Chapter 27 his disciples his regiment

Apart from founding the Hunan Army, the reason why Zeng Guofan is called a perfect man or a master by later generations is because his realm and spirit are indeed a level higher than others, and he can be called a master. For example, Zuo Zongtang, his subordinate, always thinks that he is better than Zeng Guofan in terms of knowledge and ability to lead troops to fight, so he has been coaxing, arrogant, and not very obedient.But Zeng Guofan didn't take it seriously, and tolerantly forgave his rudeness, and tried his best to support him, let him take charge of an army (Chu army), and finally subdued Zuo Zongtang's proud heart.

Zeng Guofan's way of life tells us: Tolerance has never been weak. After receiving Cixi's will, Zeng Guofan decided to counterattack the Taiping Army on a large scale, and he did two things to support his decision: The first is to strengthen the army with technology. After seeing the strong ships and guns of foreigners, Zeng Guofan decided to build an iron-blooded army armed with advanced weapons.Therefore, Zeng Guofan took advantage of the good momentum of the "Anqing Great Victory" just obtained to establish the Anqing Ordnance Institute, which is the earliest modern military enterprise in China.It didn't take long for all kinds of bullets, gunpowder, guns, and even steam engine ships to be armed to various units of the Hunan Army one after another.

The second is to start a new strategic layout. Even if it is a counterattack, Zeng Guofan's plan is to concentrate his superior forces and fight steadily, step by step to clean up peripheral battlefields such as Jiangsu and Zhejiang, cut off their financial resources, prevent their foreign aid, and advance steadily. Nanjing. This strategy is undoubtedly correct, but there is a problem in its implementation: the extremely important Jiangsu battlefield lacks a reliable person to command.After thinking about it, Zeng Guofan decided to send his outstanding disciple Li Hongzhang to Shanghai to carry out work, hold back Li Xiucheng's main force, and cooperate with the base camp to fight, so that the Hunan Army can launch a general attack on Nanjing in the future.

Before Li Hongzhang left, he was summoned by Zeng Guofan to meet him. Zeng Guofan said to Li Hongzhang: Since you left, I have lost a right-hand man from now on! Li Hongzhang replied modestly: Teacher, there are many talents here, and there are many people who are better than me. Zeng Guofan babbled for a long time, and finally said the original intention of summoning Li Hongzhang: apprentice, the Hunan army is not enough now, and I don’t have any spare soldiers for you when you go. This time, I will let you be the commander-in-chief. Governor of Jiangsu, the official position is not small, and the power is quite large, but there is no one under him, so the matter of the generals can only be resolved by yourself.

After a long time of trouble, Li Hongzhang turned out to be a polished commander. However, Li Hongzhang is not a vegetarian, and such a difficult task did not bother him.Li Hongzhang, who came from a famous family, used his family connections to attract many family friends from his hometown in Anhui. "Liu Mazi" Liu Mingchuan also came here admiringly.In this way, Li Hongzhang recruited nearly 7,000 people in two months, and this was the initial team of the Huai Army.However, most of the officers of the Huai Army came from the countryside of Anhui. These rural men lacked modern military knowledge, which was not unrelated to the defeat in the Sino-Japanese War.

After the formation of the Huai Army, the time for Zeng Guofan's general offensive has come.In a calm and gentle tone, he issued the decisive battle order that had been waiting for ten years: Jiangsu governor Li Hongzhang led the Huai army to attack Jiangsu, Zhejiang governor Zuo Zongtang attacked Zhejiang, and Zeng Guoquan attacked Nanjing! With one order, all armies are dispatched, and the decisive battle on the Jiangnan battlefield begins! Li Xiucheng, this time, your end must have come!Zeng Guofan in the camp of the Hunan Army, his inner world is far from being as peaceful as he looks on the outside.

Li Xiucheng, the commander-in-chief of the Taiping Army, was indeed having a hard time, because the talents of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom withered. The reason why the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has a shortage of talented people lies in the attitude of the supreme leader Hong Xiuquan towards Confucian culture. Hong Xiuquan, out of resentment against the imperial examinations after repeated trials, carried out "cultural terror" activities in his ruled area.In accordance with the working principle of "principal leaders in person, responsible leaders in key areas, and professionals in charge", Hong Jiaozhu not only set up the "Book Deletion Office" to personally handle the work of deleting, deleting and revising the Four Books and Five Classics, but also arranged for his confidants to lead his younger brothers to burn ancient books. Confucianism.

After a series of actions, almost no educated people were willing to join the Taiping Army, and a very small number of participants did not end well. Therefore, the backbone of the Taiping Army was the miners and farmers at the beginning of the uprising. With the gradual sacrifice of these people, the combat effectiveness of the Taiping Army declined greatly. To make matters worse, the super fierce general Chen Yucheng, the king of England, was unfavorable in the battle in Luzhou, and died of betrayal during the breakout. He was 26 years old at the time.Chen Yucheng is like a cherry blossom, which blooms in full bloom in the strong wind but withers quickly.

The person who betrayed him was named Miao Peilin.This person went back and forth between the Qing government, the Nian Army, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. There is no enemy, self, or friend in his dictionary, only capriciousness, and only interests. He is one of the most unprincipled warlords in modern history.In the future, I will talk about a person named Shi Cuesan, who is as shameless as he is.In view of the main line of the story, Miao Peilin's deeds will not be said much. Chen Yucheng fell down suddenly, and Li Xiucheng was even more helpless.So after the decisive battle started, Li Xiucheng ran back and forth in Nanjing, Shanghai, and Zhejiang, exhausted from running around, and was exhausted every time he finished a battle.

One ebbs and another, the situation on the battlefield has taken a turn for the worse! Suzhou fell, Zhejiang was in a hurry, and Nanjing was in danger! The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is in decline, and its momentum cannot be restored by manpower!