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Lin Fengxiang had no desire to engage in political struggles, but he really wanted to establish a General Staff Department system in the Taiping army to strengthen the Taiping army's combat power. After expressing his views in court, Lin Fengxiang began to contact people from all sides. The first person they contacted was naturally King Chen Yucheng of England, who had suffered a great loss.
Chen Yucheng was nicknamed "Four-eyes" because he had moles under his eyes, which made him look like four eyes from afar. However, upon closer inspection, Chen Yucheng was a short and handsome man. If one only looked at his appearance, no one would be able to guess that this man was famous for being a valiant general. Originally, he had 30,000 elites under him, but he had lost more than 20,000 people in Anqing. Now, he had less than 8,000 troops under him.
When Lin Fengxiang came to visit Chen Yucheng, Chen Yucheng didn't look like he had lost his soul after the defeat. Without waiting for Lin Fengxiang to say anything, Chen Yucheng took the initiative and said, "King Zhang, I have no objections if you want me to join forces with you. However, I have something to tell him. "
Chen Yucheng is Chen Cheng? According to seniority, his nephew was Lin Fengxiang's nephew, so he didn't dare to call Lin Fengxiang Lin Da Ge like others did. Instead, he called Lin Fengxiang King Zhang.
Lin Fengxiang nodded. "Just say it."
There was a solemn expression on Chen Yucheng's handsome face. He said slowly, "After listening to Prince Zhang's explanation of the system of the General Staff Headquarters today, I was suddenly enlightened. It turned out that I was also imitating the Prince Of Qi. Now I knew that I was much weaker than the Prince Of Qi. However, apart from the system of the General Staff Headquarters, there is still a huge gap between us and the Prince Of Qi. The Prince of Qi's firearms are incisive. Seven years ago, the Prince of Qi began using the firearm, and we are still using the firearm. As for cannons, we are far inferior to the Prince Of Qi. Therefore, the Prince Of Qi had always fought head-on. No matter what kind of enemy it was, he would defeat them head-on. At a distance, he would shoot with a gun, but at a close distance, he would stab with a bayonet. But if our army wants to launch a surprise attack on the enemy, we can only use spear soldiers or saber and shield soldiers. Our army may not be able to use Prince Qi Qi's tactics. "
Lin Fengxiang nodded slightly after listening. He had a few middle-level officers under him who had been "wronged" by Wei Ze and came to seek shelter. According to them, Wei Ze's current troops had already eliminated the "advanced" firearm and replaced it with a rear-loading rifle commonly known as a one-on-one rifle. It was said that this rifle was extremely powerful and extremely accurate. A soldier with good marksmanship could accurately kill an enemy from two hundred meters away. Based on Vézé's military skills, the Xiang Army could not withstand a single blow from these weapons. In terms of weapons and equipment, Lin Fengxiang had no intention of competing with Vézé.
Therefore, Lin Fengxiang replied, "Yucheng, with the standard of the Xiang Army, the firearm is enough. Prince Of Qi's tactics are different from our army. No matter how the enemy comes, he will attack them. Moreover, in the battle plan formulated by the General Staff Headquarters, the echelon arrangement is very good. Who will attack and who will outflank the enemy is a part of the overall strategy. Therefore, every unit of Prince Of Qi's is used for a tough battle. Yucheng, even for someone like you who is extremely good at fighting, there are only a few units that can fight a tough battle. Prince Of Qi called this type of unit a field army. When Prince Of Qi left, there were at least thirty thousand field army under his command. Our Taiping army now has four to five hundred thousand troops, but I'm afraid there are less than thirty thousand of them that can match the standard of Prince Of Qi's field army. "
Chen Yucheng had no intention of refuting this evaluation. As a well-known general in the Taiping army, Chen Yucheng actually had less than five thousand troops that could fire a volley of guns and fight in close combat. If his unit was like this, there were even fewer soldiers of this standard in other units. Now that the Taiping army had suffered a heavy blow in Huainan and lost more than a hundred thousand soldiers. It was a fair judgment that there were less than thirty thousand field army soldiers.
"How many of these field army soldiers does Prince Zhang have?" Li Yucheng asked.
"Less than ten thousand," Lin Fengxiang answered.
"That many?" Li Yucheng asked in surprise.
Lin Fengxiang said seriously, "The main reason I proposed to form the General Staff Headquarters is to rope in Zhang Yingchen's royal guards. Zhang Yingchen had always been Prince Of Qi's subordinate, so he had learned the most from Prince Of Qi's training methods. "With the three of us working together, it's still possible to gather twenty thousand field army soldiers. "With these twenty thousand soldiers and the support of other units, it's not impossible to defeat the Xiang Army. "If our army still fights separately against the Xiang Army, the odds of winning are only fifty-fifty. "Prince Of Qi was able to dominate the world because he destroyed the enemy's army in every battle. "I heard that Prince Of Qi's key to war is that it's better to break one than to injure ten fingers. "The larger the field army is, the more prepared they are, and the fewer casualties they will suffer in battle. "The enemy's elite soldiers are constantly being killed. They either have to rob Peter to pay Paul, or recruit new soldiers on a large scale, so their combat effectiveness is getting worse."
Chen Yucheng nodded slightly. He agreed with Lin Fengxiang's opinion. After Vézé left the Taiping Rebellion, the Taiping Rebellion no longer had a field army like Vézé, who could easily destroy the enemy's army. Every high-ranking military officer treated their elite soldiers as their treasures and as a bargaining chip to decide the outcome of the battle at a critical moment. It was even more impossible for them to bring their own elite soldiers to join forces with other high-ranking military officers. This kind of cowardice and wishful thinking led to the loss of many battles that could have been won.
Lin Fengxiang tried to persuade him, "Yucheng, things with Zhang Yingchen won't go so smoothly. However, if you and I join forces, I'll let you command the troops after the reorganization of the army and I'll be the chief of staff. "Everything will be run like the Prince Of Qi's General Staff Headquarters. My army has a combat training department that specializes in training soldiers, and the field army will be replenished. The more we fight, the stronger we become. "In the past, I didn't know Prince Of Qi's secret of training soldiers. His troops are divided into non-commissioned officers and officers. "In the army, he teaches everyone how to read and write. Even the non-commissioned officers can read and understand military orders. They can even write military orders. "With these non-commissioned officers in charge, the troops will be able to command them with ease. "Compared to Prince Of Qi, the non-commissioned officers under my command are not qualified at all, let alone the officers. "Prince Of Qi always uses the strong to defeat the weak, so the more they fight, the stronger they become. "But now that we have a strong army, we can't wait to hide it for fear that something might go wrong. On the contrary, the more we fight, the weaker we become. "
After listening to Lin Fengxiang's explanation, Chen Yucheng was full of praise. However, when he thought about the fact that his troops would be merged with Lin Fengxiang's from now on, Chen Yucheng felt a knot in his heart. Even if Chen Yucheng had already agreed, he was not optimistic about whether his subordinates would be willing to merge with Lin Fengxiang. Moreover, after the merger, they would adopt a completely new military system. He could only say that he would discuss this matter with his subordinates first and try his best to make it happen.
Chen Yucheng's reply did not exceed Lin Fengxiang's expectations. If Chen Yucheng had said that he would definitely get things done, Lin Fengxiang would have been surprised. Vézé's troops had a natural advantage in terms of establishing a system. Nine years ago, when they only had a few thousand troops, they had already established the system of the General Staff. When they expanded the army, they already had a system, and the troops were completely unified. Thinking about how the Taiping army had not only failed to be unified all these years, but had instead become more and more divided, Lin Fengxiang felt a little sad.
After reaching an agreement with Chen Yucheng, Lin Fengxiang continued to visit the other civil and military officials in Tianjing City. However, Zhang Yingchen did not receive Lin Fengxiang. When Lin Fengxiang went to visit him, he was rejected. Zhang Yingchen was "sick".
Just as Lin Fengxiang was working hard, Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan issued an edict. The edict used the reason that there was not much food in Tianjing City as an excuse to order Lin Fengxiang to go to the East and West Liang Mountains to be stationed. The East and West Liang Mountains were very close to Wuhu. The edict was very polite. The food supply for Lin Fengxiang's troops would be handled by Wuhu.
Lin Fengxiang was not a fool. After reading the edict, he immediately understood Hong Xiuquan's intentions. It was obvious that Hong Xiuquan did not want to establish the system of the General Staff, so he directly sent Lin Fengxiang to the East and West Liang Mountains, which was far away from Tianjing City. As long as no one in Tianjing wanted to establish the system of the General Staff, this matter would end there.
Because he understood Hong Xiuquan's intentions, Lin Fengxiang immediately went to see Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan. The reply he received was, "The Heavenly King is unwell and cannot see your subject!" This reason made Lin Fengxiang furious. If Hong Xiuquan was not willing to establish the system of the General Staff, he could openly oppose it. What was the point of using such trickery?
But Hong Xiuquan was not there, and Lin Fengxiang could not directly rush into the palace, capture Hong Xiuquan, and interrogate him. Moreover, Hong Xiuquan did not attend court, but he still had enough power to influence the court. Prince An Hong Renfa and Prince Fu Hong Renda revealed their value at this time. The two first publicly said that Hong Xiuquan had ordered Lin Fengxiang to guard the East and West Liang Mountains, and then urged Lin Fengxiang to hurry up and not waste time in Tianjing City. Prince Fu Hong Renda even publicly said, "Prince Zhang, since the Heavenly King has ordered, we can only stop your food supply in Tianjing. As long as you go to the East and West Liang Mountains, you will naturally be able to get food from Wuhu. "
Lin Fengxiang had a lot of dissatisfaction with Shi Dakai, but the fact that Shi Dakai had forced Hong Xiuquan to take away Hong Renfa and Hong Renda's titles, Lin Fengxiang could not agree more. It was because of such a bastard running amok in Tianjing City that the generals outside were increasingly desperate against the central government of the Taiping Rebellion.
But no matter how dissatisfied he was, Lin Fengxiang could not force Hong Xiuquan to act according to Lin Fengxiang's plan. As a last resort, Lin Fengxiang could only first lead the troops to the East and West Liang Mountains.
On the day Lin Fengxiang left with the troops, a messenger secretly contacted Lin Fengxiang. At night, when the troops were stationed, Lin Fengxiang secretly left the camp with the guards. According to the agreement, Lin Fengxiang met with another small team. Although it was not very clear in the darkness, Lin Fengxiang could still recognize the leader. He smiled. "Brother Zhang, I didn't expect you to see me."
Zhang Yingchen sighed. "If I publicly see Lin Da Ge, the Heavenly King will know immediately. Then I can only not see him. I hope Lin Da Ge will not blame me. "
Lin Fengxiang did not want to discuss the reaction of the Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan. He ordered his subordinates to be on guard. He and Zhang Yingchen were alone together, and the guards around them could not hear the content of their conversation. Lin Fengxiang asked in a low voice, "Then why did Brother Zhang come to see me this time?"
Zhang Yingchen said frankly, "Lin Da Ge, I naturally agree with the unification of military orders. If we really join forces to form a field army and a combat training department, the first three months will probably be difficult. After the first three months, the days after that will be better. However, such a good thing can only be thought of and cannot be done. The Heavenly King only wants to take power for himself now. If Lin Da Ge really succeeds, the Heavenly King will only feel that there is another King Of The East. "
Lin Fengxiang could not say anything to Zhang Yingchen's frank evaluation. He said, "But if we don't do this, how long can the Heavenly State last?"
Zhang Yingchen smiled. "If Lin Da Ge wants to do this, he can only be like the King Of The East and let the Heavenly King be an obedient puppet in the palace. If not, the Heavenly King will give orders. Right now, he is only afraid that someone else will take power and seize his Heavenly State. Everything else is secondary. If Lin Da Ge hopes to borrow the power of the Heavenly King to push something, it's better to give up on this thought as soon as possible. "
"Brother Zhang, did you come out just to tell me this?" Lin Fengxiang asked with a hint of hope.
Zhang Yingchen answered, "Lin Da Ge, I respect your character. Even now, you are still thinking about the Heavenly State. I'm telling you this because I want to make things clear. I can't help you anymore. Big Brother Lin, take care of yourself! "R1058
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