldn't fight, he immediately jumped his head and descended Liu Songshan, which is a typical two-faced and three-knife person!

After Ma Anliang returned to Shaanxi to take charge of the Ma family's army, the two went down to dense in private, if it weren't for the great changes in the world, Chang Geng would never let these two people come together, but at that time he only had more than 30,000 cavalry in his hands, and he was eager to return to Beijing to protect the car, so he had to watch the two get closer and closer, and at this moment there was already a trend of tail not falling.

What do these two people want to do when they suddenly join forces to see themselves?

Chang Geng immediately waved his hand to let the guards be on guard, and then beckoned someone to invite the two to come in, and immediately asked with a smile after seeing the two: "The two of you came together today, I don't know what to do with this official?" ”

"Your Excellency the Governor, the two of us are here to ask you a question, is this Britain and Russia connected?"

It was Ma Anliang who spoke, he was in his prime, wearing a small hat, and at this time he was wearing a suit of armor, and he looked majestic, while Dong Fuxiang, who was in his sixties next to him, did not speak, but he also raised his eyebrows and his face was not good.

Being questioned face-to-face, and disturbing his train of thought, Chang Geng was already displeased, if it weren't for the two of them being the biggest help in the army at this moment, I'm afraid they would have already ordered someone to drive them away, and at this time he could only ask in a cold voice: "Hanru (Ma Anliangzi), what do you mean?" ”

As if he had guessed this question, Ma Anliang turned his head to look at Dong Fuxiang, and arched his hand: "I don't know what the governor is thinking, but now that the Xinhua Army has pacified Mongolia, and has recruited 30,000 Mongolian elite cavalry, they are training in Yinchuan at night, plus 40,000 foot soldiers, and now the Northwest Army on the opposite side has 80,000 people!"

And the adults must be very clear, compared with us, the Xinhua army is full of foreign guns, not that I have the ambition of others, if it is a frontal attack, we have no chance of winning, now that Shaanxi has fallen, Xining (now Ningxia) is about to be taken over by them, so I discussed with Admiral Dong, instead of waiting for death here, it is better to bring people into Xinjiang Province and join forces with Britain and Russia to deal with the Xinhua army! ”

"Into Xinjiang Province?"

"Not bad." Dong Fuxiang's eyes narrowed, and his sharp light flashed: "Your Excellency Governor, I won't tell you that the two of us have promised the British and Russian ambassadors in Kashgar that they will enter Xinjiang Province together to fight against the enemy. ”

"So the two of me came here today to invite adults to enter Xinjiang together, the adults were born in the Manchu Zhenghuang Banner, royal descendants, even if you want to descend to the other side, Li Mo will not easily bypass you, why don't you go to Xinjiang Province with me and others to create a big event?" Ma Anliang agitated: "Now that Britain and Russia are willing to support, with the means and ability of adults, and with the help of 10,000 Eight Banner cavalry, he said that it is not a dream to revive the Qing Dynasty." ”

"Tell me a word." Dong Fuxiang also said immediately.

The two of them were so outspoken, which suddenly made Chang Geng feel bad, you must know that one of them is the commander of the Ma family's army, and the other is the commander of the Gan army, not only the heavy army is in hand, but also whether it is the ability to fight, or the basic connections in the local area, they are much deeper than themselves, it used to be divide and conquer, and now the two have joined hands, if they stop it, will it ......?

Thinking of the bad things, Chang Geng's heart trembled, and suddenly understood, it is not easy for the Northwest Army to survive until now, and now in the case of a strong enemy outside, it has finally come to the step of falling apart, not to mention that these two people have a nest of snakes and rats, how can they not know what they think?

Both of them know very well that anyone can surrender, but they can't, because the Han blood stained in the hands of the two of them is enough to die hundreds of times if it falls into the hands of the Xinhua army!

So he immediately said: "Two, Chang Gung is both a descendant of the Manchurians and a descendant of the Zhenghuang Banner, and it is his duty to protect the territory and defend the territory. After saying that, he had to pay the account without looking back.

Seeing that Chang Gung couldn't be convinced, Ma Anliang and Dong Fuxiang glanced at each other, and the former's eyes suddenly smeared a piece of fierceness, although he had promised Britain and Russia to enter Xinjiang Province to discuss major matters, but the Mongolian matter had already reminded the two of them, no matter what, they couldn't leave the more than 20,000 people in Chang Gung's hands to the Xinhua Army to drive to him!

So when he saw that Chang Gung was about to leave the big tent, he suddenly took out a dagger from his arms, hugged Chang Gung from behind, and cut off Chang Gung's neck before the two pro-soldiers in the big tent could react.

At the same time, Dong Fuxiang immediately threw out his sleeve arrows, and in an instant, he shouted outside the big tent, and countless soldiers of the Gan Army and the Ma Family Army who were ambushed around swarmed into the camp, and the 10,000 Eight Banner Cavalry were caught off guard, not to mention blocked, and few even escaped.

On August 10, 1899, following the sudden invasion of Xinjiang Province by Britain and Russia, the situation in the northwest was changing, Dong Fuxiang and Ma Anliang led an army of 40,000 and suddenly killed Chang Gung, and slaughtered the last 10,000 Manchu cavalry in Chang Gung's hands.

That night, the two of them immediately entered Xinjiang with 40,000 overnight troops, and there were nearly 200,000 Hui people who did not know the truth and were deceived by lies.

The situation in the northwest has changed again!

(To be continued)