lcionline Chapter 195: The First Army Enters the Grassland and is Rejected by the Grassland Tribes
Chapter 195: The First Army Enters the Grassland and is Rejected by the Grassland Tribes
On the Mengzhou grassland, Liu Chengxu personally led the 100,000-strong combat force of the First Army from the northwest border of Linzhou and marched straight into the southern part of Mengzhou.
The Northwest Revolutionary Army's high-profile actions caused an uproar on the grassland.
The Mengzhou Province is vast and sparsely populated, with most of the inhabitants being nomadic tribes on the grasslands. There are only four main cities with large populations, namely Tongzhou City in the east near the northeast, Liaoshan City in the middle, Beiyang City on the border with Mongolia, and the capital, Hot City, in the southwest.
The destination of Liu Chengxu's trip is Hot City.
Su Zhengyang has issued a death order that the First Army must first take over Hot City by force and seize control of the entire Mengzhou grassland, and then stockpile heavy troops in the border areas to prevent the Fuso Kwantung Army from moving south.
At the beginning, the Northern Xinjiang government signed an autonomy treaty with the so-called golden royal family of the Mengzhou grassland, the Jirhan family, granting the other party military and political autonomy over the entire Mengzhou province. To put it bluntly, it was equivalent to ceding Mengzhou directly to the Jirhan family.
Now that the Northwestern Revolutionary Army has marched northward into the grassland, it has naturally caused dissatisfaction among the major tribes of the grassland. They are extremely hostile to the Han people from the south. The tribes on the border often trade with Linzhou, Yongzhou, and Yunzhou, and their attitude may be better, but they are still wary of the First Army.
The First Army troops had just crossed the border and entered the grassland less than 200 kilometers away and set up camp when they were questioned by the local Dakar tribe.
Thirty to fifty grassland men, riding on horses, carrying scimitars on their backs, and the leaders also carrying homemade rifles, came to the camp of the First Army's frontline troops.
"Which unit are you from? I am Baron, the chief of the Dakar tribe, and I want to see your highest commander!"
Half an hour later, led by the guards, Barron, accompanied by two guards, personally met with the commander of the First Army, Liu Chengxu.
When we first met, Liu Chengxu's attitude was quite polite.
"Chief Baron, right? I am Liu Chengxu, commander of the First Army of the Northwest Revolutionary Army. Chief Baron has come to visit you specially. I am very welcome. Come on, serve tea to Chief Baron!"
The sturdy Baron said with a cold face: "No need. Even if you are the Northwest Revolutionary Army, you cannot easily mobilize the army to enter the Mengzhou grassland privately. The Northern Frontier Government once had an agreement with our royal family that the Mengzhou Province has military autonomy. Any military unit of the Northern Frontier Government that wants to enter Mengzhou must discuss and report to the Jierhan royal family in advance and obtain their consent. Do you have a pass issued by the royal family? If not, please lead your troops to withdraw from the Mengzhou grassland."
Faced with Barron's unfriendly tone and cold attitude, Liu Chengxu's face also turned cold.
"We don't have a pass issued by the royal family, but the current situation is that Fusang has almost taken over the entire territory of Meng. Maybe they will move south and enter Mengzhou Province soon. You should have heard about the miserable fate of the nomads in Mengzhou who became slaves. We, the Northwest Revolutionary Army, entered the grassland not to gain control of Mengzhou, but to help you resist Fusang's invasion."
Liu Chengxu planned to use courtesy before force, and to try to convince the other party with reason first. If that didn't work, he would have to use force.
In fact, Su Zhengyang just wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to regain control of Mengzhou with justification. It seemed ridiculous to Su Zhengyang that the huge Northern Xinjiang government had given Mengzhou, a land with lush grass and abundant cattle and sheep, to the so-called Jirkhan royal family.
These nomadic peoples have no good feelings towards the Han people. If the benefits are sufficient, they will even stab the Northern Xinjiang government in the back at any time.
"Don't exaggerate here. Helping us resist Fusang is just an excuse to cover up the ambitions of your Northwest Revolutionary Army. We don't welcome Han people like you on our grasslands. Ma Shan, get out with your men!"
Liu Chengxu kept smiling as he picked up the teacup and drank it all. He strode up to Barron, raised his hand and gave him a loud slap, followed by a kick. Barron was caught off guard and fell to the ground. He immediately became furious and roared as he tried to get up and attack Liu Chengxu.
Liu Chengxu took out his service gun, put it against Barron's forehead, and sneered, "You're shameless, aren't you? I'm talking to you nicely, but you have to bully me, right? A few old-fashioned guns and dozens of so-called tribal guards, do you really think you're a big shot?"
"I am the commander of an army. I will only talk to you if I give you face. If I don't give you face, you will be worse than a pile of cow dung in front of me. Do you understand?"
Baron's face turned red, and he looked at Liu Chengxu with gritted teeth and said, "This is our Mongolian grassland. It is not your turn to get involved. Even if you kill me, there are still tens of thousands of Mongolians who will stand up and resist!"
"You stupid fool! Once Fusang marches south, do you think they will just beat you a few times like I am doing now? They will steal your cattle, sheep and horses, and wantonly abuse the women of your tribe! And what can you, an ignorant and backward tribe, use to stop Fusang's army?"
"Come here! Take this idiot away and lock him up! Immediately send a battalion to the so-called Dakar tribe and tell them that the Mengzhou grassland will be under the military control of our Northwest Revolutionary Army from now on. Anyone who dares to resist will be killed on the spot!"
"Yes, Commander!"
Liu Chengxu suppressed the Dakar tribe by force with an extremely tough attitude. For a person who is pretending to be asleep, no matter how you shout, he will not wake up. In this case, there is no need to waste time talking to them and just suppress them with force.
Of course, unless it is absolutely necessary, Su Zhengyang does not want to stand against the people of the entire grassland. No matter what, Mengzhou is still a part of China, and the people of Mengzhou are also the subjects of China.
One day later, the 100,000-strong First Army continued to march towards Hot City. When they were only 200 kilometers away from Hot City, Korman, the current Khan of the Jirhan royal family entrenched in the grassland palace in Hot City, also received the news that the Northwestern Revolutionary Army was heading straight for Hot City.
Korman was immediately furious and denounced the Northern Xinjiang government for being dishonest. He also immediately sent a telegram of accountability to the Northern Xinjiang central government.
In the President's office in Northern Xinjiang, Yang Jiakai held the telegram paper handed to him by Duan Jinshu. After reading the contents on it, he crumpled it into a ball.
"Respond to Korman immediately and tell him! This is an extraordinary period where Fuso may move southward into Mengzhou at any time. The Northwest Revolutionary Army entered the grassland under the order of the Northern Frontier Central Government. Let Korman temporarily give up the military power of the entire Mengzhou and hand it over to the Northwest Revolutionary Army to prevent the invasion of Fuso."
Duan Jinshu shook his head and said, "The grassland royal family headed by Korman has never had any good feelings towards us Han people. I think he will never accept our request. Asking him to give up military power is tantamount to asking for his life."
Yang Jiakai sneered, "Of course I know he won't agree. I just want to force him to take extreme actions. In this way, Zhengyang can justifiably suppress them by force and take over the entire grassland. The indigenous people on the grassland have lived in comfort for too long and have forgotten who is the king of the northern border of China. In this case, let's teach them a lesson they will never forget."