98 plan to enter Xinjiang

Li wanted to stand in front of the window. The ice and snow of Luojia Mountain were melting, and the eaves were dripping with crystal snow water, and the room was very humid. At this moment, the northwest is still icy and snowy, and the spring breeze in the south of the Yangtze River has warmed up.

Reminiscence that Yuan Shikai was officially sworn in as the second interim president of the Republic of China in Beijing under the ceremony of the Nanjing Special Mission on March 10. However, at that time, the provisional Senate in Nanjing was still retained, but President Sun was invited to continue to be responsible for central government affairs until President Yuan's cabinet was fully established. This is also the result of Sun Yat-sen's request, right? What exactly does he want to do in this transitional period? At this time, Li Xiang couldn't figure it out, and he didn't bother to think about it. At this point, Sun Yat-sen could beat Yuan Shikai no matter what he did. He still focused on capturing Xinjiang.

At this time, Li Xiang had just returned to Wuchang. He began to be busy accepting the achievements of Ezhou's military, political, economic and other aspects of construction. Then he led large and small officials to participate in the celebration banquet. Later, he continued to deal with the Chinese and foreign journalists from Nanjing and Shanghai, and tonight he had to participate in a Yangtze River Chamber of Commerce. A banquet - war is to burn money. Without their support, the Western Expedition would not have been so smooth. He had to go to this banquet.

Li Xiang thought that he could relax when he returned to Wuchang, but he didn't expect to be busier.

The war situation in the northwest has developed in a direction conducive to the Western Expeditionary Force, which has somewhat diluted the depression caused by various social entertainment.

Li wanted to turn around and look at the huge military map hanging on the wall.

The next target of the Anxi Army is Xinjiang Province.

Xinjiang is located in the northwest border of China. It has a vast territory and a vast area of more than 1.6 million square kilometers, accounting for one-sixth of the country's total land area and is the largest province in China. It is sparsely populated and mainly populated by Muslims, with a population of more than 4 million. It is rich in mineral resources; leading to Eastern Europe and The ancient Silk Road in West Asia, the only way for the Asia-Europe artery planned by Li Xiang, the springboard of Central Asia in the future oil war... Xinjiang's strategic position is very important.

Now, on Li Xiang's desk is the report that Lin Tiechang has just republished: "Plans for Entering Xinjiang".

Li wanted to pick up this heavy plan and felt that his heart was also heavy. After turning a few pages, he turned around and looked at the map, and his eyes fell on Yili.

Yili is located in the west of Xinjiang and has always been the political, economic and cultural center in the north of Tianshan. Li Xiang doesn't know how many times he has seen it on the map.

After the Wuchang Uprising, the provinces responded one after another, declaring independence, and the revolution ** was unprecedentedly high. The panicked Qing government watched that more than 260 years of rule were about to collapse. Chang Geng, then the military minister of the Qing Dynasty and General Ili, gathered several close ministers to conspire to make the remote Xinjiang a dream place of the Qing Dynasty to rise again.

In the early stage of the imminent destruction of the Qing Dynasty, some people proposed to move the capital of the Qing Dynasty to the northwest, so to move to that place. There is no specific, but there is definitely such an attempt. Zhirui, the last general of Yili, on his way to Ili, conspired with his former general Chang Geng, then the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, and Yuan Dahua, the governor of Xinjiang. One of the contents of the conspiracy was to move the capital of the Qing Dynasty to the northwest to continue its rule.

When the situation was tense, the Qing government made an appointment with General Chang Geng and several major close ministers. Are you ready? Let's simply plan to go to Cullen, Ulaanbaatar, Inner Mongolia, and Mongolia. We planned to make a comeback there, but it was not done. Later, they The main focus was on Huiyuan Xinjiang and Yili. Why is it placed in Yili? The Qing government has the backing of General Chang Geng. Chang Geng is familiar with the situation in Xinjiang and the situation of Yili. He has been General Yili for 15 years, and he is very familiar with the northwest.

Huiyuan City, where General Yili's mansion is located, Qianlong personally gave the name Huiyuan, taking the favor of the Qing emperor and the far away. After the establishment of the Ili General's Mansion in the Qing Dynasty, in order to consolidate and defend the General's Mansion, nine cities such as Huiyuan, Suiding and Ningyuan were built since 1763, forming the military and political center of the capital of Xinjiang. The Qing court built a complete political system in Huiyuan, with heavy troops in the city and many military facilities outside the city. The Qing government chose Ili as a safe place to move west, which is really an "ideal place".

In order to consolidate its political status and military strength in the border, as early as November 1907, the Qing government recruited a battalion of officers and soldiers from the Beiyang Army and adapted it into the "Ili Army Model Battalion". In January 1908, 400 officers and soldiers were selected from the standard battalions of the Nanyang Hubei Army, and recruited more than 200 recruits in Huangpi and Xiaogan counties. The 41st Standard 2nd Battalion of the Army took Yang Zhenxu to defend Yili.

Yang Zhenxu, also known as Yang Mazi, was a top student of Hubei Jiangben School in his early years. He studied at Toyama Army University in Japan and participated in the alliance meeting in Japan. After returning to China, he successively served as a teacher and management in the new military camp in Hubei.

In addition, in 1906, the "Japanese Association" in Hubei was cracked, and the members of the "Japanese Association" could not hide, so Feng Temin, Feng Dashu, Li Fuhuang, Hao Kequan and others all joined the Hubei army led by Yang Zhenxu. When passing through Xi'an, Li Mengbiao, a revolutionary, joined in again. After arriving in Lanzhou, Deng Baoshan and others were recruited to join the army. Let's go to the station of Huiyuan City together.

After arriving at Yili, Feng Temin was appointed as the secretary, Li Fuhuang was appointed as the deputy of the engineering battalion, Hao Kequan was appointed as the instructor of the coach, and Feng Dashu was appointed as the police station.

Feng Temin first set up the Ili League in Ili and served as the leader. He developed the copywriter of General Ili's Mansion Huang Xinzhai, He Jiadong, Guanku Huang Lizhong, Li Mengbiao, Zhang Weizhi, Deng Baoshan and others to join the alliance. He contacted Hubei nationality, Shaanxi-Gansu nationality, Green Camp, etc., and also promoted revolutionary ideas in the government, schools, business, ethnic and religious circles. On March 25, 1910, he founded the first new type of newspaper in modern Xinjiang, Yili Baihua Daily, to prepare for the revolution. Feng Temin served as the main writer and was released in four characters of Han Manchu and Mengwei. The content is rich, the text is vivid and very popular. He has won the praise of "rejuicing deafness and opening up people's wisdom". In order to obtain the support of people of all ethnic groups for the revolution, they strive to unite the people of all ethnic groups in Ili to eliminate ethnic barriers. Chang Gengli hosted the new army, so that the revolutionaries had the opportunity to go to Ili. Changgeng was transferred to the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, and the 67-year-old deputy governor Guangfu took over as General Ili. He was uneducated and ignorant, and let go of the activities of the revolutionaries in Ili.

The Hubei army entered Xinjiang and brought a large number of benevolent people of the democratic revolution, which became the core of the Ili Xinhai Revolution. The revolutionaries vigorously publicized the idea of equality of all ethnic groups and spread the idea of democracy and republicanism through the vernacular newspaper. He Jiadong, the governor of Ili, Yushan Bayi, a rich Uigh Chinese businessman, and the local elder brother association have become sympathetic to the revolution.

At this time, due to the western expedition of the Anxi army, except for a few marginal areas such as regions, most areas in Gansu Province have been rapidly restored, and different peaceful solutions such as Qinghai Xining, Hexi Corridor, Jiuquan, Yumen and so on have emerged. As the front of the Anxi army, various places The military and political officials of the Qing Dynasty have defected to the uprising one after another, and it is the general trend to solve the Xinjiang issue by peaceful means.

At this time, Li thought that the time had come.

In fact, there are more than 100,000 troops stationed in Xinjiang by various factions of the Qing army. Some of them are firmly opposed to surrendering Li Xiangcheng. Even if the Qing Emperor has abdicated, they want to express their allegiance to Yuan Shikai. Due to Xinjiang's vast land and sparsely populated areas, mountains, deserts, sandstorms, insufficient water sources, inconvenient transportation, etc., the conditions are very harsh. From Lanzhou to Dihua, to Kashgar in southern Xinjiang, the Gobi is thousands of miles away. The yellow sand is full of difficulties, which is very unfavorable to march and solve problems by force.

Therefore, Li Xiang's idea is really a little far-sighted and far-sighted. Based on the analysis of the history and current situation of Xinjiang and the situation of the successful development of the Anxi Army's Western Expedition, a decision was made to protect Xinjiang from the trauma and loss of the war.

The key to the peaceful uprising in Xinjiang depends on the attitude of the new troops stationed, and the intention of Yuan Dahua, the Xinjiang governor, is not well understood by the revolutionaries. Therefore, I have no bottom in my heart when discussing the issue of the uprising.

Lin Tiechang sent Jin Zhaolong, Liu Xianjun and other lines to urge horses and whips to Dihua.

Liu Xianjun graduated from the Japanese non-commissioned officer school, and after being a general of the Xiang army, he had a very deep network in the western border of Tianshan, the son of the Xiang army, so he became a key figure in this trip.

They began to carry out peaceful activities in Xinjiang. On the one hand, we will use the Hunan military contacts to gradually deepen the contact with Yuan Dahua and other upper-ranking figures in Xinjiang, communicate ideas and coordinate actions. At the same time, we will carry out publicity, education and organizational arrangements in the army's elders association, hoping to master and control this armed force. On the other hand, it also contacts and supports the peaceful activities of all aspects and various social organizations advocating the peaceful settlement of the Xinjiang issue, and expands the mass base of peace operations.

At the same time, the reactionary forces of the main war faction against peace are also ready to move. The largest and most stubborn anti-peace reactionary force is the children of the "Eight Banners" in Mancheng, led by General Ili. The officers and soldiers of this unit are not only feudal, but also quite stubborn, well-equipped, sloppy combat effectiveness, and the most active and resolute, which is the biggest obstacle to the peaceful liberation of Xinjiang.

These people have military power in their hands, which is the biggest obstacle to peace. Once they break up, the consequences are unimaginable. Therefore, Liu Xianjun has always been cautious and dares not reveal his intentions, but always persuades them from many interests with a detached attitude to ensure that they will not act rashly.

Although Liu Xianjun has the background of the Xiang army general, he is also careful enough, but the alert Yuan Dahua believes that Liu Xianjun is a student studying in Japan and a person from Hunan. He passes through Shaanxi and other places. He is suspected that he has links with revolutionary party members from all over the world. With the background of the old Xiang military general, he only appointed him as the coach of the Xinjiang Supervision and Training Office and does not give military power.

Seeing the reactionary nature of Yuan Dahua, Liu Xianjun refused to take office, and Yuan Dahua bought it with money and was also rejected. However, Liu Xianjun and others are still stranded in Dihua, fantasizing that they can persuade Yuan Dahua to support the republic and announce the establishment of Xinjiang. Yuan Dahua not only did not accept it, but also wanted to abuse Liu Xianjun and threatened murderously, "If someone in Xinjiang imitates Huang Yue, he will be punished by a different punishment!" He scolded Liu Xianjun as a lobbyist of Li Madman, and his performance was very rampant.

On some occasions, some flag officers also demonstrated and said, "It's easy for the bandits to fight against the Ma family army. It's not easy for us to persuade us to surrender."