Chapter 316 With such an absolute advantage situation, it is no wonder that Ma Fuyuan is reluctant to give up this "at-seeking" Zhennan City

The first, second national army and Liu Changlin's independent cavalry division of the front army, Zuo Zongtang, who was the pioneer of the army to enter the border, not only immediately sent troops to clear out the remaining bandits around Hami, but also sent Dong Fuxiang and Qi Baoxiang to lead the main force of the First National Army to chase them along the escape route of the original horse.

However, Liu Changlin's Cavalry Division, the main force in the Battle of Restoring Hami, did not even have time to appreciate what the city looked like in Hami City, and even had not been able to rest comfortably in the city. After just camping outside the city for a night, he bid farewell to Hami City the next day, and rushed northward from Nanshankou to cross the Tianshan Mountains and appeared in the Balikun area.

Ma Fuyuan originally received the instructions sent by his "king" brother Ma Benyuan before he withdrew from Hami. According to the instructions of the "king" brother Ma Benyuan, he should immediately withdraw from Zhennancheng, move to Yiwanquan and Qizijing line and join the troops withdrawn from Hami, and then go through the ancient city (Qitai) to retreat to Yili.

However, Ma Fuyuan did not follow the instructions of his "king" brother, because this time it was the second time that Ma Fuyuan, who was in Zhennan City, had been in trouble for several days, but he still felt quite good about himself.

In his opinion, although the first time the troops besieged Zhennan City were not many less than this time, the so-called coalition forces at that time could not be compared with the soldiers and horses he now holds. After all, the coalition forces are not a family. On the surface, everyone seems to be as close as a family, but as soon as the critical moment comes, they will inevitably have their own ulterior motives and seem to have worked, but they are always unwilling to work.

But now it's different.

Ma Fuyuan, who had already made extremely serious reviews on the various reasons for the first attack on Zhennancheng, had not only taken away most of the elite troops of the "Xining Holy Army" when he was starting from Hami, but also pulled out all the new guns and cannons that were extremely limited to the Tsarist Russian allies. In order to break the deadlock in the Balikun region, Ma Benyuan, who "in-chief personally", then almost came out in full swing. The huge "Xining Holy Army" defeated the former Qing army, who dared to come out to fight in two major battles in Songshutang and the western suburbs of Zhennancheng. Finally, the severely damaged soldiers of the former Qing army could only retreat to the Manchu and Han cities in Zhennancheng, and the entire Balikun region, almost all became the world of the "Xining Holy Army".

Although under such a good situation, news of Taiping Tian** team entering Xinjiang began to come, and his "king" brothers had to hurry back to Hami to consolidate their nests, in Ma Fuyuan's heart, this did not affect his performance outside Zhennan City, because he still had nearly 30,000 "Holy Army" troops in his hand, while the defending troops in Zhennan City were the defeated generals of the Qing Dynasty who had been beaten to death by him.

Therefore, after Ma Benyuan left, Ma Fuyuan wanted to continue his efforts and take down Zhennan City to comfort his young "king" brother with great sorrow.

Of course, compared to his good brother Ma Benyuan, who can run and get stuck, the older Ma Fuyuan has an extra mentality of not wanting to be displaced. He wanted to find a safe and stable nest for himself to live a good life. The Balikun area, which is supported by the majestic Tianshan Mountains, can advance and attack, retreat and defend, is exactly in line with his mentality.

Zhennancheng became his must-fight place.

Therefore, although Ma Benyuan, who was "in-chief in person", left the front line of Zhennancheng, Ma Fuyuan did not dare to delay at all and continued to launch a stronger and more fierce attack on Zhennancheng.

At this time, Zhennancheng was not only the only retreat for former Qing officials and defeated soldiers in the entire Balikun area, but also became a refuge for the local Uyghurs, Han people and some Hui people who were already homeless.

The previous riot coalition forces and the two large-scale military operations in the Balikun area, mainly the "Xining Holy Army", were all huge catastrophes for the people in Balikun.

During the coalition period, everyone was carrying the food and wages of the rioters with two shoulders and one head, and they needed to find them. During the "Xining Holy Army" period, the weather began to cool down and the "Holy Army" who lacked food and grass and had no more cold-proof objects were not only to smash the tank and jar to search for every grain of food from the people, take away all cattle, sheep, horses, donkeys and other livestock, but also to steal everything that originally belonged to them.

Especially in the area around Zhennan City, the people were even more miserable. Even the entire village was burned to pieces by the "Holy Army", and hundreds of people became the unjust souls of the "Holy Army".

Ma Fuyuan never expected that it was because of their madness that completely lost human nature that forced the helpless people to finally choose to strengthen their walls and throw away all their property, catch up with the few remaining livestock, either hide in the mountains or run into Zhennan City, and eventually become one of the forces to fight against them.

Although Ma Fuyuan was a hundred times crazy to Zhennan City, the soldiers and civilians in Zhennan City, who were inspired by their rebellious actions, became increasingly united in the same hatred of the enemy. The Manchu and Han cities rely on each other and fought together to fight to the death. Ma Fuyuan never let his feet reach Zhennan City.

However, Ma Fuyuan was still not discouraged. On the contrary, he seemed to see hope.

The city walls of Zhennan City, the target of his main attack, have been destroyed in many places. Although his "Holy Army" soldiers were still blocked under the city, he clearly felt the resistance from the city, which was not as fierce as before.

What's more important is that in a sudden counterattack launched by Seoul just now in order to support the critical city, although he lost a great opportunity to open the gate of Zhennan City, he gave the Qing soldiers in front of Seoul who dared to leave the city to counterattack.

In this rare face-to-face kill, Ma Fuyuan, who was knocked out for a while at the beginning, took advantage of his military strength and not only quickly stabilized his position, but also entangled with a group of the Qing Green Camp soldiers and militias that had come out of the city.

In order to make the counterattacks that had achieved their goals, especially the militia that voluntarily left the city to participate in the war with him who were intercepted outside the city, more people who voluntarily left the city to join the war, the Green Camp Deputy General Chen Shengheng led more than 200 Green Camp officers and soldiers to fight to the death among the "Holy Army" wrapped in a group, and they all died in martyrdom.

With such an absolute advantage situation, it is no wonder that Ma Fuyuan is reluctant to give up this "at-seeking" Zhennan City.

Therefore, Ma Fuyuan, who was determined to take down Zhennancheng, continued to chew Zhennancheng endlessly, while on the other hand, in order to prevent it, he quickly deployed heavy troops in Songshutang and Nanshankou to guard the key passage of Hami to enter Balikun.

Unfortunately, Ma Fuyuan made a mistake this time. He forgot that the target he was guarding was not the usual army, but the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

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Chapter completed!