China’s territory covers an area of ??9.6 million people, and one of the places occupies more than 1.6 million people, which is one-sixth of our country’s territory. That place is Xinjiang, and it Therefore, Xinjiang is still within the territory of our country. There is one person whose contribution cannot be forgotten, and that is the famous official of the Qing Dynasty---Zuo Zongtang!

During Zuo Zongtang's period, the Qing Dynasty was already on its last legs after the Opium War. The army was corrupt, disasters occurred frequently, corrupt officials were rampant, and civil unrest broke out all over the place. Under such circumstances, in 1864, the Qing Dynasty sent Hunan troops to attack Tianjing. The Taiping Rebellion failed, which led to the Qing Dynasty's subsequent Westernization Movement and the beginning of a change in direction with modernization. However, at this time, some countries sent troops to occupy more than 1.6 million people in Xinjiang when the Qing army suppressed the Taiping Army.

The people who occupied Xinjiang at that time were a people called the "Bitorat Khanate", and their commander was called Agub. This Agub was not Chinese. He was born in Central Asia, and his original name was Muhammad. ·Yahofu. At that time, the reason why Agub was able to quickly occupy Xinjiang was because he had the support of Britain and Russia. This caught the Qing government off guard, and because the Qing Dynasty had no time to take care of it, it allowed Agub to steal Xinjiang's territory. It was not until 1873 that the Qing Dynasty began to discuss whether to send troops to the northwest. However, it happened that the east was facing strong enemy invasion at sea. In the face of financial constraints, the Qing Dynasty finally decided to put all funds on naval construction and gave up. Xinjiang is a land.

Beiyang Fleet

Among them, the one who least suggested sending troops to Xinjiang was Li Hongzhang, the governor of Zhili. He believed that “the loss of Xinjiang will not harm the vitality of the body; If we don't take precautions, the serious troubles in our hearts will become more difficult." But at this moment, someone stood up and loudly refuted Li Hongzhang's short-sightedness. This person was Zuo Zongtang. Zuo Zongtang said: If we take a step back, the Russians will be helpless. Worrying further, abandoning Xinjiang would be equivalent to imposing a siege. So at Zuo Zongtang's insistence, the Qing Dynasty agreed to send troops to regain Xinjiang.

Zuo Zongtang recovered Xinjiang.

Zuo Zongtang. Everyone knows that when we regained Xinjiang, the old general carried a coffin to show his determination to regain Xinjiang even if he died on the battlefield. What a majestic momentum this was, and the strategic guidance adopted by Zuo Zongtang! The idea is to "first attack the north and then the south, advance slowly and fight quickly", that is, attack the weak enemy in the northern Xinjiang first, and finally attack the main enemy force in the southern Xinjiang. Once the fighting opportunity is mature, the enemy will fight quickly.

In August 1876, the battle began. Zuo Zongtang used the strategy of "first north and then south" and lasted one and a half years to completely defeat Agubai, which had been ravaging the northwest for twelve years, and finally recovered Xinjiang. With Zongtang's efforts, the Qing Dynasty finally completed the feat of regaining Xinjiang, and this feat was later praised by foreigners as "the temperament of the Chinese". The British at the time once commented on Zuo Zongtang: "Since the Qianlong era, this feat has been unprecedented. It is the most glorious achievement achieved by the first Chinese army led by Chinese people."