Chapter 16 Recruiting troops and buying horses to train the Huai army

Hefei is the world of Li Hongzhang, and all his relatives and friends are there.Li Hongzhang was originally a well-known figure, and he had been trained in Zeng Guofan's shogunate in recent years, and he became even more famous.Therefore, the recruitment of troops in Hefei this time was almost overwhelming. Li Hongzhang gathered some well-run group training in Xixiang, Hefei. At that time, some of the more famous private group training in Xixiang Sanshan were: Zhang Shusheng and Zhang Shushan brothers Zhang Laoxu at the foot of Zhougong Mountain; Liu Mingchuan's Liu Laowei in the north of Daqian Mountain; Tang Laowei in the southwest of Daqian Mountain; Tang Brothers; Dong Fenggao and Dong Laoxu in the south of Daqian Mountain; Zhou Laoxu of the Zhou Brothers in Zipeng Mountain.

In addition, there are some government-run group training, such as Ye Zhichao and others led by Xie Xianliang in Zipeng Mountain. Among the above-mentioned team training teams, the three most capable of fighting are the Zhang Brothers, Liu Mingchuan and Zhou Brothers.First of all, the three of them followed the example of Liu Guan and Zhang Taoyuan and vowed to make some achievements. When he heard that Li Wen'an's son Li Hongzhang was assisting Zeng Guofan, Zhang Shusheng once wrote to Zeng Guofan to express his lofty ambition.At that time, after reading the letter, Zeng Guofan told Li Hongzhang that this person was like Zu Ti of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.Zhang Shusheng is older, has achieved the fame of Linsheng, and is the eldest among the three.

Among the regiment training recruited by Li Hongzhang in Anqing, the earliest training was the Shuzi camp led by Zhang Shusheng, and the Mingzi camp led by Liu Mingtraditional.This was followed by those recruited by the Zhou brothers' Sheng Ziying and Li Hezhang.The teams of Sanhe Pan Dingxin and Lujiang Wu Changqing were organized into Dingzi Camp and Qingzi Camp respectively. After the Shu, Ming, Ding, Qing and other teams arrived in Anqing, Anhui to assemble, Zeng Guofan proposed to meet the leaders of these regiments. After a dozen people including Zhang Shusheng and Liu Mingchuan came to Zeng Guofan's hall, on February 22, Li Hongzhang moved to the camp outside the north gate of Anqing, and Zeng Guofan came to congratulate him in person.Zeng Guofan has been hiding behind the screen for more than an hour and will not come out, secretly observing their reactions.

Among these people, Liu Mingchuan was the most angry and kept cursing, while Zhang Shusheng was the most patient.Zeng Guofan believed that these two were good generals.Since most of the troops recruited are Xinyong, lack of actual combat experience, and the number is not large, it is naturally not enough to protect Shanghai. Therefore, Li Hongzhang dug Cheng Xueqi's Kaizi two battalions from Zeng Guoquan, and asked Zeng Guofan to allocate troops from the Hunan Army to himself.In this way, the Huai army began to take shape, with thirteen battalions and a total of 6,500 people. On March 4, Li Hongzhang accompanied Zeng Guofan to inspect the Ming, Ding, Shu, Qing and Cheng Xueqi, Teng Silin and other battalions, marking the formal completion of the Huai Army.From then on, Li Hongzhang had a team under his own independent leadership. This army was the flagship product that helped Li Hongzhang officially enter the political and military stage in the late Qing Dynasty.

Shanghai in 1862, Qingming.The weather is warm, and there is still a bit of early spring moisture.People on the street leisurely enjoyed the breath of spring, greeted each other, and walked politely, as if Shanghai had never been so peaceful and quiet. In fact, since the beginning of the year, the Taiping Army has launched a fierce attack on Shanghai.In the two major battles of Gaoqiao and Qibao, Mu Wang Tan Shaoguang defeated Shanghai Daotai Wu Xu.Shanghai is in a hurry!The foreigners in Shanghai decided to help the Qing army. They organized a foreign gun team with 400 men and three cannons.The coalition forces quickly exchanged fire with the Taiping army.Sure enough, the first battle was won, killing more than a thousand Taiping soldiers and taking three hundred prisoners.But in the second battle that followed, the foreigners lost their composure.Although the Taiping Army suffered many casualties, the coalition forces also suffered heavy casualties, and even the commander of the British Army was shot in the leg.

Judging from this situation, there will be no peace in Shanghai.The seemingly laid-back Shanghainese were secretly discussing whether the Taiping Army would occupy Shanghai, or would the Qing and Allied forces repel them?People have speculated that in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, women did not bind their feet and men did not shave their heads, which was very barbaric, and Shanghai people didn't like it; The foreigners in Shanghai are domineering, and the Shanghainese don't like it even more.Which kind of power is better to rule Shanghai has become a topic of discussion for people in the streets and alleys.

The sound of chug chug came from the surface of the river. The high vigilance in the war made people feel nervous, and they hurriedly looked up the Huangpu River. There were two, maybe three, and more steamers coming slowly from a distance, emitting thick black smoke.Whose ship is this?Is it a merchant ship or a warship?What is on board?People have speculated. As the ship approached, people gradually became sure that it was not a merchant ship, because the decks of each ship were full of people, but it was definitely not a passenger ship, because everyone on the deck was wearing clothes of the same color and style.

The people on the shore finally saw the people on the boat clearly. The clothes of these people were tattered, covered with sweat and greasy, and the original color could no longer be distinguished. People in Shanghai noticed that although most of the people on the boat were not fully clothed, they all paid attention to wrapping their heads tightly with cloth.The word "Yong" is vaguely emblazoned on the back of their clothes.It appears that this is an army. Whose army is this?The Qing army stationed in Shanghai was definitely not like this.They wear gowns for officers and gowns for soldiers, with a row of knives stuck in their waists in a dignified manner, and brightly colored livery.The appearance of these people clearly shows that they are Chinese, not foreign troops; they do not have hair on the front of their heads, so they cannot be Taiping soldiers.

All of this makes Shanghainese confused.They rushed to tell each other: The beggar soldiers are coming, the beggar soldiers are coming! This beggar army was the famous Huai army that later became the main national defense force of the Qing Dynasty, and its leader was Li Hongzhang. Li Hongzhang recruited this humble army from his hometown, and made a special trip to support the Qing army in Shanghai against the Taiping army.Li Hongzhang also got the nickname of Yunzhonghe because of his tall, thin and noble personality. When Li Hongzhang formed the Huai Army, although it went smoothly with the support of Zeng Guofan, he also encountered many difficulties.In general, there are three points: first, the morale of the army is unstable; second, there is a lack of commanders;

But in general, the establishment of the Huai Army not only expanded the strength of the Hunan Army, but also enabled Li Hongzhang to have military power, which laid the foundation for his future military career. Compared with the Hunan army, the Huai army hastily formed an army and has different characteristics. When the Hunan Army was founded, all the soldiers and generals came from Hunan. The principle of its formation was to select scholars and lead mountain farmers.Its generals are mainly intellectuals of the landlord class who are obsessed with fame and fortune but have low political status. The traditional life beliefs of self-cultivation, family harmony, state governance, and peace of the world are deeply rooted in their minds, and the idea of ​​​​loyalty to the emperor is extremely strong.

And Zeng Guofan relied on Cheng Zhu Neo Confucianism, and led the Hunan Army with the sincerity and bloodiness of being loyal to the emperor and serving the country as the spiritual pillar. In the process of forming the Huai Army, due to the eagerness for success, the composition of the team was complicated.When Li Hongzhang appointed commanders, he valued ability. As for whether they were born in poverty or whether they were educated, he didn't care much. He despises those who have nothing to learn but don't know the world, and he doesn't think that people born in poverty are inferior. He even dares to appoint people from salt dealers and generals of the Taiping Army. Among the main generals of the Huai Army, only Pan Dingxin was born in Juren, and the rest, such as Cheng Xueqi, was a general of the Taiping Army with low moral character; As for the soldiers and bravery, the soldiers of the Hunan Army are generally unpretentious farmers in mountain villages, and they are easy to accept the indoctrination of traditional ideas.The main source of troops for the Huai Army comes from the brave regiments and the descendants of the Taiping Army, which can be described as an eclectic mix.Therefore, although the Huai army also had a strong local color, it was lighter than that of the Hunan army, and its generals did not have many scholars and no common highest ideals. However, Xianghuai was originally a family, Huai came from Hunan, and especially had the friendship of Suyuan and woodland, so the Hunan army and the Huai army were basically consistent.For example, in terms of battalion payment, training, and weapons and equipment, the Huai Army and the Hunan Army are in the same line.In short, the Huai Army is not only the inheritance and development of the Hunan Army, but also not a simple repetition; the Huai Army has similarities with the Hunan Army and has its own characteristics.This is related to the objective historical conditions and environment of the Huai Army, and is also determined by its commander-in-chief Li Hongzhang's thoughts on building and governing the army. Now that the Huai army has been formed, how to move from Anqing to Shanghai is a thorny issue.Anqing and Shanghai are not only far apart, but also separated from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom-controlled area. One can imagine how difficult and dangerous it is to break through the Taiping Army's defense line and leap thousands of miles into Shanghai.Zeng Guofan originally planned to order Li Hongzhang to lead the army to march by land. Later, because Shanghai gentry merchants paid 180,000 taels of silver, they hired seven foreign merchant ships to Anqing. Go east by water and go straight to Shanghai. From April 5 to early June 1862, the 13th Battalion of the Huai Army led by Li Hongzhang, with 6,500 troops, traveled eastward along the river from Anqing in three batches, escaped the surveillance of the Taiping Army, and arrived in Shanghai.On the eve of farewell to Anqing, Zeng Guofan worried that Li Hongzhang would not be able to place his military training and military affairs in the right position due to his lack of experience, so he warned Li Hongzhang to put military affairs first.In his view, only by training elite soldiers and learning how to fight can he gain a firm foothold and flourish, otherwise he will achieve nothing and even risk losing his life. Aiming at Li Hongzhang's Achilles' heel of arrogance, impatience, arrogance and self-will, he especially persuaded Li Hongzhang with two words of profound advice, and other friends also offered advice one after another.Li Xuyi ruled with the word calm, while Shen Baozhen and Li Huan warned each other not to rush.Li Hongzhang was deeply taught, and he should regard the advice of his teachers and friends as his pillow secret.