Preface
Territory that once belonged to China - "Kobdo"......
"Kobdo" sounds like a very unfamiliar name, but it was once a mainland territory with an area of 400,000 square kilometers.
But it is such a vast territory, which is now distributed in four countries: China, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia.
So, what happened to this territory, which once belonged to China, that caused it to no longer belong entirely to the mainland?
Regrets of the past
The early city of Kobdo was located in the western part of Mongolia, and during the Qing Dynasty, the Qing court established a city in the Kobdo region in order to fight against the Dzungaria.
Later, after the Qing Dynasty pacified Dzungaria, a counselor minister was set up in Kobdo, which was under the jurisdiction of General Uriya Sutai.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Qing Dynasty implemented the division of Kobdo and Altay in the Kobdo region, and divided the Kobdo region into two along the Altai Mountains, divided into Kobdo and Altay, and set up the Counsellor of Kobdo and the Minister of Altay respectively.
However, in 1912, Outer Mongolia and Tsarist Russia launched an attack on Kobdo, although the army marched into Kobdo was less than 5,000, but at that time Kobdo's guards were very few, and in the face of several times their own enemy army, Kobdo's defense can be described as weak.
Faced with this critical situation, Counselor Kobdo immediately asked the central government for help, so the Beiyang government ordered Yang Zengxin to send troops to aid Kobdo.
At this time, Yang Zengxin first issued an order to Wang Peilan, the chief soldier of Balikun, asking him to send troops to Kobdo for reinforcements, but because Wang Peilan was a close confidant of the former governor of Xinjiang, Wang Peilan's order for Yang Zengxin to send troops to Kobdo was delayed again and again.
Wang Peilan delayed Yang Zengxin's order for a few months, and then he had no choice but to send troops to aid Kobdo, but at this time, it was very difficult for Yang Zengxin to rescue Kobdo.
Even so, Yang Zengxin still tried his best to draw some troops from all over the country to reinforce Kobdo, but due to the limited number of troops, the logistics resources were not sufficient.
Moreover, the reinforcements were made up from various units, so the people's hearts were not aligned, and Tsarist Russia at that time had been obstructing them, so when the first batch of reinforcements was sent, it had been more than two months.
Although it was a bit late, fortunately, a second batch of reinforcements was soon sent to Kobdo, and at this time, Yang Zengxin's reinforcements reached more than 1,000 people.
Despite this, in the face of the siege of Outer Mongolia, the defenders of Kobdo were not able to hold out until the arrival of reinforcements after being besieged for more than two months, and the city of Kobdo was broken by the Outer Mongolian army.
However, Yang Zengxin did not know about this at this time, and did not learn about it until later in the Beiyang government's telegram, but he still did not stop his march to Kobdo.
When the Xinjiang army reached Kobdo, it was still some distance away, but was blocked by the Russian consul.
As a result, Yang Zengxin, who could not continue to march, could only choose to temporarily garrison Chahan Tonggu in order to find an opportunity to recover Kobdo in the future.
So why did you choose to be stationed in Tsakhtungu?
First of all, the strategic position of Tsakhtungu is very important, it is located in the mountain pass at the southern foot of Altai, and most of the area further south is mostly barren, so the best place to stay is Tsakhtungu.
Moreover, there are several nomadic tribes in the area around Tsakhtungu, and the army is stationed here, which is conducive to obtaining some useful information from them.
Another key point is that further south of Chahan Tonggu is Beita Mountain, which is equivalent to the barrier of Xinjiang, so once Chahan Tonggu is lost, it will be a very unfavorable situation for Xinjiang.
By the end of September 1912, Yang Zengxin sent more than 2,000 troops to Kobdo for reinforcements, and in October, Yang Zengxin began to build fortifications in the Chahan Tonggu area to prepare for the recovery of Kobdo.
At the end of October, Yang Zengxin sent a telegram to the Beiyang government, applying to march to Kobdo in the hope of recovering the Kobdo region, and after recovering Kobdo, he would eliminate the Outer Mongolian forces in one fell swoop.
However, although Yang Zengxin's plan was very good, due to the serious intervention of Tsarist Russia at that time and the decay of China, Kobdo was not taken back in the end.
But for China, which was in a difficult situation at home and abroad at that time, the first thing to do was not to sigh out of thin air, but to make every effort to defend Altay, a part of the Kobdo region that still remained in China.
Defend Altay
Outer Mongolia's invasion of Kobdo was by no means on its own, and it was inseparable from the support of Tsarist Russia, because the agreement between Tsarist Russia and Outer Mongolia allowed Tsarist Russia to obtain a large number of rights and interests in Outer Mongolia.
Therefore, when Yang Zengxin marched to Kobdo, Tsarist Russia tried its best to block Yang Zengxin.
At first, Tsarist Russia still supported Outer Mongolia behind the scenes, but when the Outer Mongolian forces in Kobdo were threatened, Tsarist Russia jumped directly from behind the scenes to the forefront.
Tsarist Russia not only provided arms support to the Outer Mongolian army in Kobdo, but also demanded that both sides call off their troops and make peace.
As the situation became more and more severe, Tsarist Russia directly began to make naked threats against China, and made it clear that if the Xinjiang army dared to attack Kobdo, the Tsarist side would not sit idly by.
On the other hand, the Beiyang government also kept sending telegrams to Yang Zengxin, demanding that he withdraw his troops, so Yang Zengxin could only order the front-line troops to suspend the march.
This situation is extremely unfavorable to Yang Zengxin's plan to recover Kobdo, and it can be said that it is basically difficult to recover Kobdo.
Due to the support of Tsarist Russia behind Outer Mongolia, the Outer Mongolian side was even more fearless, and at the beginning of 1913, Outer Mongolia sent troops to the Kobdo area to reinforce the situation, and the situation became tense.
And Russia's intervention in this matter is also getting stronger and stronger, directly claiming that if the mainland soldiers cross the north of the Altai Mountains, the Russian side will definitely make corresponding countermeasures.
In May 1913, with the support of Russia, the Outer Mongolian army directly threatened the mainland's front-line soldiers in the Chakhantonggu area, claiming that Chakhantonggu was Outer Mongolian territory and demanding that the mainland soldiers withdraw from the Chakhantonggu area.
At this point, the two sides had reached a tense situation, and in July of the same year, the Outer Mongolian army gathered more than 4,000 people and brazenly launched an attack on the defenders of our Chahan Tonggu.
The two sides fought fiercely all night, and the Outer Mongolian army was finally defeated and retreated, and more than 200 enemies were annihilated in this battle, but the Outer Mongolian army only stopped for a few days and came to challenge again, and the two sides fought fiercely again, and finally our army won the victory.
Although the victory has always been on our side, there is the support of Tsarist Russia behind Outer Mongolia, so our army only conducts defensive battles and does not dare to pursue the Outer Mongolian army.
The strength was not comparable to that of Tsarist Russia, and there were constant disputes in China at that time, and the logistical foster care of the defenders in Chakhan Tonggu could not be guaranteed.
Therefore, in this case, Yang Zengxin could only stick to Chahan Tonggu to prevent Outer Mongolia from further trying to take the Altay region, and at the same time hoped to end the war as soon as possible.
Therefore, taking advantage of this short-lived victory, Yang Zengxin suggested that the Beiyang government eliminate the crisis on the border through negotiations as soon as possible.
Finally, on December 21, 1913, the "Temporary Armistice Treaty on the Garrison Line of Altay Kobdo" and Mongolia troops was signed with Tsarist Russia, and the two sides withdrew their troops within the specified time according to the treaty, and the war was over.
Later, due to the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan, which had been controlled by the Soviet Union, became independent, and part of Khobdo belonged to Kazakhstan.
Eventually, the Kobdo region, which covers more than 400,000 square kilometers, is spread across four countries.
epilogue
Although Yang Zengxin failed to recover Kobdo, he finally kept the Altay region, which can be regarded as a blessing in misfortune.
Resources
Douyin Encyclopedia: "Koa-Afghanistan War"
Baidu Encyclopedia: "Yang Zengxin", "Kobdo"
Reference Network: "A Brief Analysis of the Process of the Partition of the Koh-Arab War", November 10, 2016