Han’s Son is Not a Slave

Zhou Shixiang did not return to the southern capital, but recuperated in Zhenjiang. Previously, in order to stabilize the military's heart, he had to mount a horse, which resulted in aggravated leg injuries and some displacement of the leg bones. Therefore, after crossing the river, under the dissuasion of the bosses, Zhou Shixiang had to temporarily recuperate in Zhenjiang, lest the bumps cause his right leg to fall and be disabled for life. . He did not live in Zhenjiang City, but chose to recuperate at Ganlu Temple on Beigu Mountain in Zhenjiang.

Before leaving Yangzhou, Zhou Shixiang issued a decree to appoint Ge Yi as the strategic envoy of Jianghuai, and at the same time set up the Jiangbei Army.

Jiangbei Army is another fixed corps formation after Taiping Army's expedition to Annan. The corps has jurisdiction over three infantry towns and one cavalry town. Infantry Town has set up an artillery battalion in addition to the original three brigades, with 10,020 soldiers in each town. The three towns were adapted and expanded from the original first town, the third town Brigade, and the thirteenth town. Among them, there are 3,500 veteran officers and soldiers in the first town, and more than 6,000 soldiers for surrender; there are more than 900 veteran officers and soldiers in the C Brigade of the third town, and more than 1,000 officers and soldiers were transferred from the second town, and more than 6,000 soldiers were recruited; the thirteenth town Then make up more than 4,000 soldiers. A total of 17,000 soldiers were added to the three towns.

The sources of supplementary troops were all the Qing troops who had been captured and surrendered in previous battles since crossing the river, mainly the Green Battalion and the Han troops. Regarding the disposal of the surrendered army, Zhou Shixiang followed his previous requirements and strictly ordered the generals not to lead troops and not to return to the generals, that is, the original Qing army officers at all levels (above the general) were all escorted to Nanjing and Zhenjiang, and they could not lead their troops directly to Taiping. Served in the military. Soldiers were scattered and filled into towns. First, they were organized by the security forces of the towns to carry out ideological reform and 15-day camp training. After that, they were distributed to the guards and teams by the towns.

The middle and high-ranking generals of the Qing army who were escorted to Nanjing and Zhenjiang were enrolled in military reform classes, and they were used according to their abilities and performance. For the Qing generals (more than a thousand generals) who committed the crime of massacres, and were not forced to surrender anyway, Zhou Shixiang gave the following opinions: they should all be punished by the canon, and no connivance should be tolerated. For the Qing generals who took the initiative to go against the grain, Zhou Shixiang's opinion was that those who were willing to remove their armor would be given financial subsidies and allowed to return to their hometowns. Those who are still willing to serve in the army shall be demoted and used according to the original officer. The downgrade standard is determined by the amount of credit it has made anyway.

For example, Huai'an General Lu Rulong, because of his merits, is now arranged to be Qianhu, the third town of Jiangbei Army, Wuerte, Gongjianse, Yue Deji, etc. Anyway, the two white flag generals will be given official positions (leaders) below the Beidi General Army. In the future, after the army goes north to recover these places, it will be taken by them. It is only because of the situation that it has to be reversed. Anyway, those who have not made any achievements in the future, such as the green battalion generals of the Han army in the city of Yangzhou, should consider using them.

The supplemented first town was renamed the first town of Jiangbei Army, stationed in Yangzhou, and the town would be taken over by the former fifteenth town general Qi Hao; the third town C Brigade was renamed the second town of Jiangbei Army, and the town would be promoted by Zhu Qinglai, the former deputy general of the first town. ; The thirteenth town was originally composed of the children of the wolf soldiers recruited from Guangxi, and now it is renamed the third town of Jiangbei Army. The town general is Shang Keyuan, an old general under the Qingping Nanfan; the cavalry town is composed of two white flags full of soldiers anyway. The captured Mongolian army and Taiping army veteran cavalry consisted of hundreds of people, a total of more than 4,000 people, called the second town of cavalry, and the town will be taken over by Shao Chengguo of Xinsan Town.

After the Jiangbei Army is formed and replenished, it will advance to Gaoyou and Baoying in the north, and the troops will go straight to Huai'an Prefecture, and then stationed in Xuzhou. (Anhui), establish a solid line of defense and a forward fulcrum in the Huaiyang area. This is called guarding the river and guarding the Huai.

After the troops were added to the towns, a new ranking system was established. That is, based on the time of their surrender, each batch of soldiers will be graded, and then they will be promoted based on their battlefield performance and military merit. For towns that have added too many troops, except for the Anjun army, the principle of "demotion first and then subordinate" is generally followed. A hierarchical system is formed between them, thereby weakening the group resistance that may exist in the surrendered troops, and also facilitating the management and training of the surrendered troops.

Some people joked that this method was very similar to the Manchurian Eight Banners system, except that the Manchus suppressed Mongolia, and the Mongolian suppression of the Han army became the Taiping officers and soldiers who suppressed the troops first, and then suppressed the troops and then lowered the troops. The essence is the same, the name is different, the soup is not changed, and the effect is good.

Facts have proved that a large number of Qing soldiers who had been captured and surrendered in the early days became extremely loyal to the Taiping army once they obtained the governance rights given to them by the Taiping army, and they were happy to be in front of the prisoners who had just been taken into the camp.” To show their own existence, for the "later surrendering soldiers" who violated the Taiping army regulations and orders, these "first surrendering soldiers" can't wait to attack them. And once the "later descendants" showed some kind of hostility to the Taiping Army or the "first descendants", often without officers and Anjun envoys to come forward, these "later descendants" would be confronted by the "first descendants" "The lessons ranged from corporal punishment in mild cases to death in severe cases.

Because the system of An Junshi was only in its infancy, it was not mature, and there was a lack of sufficient personnel, and Zhou Shixiang did not have enough time to perfect this matter. Therefore, the Taiping Army actually turned towards the side he did not want to see. That is the hierarchy of the military, not the integration of officers and soldiers he envisioned earlier~www.readwn.com~ The most serious consequence of the hierarchical military is the existence of a large number of lynchings in the military, which is extremely human rights in the words of later generations. This is mainly reflected in the newly recruited soldiers. Under the layer-by-layer rule of the officers and the first soldiers, the situation of these latter soldiers was not much different from that of the Qing army before.

Because of the constant fighting and casualties, two-thirds of the Anjun envoys who came out of the Anjun envoy training course held by Zhou Shixiang in Guangdong in the early days were killed in action. Many of the current Anjuni envoys are appointed by officers. Besides, he didn't know what the An Jun Envoy was and what the An Jun Envoy's mission was. Every time there was a battle, most of these Anjun envoys drew their swords and shouted to charge as before, not knowing what they were going to do. What troubles Zhou Shixiang even more is that these new Anjun envoys are almost 100% illiterate, so it is almost impossible to count on these illiterate Anjun envoys to transform the Taiping Army into a people's army of "officers and soldiers". is delusional.

Zhou Shixiang was also very helpless about this situation. As the snowball of the Taiping Army rolled bigger and bigger, he found that he would lead a typical ancient army in the future. If he wanted to change this fact, what he had to do There are many more, which can be described as a long way to go. Even in his lifetime, he may not be able to successfully transform the Taiping Army, because except for him, everyone under his subordinates, whether they are senior generals or ordinary soldiers, are the native aborigines of this era. He can use his strength to implement his political ideas, lead his subordinates to take revenge and rejuvenate the Han family, but it is impossible for him to completely transform his subordinates into people hundreds of years later through his strength. (To be continued.)