After Dong Zhiyuan's victory, the army of the Western Expedition was fully rested, the horses were full, and the weather became warmer after the severe cold, that is, they marched into Jinjibao in a big way.

Ma Hualong, who was entrenched in Jinji Fort, officially pulled the flag and fired the cannon in the first year of Tongzhi. However, unlike Bai Yanhu, who rose from the bottom, before he turned his face with the Qing court, Ma Hualong was the most influential leader in Ganhui, and his local forces were intertwined and extremely deep.

At that time, in Northwest Islam, there were the so-called four major eunuchs, that is, the four major sects, called Hufu Yemen eunuch, Zhehe Renye eunuch, Yuga Linmen eunuch, and Ku Bu Ren eunuch. Among them, there are two factions, the new school is headed by the Zhehe Renye Eunuch, the old faction is headed by the Hufu Yemen Eunuch, and Ma Hualong is the fifth generation of the "Zhehe Renye Eunuch".

Originating from the "Sufi sect" of the Middle East, "Jeherinya" was introduced to China during the Qianlong period, advocating the simplification of religious rituals and demanding that Islam move closer to the poor, and soon it quickly spread among the middle and lower class Hui people.

Hufu Yemen and other old sects were greatly frightened, so the old and new hated each other, accused each other of being "hereticals", attacked and killed each other, and the means were ruthless, which was not inferior to the dispute between Hui and Han in the future.

The Qing court supported the old religion, but Protestantism was more attractive to the poor, and although it was repeatedly suppressed, its power became bigger and bigger, and in the Daoguang period, Protestantism finally completely overwhelmed the old religion.

The third generation of the eunuch of Zhehe Renye is Ma Hualong's grandfather Ma Datian, and the fourth generation of the patriarch is Ma Yide, the father of Ma Hualong.

There is a sect leader on the "eunuch". There is a Taoist hall, and there are large and small mosques under it, which have been operated by the Jehrenya sect for several generations. Compared with the old religion, the "eunuchs" of Protestantism are larger and stricter, and the leaders of the church call for a hundred promises, and the believers obey their orders. It can be said that the "eunuchs" of the Jekhrenye faction have already taken on the form of a quasi-government. It has also greatly improved the organizational and mobilization power of the Hui people.

Before the Ma Hualong uprising, in the eyes of the local Hui people, there was only the sect leader. There is no government and no court.

*

*

Pingliang, supervising the Northwest Military Affairs Minister Xingyuan, the generals gathered to meet the deployment of the Jinji Fort.

The whole room. echoed Zuo Zongtang's loud Hunan accent.

"This is a soldier. The whole army is divided into three routes: northern, central and southern! ”

"On the North Road, Liu Songshan Department marched westward from Suide, Keling Prefecture, and went straight to Jinji Fort, and beat the enemy's back!"

"Huh!"

"In the middle of the road, Zhan Donglu went out of Qingyang, Ben Qin sent his own Lei Zhengjuan and Tao Maolin to Pingliang, and the second army met in Guyuan. Turn north and attack Jinji Fort! ”

"Huh!" "Huh!" "Huh!"

"South Road. Liu Dian's department went west from Baoji and approached Qinzhou! ”

"Huh!"

"Bo Jing, the main purpose of your journey is to threaten the Ma Zhanao bandits in the Hezhou and Didao areas, so that they cannot go north to rescue Jinjibao; Next, when the Central Route Army attacked Jinji Fort from the south, it would not be able to harass the rear of the official army - understand? ”

"Yes, mark it and understand!"

"Ladies and gentlemen," Zuo Zongtang looked around at the generals, "that is to say, the entire deployment, the Northern Route Army and the Middle Route Army attacked Jinji Fort in the north and south, and the Southern Route Army was responsible for 'sending reinforcements', do you understand?" ”

"Understood!"

"Ma Hualong has been entrenched in one side for many years," Zuo Zongtang said, "The court has nothing to do with him, so that today's tail is not big, the reason is that first, this owl is good at demagoguery, and secondly, this owl is very good at gathering, and the wealth is widespread. ”

After a pause, he continued: "'The Yellow River is harmful, only one set of wealth', the starting point of the Hetao is this Jinji Fort!" The two canals of Qin and Han intersect here, and they have always been in Yinfu. Well, in addition to the benefits of tea and horses, there is a big salt pond called Huamachi in the east of Jinjibao, which is a big source of wealth for Ma Hualong! ”

Speaking of this, he turned to Liu Songshan: "Shouqing, this Huamachi is just on the route of your Northern Route Army's march, the first thing you have to do is to pull out this Huamachi for me and completely cut off its connection with Jinjibao!" ”

"Huh!"

"Ma Xiao is very cunning," Zuo Zongtang said with a sneer, "If the situation is slightly wrong, he will 'beg for comfort' from the imperial court, but he will refuse to hand over anything to the personnel, equipment, and territory." Xining General Mu Tushan is a fool, he has been repeatedly played with by him, the more he caresses, the more arrogant Ma Hualong becomes, not only the local affairs are controlled by him, the money and grain are collected by him, and even the staff, co-leaders and even Zhizhou are appointed by him - damn it! ”

Zuo Dashuai is an authentic reader, but suddenly a sentence of "three-character scripture" popped up, and the generals were stunned at first, and then their spirits were lifted.

"Ma reverses a little trick, and he can deceive Mu Tushan, but don't try to get a mallet under my left Jigao's nose! I have folded up, and Mu Tushan is confused and misunderstood, at this time, Mu Chunyan has probably gone home to pick up the child! ”

The generals' hearts are all in the same heart: the general is a first-class official, a real feudal official, and the commander Zuo said that he would participate!

There are very few people who understand, and they can't help but think: Mutu is good at soldiers, and he can't suppress it, and he can't "caress it", so what is the best way? However, before the army attacked, it was necessary to sacrifice the flag and stand up, and the bright red top of the first-class master was more beautiful than the head of ordinary bandits.

"I decree that the rest of the bandits, if they ask to surrender, if they are sincere, they may be surrendered; Only this horse dragon, cut off and not allowed to surrender, this battle, will plow the court and sweep the hole, destroy this dynasty food! ”

"Huh!" The generals replied with a bang.

"My words are almost over," Zuo Zongtang leaned back, "Everyone, please express your opinions!" ”

The first to speak was Zhan Donglu.

"The handsome wisdom pearl is in hand, and there is no last resort! Well, the marshal just said that the two canals of Qin and Han intersected in Jinji Fort, and the mark thought that this sentence was the key to this battle! ”

"Oh? How so? Kean, please tell me more about it. ”

Ke'an is the word of Zhan Donglu.

"Yes."

Zhan Donglu stood up, walked to the big map, and said: "Everyone, please see, to the north of the Yellow River, Jinji Fort is located on the east bank of the Yellow River, just sandwiched between the Qin and Han canals. There are two most critical places in Jinji Fort, one is the gorge mouth in the west of the fort, which is not only the mouth of the Yellow River Bronze Gorge, but also the mouth of the Qin and Han canals; The other is the Yongning Cave in the east of the fort, which is the place where the Shanshui River crosses the Qin Canal culvert, where the Qin and Han canals meet, and enters the Yellow River in the north. ”

After a pause, he continued: "That is to say, the mouth of the gorge controls the water inlet, and the Yongning Cave controls the water outlet, if our army attacks and occupies these two places, it is equivalent to choking the throat of Jinji Fort!" ”

Zuo Zongtang stared at the big map, and after a while, he nodded heavily and said, "Ke'an, Gao Ming!" These two places - the mouth of the gorge and the Yongning Cave, must be taken in the first battle! ”

"Sir, according to the report, the Hui bandits are stationed in the gorge and Yongning Cave with few troops, and I haven't realized the importance of these two places, let's move faster, we will definitely take it down in one battle, and when we lose the gorge and Yongning Cave, the Hui bandits will know that it is uncomfortable!"

"Good! The gorge is in the southwest of Jinjibao, Ke'an, and your department is responsible for capturing the gorge! ”

"Huh!"

"Yongning Cave is in the northeast of Jinji Fort, Shouqing, your department is responsible for capturing Yongning Cave!"

"Huh!"

*(To be continued......)