Let’s talk about the past and present, and delve into the history of Hebei that you don’t know. Hello everyone, I am “Qingshijun”. Welcome to follow “Qingshiguan”, which will bring you fresh, interesting and informative historical stories every day. Today, we are talking to you a

talks about ancient and modern times, and digs into the history of Hebei that you don’t know. Hello everyone, I am "Qingshijun". Welcome to follow "Qingshiguan", which will bring you fresh, interesting and informative historical stories every day.

Today, we are talking to you about the story of the "Twelve Battalions" at the junction of Hebei and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Friends who have watched the TV series "Kangxi Dynasty" are mostly impressed by the battle of Kangxi's personal conquest of Galdan. This famous battle took place at the junction of today's Hebei Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Historically, Emperor Kangxi made three expeditions to Galdan in the past few years from 1690 to 1696.

It is said that in 1690, a famous battle took place on the Ulan Butong Grassland. In order to safeguard the unity of the country, Emperor Kangxi led the main force in a decisive battle with Galdan's troops. Galdan had few people, so he came up with a strange battle formation. He asked the soldiers to tie tens of thousands of camels to the ground, put cages on the camels' backs, and cover them with wet felt, thus forming a "Camel City". Soldiers use this to launch crossbows and firearms to fight.

The Qing army also adjusted its deployment in time. They used firearms as the "forward", the infantry was in the second echelon, and the cavalry charged from both wings. After that, the Qing army concentrated its artillery bombardment. The battle lasted all day, and Galdan's "Camel City" was defeated.

This battle dealt a heavy blow to Galdan's power. However, because Prince Yu Fuquan made a wrong judgment on the situation, Galdan led the remaining troops to flee north. Afterwards, Fuquan had no choice but to plead guilty.

Portrait of Emperor Kangxi

The General Fuyuan who was in charge of mobilizing and commanding on the front line at that time was Kangxi's brother, Prince Yu Fuquan. Fuquan was ordered to leave Gubeikou, pass through Jehol, and then arrive at Saihanba, the junction of Hebei and Mongolia today. He came to station in the Tuligen River area 40 miles away from the battlefield.

Fuquan chose to set up camp in this area and built 140 barracks and grain and grass garrison in an area 20 miles long from north to south and 60 miles wide. In addition, the general's headquarters (similar to the headquarters) has 12 camps. At that time, this was called the 12th Company Battalion. Earthen walls, wooden fences and trenches were built in front of each camp to prevent enemy sneak attacks and serve as a warning.

The ruins of these barracks still remain at the junction of today's Hebei and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The location of this "twelve joint ventures" is at the junction of today's Ulanbutong Scenic Area in Keshiketeng Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Saihanba Mechanical Forest Farm in the north of Weichang Manchu and Mongolian Autonomous County, Hebei Province. Moreover, this area is also the place where Tong Guogang, a general of the Qing army at that time, died in battle. In order to commemorate him, the locals named the nearby small lake "generalpaozi". There is also the tomb of Anbei General Tong Guogang as a memorial very close to the site in Weichang Manchu and Mongolian Autonomous County.

This Battle of Ulanbutong made Emperor Kangxi realize the power of firearms in war. Later he also became interested in using firearms while marching and hunting. The Vulcan Gun used by him and Emperor Qianlong is still preserved in today's Palace Museum . It is a pity that Western automatic firearms failed to impress Emperor Qianlong in the end, and the military technology of the Qing Dynasty was also completely outdated, which also laid the foundation for the disastrous defeat of the Opium War.

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