late Qing Dynasty arrest

The [-]th Battalion of Dong Zhiyuan was encircled and suppressed by the Qing army, which seriously threatened the living environment. In order to break the deployment of the Qing army, they took measures to divert routes to grab food for food and open up the trapped situation.The Eighteenth Battalion returned to the army and went back to various places in Shaanxi to carry out activities: all the way to the Northeast Road of Shaanxi, in the areas of Yanzhou, Luochuan, Yan'an, Ganquan, Baishui, and Chengcheng; Wuhe Lingtai area in Gansu.

However, because Zuo Zongtang supervised the division, and all his troops were regular troops accustomed to suppressing peasant uprisings, with excellent weapons, Zuo Zongtang took various tactics against the tactics adopted by the Hui army, sealed them tightly, and pressed them against Dong Zhiyuan. On the front line, especially the countermeasures to strictly block the returning troops who want to enter the Guanzhong, so as not to disturb the rear.Therefore, "all the armies on the North Road, East Road, and Southwest Road will defend and suppress, and they will be defeated without a fight, and the fierce front will be defeated."

The Hui army was defeated and returned to Dong Zhiyuan. Under the heavy siege of Zuo Zongtang's army, Dong Zhiyuan's Hui army became more and more fearful. They built more than 300 fortresses in the Dong Zhiyuan area. Do life and death contest.

Although Dong Zhiyuan's Hui army was repeatedly suppressed and defeated, the ferocious fire gradually faded, and from Yan and Yan to the south to Dalong and Long, Hui cavalry came out in succession, risking their lives to prey, almost every day.The officers and soldiers can't do their best to pursue them without food for a few days, and they are hanging on each other, so they often fall behind.

In winter, the returning army went around grabbing food and attacking everywhere. The offensive was very fierce.

Dong Zhiyuan set up a marshal in the [-]th Battalion to command the operations.Its leaders are the "Marshals of the Eighteen Battalions" including Ma Zhenghe, Bai Yanhu, Yu Yanlu, Cui Wei, Chen Lin, Yu Deyan, Feng Junfu, Ma Changshun, Yang Wenzhi, Ma Zhenggang, Ma Shengyan, Bi Dacai, Yan Xingchun, Lan Mingtai, Ha Lianjin , Zou Baohe, Zhang Daiyu, Ma Weixiang, etc.In addition, there were Hui militiamen led by He Mingtang and Sun Yibao who were active in Guyuan and other places.These leaders were the initiators and organizers of Muslim uprisings in various parts of Shaanxi.

The area controlled by Dong Zhiyuan's [-]th Battalion extends from Yimaguan in Anhua in the north, Qiujiazhai in Ningzhou in the south, Xiaojin Town in Zhenyuan in the west, and Xihuachi in Heshui County in the east.

Most of the gathering places are located in villages and towns or key passes with relatively large traffic arteries, such as Taichang, Jiaocun, Qiujiazhai, Sandong, Lijiapu, Xiaojin, Dongzhi, Xifeng, Shishe, etc.

Regarding the garrison of troops returned from various ministries in Dong Zhiyuan, Imam Feng (Feng Junfu) was stationed in Xiaojin Town; Imam Zou (Zou Baohe) was stationed in Shishe Town; Ma Zhenghe was stationed at Zhaizi Street in Xifeng Town; Yang Wenzhi was stationed in Dongzhi Town; Bai Yanhu was stationed in Xifeng Town Yan Xi'ao, ten miles north.

There used to be forts in these places, and new forts were built in some places and used as military strongholds.Xiaojin Town is the location of the central old battalion stationed in Dong Zhiyuan's return army.

Since the Hui army mostly led their families and followed the army, there were 20 Hui troops guarding the original Dong Zhiyuan.But the number of able-bodied people who can actually fight is only [-] to [-].

Due to heavy troops and heavy casualties, Dong Zhiyuan's returning army merged the original eighteen battalions into four battalions through winter reorganization.

Although the Hui army was suppressed by Zuo Zongtang's army in the Dong Zhiyuan area, the official army did not launch a large-scale offensive during the long winter. Instead, the Hui army took the initiative and constantly harassed the supply lines of the official army.

The Hui army stationed in Shishe Town today is just getting the news and is excited about it.According to the Tan Ma Lai newspaper, a transportation team from the capital, "Li Ziying", is less than 2000 miles away. Li Ziying has guns and cannons, but the escort team is composed of young students from the military academy and civilian husbands, with a total of more than [-] people. People, and they are recruits who have never been on the battlefield.

The spy Ah Sitou has returned safely, and he is reporting the situation of Li Ziying to the two chief generals.The dozen or so generals in the hall listened carefully to the latest movements of the officers and soldiers that the three Han spies had just discovered.

In the council hall of Shishe Town, more than a dozen generals sat cross-legged on the carpet, each with a weather-beaten face and thick beards.Now the Eighteenth Battalion of the Hui Army is divided into four groups. Some commanders have only thousands of elite soldiers under their command. Cui Wei, the commander of the fourth battalion, has 5000 troops. his sides.

Cui Wei was born in the 11th year of Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty, less than 40 years old, from Cuijiawa, the southern suburb of Fengxiang Prefecture, Shaanxi Province. He has four brothers, ranking third, and is called Cui San.He has a burly body, loves martial arts, and is proficient in equestrianism.

The most miserable person here is the Sixth Marshal Yu Deyan, who led more than 1000 troops to grab food at the New Year's Eve last year. He was ambushed by Xu Zhanbiao's Sichuan army and suffered heavy casualties. When he fled back to Dong Zhiyuan, there were only more than 400 people left around him.His short and stocky body was a little sluggish. Everyone was asking questions, but he didn't say a word.

The three spies knelt on the ground and each told what they had found out. The spies swore to the sky, "Si Shuai, I have found out everything, and every sentence is true. There are more than 2000 soldiers in Li Ziying. Over the age of 17, they are all students in the school and have never fought a war. The other more than 600 soldiers are newly recruited refugees who have only been trained for more than 2 months. They have never even touched a gun in the past. They have fought and seen blood There are no more than 300 people in the caravan, and 100 people in the caravan have some fighting power. The rest are civilian husbands, who are used to push cannons and drive cars. However, their equipment is imported, so Li Ziying dared to show off his might Fighting on the front lines."

Lan Mingtai, the fourteenth commander, asked doubtfully, "Li Ziying, how many miles do you march every day?"

"Not more than fifty miles away. I asked other civilians. They also practiced target shooting during the march. They beat wild wolves and skinned wolves on purpose. They deliberately let the wolves come to revenge, and they were proud of owning a wolf skin. Free time Very soon, I visited the kiln several times, led by a group of dandies." Another spies replied, and the other two spies slandered Li Ziying with more details.

"The escort envoy, Mr. Li, has a little wife. He looks like an eunuch with a oily head and noodles. He can only scare people with a leather whip. The butler, Mr. Fan, is a big fat man. The oil in his stomach can light oil lamps." Ah Sitou said He wanted to burn, kill and loot to avenge his dead brother.The hatred is accumulating more and more, the people here have enmity with the officers and soldiers, the two sides kill each other, the blood feud will be remembered forever.

"However, they have a lot of cannons. There are more than 100 large and small cannons, all of which are foreign gadgets. We are not allowed to get close, and they are all transported by the peasants in the capital. Master Fan only asks us newcomers to carry sundries, and even places us in the accommodation. Separated, many things were blown out by the people of the capital, who boasted that one cannon could be worth a hundred guns, and said that they wanted to flatten Dong Zhiyuan. Body search, flint and foreign matches will be confiscated." Ah Sitou was eloquent, and most of the time he was the one answering the questions, while the other two spies, like chickens pecking at rice, agreed with his words and had accurate information, so they waited for the fourth commander to make a decision.

"New-style artillery and foreign guns, this is a difficult battle." Sixth Marshal Yu Deyan had long been frightened by the officers and soldiers, and did not want to rob the officers and soldiers' transport team.A hidden secret is unknown. He did not express confidence in the future of the Hui army, but secretly expressed his willingness to go back to the Qing army Xu Zhanbiao's troops, and also informed Xu Zhanbiao of Dong Zhiyuan's military deployment of returning to the army. Knowing everything about Dong Zhiyuan's return to the army, the tactical deployment of the Qing army was highly targeted.

Now that Yu Deyan returned to Dong Zhiyuan to be an internal response, he looked at the twelve handsome Bi Dacai with a tacit understanding, and the two formed an alliance, ready to fight back at any time.

Yu Deyan was born in the first year of Daoguang. He is over 50 years old. He has white hair and looks tired.In addition to owning a large amount of land, he also opened businesses and pawnshops in Dali, Weinan, Sanyuan, Xi'an, Kaifeng and other places.And opened a salt well in Sichuan, so the local people called it "Sichuan guest Yu's house".Today, the upper-level figures in the Hui army are all imams and figures from the landlord class.His family has a big business, and there are more than 1 people in his camp.

Bi Dacai understood it and shouted: "This is a trap. We can't be fooled. We should attack with small stocks. If there is any advantage, we will take advantage of it. If the idea is difficult, we will scare it a few times. We don't lack these food and grass. We don't need to fight with the soldiers and horses from the capital. , Those Eight Banners soldiers will not climb the top of the wall, see us returning to the army barracks, forgetting to die, one after another, destroying the braided dogs, and immediately go back to the capital, or let those Han people work their lives."

Bi Dacai is Yu Deyan's confidant, less than 30 years old, and a brave general.He has a dignified body and a majestic appearance, with a pair of eyes that shoot cold stars, two curved eyebrows like lacquer, beards, and a broad chest, with a majesty that is invincible.There are more than 6000 people in the camp, obeying his command.

In addition to being in charge of the army, all the troops of the returning army moved from Shaanxi to Dong Zhiyuan with their families.But the oath cannot be eaten as food. Some people stick to the oath unswervingly, and they are willing to be wiped out.Some people are thinking about the family and the people under the camp, stepping on two boats and breaking their original vows.

Now the Sixth Commander Yu Deyan and the Twelfth Commander Bi Dacai are colluding together, waiting for the uprising, but this time they will fight back.Letting their two battalions leave Dong Zhiyuan's base at this time and go out to plunder, it would be useless to work and would not make a difference.

All battalions of the Hui army are like this. They are united together for survival, but they all have their own independence, have their own territories, and each manages its own management methods.In addition, these Hui troops, although they believe in Islam, have different sects, different races, and different teachings, and they are more mutual. Maintaining independence in cooperation is the status quo of each Hui army.

This is also the reason why the Hui army was defeated by the Qing army. Without a unified deployment, the Hui army in other places would not support Dong Zhiyuan's Hui army and keep their respective existing territories. This is the status quo of the Hui armies from all walks of life.Now, as the commander of the four battalions, Cui Wei nominally controls the soldiers and horses of these battalions, but respect should be the main priority, and the ideas of the commanders of each battalion are not uniform.

The Sixth Commander Yu Deyan and the Twelfth Commander Bi Dacai were unwilling to attack the transport convoy of officers and soldiers, and had already expressed their views implicitly.Cui Wei, the Fourth Marshal, heard that the two of them were venting out of one nostril, and he would not force others, so he did not ask Yu Deyan and Bi Dacai for their opinions on attacking the officers and soldiers transport team.Everyone has different backgrounds, some are rich, some are hungry, and some battalions of people are already extremely vicious. They attack the officers and soldiers transport team in winter, and they are the main force to grab food everywhere.

Cui Wei turned his head to the other side, looking at those brothers who lived and died together.Fourteenth Commander Lan Mingtai, Fifteenth Commander Ha Lianjin, Sixteenth Commander Zou Baohe and his confidant General Erhezhou, their opinions are equally important.

Lan Mingtai, the fourteenth commander, listened carefully from the very beginning, whispered with his general An Jie, and made a decision.

Lan Mingtai and An Jie are about the same age, in their early 30s. They are different from the other groups of Hui troops. They were born as "swordsmen" and bandits.When the Hui people rebelled in the whole province, they also joined the ranks of rebellion. Now the family has a big business, and the tribe has more than one person, and it is best at looting.

"Four commanders! We can pull out 2000 soldiers immediately, and we can't wait." Lan Mingtai shouted eagerly. They had more than one battalion, and they had insufficient food and grass. They were afraid that they would not be able to survive under the long-term siege of the Qing army.Although the transport teams of officers and soldiers were robbed several times in winter, they still wanted to make more military exploits.

An Jie stood up and said, "I'm going to dispatch troops right now. Commanders, please let me know after discussing."

The Fourth Marshal Cui Wei hadn't given an order yet, An Jie had already walked out of the conference hall, he only listened to his elder brother Lan Mingtai, how could he care about the other Marshals?People from all walks of life are like this, they attack and loot separately, and return [-]% of the spoils when they come back.The deployment of each battalion's personnel and horses, and its development and growth all depend on their own efforts. Who will give you rations and personnel.

You must know that in the spring, the Qing army will be approached by large soldiers. There will be more Qing troops around Dong Zhiyuan, and the returning army will have less room for maneuver. The most fearful thing is that Dong Zhiyuan will be forced to sit and wait to die. He is full of fear for the future and will not succeed. With Chengren's determination, even if Li Ziying is a hard nut to crack, he still has to give it a try.

"What about you?" Cui Wei, the fourth commander, looked at the other two commanders beside him who did not say a word, Ha Lianjin, the fifteenth commander, and Zou Baohe, the sixteenth commander, and hoped that these two could also shoulder the burden.