The statements in this article are based on reliable sources and are repeated at the end of this article
In the autumn of 1860, 6,000 British and French soldiers invaded Beijing with great momentum, and the roar of artillery fire was everywhere in Beijing, and even the Old Summer Palace, known as the "Garden of Ten Thousand Gardens", was destroyed by this group of thugs with a fire. [Pathetic]
However, long before the Anglo-French coalition took Beijing, Zeng Guofan, who had an army of 120,000, had already received an order from Emperor Xianfeng to lead his troops north, but he turned a deaf ear to this.
So why didn't Zeng Guofan save Beijing when he saw death?
01
On September 21, 1860, 6,000 soldiers of the British and French forces arrived at Bali Bridge on the outskirts of Beijing and fought against 28,000 Mongolian cavalry led by Seng Lingqin.
According to normal circumstances, such a difference in strength close to 5:1, the Mongolian cavalry has a very big advantage in this battle, and before the battle, Emperor Xianfeng also specially passed on the tactics to Seng Gelinqin after receiving the enemy's intelligence:
"The army is in front of the army, and the foot soldiers are behind, and the horse team is divided into two wings, and the foot soldiers are divided into three layers to advance. The front layer is on the ground, the middle layer is slightly down, the back layer is standing, the front layer shoots first, the middle layer follows, and the back layer follows. If our army bombards head-on, the horses will be crushed as soon as they are wounded, but if they strike diagonally and horizontally, they will be killed. ”
This meant that the enemy's army placed the cavalry on either side of the entire battle team, while the infantry lined up in three columns in a crouching, half-crouching, and standing position, aiming their guns at each other in turn.
If they chose to attack from the front of the Anglo-French army, the horses were likely to be frightened by the enemy's fire and the situation would collapse, but if they attacked from the enemy's weaker flanks, the enemy would inevitably suffer a lot more casualties.
In the eyes of Emperor Xianfeng and Seng Lingqin, they have studied extremely thorough and detailed tactics, coupled with the elite Mongolian cavalry who are good at fighting, even against the spears and cannons of the British and French forces, they have a great chance of winning.
The Anglo-French alliance did use a three-tier tactic as Xianfeng predicted, but he still underestimated the lethality of thermal weapons.
When the Mongol cavalry brandished their swords and guns and let out a deafening roar towards the British and French troops, the tip of the knife was killed by the incoming bullets before it could touch the corners of the opponent's clothes.
The war did not last long, and the Qing army lost more than 8,000 deaths, but the death toll of British and French soldiers combined was only 5.
At this moment, Monk Greenqin had an unprecedented despair in his heart, and for the first time, he clearly realized that the era of cold weapons had passed.
On October 18, 1860, the British and French forces invaded the city of Beijing, looted the Old Summer Palace, and burned it to a ruins with a fire, and Emperor Xianfeng also led the master to flee Beijing overnight.
In fact, long before the Anglo-French coalition captured Beijing, Emperor Xianfeng had ordered Zeng Guofan to enter King Qin, but Zeng Guofan, who led 120,000 Hunan troops in his hands, chose to die and not save him.
02
At the beginning of October 1860, Zeng Guofan, who was handling official business in the Hunan army camp, received an urgent letter from Emperor Xianfeng from Beijing, saying that the capital was now in danger and asked him to lead the Hunan army north to enter King Qin.
Zeng Guofan, who learned of this, did not take the Hunan army into Beijing as soon as possible, but after thinking about it again, he made a decision that shocked everyone, that is, to hold the troops and not move.
The Hunan army said that it was an army, but in a practical sense, they could only be regarded as a local regimental training army, and they were not regular troops subordinate to the imperial court, in our current words, that is, there was no establishment.
Their uniforms are also different from the word "soldier" written on regular armies such as the Eight Banners and the Green Battalion, while the word "brave" is written on the clothes of the Hunan army.
Not counting the regular army of the imperial court, then Xianfeng naturally will not pay much attention to them, not only the military salary and military food are pitiful, but also go to the front line to fight a tough battle, but the most excessive, is the Xianfeng Emperor who is extremely partial to his own people, and even after the Hunan army has fought, let the Eight Banners or the Green Battalion come forward to pick peaches.
And Xianfeng still didn't value the Hunan army, but at the same time, he looked for their faults everywhere, and scolded the generals of the Hunan army from time to time, so the Hunan soldiers, including Zeng Guofan, had long been dissatisfied with Xianfeng.
So since Xianfeng doesn't like the Hunan army so much, why do you want to allow them to exist all the time?
Because the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement had reached the point of uncontrollability at that time, the troops of the Eight Banners and the Green Battalion sent out before were buried under the surprise attack of Li Xiucheng, the king of Zhong, and they were almost completely lost.
But the affairs of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom cannot be left alone, in desperation, even if Xianfeng does not like or trust Han soldiers like Zeng Guofan, he can only hand over the cutting down of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to Zeng Guofan.
When Zeng Guofan received the order to enter Beijing and go north, he was besieging the Taiping army trapped in Anqing City, if Anqing was broken by them, the strength of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would also be greatly weakened, and the destruction of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was just around the corner.
But if at this juncture, if the forces are divided to support Xianfeng, then the Taiping army that gets the news is very likely to counterattack, and all the previous efforts will be in vain.
03
Zeng Guofan's refusal to go to King Qinwang in Beijing, in fact, there is another very important reason, that is, in the letter requesting support, Xianfeng did not ask Zeng Guofan to lead the Hunan army to King Qin, but asked Bao Chao to lead 3,000 elites to arrive outside Beijing, and hand over all these soldiers to Shengbao to lead.
Although there is a word "victory" in his name, he is a well-known general who often loses, and as long as he leads and commands a campaign, there is almost no chance of victory, but because he has the identity of the Eight Banners, even if he has no talent for fighting, he is still very much used by Xianfeng.
The Hunan army can be said to have been formed by Zeng Guofan and expanded to 120,000 people, not to mention that Bao Chao and his soldiers are the main force of the entire Hunan army, how could Zeng Guofan hand over his subordinates to Shengbao, a man who has been defeated repeatedly?
If Bao Chao had an accident when resisting the Anglo-French coalition forces, then for the Hunan army, the great cause of conquering Anqing and taking Jinling directly would have come to naught, and this would not be a great loss? If the Qing court fell again, then who would have to guarantee that the Hunan army would be able to retreat in its entirety?
But as a courtier, Zeng Guofan, it is impossible to clearly express that he will not be saved from death, and in order to euphemistically refuse the emperor, Zeng Guofan adopted delaying tactics.
He first sent a letter to Xianfeng, saying that although Bao Chao was very good at fighting on the battlefield, he did not have the mind to lead the troops to fight, and even if he was allowed to go to Beijing, it would not play a role.
In order not to let Xianfeng find out that he was shirking this task, Zeng Guofan also said in the letter that the emperor would choose between him and Hu Linyi to go to King Qin.
Now sending a letter can be received within two or three days, but if it is placed in ancient times with inconvenient transportation, even if the eight-hundred-mile expedited method is adopted, if the letter is delivered to the emperor, it will take almost half a month, and this is exactly what Zeng Guofan expected.
By the time Xianfeng received the letter, the British and French armies had already been laid down in Beijing, and whether he agreed to Zeng Guofan's proposal or not, he could not have the opportunity and time to wait for the letter to go back and forth.
After the British and French armies captured Beijing, burned the Old Summer Palace, and forced the Qing government to sign an unequal treaty, Bao Chao, Zeng Guofan and others did receive the news that Xianfeng did not need to go to Beijing.
04
In the eyes of many people, Zeng Guofan has an army of 120,000 but does not save the capital when he sees death, such a wise measure to protect himself is really a bit selfish, but why can he still be called "the first perfect person in the ages"?
Many admirers of Zeng Guofan spoke highly of him: "He has written abundantly, studied ancient texts and dictionaries, and has no disdain for the literati; he has managed the army in a good way, which is comparable to that of the ancient soldiers, he supports the army without self-respect, and he is good at changing power and retreats humbly, which shows his loyalty; he is devoted to his efforts and leads by example, which is tantamount to being a blue sky, governing the family in a good way, caring for his children, and also being a model for future generations." ”
Let's not talk about whether such an evaluation is too high, but Zeng Guofan did write a lot of golden sentences, "not for a sage, but for a beast", "The future is not welcome, there is no miscellaneous, and there is no love in the past".
Although Zeng Guofan was known as the "first minister of the late Qing Dynasty", he was actually not smart when he was young, he participated in the imperial examination six times, and failed six times.
But he was unwilling to bow to failure, relying on the tenacity and perseverance of not admitting defeat, he studied and wrote day and night, and successfully won the Xiucai in the 7th imperial examination.
During the Taiping Rebellion, the Qing government sent an extremely rotten army to fight against it, and the results can be imagined, but in order to resist the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Zeng Guofan in Hunan began to organize regimental exercises, that is, the Hunan army mentioned above.
Although this team did not win many battles against the Taiping army, it was better to have perseverance and perseverance, and after countless defeats, Zeng Guofan led the Hunan army to finally capture Anqing and put down the rebellion of the Tianping Heavenly Kingdom.
It is said that when Zeng Guofan's prestige in the country was rising, someone gave him a note, which roughly means that Zeng Guofan was brave and strategic, and there were hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers in his hands, and he could completely overthrow the Qing Dynasty and establish himself as king.
Unexpectedly, Zeng Guofan was so frightened that he swallowed it the first time he saw the note, and in order to reduce the court's suspicion of him, he took the initiative to weaken the military power in his hands.
Whether this legend is true or not, Zeng Guofan did never have the intention of rebelling in his life, and he also tried to prolong the life of the Qing Dynasty, which was shaking in the wind and rain.
In addition, Zeng Guofan can be said to be the pioneer of China's modernization construction, if it were not for the Westernization Movement organized by him, so that the Chinese people could see the outside world, the rise of the mainland's modern manufacturing industry would be many years later.
The first modern arsenal on the mainland, the construction of the first steamship, the first military engineering school, the translation of the first Western book, and the first arrangement for students to study in the United States were all created by Zeng Guofan.
Before Zeng Guofan died, he left a will for his subordinates and his family, and did not accept gifts or cash gifts from those who came to mourn.
05
In the eyes of many people, in the face of Emperor Xianfeng's call for help, even if Zeng Guofan's decision not to save him was often criticized by the world, for the situation at that time, he sent troops to die, and he just chose a path that was most beneficial to himself and the Hunan army.
So from this point of view, it is a bit exaggerated for many people to call Zeng Guofan "the first perfect man in the ages", but it is undeniable that Zeng Guofan has indeed influenced several generations in terms of military theory or political achievements!
Resources
[1] China.com - When the Anglo-French army invaded the capital, Zeng Guofan had 120,000 Hunan troops, why didn't he save him when he saw death?_Look at the headlines_China.com