In June 1862, King Chen Yucheng was arrested for the strategy of the traitor Miao Peilin and sent to the Katsuho military camp. Before his execution, Chen Yucheng said: "The famous generals of the officers and soldiers are rivals, one Bao and two Li only", of which "Bao" refers to the famous general Bao Chao of the Xiang Army, and "two Li" is Li Xubin and Li Mengqun. From this sentence, Bao Chao was undoubtedly a fierce enemy of the Taiping Army and a brother among the fierce generals of the Xiang Army. According to historical records, Bao Chao experienced more than 500 battles and suffered 108 wounds, which is rare in the history of the late Qing Dynasty.
From 1866 to 1881, Zuo Zongtang marched westward, first to quell the rebellion in the Gansu-Shaanxi region, and then to enter Xinjiang to meet Agubai, supported by Britain and Russia, and recover the lost land. However, Bao Chao, who had fought alongside Zuo Zongtang and suppressed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, did not go out with the army, but only recruited soldiers to fortify the Hebei area. You know, at that time, the Western Expeditionary Army was unusually short of fierce generals, especially after Liu Songshan was killed at Jinji Fort. So, why didn't Bao Chao go to zuo Zongtang to serve? That's interesting.
First, Bao Chao was not welcomed by Zuo Zongtang, and the two could not come together. Among the four famous ministers of the late Qing Dynasty, the most talented, the most capable, and the most arrogant and proud was Zuo Wenxianggong, Zuo Zongtang! Friends who know a little about the history of the late Qing Dynasty know that Zuo Zongtang looks down on both Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang, and he is the real king. So, what is the relationship between Zuo Zongtang and Bao Chao? Can the two work together? Quite simply, they don't fit in, they don't work together. Bao Chao once served under Zuo Zongtang and went to Fujian and Guangdong to suppress the Taiping Army's Wang Haiyang Department, but due to military discipline and grain problems, the two were very unhappy. During the suppression of the Eastern Twister Army, Liu Mingchuan was ambushed because of greed, and if it were not for Bao Chao's "Thunder Army" to come to reinforcements and fight to kill the enemy, it is estimated that Liu Mingchuan would have died on the battlefield a long time ago! However, Li Hongzhang, because he favored the generals of the Huai Army, instead said that Bao Chaoyi had missed the fighter plane; Zuo Zongtang also said that he was "proud of his achievements" and was increasingly disobedient to discipline. Since the relationship is not harmonious, it is not very embarrassing to work together, and if it is not good, it will affect the overall situation of the Western Expedition.
Second, Bao Chao is not a person of the Two Lakes and is not good at integrating into the Western Expeditionary Army. Since Zeng Guofan formed the Xiang Army, the country's armed forces have been in the hands of local power factions, and the source of the army is mainly recruited by generals in their hometowns, and the names of troops are mostly named after the direct generals or characters. In order to recover Xinjiang, Zuo Zongtang mobilized 60,000 or 70,000 Xiang troops, the main source of which was Hunan and Hubei, and the forward generals Liu Changyou and Liu Jintang were both Hunan people and uncles and nephews, and Zuo Zongtang could be described as fellow villagers. What about Bao Chao? He Xuren is also a Sichuan Fengjie person. Bao Chao was not a person from the Two Lakes, and he was definitely not well commanded by the Western Expeditionary Army, which had a great impact on the war situation, and Zuo Zongtang would not take this risk. It should be known that the "Thunder Army" that Bao Chao could command and move was disbanded shortly after the destruction of the Twist Army, and he had no direct subordinate units to call. If it is a temporary recruitment of soldiers and the formation of a new "thunder army", its combat effectiveness is difficult to guarantee, and it will also increase military expenditure.
Third, Zuo Zongtang did not want to intensify the contradiction with Li Hongzhang. Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang were originally well water and did not violate the river water, and there was not much contact during the period of work together in the shogunate of Zeng Guofan, which can be described as peaceful and uneventful. By the beginning of 1864, Li Hongzhang had basically pacified the Taiping Army in Jiangsu. At this time, he had 60,000 or 70,000 troops, 30,000 foreign guns, and hundreds of flowering cannons, and his strength was second only to that of Zeng Guofan's Xiang Army. However, in order to curry favor with Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang refused to send troops to besiege Jinling, so as not to rob the Zeng brothers of victory. Interestingly, Li Hongzhang marched into Zhejiang and grabbed credit with Zuo Zongtang, who was then the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, and the contradiction between the two sharpened. In 1874, due to the dispute between "coastal defense" and "Sai defense", Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang once again had an unpleasant quarrel. Not to mention the relationship between Bao Chao and Li Hongzhang, it is simply a mortal enemy and an enemy. Li Hongzhang first framed Bao Chao for passing on Liu Mingchuan to the Protectorate, and then ordered the dissolution of the "Thunder Army" on the grounds of "paying" and "not listening to the transfers". Therefore, Zuo Zongtang did not ask the imperial court to use Bao Chao as the main striker, most likely because he did not want to intensify the contradiction with Li Hongzhang.
Fourth, Bao was overweight and ill, and it was difficult to be competent for busy military affairs. As the first fierce general of the late Qing Dynasty, although Bao Chao was only medium-sized, he often charged forward and was not afraid of death. In early 1852, Bao Chao followed Xiang Rong in pursuit of the Taiping Army, fought a great battle under the city of Guilin, Xiao Chaogui, unfortunately was hit by a bullet, and returned to Changsha to recuperate for several months before getting better. Later, when fighting Chen Yucheng, his right arm was seriously injured by a rolling log, and his forehead was also beaten and bleeding, but he still did not leave the battlefield and continued to kill the enemy bravely. In his lifetime, he suffered a total of 108 large and small injuries, which can be described as scaly injuries all over the body. Because of this, In his later years, Bao Chao often suffered from the recurrence of old injuries, just like the wind eroding the years. The conditions in the Great Northwest are extremely harsh, and the soldiers who have been fighting here for many years are not physically strong, and they may not be competent. You know, in order to recover Xinjiang, Zuo Zongtang carried the coffin, because he was not in good health. However, Zuo Zongtang is the commander-in-chief, coordinating the overall situation, and does not need to go into battle to kill the enemy; Bao Chao is a fierce general, as a forward, he must take a machete to rush forward, how can he eat and consume. In addition, there are many affairs in the military, and Bao Chao's health is deteriorating, how to deal with it!
To sum up, Bao Chao, who was known as the first fierce general of the Xiang Army, did not accompany the army when Zuo Zongtang led the elite western expedition of the Xiang Army, but was stationed in Hebei as a second-line force. The reason for this is both physical discomfort and discord with his colleagues, but more importantly, he is not a two-lake person, and he is invisibly excluded.
This article is original by "History of the Country", welcome to pay attention to, take you to increase your knowledge! The picture comes from the Internet, invaded and deleted.