C1006 The disappeared Xiang Army

"Forget it, forget it …" Xiao Letian waved his hand: "I've been in a bad mood these past few days and have been a bit troubled. I'll be letting you guys down if I take it out on you. I'll be letting you guys down …"

On one hand, his own strategy had been messed up, and was the main reason. But there was no way to fix this mess, and Xiao Letian could even take advantage of it to obtain more benefits.

What made him unhappy was that due to the strategy that had gone out of control this time, others had actually seen the opportunity to take advantage of him. Especially the cunning Xiangjun Group, who actually wanted to enter the border ahead of time.

In real history, it should have been seven years after Zuo Zongtang entered Xinjiang. He spent a total of seven years to pacify the rebellion in the pars dorsalis, and then, he led the troops out of Yamen in the first year of Guang Xu.

Furthermore, this war that pacified Xinjiang took three years to conclude, while Zuo Zongtang stayed for another two years until 1881 before returning to Beijing.

That was to say that the elites of the Xiangjun Group s had been dragged by the North Atlantic War to 1881, before they could finally heave a sigh of relief.

This year was in 1868, which meant that they would still need thirteen years to return to the Central Plains. And how many people could wait thirteen years?

Xiao Letian could not help but sigh in his heart. Many people did not understand why the Xiang Army did not rebel in the end, and why they disappeared into the river of history without a trace. That's the answer.

When was the Xiang Army established? It was already difficult to find very detailed records, but there were records on the Mansion's records that only the Imperial Court allowed local organizations to train in 1853, and it was only that year that Ceng Guofan received the authority to train troops.

This was all because of fate. Ceng Guofan was originally a capital official, and did not have a position in his hometown, but how could he train his troops in his hometown? That was because in 1852, two years after Xian Feng's death, his mother died of an illness. In accordance with the rules of the past, the official, in order to show his filial piety, had to return home to Ding You for three years.

It was also at his hometown that he witnessed the miserable scene of the local squire fleeing his hometown in panic or even abandoning his family business under the menacing threat of the Taiping Army.

The imperial government knew that Ceng Guofan was a talent, and also knew that he was worried about the old domestic servant, which coincidentally happened to be the frontline of the Balance Army.

When the Xiang Army Legion was established in 1853, let's assume that the average age of the recruits at that time was twenty years, then when Nanjing City was breached in 1864, what would the age of these veterans be? The answer was thirty-one.

This data was naturally not very accurate, because the army was absorbing new soldiers every year, which also caused the average age to grow very slowly. But this data was very accurate for the elites, because only veterans were the soul of an army.

After 1864, did the veterans of the Xiang Army release the Nanshan on horseback? Of course not, behind the Balance Army there was still the Twisted Army, and behind the Twisted Army, there was still the pars dorsalis rebellion.

When Zuo Jigao brought the main elites of the Xiang Army to the border in 1875, what was the average age of those old soldiers of the Xiang Army? It was 42 years old!

Of course, those forty-two years old who were still fighting in the army had long since become officers of all ranks. There were also some who were disabled and had left the army long ago.

At that time, the veterans under Zuo Jigao's command were no longer the first batch of veterans. Most of the soldiers that were absorbed in batches during the period of more than ten years when the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was at peace, belonged to the second and third echelons of veterans.

They continued to fight Xinjiang's Yaqub until Zuo Zongtang returned to the capital in 1881. The average age of these old veterans who were in their forties had turned white, they had used up all of their vitality and lives just for this empire, it was already past their prime.

The average life span of a Paleogene was not as long as that of a modern man. Where did the Xiang Army s go? In fact, they have already melted into the river of time, become the invisible dust particles in our civilization.

From their emotions, Xiao Letian hoped that these people would let the Nanshan go home early to enjoy the joy of heaven and earth, and stop fighting, they had already fought enough.

But from a strategic point of view, he still had to let the Xiang Army continue along the lines of his past life, at least at the time node, he did not want anything to go wrong.

This was because Xiao Letian knew very well that the moment Xiang Army stopped his national war, the strong Military groups would definitely release all of his energy. With Ceng Guoquan as the leader of the radical factions, they were bound to cause some trouble, and Xiao Letian could not fall out with them right now.

Speaking of which, why had Jiu Shuai not rebelled in his entire life? On one hand, it was because of Big Brother's suppression, and on the other hand, it was because of his age. He was actually defeated by time, just like Xiang Army.

By the time Zuo Zongtang returned to the capital in 1881, he was already 57 years old, and there were only nine years until his death. Even if he wanted to rebel, he did not have the mental fortitude to do so.

Thus, don't think that Ci Xi and the rest of the Manchu Group have any good skills in politics. Sometimes, when they are dealing with the Chinese Officer, especially with the old marshals from the Xiang Army, they would use the stupidest method and waste their time.

So what is true skill for a politician? Actually, it's just a matter of longevity. If you live longer than others, you will naturally be able to walk even further, even if you walk slower than a tortoise.

Xiao Letian waved his hand and stopped thinking about the situation, "It seems like the development of the situation is not under our control. There are many details of the ten-year plan that need to be fine-tuned, we need to hurry up and quickly resolve some important issues …"

"Once Russian reduces his support for Yaqub, Zuo Zongtang will quickly expand his support for the battle. Originally, I thought that it would take more than ten years to settle this war, but it's very likely that it will be brought forward …"

"On the contrary, in the Far East Region, our burdens are heavier … I really can't accept it, I have always hoped that Xinjiang will drag it out a little longer, it's just like carrying a burden, the things in Great Qing, the two borders, are the ends of the burden, the pressure on the west is lessened, and in the end, we have to tighten our grip on the east side … "

"Ai …" My Dragon Lord! What kind of hero are you? All of these, you will attract at least thirty to forty thousand Cossack's experts from the Great Western Continent, so this battle will not be easy! "

The three of them pondered for a moment, then Wang Huaiyuan asked, "How should we deal with the situation in Beijing? The ambassadors are now showing serious concern. We have to give a statement to countries like Britain, America, France and Russia. "Avoiding is not an option …"

Xiao Letian nodded his head, "My identity is too sensitive, and I can't always appear in Beijing. How about this, Xiao Hexin, make a trip for me, I will appoint you as my ambassador, here to deal with this diplomatic battle. "