In 1690 A.D., Emperor Kangxi, who had already beaten down his ancestors, fought again, and decided to conquer Galdan in person.
Before this, Kangxi was strategizing in the Forbidden City, so why did Kangxi go to the front line in person this year?
There are two main reasons for this:
First, since Qin Shi Huang unified China, the biggest threat to the Central Plains Dynasty is often the enemy in the north, but the Qing Dynasty originally came from the north, and they also tamed the Mongol tribes in the process of invading the south.
But in this situation, Galdan suddenly rose from the northwest, and had a unified Mongolia, and then threatened the Qing Dynasty, as well as the possibility of the Jurchen northeast nest, in addition, Galdan was not alone in the battle at that timeBehind him is also a branch of Tsarist RussiaThe strength of Tsarist Russia has only recently been learned.
In addition, the Mongolian tribes had been frightened half to death by Galdan at this time, and if Kangxi only sent military generals to go, then the spirit of the Mongolian tribes might not be able to support the Qing Dynasty to settle Galdan.
As long as the news of Kangxi's own personal expedition spreads, the hearts of the Mongolian tribes can be put back before the official start of the war, after all, Kangxi really dares to comeThen he must have the confidence to win
And the reason why Kangxi has the confidence to win is also the second reason why he drove the expedition in person.
According to relevant historical records, after conquering Galdan in the northwest, there were only 20,000 or 30,000 soldiers who could fight before Kangxi's personal expedition.
Seeing this, some people may ask, Galdan has only 20,000 or 30,000 people, and he can crisscross the northwest, and the Mongolian iron cavalry is unable to resist
There are two reasons involved:
First, although the number of Galdan is small, they do have firearms."Modernized troopsAnd firearms are the nemesis of the cavalry;
Second, after the Jurchens conquered the Mongols, in order to prevent them from having other ideas in the rear, they had already weakened their combat effectiveness through a series of means such as religion and division
Then face Galdan's".Modernized troopsWhere does Kangxi's confidence in victory come from?
First of all, Kaldan's".Modernized troopsHowever, compared with the traditional nomadic tribes in the northwest, the chain mail they had at that time was not stronger than the armor of the Qing army, and the cavalry they were proud of at that time was the capital of the Qing Dynasty, and the various firearms they possessed, the Qing Dynasty was even better.
Secondly, Galdan's army is not only inferior to the Qing army in terms of quality, but it is much worse than others in terms of quantity, when Kangxi first drove his own expedition, the total number of troops led by him was 100,000, at least three to five times that of Galdan's side, and according to the "Art of War", times can be fought.
In addition, at that time, the Qing Dynasty basically had no other worries, and could devote a country's strength to fight Galdan, although Kaldan's territory was not small at that time, but the actual logistics and supply capacity could not be compared with the Qing army.
Therefore, judging from the strength on paper alone, when Kangxi talked and laughed, Galdan's army should have been wiped out, so Kangxi's confidence in the expedition was definitely very sufficient.
However, you can't just look at the strength on paper, and it can't be a tough fight every time, and the nomadic tribes are best at fighting guerrillas, so although the strength of the Qing Dynasty at that time had an advantage, it was still very difficult to get Galdan on the vast land.
But at that time, Galdan was a little floating, and he thought he was his own."Modernized troopsIt was enough to be tough with Kangxi once, so he was careless, and when the Qing army found his main force, he also wanted to try it with his advanced camel cannon, but in the face of the powerful force of the Qing army, his troops were directly defeated.
After Galdan fled, he did not stop there, but after accumulating strength for a period of time, he claimed to have obtained it from Tsarist Russia60,000 musketeers, and then Yu began to make wind and rain in the north again.
In the face of Galdan, who had 30,000 elite cavalry and 60,000 spearmen, Kangxi once again drove the expedition in person, and this time the total number of people he brought was still about 100,000, but about this battle, historical materials specifically mentioned that Kangxi was specially set upFirearms battalion,And relevant records also show that Kangxi only gave up carrying cannons when he encountered a difficult roadFirearms such as cannons have always been worn by my side
The total number of soldiers and horses in Galdan should be very large, but it is certain that Galdan's men and horses should be carrying firearms, because when Galdan first confronted Kangxi, his biggest killer weapon was the camel cannon.
Since he is not Kangxi's opponent with a camel cannon, then he dares to fight Kangxi for the second time, so he naturally has something to rely on, and this reliance should be himSteal buyingall kinds of firearms.
The reason why the word "stealing" is used is because Tsarist Russia, under the threat of the Qing Dynasty, did not dare to openly provide firearms to GaldanTsarist Russia also suffered losses at the hands of the Qing Dynasty
However, the result of this battle is not much different from the last time, the final winner is still Kangxi, and the defeated Galdan who escaped was still not convinced this time.
Because Galdan saw the strength of the Qing army, he had long lost the courage to fight again, so he fled and surrendered, and Galdan saw that the general trend was gone, so he had to commit suicide by taking poison.
Judging from the process of Kangxi's Ping Galdan, it seems that Galdan is vulnerable, but as long as you look at the territory controlled by Galdan when he was alive, you can see that Galdan's strength back then should not be underestimated.
At that time, the Hui in the northwest and Mongolia in the north were all beaten by him and had no power to fight back!
But it is such a powerful Galdan, in front of Kangxi, there is still noneFrontThe chance to win in the confrontation, what does this mean, this shows the Qing DynastyNeighborsIn terms of military strength, there is no longer an opponent of the Qing Dynasty.
Since the Qing Dynasty has no opponents, is it still necessary for the Qing Dynasty to vigorously develop firearms, and does it still have the opportunity to continuously improve its firearms in battles that are evenly matched?
The answer, of course, is no.
And Kangxi in the three imperial driving expeditions, but also found a problem, that is, in the sophisticated traditional cavalry, in the face of advanced firearms, it is difficult to bargain, if firearms are promoted throughout the country, then the Qing Eight Banners Iron Cavalry, in the end, is there still a need to exist, if the deterrent power of the Eight Banners Iron Cavalry of the Qing Dynasty is gone, then can the rule of the Qing Dynasty continue?
So Kangxi saw the power of firearms and verified the Qing army".InvincibleAfter that, he began to restrict the development and application of firearms, so Kangxi didn't know if restricting the development of firearms would make the military strength of the Qing Dynasty go downhill?
He may or may not have known it, but he must have knownComparing the two evils, we can only choose the lesser of them