The western-bound rider

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  In January 1934, the son of the mound followed General Ma Zhongying to Xinjiang and surrounded Dihua City. This was their second expedition to Xinjiang, with the 36th Division being strong and powerful, unstoppable. General Ma rode a large gray horse, leading the way, with his cavalrymen following closely behind in a fan shape.

  Gǎ (sound: gā): Northwestern dialect, small, Ma Zhongying rebelled at the age of seventeen and was called Gǎ Commander.

  ② Di Hua: Urumqi.

  The airport and radio station were occupied by the 36th Division, and Dihua City was about to fall. General Ke ordered a temporary halt in the attack, waiting for Sheng Shicai to surrender. At this time, scouts reported that Soviet border troops had entered Yili from Horgos at Sheng Shicai's invitation, cutting off Zhang Peiyuan's rear route. General Zhang Peiyuan committed suicide in Guozigou. Disaster struck again: the 36th Division's liaison team sent to Tacheng was completely wiped out on the banks of the Emin River, with only a group of horses from Hezhou escaping. Everyone felt anxious: unable to contact the Soviet side, the plan to join forces with the Eighth Army in Yili to attack Sheng Shicai had fallen through. Another route of Soviet troops, the Don Cossack Cavalry Division, attacked Xinjiang from Tacheng and rushed towards Dihua, encountering the 36th Division at Toutun River. Staff members suggested: a wise decision would be to withdraw back to Hami and wait for developments. General Ke's bloodshot eyes stared through his binoculars.

  "I, Ma Zhongying, can act in 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' with Sheng Shicai. What business do Soviets have here? Get out of our country and mind your own affairs."

  The 36th Division deployed in full strength, with the White Horse Regiment closely following Commander-in-Chief Zhu De's rear, crossing the snow-covered riverbank of the Toutun River. The Black Horse Regiment and the Green Horse Regiment formed two wings, and the earth trembled slightly. The Don Cossacks were getting closer and closer, and the commander of the Cossack cavalry division was a subordinate of General Budyonny. The cavalry division fought against the White Army on the outskirts of Moscow, and Budyonny beheaded the White Army division commander with one sword, which was the most glorious day for the Don Cossacks. However, the military discipline of the cavalry division was too poor, and after the end of the civil war, they were transferred to Central Asia. This was their second expedition abroad; the first time they entered Poland and approached Warsaw, and this time Stalin called them to help Sheng Shicai suppress bandits.

  Entering China for hundreds of kilometers without seeing ordinary people, the herdsmen knew that the big nose had come and hid far away. The city of Dihua appeared in the telescope, the city was quiet and peaceful, with no smoke or gunfire. At this time, cavalry wearing black uniforms appeared in the telescope, led by an officer in his early twenties, who was a lieutenant general. The Cossacks shouted.

  "The commander of the Chinese army is a doll."

  The doll commander galloped his horse, and the yellow dust rose from the ground, as if the earth's anger. The Cossack army surged over like a tide. The two sides were 800 meters apart. Chief of Staff Wu Yingxi requested to lodge a serious protest with the Soviet Union, Wu Yingxi graduated from the Soviet Kiev Military Academy and spoke Russian. Commander Ga waved his hand, "Now is the time for swords to speak, if friends are not convenient, they can withdraw from the battlefield." Friends pressed their hands on the hilt of their knives, no one was afraid of the battle array.

  The sun was setting, icy cold, and the saber began to breathe in its scabbard. The Cossack cavalry regiment commander told his subordinates: "They are not bandits, they are regular cavalry." The regiment commander led his horse out of formation, stopped two hundred meters in front of the troops, drew his saber, held it upright on his chest, and aligned the blade with the tip of his nose. The commander of the First Regiment shouted loudly in Russian: "36th Regiment Commander, 36th Regiment Commander."

  The first to stir up this wave was Zuo Zongtang, the last iron-blooded general of the Qing dynasty. He led the elite Xiang Army, and after annihilating the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, he marched northwest with an unstoppable force. The Hui Muslim rebel leader Bai Yantiger fled to Xinjiang and retreated into Russia, while the Gansu Hui Muslim rebels defended the Yellow River in Hexi. No one expected that at the critical moment when the army was pressing in on all sides, the Hui rebel leader Ma Zhan'ao would launch a counterattack, using the "Black Tiger Heart-ripping" tactic to wipe out ten battalions of the Xiang Army. The Taizi Mountain and the banks of the Dashaher River were thus drenched with blood, turning the yellow earth into fertile soil, as if it had been nourished by sweet rain. General Zuo stood on the high riverbank in Hexi, his eyes wide with shock.

  Ma Zhan'ao led his victorious army to surrender and became one of Zuo Zongtang's generals, following the army on a distant expedition to Xinjiang to exterminate Yakub Beg.

  Ma Zhan'ao's nephews were enfeoffed and promoted, which was the beginning of the later "Five Ma of the Northwest". Later, when the Eight-Power Allied Forces attacked Beijing, the fierce and powerful Mongolian prince Senggelinqin was killed by the Nian Army in Shandong, the Xiang Army and Huai Army were defeated, and the Mazhan'ao's army from Hezhou was ordered to enter the capital, using spears to resist the foreigners' cannons and machine guns, escorting Emperor Guangxu and Empress Dowager Cixi as they escaped Beijing on a "Western Tour" to ancient Chang'an.

  Ma Haixian, who was in charge of escorting Xi's "Western Tour", became the most prestigious military man in the Western Army.

  The five Ma brothers of the Northwest: Ma Anliang, Ma Fuxiang, Ma Qi, Ma Lin and Ma Bufang.

  Da Ahou was invited by the Seventh Old Master to come to Xining. The Ninghai Military Academy is located here, and all the students are sons of Ma's military officers. The official position of the Ninghai Town Garrison Commander was bought with money by Ma Qihua. Among the same clan, Ma Fuxiang passed the Wuju examination and became the Ningxia Town Garrison Commander through his merits, which is considered a change of door and household. Ma Fuxiang's son, Ma Hongbin, has always looked down on Ma Bufang, and whenever he meets someone, he says: "Ma Zixiang can't compare with me, I am an official descendant, his ancestors were bandits."

  The Ma family had always been ashamed of their bandit origins. With the fall of the Qing dynasty and the establishment of the Republic, it was a good opportunity to change their ways. Nephew Ma Bu Ying looked down on his uncle's methods. "Bandits are just bandits, weren't Liu Bang and Zhu Yuanzhang also bandits?" His father, Ma Bao, who was the commander of the Ninghai Army, was startled by his son's words. "Don't talk nonsense, child, your uncle is doing it for everyone's good."

  Ma Zixiang: Ma Bufang's courtesy name is Zixiang.

  "For him or for everyone?"

  "Don't be like that to your elders!" Ma Yinglong specially reminded his son, "Don't compete with your cousin, yield when you can."

  "I won't let you fall into the ditch!"

  "You're still a kid, but your heart has grown up too early and is now overly mature."

  You this I son: Northwestern dialect, second person singular pronoun, often used as an idiomatic expression.

  The thing that Ma Yinglong was worried about still happened.

  At that time, Ma Zhongying was attending Wu Bei Primary School, and his elder cousin Ma Bufang and younger cousin Ma Buqing were attending Wu Bei Middle School. Ma Zhongying's original name was Ma Bingying, but he changed it to Ma Zhongying after falling out with his elder cousin.

  Several brothers sat quietly in the hall, waiting for the arrival of distinguished guests. Here have come instructors from Germany and Japan, who greatly admire the martial spirit of the Great Northwest, considering it comparable to the Yamato Bushido and the German Teutonic Knights. The Japanese instructor told his German colleague: this desolate loess has produced China's most powerful Han and Tang dynasties in history, and after China's center of gravity shifted southward, it never became strong again. The German instructor said that the hard yellow soil here is like the ice and snow of our Northern Europe, which can produce a military temperament.

  The brothers were all guessing which country the noble guest was from, in their impression, German and Japanese soldiers were the best. Their elders, dressed in armor, accompanied Da A to walk in, and the children stood up to salute. Ninghai Town Guardian Ma Qi told the children: Da A wants to see your kung fu, to see who is the son of a child.

  Ma Qi hoped that one of his sons, Ma Bufang or Ma Buqing, would be chosen by the Dalai Lama, but the Dalai Lama's gaze fell on his nephew Ma Buying. The Seventh Old Master twirled his white mustache and narrowed his eyes without making a sound. The Seventh Old Master's Guan Gong eyes were always narrowed, and once they opened, it was like thunder and lightning, shocking heaven and earth.

  Ma Bu Fang and Ma Bu Ying drew their Heshan knives, the tips of the blades facing each other, like two leopards entwined together, killing each other with difficulty. The first round ended in a draw, and the second round had just begun when young Ma Bu Ying took the initiative to attack, not giving his older cousin a chance to breathe. Like surging waves, he continuously chopped at his cousin's vital parts with accurate and powerful movements that were tightly coordinated. Although Ma Bu Fang blocked the attacks from both sides, he exposed his own weakness, causing his opponent's blade to be pressed against his neck, making him turn pale with anxiety. After the trial ended, Ma Bu Fang was still standing in place. The Garrison Commander said: "Bu Ying is younger than you, but his knife skills are stronger than yours." Ma Bu Fang asked: "Is a knife more powerful than a spear?" The Garrison Commander slapped his son several times on the ears, causing blood to flow from the corner of his mouth, and a tooth was knocked out. The Garrison Commander said: "Swallow it." Ma Bu Fang swallowed the blood and tooth into his stomach. The Garrison Commander said: "A soldier's courage and bravery are all in his knife skills. Only by mastering knife skills can one lead troops." The Garrison Commander drew his knife and performed a few moves for the children, who were amazed. He patted his nephew's bald head and said: "Bu Ying is a good child." The Garrison Commander awarded his Heshan knife to his young nephew.

  The intention of the garrison commander was very clear, his nephew Ma Bu Ying had already received his reward, and the great Ah Ke should also make a gesture towards Ma Bu Fang and Ma Bu Qing. The eyes of the Seventh Old Master opened wide, with bloodshot eyes, pupils red like roses, set in such narrow eyes that it made one's hair stand on end. The Seventh Old Master used this gaze to envelop the garrison commander tightly, the garrison commander was like someone who had been struck by a vital point, staring blankly as the Seventh Old Master and Ah Ke walked into the scripture hall.

  Da A Ge said: "Ma Bufang and Ma Buqing will take control of the Ninghai Army, **the little doll is Ma Buxiang."

  The old man said: "If Hexi can produce a fine horse, I will be delighted."

  Dahai said: "I will take him to Qilian Mountain, Shenma Valley, and let him live for three years. After that, he will find it difficult to stand in Ninghai Army."

  "We can't rely on Ning Haijun, there are plenty of sons and daughters on the mountain."

  "Qilian Mountain can save the child from disaster, but the child will become a wild horse. Wild horses are destined to roam the wilderness."

  "With the establishment of the Republic, even a wild horse can hold its head high and breathe freely."

  "The doll is indeed a good doll, its knife skills are like the sea water, one wave after another. The book 'Rashomon' describes the big sea as being just like that."

  Dà āhōu led Mǎ Bùyīng into Qílián Shān's Divine Horse Valley.

  During the Ninghai Military Autumn Exercise, Ma Bufang was the most courageous of the three armies, and the garrison commander awarded him his favorite Japanese sword. Ma Bufang still remembered that he lost in a previous sword comparison, so he loudly told the officers and soldiers below: "The Hezhou knife is a tool used by bandits, and military personnel should wear this."

  At that time, the Chinese military was popular with the Japanese sword.

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