yanku left the
capital to assume the active command in the field, while Kanghi, bent on
complete success, set to work to recruit in all haste a second army,
which he proposed to command himself.

The whole force raised was an immense one, considering the character of
the country to be traversed and the limited resources of the enemy. It
marched in four divisions, of which that under Feyanku numbered about
thirty-five thousand men. Despite the great distance to be traversed,
the desert-like condition of much of the country, and the fact that
deficiency of resources cost thousands of lives and forced many
detachments to retreat, a powerful force at length reached the borders
of Galdan's territory. After a march of more than three months' duration
Feyanku pitched his camp near the sources of the Tula, his army being
reduced to twelve thousand available men. These were placed in a
fortified position within the Mongol camping-ground of Chowmodo.

Meanwhile how was Galdan engaged? He had sought, but in vain, to win the
alliance of a powerful Mongol tribe, and had conducted fruitless
negotiations with the Russians of Siberia. His only remaining hope lay
in the desert barrier which lay between him and his great enemy, and
this vanished when the Chinese army made its appearance in his
territories, though its success had been gained at a frightful loss of
life. The situation of the desert chief had become desperate, his only
hope lying in an attack on the advance body of the Chinese before it
could be joined by the other detachments, and while exhausted by its
long march across the desert of Gobi. He therefore made a rapid march
and vigorously assailed the Chinese intrenchments at Chowmodo.

In the interval the Chinese commanders had found themselves in a
perilous position. Their supplies had run low, they could not be
replenished in that situation, farther advance had become impossible,
and it seemed equally impossible to maintain their position. Retreat
seemed their only means of extricating themselves from their dilemma,
and the question of doing so was under discussion when the sudden
assault of Galdan happily relieved Feyanku from a situation which
threatened the loss of his military renown. Of the battle that followed
we know only that Feyanku remained on the defensive and sustained
Galdan's attacks for three hours, when he gave the signal for a charge.
The wearied Eleuths soon broke before the determined onset, a disorde