Great Expectations - The Army of the Urals – Ekaterinburg – More Taiping
June 1859
After a year of war, the daringly impossible conquest of Siberia had become a startling reality. Yet surprising success can breed both excessive expectation in the ambitious and cautious circumspection in the prudent. Guanwen felt the strength of both influences. Despite his subordination to Xu Youren (5-2-3) as commander in the capital and to the authority of the Emperor through the Secretariat of War, Guanwen’s star was high as Commander of the successful Central Asian Army Group and the amorphous Army of the Urals. He was well satisfied with success thus far, and above all sought not to forfeit what had been gained for the Emperor, for his armies, and lastly for himself. Preparation for offensive as well as defensive contingencies was the height of prudence, and he had already contemplated a general but probing advance into the Urals in the event of weak resistance or the thorough repulse of a major Russian counterattack.
Guanwen’s own commanders were in excitation over the news from Ufa, and the inquiries and compliments from Peking were being largely supplanted by more aggressively inclined memorials, suggestions and promises of support, facilitated by the chain of newly contrived telegraph wires, signal stations, and courier relays stretching halfway across east Asia. Although the war was not financially terrribly burdensome and the supply of replacements for losses in battle and to attrition had no end in sight, China had raised nearly the maximum possible formations of “modernized” regulars and useful smaller formations. With many small to medium-sized units tied down in the south and Annam dealing with Taiping or local outbreaks, and quite a few more trying to pacify holdout Russians in the painfully difficult northern Siberian wilderness, there were several banners in strategic reserve near the capital but not enormous depth of forces available to fight a very large war in the west (assuming the Russians could manage the logistics involved). Echoing prior European opinions, sentiment in the Forbidden City was now that a long war only helped Russia and the path to a good peace was to advance against weakness and capture more cities. The Emperor had not officially pronounced on this matter, but Guanwen, recognizing that the campaign season was short, assessed the probabilities and felt well-founded and secure in commencing a limited offensive to capture the strategic center of Ekaterinburg and as much of the Urals as was easily practicable.
The Army of the Urals in this campaign would be led personally by Guanwen’s Hupeh Banner supported by the other 3 banner armies in garrison along the Irtych line down to the depot base near Altai. These forces would by necessity advance in echelon from the right (north wing) on Ekaterinburg and points south, preceded by small scouting and raiding detachments detecting enemy presence and movements. Rather than form up a full second line of forces on the Irtych, it was decided that supplies would be conserved by advancing smaller forces west to secur the Irtych line against raiders and possible partisans and provide a defensive shield in the event of a reverse. Commitments were made to commence military road building in China’s far northwest in order to strengthen the chain of supply – there was some economic construction at home, but it was limited.
Guanwen’s banner army at Tobolsk would immediately strike west through Tyumen and Irbit and then attack either the objective city of Ekaterinburg if feasible or if not then swing northwest to capture the small city of Serov as a base. Zuo Zongtang’s banner army at Omsk would as soon as possible advance along the adequately supplied north bank of the Irtych until south of Tobolsk (drawing supplies from stores in Omsk and Tobolsk for the first two provinces) and then strike west toward Ufa. In addition to pacifying the intervening terrain, Zuo Zongtang could reinforce the Ekaterinburg attack, head on to Ufa, or swing left to the south.
The more traditional Shantung Banner at Semipalatinsk would head across the Steppes toward the southern Urals fortress of Orsk to draw Russian attention and provide flank cover for supply wagons, artillery, and other reinforcements headed to join the main offensive. The modernized but fatigued 164th Regular Banner at Aiaguz southwest of Semipalatinsk would push to Karaganda and Tenghiz to tie down the formidable Prospecting Party and 6th Cossack Host Division – which had occasioned so many inconveniences in the steppes. Bao Chao’s corps including a Regular Banner would remain on defense in the Altai Depot area.
The mission of the Army of the Urals was to take as many cities and bases as possible, but stop short of the fortresses at Orsk and Orenburg at the southern end of the Urals and the fortress of Kazan that barred the way farther west. If held in any force by Russians with strong artillery, they were considered unconquerable with the forces that would be available.
In the Urals, the Cavalry Warband that had captured Ufa restored itself to full strength with ample captured supplies and ammunition, frightening off the small Russian detachment that had been besieging that place. Even more promisingly, good scouting found only a Russian internal battalion north in Perm and two Partisan battalions in Ekaterinburg, and no visible enemy in the adjoining level 3 cities of Sarapol to the southwest and the town of Magnitogorsk to the southeast. Mixed scouts sent into Kartali to check on Orsk were blocked and chased away by a modest division comprising a Cossack regiment, the Ukraine Brigade, some engineers, and supply train.
As things developed, Zuo Zongtang was delayed in place before starting out, so Guanwen proceeded alone. Arriving after a steady long march at Ekaterinberg, he attacked on June 26. The experienced Hupeh Banner of almost 15,000 men and 48 cannon was able to engage on a 7-element front and easily defeated the 3000 defenders, who achieved a few lucky shots from their favorable positions but panicked and were crushed. When news of the victory arrived at home, Qing National Morale that just recently risen from 73 to 74 arose again to a satisfactory 75.
On the Steppes, the Army of the Urals’ 164th Regular Banner moved on Karaganda but went to defense due to low cohesion. Its 13,000 men and 48 guns outnumbered the prospectors and horsemen who were now under the competent Russian officer Ivan Krasnov (5-2-1) at Karaganda itself, but the attack woulid await the arrival of the fresh Shantung Banner. This arrived and passed quickly to the assault. In the battle of Karaganda the 25,800 Chinese and 96 cannon of two banners, led by local unit commanders, attacked Krasnov’s 5162 men, mostly cavalry, and 24 cannon who were entrenched in the field. The Shantung Banner assaulted the Cossack 6th Host fiercely. The Banner was well lead but fatigued, and faced effective artillery fire from the Cossacks, who were, however, somewhat unnerved during the attack. 2511 Cossacks were casualties; Imperial losses in infantry were 2844. Krasnov retreated south to Yasi.
In the northeast theatres, Ma Xinyi was unable to catch the Russians in the woods of Bratsk. The Russian cavalry and horse artillery slipped away to the far snowy north region of Chunskoye where they caught and slaughtered 500 bandits near the end of the month. However, Ma Xinyi’s banner was in pursuit, supported by a supply train in Bratsk and its escorts, and would give them little rest.
Farther east, near Amur Fort the 26th Column only besieged the fort loosely due to lost cohesion (though it had ample supplies available to recover in time). Mixed troops from the east and Zeng Guofan’s army from the southwest arrived in Iablonovy (where Fort Amur is located) in late June to reinforce the Imperial presence. Unfortunatley, a weak and fragmented assault on June 19 was outnumbered by the vigorous defenders and lost 845 men to only a handful of the enemy. In the Far East, Imperial troops landed peacefully in Kolyma on June 4 and began taking control of the province.
At home, a tribal revolt in Hue down in Annam was immediately crushed by the Imperial forces. There were ongoing campaigns against the Taiping. Imperial forces advanced up both sides of the Yangtze River to engage the Taiping force that fled west into Luzhou. They were caught and chastised on June 3, but the survivors fled into the western mountains near ungarrisonned Yibin – Imperial regulars and cavalry were in hot pursuit and scattered the Taiping with heavy loss on June 20.
On the south coast, the heavily-gunned citadel of Beihai was finally breached and then stormed on June 9 with heavy loss (3075 casualties) to the armies of 50,000 men in total that had been arrayed in the province. In between the Yangtze and the sea in the south, Taiping detachments appeared and were fought, chased and defeated in various provinces in a now familiar pattern based on a network of garrisons as well as mobile forces. Sengge Rinchen’s dreaded Mongolian Cavalry served with particular distinction.
Further technological learning matured in Naval Professionalism and Flag Signaling, which might someday be useful. News came of more rumors of war and of Chechen revolt in the Russian Empire. Attention, however, remained focused on Siberia.
June 1859
After a year of war, the daringly impossible conquest of Siberia had become a startling reality. Yet surprising success can breed both excessive expectation in the ambitious and cautious circumspection in the prudent. Guanwen felt the strength of both influences. Despite his subordination to Xu Youren (5-2-3) as commander in the capital and to the authority of the Emperor through the Secretariat of War, Guanwen’s star was high as Commander of the successful Central Asian Army Group and the amorphous Army of the Urals. He was well satisfied with success thus far, and above all sought not to forfeit what had been gained for the Emperor, for his armies, and lastly for himself. Preparation for offensive as well as defensive contingencies was the height of prudence, and he had already contemplated a general but probing advance into the Urals in the event of weak resistance or the thorough repulse of a major Russian counterattack.
Guanwen’s own commanders were in excitation over the news from Ufa, and the inquiries and compliments from Peking were being largely supplanted by more aggressively inclined memorials, suggestions and promises of support, facilitated by the chain of newly contrived telegraph wires, signal stations, and courier relays stretching halfway across east Asia. Although the war was not financially terrribly burdensome and the supply of replacements for losses in battle and to attrition had no end in sight, China had raised nearly the maximum possible formations of “modernized” regulars and useful smaller formations. With many small to medium-sized units tied down in the south and Annam dealing with Taiping or local outbreaks, and quite a few more trying to pacify holdout Russians in the painfully difficult northern Siberian wilderness, there were several banners in strategic reserve near the capital but not enormous depth of forces available to fight a very large war in the west (assuming the Russians could manage the logistics involved). Echoing prior European opinions, sentiment in the Forbidden City was now that a long war only helped Russia and the path to a good peace was to advance against weakness and capture more cities. The Emperor had not officially pronounced on this matter, but Guanwen, recognizing that the campaign season was short, assessed the probabilities and felt well-founded and secure in commencing a limited offensive to capture the strategic center of Ekaterinburg and as much of the Urals as was easily practicable.
The Army of the Urals in this campaign would be led personally by Guanwen’s Hupeh Banner supported by the other 3 banner armies in garrison along the Irtych line down to the depot base near Altai. These forces would by necessity advance in echelon from the right (north wing) on Ekaterinburg and points south, preceded by small scouting and raiding detachments detecting enemy presence and movements. Rather than form up a full second line of forces on the Irtych, it was decided that supplies would be conserved by advancing smaller forces west to secur the Irtych line against raiders and possible partisans and provide a defensive shield in the event of a reverse. Commitments were made to commence military road building in China’s far northwest in order to strengthen the chain of supply – there was some economic construction at home, but it was limited.
Guanwen’s banner army at Tobolsk would immediately strike west through Tyumen and Irbit and then attack either the objective city of Ekaterinburg if feasible or if not then swing northwest to capture the small city of Serov as a base. Zuo Zongtang’s banner army at Omsk would as soon as possible advance along the adequately supplied north bank of the Irtych until south of Tobolsk (drawing supplies from stores in Omsk and Tobolsk for the first two provinces) and then strike west toward Ufa. In addition to pacifying the intervening terrain, Zuo Zongtang could reinforce the Ekaterinburg attack, head on to Ufa, or swing left to the south.
The more traditional Shantung Banner at Semipalatinsk would head across the Steppes toward the southern Urals fortress of Orsk to draw Russian attention and provide flank cover for supply wagons, artillery, and other reinforcements headed to join the main offensive. The modernized but fatigued 164th Regular Banner at Aiaguz southwest of Semipalatinsk would push to Karaganda and Tenghiz to tie down the formidable Prospecting Party and 6th Cossack Host Division – which had occasioned so many inconveniences in the steppes. Bao Chao’s corps including a Regular Banner would remain on defense in the Altai Depot area.
The mission of the Army of the Urals was to take as many cities and bases as possible, but stop short of the fortresses at Orsk and Orenburg at the southern end of the Urals and the fortress of Kazan that barred the way farther west. If held in any force by Russians with strong artillery, they were considered unconquerable with the forces that would be available.
In the Urals, the Cavalry Warband that had captured Ufa restored itself to full strength with ample captured supplies and ammunition, frightening off the small Russian detachment that had been besieging that place. Even more promisingly, good scouting found only a Russian internal battalion north in Perm and two Partisan battalions in Ekaterinburg, and no visible enemy in the adjoining level 3 cities of Sarapol to the southwest and the town of Magnitogorsk to the southeast. Mixed scouts sent into Kartali to check on Orsk were blocked and chased away by a modest division comprising a Cossack regiment, the Ukraine Brigade, some engineers, and supply train.
As things developed, Zuo Zongtang was delayed in place before starting out, so Guanwen proceeded alone. Arriving after a steady long march at Ekaterinberg, he attacked on June 26. The experienced Hupeh Banner of almost 15,000 men and 48 cannon was able to engage on a 7-element front and easily defeated the 3000 defenders, who achieved a few lucky shots from their favorable positions but panicked and were crushed. When news of the victory arrived at home, Qing National Morale that just recently risen from 73 to 74 arose again to a satisfactory 75.
On the Steppes, the Army of the Urals’ 164th Regular Banner moved on Karaganda but went to defense due to low cohesion. Its 13,000 men and 48 guns outnumbered the prospectors and horsemen who were now under the competent Russian officer Ivan Krasnov (5-2-1) at Karaganda itself, but the attack woulid await the arrival of the fresh Shantung Banner. This arrived and passed quickly to the assault. In the battle of Karaganda the 25,800 Chinese and 96 cannon of two banners, led by local unit commanders, attacked Krasnov’s 5162 men, mostly cavalry, and 24 cannon who were entrenched in the field. The Shantung Banner assaulted the Cossack 6th Host fiercely. The Banner was well lead but fatigued, and faced effective artillery fire from the Cossacks, who were, however, somewhat unnerved during the attack. 2511 Cossacks were casualties; Imperial losses in infantry were 2844. Krasnov retreated south to Yasi.
In the northeast theatres, Ma Xinyi was unable to catch the Russians in the woods of Bratsk. The Russian cavalry and horse artillery slipped away to the far snowy north region of Chunskoye where they caught and slaughtered 500 bandits near the end of the month. However, Ma Xinyi’s banner was in pursuit, supported by a supply train in Bratsk and its escorts, and would give them little rest.
Farther east, near Amur Fort the 26th Column only besieged the fort loosely due to lost cohesion (though it had ample supplies available to recover in time). Mixed troops from the east and Zeng Guofan’s army from the southwest arrived in Iablonovy (where Fort Amur is located) in late June to reinforce the Imperial presence. Unfortunatley, a weak and fragmented assault on June 19 was outnumbered by the vigorous defenders and lost 845 men to only a handful of the enemy. In the Far East, Imperial troops landed peacefully in Kolyma on June 4 and began taking control of the province.
At home, a tribal revolt in Hue down in Annam was immediately crushed by the Imperial forces. There were ongoing campaigns against the Taiping. Imperial forces advanced up both sides of the Yangtze River to engage the Taiping force that fled west into Luzhou. They were caught and chastised on June 3, but the survivors fled into the western mountains near ungarrisonned Yibin – Imperial regulars and cavalry were in hot pursuit and scattered the Taiping with heavy loss on June 20.
On the south coast, the heavily-gunned citadel of Beihai was finally breached and then stormed on June 9 with heavy loss (3075 casualties) to the armies of 50,000 men in total that had been arrayed in the province. In between the Yangtze and the sea in the south, Taiping detachments appeared and were fought, chased and defeated in various provinces in a now familiar pattern based on a network of garrisons as well as mobile forces. Sengge Rinchen’s dreaded Mongolian Cavalry served with particular distinction.
Further technological learning matured in Naval Professionalism and Flag Signaling, which might someday be useful. News came of more rumors of war and of Chechen revolt in the Russian Empire. Attention, however, remained focused on Siberia.
Last edited: