All the generals on the battlefield hope to charge bravely on the battlefield, and the subordinates are powerful, especially hoping to recruit a large number of veterans with combat experience. I believe that no one will oppose this view. But it is interesting to note that there is a general in our history who has done the opposite, and who himself has now become an example for many entrepreneurs to learn from.
This general who did the opposite was Zeng Guofan, who brought out the Xiang army with super combat effectiveness, successfully suppressed the Taiping Army, and also influenced China for hundreds of years.
When Zeng Guofan created the Xiang Army, it was all a scholarly practice, without a bit of general style, especially when selecting generals, selecting soldiers, and fighting wars, he was very stupid, and if Li Yunlong knew about it, he would definitely scold "this Zeng Dazi".
An excellent martial artist, of course, hopes that his subordinate Kong Wu is strong, and if he has martial arts, it is better. As for those students who have no power to bind chickens, they must be excluded. But Zeng Guofan was the opposite, the generals he chose for the Xiang Army were all xiucai and juren who were studying, and those who were born in the army did not want any of them, and Zuo Zongtang, who carried a coffin to Xinjiang, was a juren. Among the 179 generals of the Xiang Army, there were 104 Xiucai and Juren, and most of the others were also children who studied hard in the cold window.
Zeng Guofan chose to read people as generals of the Xiang Army. In his view, the experience of the army is important to the battle, but it is only the courage of the reckless man, and there is no firm faith. The believers of the readers are very firm, and once they go to the battlefield, the courage and strength that erupts far exceed those of the marching soldiers who can only fight.
Among the Generals of the Xiang Army, the most famous was Luo Zenan. Luo Zenan was originally an old talent in the countryside, more bitter than Fan Jin, and his 3 sons all starved to death on the day he rushed to take the exam at the age of 29, and since then he has long relied on teaching rural children to read the "Three Character Classic" to get a few old vegetable leaves to eat. Later, he joined the Xiang Army and became brave and strategic, leading 300 people to fight fiercely against thousands of Taiping troops under the city of Nanchang, and then defeated Shi Dakai, and eventually became a famous general of the Xiang Army.
Zeng Guofan chose soldiers, but also chose local peasants who had never been on the battlefield, and those Green Battalion soldiers with combat experience, he did not accept any. In his eyes, the Manchu Qing Eight Banner Soldiers and the Green Battalion soldiers had all degenerated, the soldiers' bad habits were difficult to change, and although the local peasants had no combat experience, they were very simple, had no bad habits, and their combat effectiveness improved very quickly in training.
Zeng Guofan's selection of generals and soldiers can be simply called the use of stupid people, in the war, he is also fighting stupid battles, a thunderous principle is to attach importance to encampment. If he encountered a march, he only walked 30 miles a day, and the rest of the time was spent camping.
The Xiang Army's ability to encamp is superior to all the armies in the world. On the outermost part of the camp was a deep trench 2 metres wide and about 3 metres deep; followed by a trench halving its width and depth; followed by a 2.3-metre-high and 2-metre-thick wall; and a wall with a halving in height and thickness behind it. In addition, the sentry at the camp was enough to surprise everyone.
When Li Yunlong camped, he only sent a few open sentries, dark sentries, and irregular swimming sentries. Zeng Guofan was not like that, he divided the whole army into 3 teams equally, two teams rested when camping, and the other team was all sent out to send out sentries. If Li Yunlong was like him, it was estimated that the Yamamoto special task force had not yet climbed the cliff of Zhao Jiayu's back mountain, and the whole army would be destroyed.
Zeng Guofan's selection of generals, soldiers, and encampments is indeed stupid, but he has done a solid job, achieved the ultimate, and finally become a classic. In particular, the selected generals were all intellectuals, who broke out with amazing strength on the battlefield, continued the courageous spirit of the Xiang Army, and finally became the backbone of supporting the late Qing regime.