Chapter 272 Marshal Shao is mighty!

Chapter 272 Marshal Shao is mighty!

Chapter 272 Marshal Shao is mighty!
The next day, the imperial edict was issued.

In view of the fact that the Eight Banners and Green Camp soldiers generally have low combat effectiveness, the court decided to disband the Green Camp and ordered the governors of each province to build a new army based on the model of the Huai Army, Shanghai Army, Hunan Army, Chu Army, and Ziqiang Army.

The new army was equipped with Hailing-made breech-loading rifles and purchased new British Armstrong artillery. It followed the Huai Army system and implemented a military rank system in line with international standards.

Plan to build the Baoding Army Officers School to train new officers and send them to serve in the new armies of various governors and governors-general.

The Baoding Military Academy was headed by Qiao Songnian, the governor-general of Zhili and the head of the Grand Council, and Emery, the vice minister of the Ministry of War, was appointed as the chief instructor.

The Eight Banners soldiers were equipped with the same weapons as the New Army, and all officers were sent to the Army School for training.

The court was still confident in Qiao Songnian's loyalty. Emery, a foreign general, must not be able to win the hearts of the officers trained by Shao Quanzhong. The court used him to train new army generals, and the level of new army officers in various places should be able to catch up with the Huai Army.

Seeing the Grand Council sending court telegrams to various provinces, Cixi smiled and said, "Sister, Zhang Zhidong's wisdom as the top scholar has not been in vain. Once the new armies in various places are deployed, the Huai Army will be indistinguishable from the crowd and will no longer have the confidence to challenge the court. When the time comes, we can appropriately disband the Huai Army. If the Qing Dynasty follows Zhang Zhidong's plan and trains 36 new armies, won't we become one of the world's top powers?"

Ci'an sighed, "We sisters have no idea whether the Eight Banners can catch up with the new army's combat effectiveness."

"If we can get 50% to 60%, it will be enough to protect the capital. Then we won't have to rush like we do now to mobilize the princes to come to the capital to defend the king and suppress the troops returning from the Western Expedition. Humph, if there are more princes in various places, they will not dare to attack alone, and the court will be stable."

…………

On October 15, the sixth year of the Tongzhi reign, after four months of marching, Shao Quanzhong led 48,000 Huai troops and 10,000 Qing troops, mainly from the Bordered Blue Banner, on an expedition to the West to join the Eight Banners Army, escorting Grand Tutor Qiao who had joined from Lanzhou, and arrived in Baoji on the way to Luoyang.

What annoyed Shao Quanzhong was that since the engineering corps participated in the construction of the Baoji-Lanzhou section of the railway, TNT explosives had been used, but one year and eight months had passed, and the Baoji-Lanzhou section of the railway had not yet been completed. Alas, industrialization was really difficult.

Here, the army received news that the imperial court had dispatched four warlords to Beijing to participate in the military parade, in preparation for training a new army and establishing the Baoding Army Officers School.

Emery was very proud to be appointed as the chief instructor of the military academy. In the future, the new generation of generals of the Qing Dynasty would come from his school, and he would go down in history because of this.

However, after Grant's reminder, he still went to see Shao Quanzhong, "Marshal, should I accept this appointment?"

Shao Quanzhong smiled mysteriously, "Why not accept it? No one is more suitable for this position than you. When my adoptive father retires in the future, you will be the principal and do your job well."

"But Grant said that after training a large number of new army generals for the Qing Dynasty, our Huai Army's advantages will be gone, which will be a great obstacle to your domination of the world."

Shao Quanzhong patted Emery on the shoulder and said, "Xiao Ai, if you don't understand politics, don't get involved and just be a professional soldier. Lao Ge, although he has some political skills, I think they are limited. He has never heard of what happened to the Han Dynasty after the 18 princes fought against Dong Zhuo.

My adoptive father would not be Master Dong, and I would not be Lu Bu. The Qing Dynasty is such a big country, if the Huai Army alone rebelled, it would not be able to dig up the foundation of the Qing Dynasty.

Delegating the power to train new troops to the governors and governors-general was the root of the trouble. The two old ladies in charge of the Qing Dynasty were fooled by Zhang Zhidong, a cunning guy. "

"Zhang Zhidong gave this idea to the two Empress Dowagers. He actually supports you, Marshal?"

"He is also testing my patience and courage. If I am eager to rebel within a few years, then this idea is to prevent me from rebelling. If I am willing to wait, hehe..."

Emery left with a lot of doubts, and patted the back of his head as he went out. It seems that politics is really not something I can play by myself. I just made up my mind to follow the commander-in-chief. Anyway, the commander-in-chief agreed that I should be the chief instructor.

When the troops reached Baoji and entered the inland area of ​​the Qing Dynasty, the marching speed suddenly increased.

Shao Quanzhong arrived at Longjuzhai by train the next day. Fifty 200-ton steam transport ships and hundreds of smaller sailing ships were already waiting there.

These sailing ships have been continuously deployed by Lord Qiao for more than two years to transport military supplies for the Western Expedition. The transport ships were built by the Zhenjiang Shipyard itself.

The fleet passed through Danshui and Hanjiang, entered the Yangtze River at Wuchang, and arrived in Zhenjiang ten days later, where they had to change ships.

Shao Quanzhong went ashore and recalled the past when he joined forces with Feng Zicai in Zhenjiang to defeat Deng Guangming's Taiping Army and the foreign rifle team, and defeated the coalition forces of Hong Renxuan and Li Shixian. It seemed like yesterday. His old brother Zhang Wushuan died here to cover his retreat.

A general wearing a snow-white naval officer's uniform and carrying three gold stars on his shoulders walked over quickly, stood at attention, and saluted Shao Quanzhong, "Liao Rong, Admiral of the Nanyang Navy, greets the Marshal!"

Shao Quanzhong returned the greeting, took off his white gloves and shook hands with Liao Rong, "Haichang, I haven't seen you for a few years. You are getting younger and younger, while I am getting old."

"Report to the commander-in-chief, the Nanyang Navy is ready to obey your orders at any time!"

Liao Rong led the fleet back south from Istanbul, and sent 6,000 Cossacks led by Ivan to Cyprus in Beirut. They stayed in the port of Limassol in Cyprus for seven days for repairs.

A naval base called Akrotiri was built next to the port of Limassol, which became a joint maintenance base for the British Mediterranean Fleet and the South China Sea Fleet.

Afterwards, the fleet sailed directly to London and received the last two King's Witness-class battleships.

Now, the British warships ordered by Shao Quanzhong in the third year of Tongzhi have basically all arrived, with only two 10,000-ton Minotaur-class battleships still being installed in the dock.

The original plan was to send the Marines back to Cuba, but Shao Quanzhong ordered them to return home immediately.

Shao Quanzhong will soon travel on this fleet, and the places he must visit are St. Petersburg, London and Washington.

When Shao Quanzhong went on a visit abroad, he met the Queen to receive the title of Earl of Zeeland and the Victoria Medal. He also went to the United States to receive the title of honorary citizen and the Medal of Honor. He also met Alexander II to receive the title of Duke of Almaty. All of these were face-saving things. He also had to marry Princess Lucia. He had to save face.

This third largest fleet in the world is a great tool for showing off.

So the fleet urgently sailed south, entered the Indian Ocean through the Cape of Good Hope, and sailed all the way back to Zhenjiang, the anchorage of the Nanyang Navy. It took more than 70,000 miles in half a year. Otherwise, why could the British dominate the seven seas? The speed of warships is far from that of the army, and the dragoon army is completely incomparable.

Shao Quanzhong had just wandered south from Tashkent towards Kabul, then turned back and only got as far as Baoji.

"Reporting to the Marshal, we are in a hurry to return. The two thousand Cuban Marines were not sent back in time and are still on the ship. Will there be any problems?"

"It's okay, it's okay. They are wearing American military uniforms. Who can tell they are the Taiping Army? Just don't let them get off the ship and cause trouble. Liu Niang, tell Shao Yuan to give these two thousand marines temporary pay and count them as my guards."

"By the way, Marshal, after the naval battles with the joint fleets of Argentina and Brazil, the Aegean Sea naval battles with the Turkish Navy, and the joint bombardments with the Greek fleet on the Turkish coast and the Black Sea coast, the first batch of naval cadets going to the UK have all graduated and become qualified warship commanders.

In addition, Zeng Xiaoyi was left in London by me. Zhang Siwen has already gone to London to discuss the marriage between the two families with Zeng Xiaoyi's future father-in-law, and I gave him a wedding leave. "

Um, I heard from Huier that the little girl was the daughter of Jisi and Jishu's Prussian tutor. Her name was Elena. She was only thirteen years old. Zeng Xiaoyi was really a beast.

Well, in the Qing Dynasty, 13 years old was considered a 15-year-old. There is a poem that goes, "She is 13 years old, and the beginning of February is the beginning of her virginity."

The hearts of scholars are dirty, please search for the shape of Doukou yourself. Foreign girls mature earlier than Chinese people, so there should be no problem.

The Atlantic Fleet of the Nanyang Fleet originally had 70,000-ton warships. With the addition of two newly-built Wangfu-class battleships, dozens of auxiliary ships built in Zhenjiang, the Haichang training ship, and the purchased Asben fleet, plus thirty thousand-ton transport ships, the tonnage of the Nanyang Fleet reached 120,000 tons, truly the world's third fleet.

The 120,000-ton warship, which also included a professional transport ship, could easily carry more than 50,000 people, all the heavy artillery on board, and even a horse for each person. The other horses were left behind in Longju Village and rushed to Fengyang Base by land.

Five days later, on the first day of November in the sixth year of the Tongzhi reign, the huge Nanyang navy arrived at Dagukou.

The Qing army commander at the Dagu Fort sighed. Just seven years ago, the British and French fleets showed off their might at Dagu, landed here, fought all the way to the capital, and burned down the Old Summer Palace. The Qing Dynasty was bullied at its doorstep and signed a humiliating treaty.

Now we have such a powerful fleet, am I dreaming?

When Shao Quanzhong landed, he found Qing soldiers kneeling on both sides of the road, each with tears streaming down their cheeks, shouting in unison, "Marshal Shao is mighty!"

The troops disembarked, equipped themselves, and headed to the capital for the review.

Three days later, the army arrived at Baliqiao in Tongzhou. Except for the cavalry's war horses, the rest of the horses were left here.

The troops had to circle the city half a circle, enter the city from Xizhimen, then exit the city from Dongzhimen and go to Dagukou to board the ship and leave.

Shao Quanzhong asked Shao Hengzhong to lead the team to Xizhimen to prepare for the entry ceremony, and he led the guard platoon to leave the brigade.

He and Qiao Songnian would go directly into the city to meet the emperor, and then accompany the young emperor and the two empress dowagers to review the triumphant Western Expedition troops at Chengtian Gate.

Qiao Songnian entered the city directly from Dongzhimen, while Shao Quanzhong went to Shunyi first.

He was sending the former Khan of Kokand, Mohammed Sultan, now Prince Zhongshun, to the house granted by the imperial court to settle his family. Who made him familiar with Shunyi?

Anyway, I won't go to the palace to meet the emperor until tomorrow morning, so there's still enough time.

The distance from Tongzhou to Shunyi is 40 miles, and it only takes half a day to get there.

After seven years, Shao Quanzhong saw the familiar Chaobai River again.

There is a new palace for Prince Zhongshun here, and next to it is a very high-standard villa, with imperial guards standing guard and eunuchs coming in and out.

Shao Quanzhong didn't care. The Kokand royal family traveled thousands of miles and finally arrived in the capital. King Zhongshun said goodbye to Shao Quanzhong temporarily.

The family will stay here, and the young King Zhongshun will go into the city to meet the emperor tomorrow, and the two will meet again.

Shao Quanzhong was riding his horse to enter the capital when he suddenly froze.

Huh? My old shabby house is still there! I thought it had collapsed long ago because no one cared about it.

Now not only has it not collapsed, but it has been renovated. Has it been occupied by some other homeless person?

Shao Quanzhong dismounted and walked away slowly subconsciously, with only Hu Liuniang following behind him.

Hu Liuniang moved her ears and took a defensive posture, but suddenly recovered.

There were two guys on the roadside who were obviously masters of more than masters. They were about to rush out to block the road, but were stopped by a eunuch.

The eunuch knew An Dehai, who had been to Fengyang to deliver the imperial edict. Why did he come here?
An Dehai had a mysterious smile on his face, which looked very abnormal.

Shao Quanzhong was not an expert and did not notice the interaction between Hu Liuniang and the two palace guards, nor did he notice An Dehai who had quickly hidden himself.

He was walking towards his old residence and suddenly found that Hu Liuniang didn't follow him for some reason.

(End of this chapter)