When the Qing Dynasty fell, where did the millions of Qing troops go? The army has almost all become a decoration, but the new army cannot control it.
The Xinhai Revolution broke out in October 1911, and in February of the following year, Empress Longyu tearfully signed the abdication of the Qing Emperor. At this point, the last feudal dynasty in Chinese history was completely overthrown, and the Xuantong Emperor gave up Jiangshan, but he originally had a million troops under him, where did these Qing armies go?
Here we first introduce the types of Qing Dynasty troops. The earliest regular army of the Qing Dynasty was the Eight Banner Army, which was regarded as the cornerstone of the establishment of the Qing Dynasty, and the Eight Banner Army still existed at the end of the Qing Dynasty, which can be said to witness the rise and fall of the entire dynasty. When the Eight Banners Army first arrived in the Central Plains, its combat effectiveness was very strong. Li Zicheng's Dashun army and the Ming dynasty's army surrendered one after another.
Eight Banner Army
After the surrender of the Ming army, it was absorbed by the Qing army and called the Green Camp, which had a total of 600,000 troops stationed throughout the country and was another regular army of the Qing Dynasty. However, the combat effectiveness of the Eight Banner Army gradually declined, and by the time Kangxi put an end to the San Francisco Rebellion, the Eight Banner Army had no longer had too strong strength, and the status of the Green Battalion had surpassed him.
However, by the Qianlong period, the combat effectiveness of the Green Battalion had also begun to decline significantly. The imperial court began to encourage the provinces to develop brave battalions. However, the green camp and the army of the Eight Banners had not yet been disbanded, and there were still 700,000 or 800,000 troops until the end of the Qing Dynasty, but they were no longer able to participate in the battle, and the Qing emperor could only reuse the Yongying camp. The Yong battalion was mainly the Xiang army of Zeng Guofan and the Huai army established by Li Hongzhang.
Zeng Guofan's Xiang Army
The nature of the Yongying camp is relatively special, and the imperial court must rely on this armed force, and it must also beware of the development and growth of the army, threatening the rule of the Qing Dynasty. During the Sino-Japanese War, the Guangxu Emperor wanted to strengthen the centralization of power, and wrote an edict: "Because the provinces were very weak in their military defense, they had been carefully dismissed by the governors of the provinces and trained other useful soldiers." "This paper edict disarmed the Camp and retained the most elite troops. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, The Yongying Camp participated in many battles and defended the territory of the Qing Dynasty.
In fact, at this time, the Guangxu Emperor also issued an edict to "train other useful soldiers". Therefore, Yuan Shikai trained some soldiers and horses at the small station in Tianjin, and soon had an army of 7,000 people in his hands, which was the prototype of the new army at the end of the Qing Dynasty. Yuan Shikai then continued to recruit troops in the name of suppressing the Boxers, and the size of the new army soon expanded to 20,000 people. The new army at the end of the Qing Dynasty can be said to be the new military pillar of the Qing Dynasty.
Old photo of the Qing Dynasty: Beiyang New Army during the Reign of Emperor Xuantong
By the time of the abdication of the Xuantong Emperor, the Qing Dynasty's military strength was basically 4 kinds, eight banners, green camp, brave camp army and new army, plus local armed forces everywhere, calculated down to no less than one million. Although the number of troops in the Qing Dynasty was large, there were not many people who could really fight, and the main army force was the Beiyang New Army that obeyed Yuan Shikai's orders.
However, the army led by Yuan Shikai was loyal to Yuan Shikai and not to the Qing emperor, and the Qing emperor could not control it. Therefore, although the Qing Dynasty had a million troops, it had no military strength to use, and was eventually forced to sign the abdication edict.
The Qing Emperor abdicated
At that time, most of the million troops were decorations, and the truly powerful army was directly controlled by Yuan Shikai. At the time of the change of dynasty, the new army erected the banner of the Republic of China, while the Eight Banner Army, the Green Camp Army and the Yongying Army mostly collapsed in the course of the Xinhai Revolution. The remaining elite forces were also absorbed into the Republic of China army, or became other local police, which was where the million-strong army went when the Qing Dynasty fell.