Speaking of the anti-aggression war in modern times, in the patriotic readings of the last century, we can find such a story: the Taiping Army and the Foreign Gun Brigade.
The plot of this story is full of twists and turns, which is fascinating. At that time, the Qing government used the muskets of foreigners to violently suppress the Taiping Army, but unfortunately, it was defeated by the heroic Taiping Army in Jiangnan, which also made them understand that the superiority in weapons may not be able to win. And these heroic stories have also appeared in many film and television dramas and novel books, so that more people can understand and inspire these readers.
If you really want to be more truthful, whether there has ever been such a situation in history, my promise is certain.
At that time, the foreign gun brigade was a high-priced army hired by the Qing government, and they were formed by American hooligans wandering in Shanghai. These outlaws, because they could get a generous bounty, they were very willing to help the Qing government suppress the Taiping Army. These bandits have committed many crimes, and their deeds are often mentioned by the old people, who recall not only gritting their teeth, but also eager to pull these enemies out again for execution.
However, I don't know what the Qing government thought, but it hired such a group of low-quality soldiers, so it is no wonder that everyone's impression of the Qing court is very poor. In addition, these guys also have a characteristic, that is, they are particularly able to fight. The team of foreign guns is almost all foreign veterans, and the first commander of the army, Wahl, is a veteran without a division, although this army is less than a hundred people, its combat ability can be called a special force.
The Taiping Army repeatedly suffered losses in the battle against the Foreign Gun Team, and later, they also learned to be obedient and knew to update their weapons and equipment. With Li Xiucheng in his position, the Taiping Army successfully counterattacked the Yankees. From Songjiang to Qingpu, they struck this team of foreigners continuously, completely frightening them. Their commander was also seriously wounded, and if they had not escaped in time, this foreign gun team would have certainly become a prisoner of the Taiping Army.
Later, the development of the story enters the beating plot of the Yankees. In order to stop this decline, the Qing government absorbed a large number of soldiers into this foreign gun brigade and formed an armed force that combined Chinese and foreign forces, calling itself the "Changsheng Army". However, the re-established army did not have any advantage, and in 1862, they fought with the Taiping Army in the Battle of Qingpu, where the Changsheng Army was attacked by the Taiping Army, and thousands of soldiers were killed.
In the end, even Zeng Guofan of the imperial court sighed: "Like other armies in the imperial court, the Changsheng Army could not defeat the Taiping Army, and even feared the Taiping Army." Hua Er, the commander of the Changsheng Army, who was suppressed by the Taiping Army, was under great pressure in an instant, and in order to save face, HuaEr took the initiative to abandon Shanghai and turn to Zhejiang to fight the Taiping Army there. This time, however, he completely lost his hand.
In the Battle of Cixi, the Changsheng army was almost completely destroyed, and Hua Er himself, according to records, also died in this battle. Usually our patriotic education books are almost the same as this, and there is no need to mention the following things. But what happened to this victorious army? In this regard, we are still very curious, is it true that when Wahl dies, the Changsheng Army is disbanded?
This is certainly not the case.
The real situation in history is that After Wahl's death, the American, British, and French invaders competed with each other for the leadership of the "victorious army." Under the activities of U.S. Minister Pu Anchen, the American Bai Qiwen served as the commander. By early 1863, under the british activities, Li Hongzhang removed Bai Qiwen and sent the British officer Ogalen to temporarily replace him, and in late March, the army was led by the British Gordon.
A truly military-educated soldier, Gordon, took over the Changsheng Army, and it can be said that the Changsheng Army at that time was already a remnant and defeated army, and fortunately it was taken over by this soldier. After this soldier took over, the combat effectiveness of the Changsheng Army soared, rising to the highest level in history. At this time, the Taiping Army was in decline, and naturally it was not their opponent, so the Changsheng Army had to return the shame it had suffered before to its opponents.
Probably everyone did not think that Gordon had a great influence on the late Qing Dynasty.
Gordon's predecessor, Wahl, was so high-profile that his grave was dug up after his death. Gordon, on the other hand, was relatively low-key, born in London in 1833, his father was a general, so he received a good military education from an early age. Gordon entered the Royal Military Academy at the age of sixteen with excellent academic performance, and his integrity and stubbornness were the most praised by the instructors. Gordon also had years of combat experience, having fought in the crimean war, one of Europe's most famous wars of the 19th century.
After that, he became a teacher at a military academy, specializing in teaching military knowledge. It can be said that Gordon has been a soldier and a teacher, and he will definitely have a good future.
Even so, we can't think of Gordon as a good guy. Because he was deeply influenced by the fanatical ideas of expansion, and for this reason, he loved war and aggression.
After the Second Opium War, Gordon came to China and became a volunteer, providing military service in Tianjin. It can be said that before Gordon could deal with the Taiping Army, his hands were already stained with the blood of Chinese.
Compared to his peers, Gordon is the type of serious, learning-loving type, after all, he has been a teacher, and he is still superior in terms of cultural quality. He especially liked to write war notes, and his notes did not write anything else specifically about his crimes, such as: how many enemy troops he killed today, or what places he occupied today, how many interests he fought for the country, and so on.
In addition, Gordon also recorded the scene of the British and French forces burning the Yuanmingyuan. Whenever someone wants to study the history of European aggression against China, Gordon's notes are mentioned, its authenticity is beyond doubt, and Gordon's seriousness in this regard really surprises the Chinese people. When Wahl died in China, the Second Opium War between China and Britain had just ended, and China and other invaders regarded the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom as the primary target of annihilation.
It was at this time that Gordon was appointed as the commander of the Victorious Army. Gordon's contribution to the Qing government was mainly manifested in the brutal training of soldiers. When it comes to the Changsheng Army, the most important question Gordon wants to ask is why do they always lose battles?
The commanders of the Changsheng Army were mainly foreigners, and most of the Chinese could only assume the role of soldiers. Because foreigners despise Chinese, the commanders in the army either beat or scold the soldiers, and the soldiers are not convinced by the commanders and regard them as outliers. Such a team that is not aligned from top to bottom will certainly not be able to fight together, and therefore, such a team will certainly not be able to win.
Gordon discovered the crux of the problem, and he proposed that a team must be effectively trained, and only if a suitable chemical reaction is formed within the army will they work together against the enemy. In this way, the comfortable days that the Changsheng Army had before were gone, and the bitter days of being suppressed by Gordon began.
Gordon completely copied the British army management method and used it all on the victorious army. The soldiers resumed training from line up to practical exercise, and everything had to be completed desperately. The standards of assessment for training are the same as those of the British Army, which is very strict. Such a training method, even the veteran Stevit felt very crazy.
In the past, when China and Britain fought wars, thousands of British fought tens of thousands of Chinese, and they won easily. Now, set the training standards for the British for Chinese, and they may not be able to meet them. And Gordon's training standards, which are not specifically aimed at anyone, whether Chinese or Americans, are the same for them.
However, some American soldiers did not believe it, so they deliberately provoked, beat the Chinese soldiers on the training ground, and then took responsibility together. But Gordon was no slouch on this, and he took the American soldiers and demanded that one out of every five be executed. The American soldier panicked in an instant and slumped to the ground. However, the military law is ruthless, and they are still to be executed.
Since then, the soldiers have trained carefully, no one has sneaked and slipped, and their military level has also been raised. However, Li Hongzhang had a headache about this, because he paid for the army's expenses. The Changsheng Army used to collect enough military salaries by robbing the people of things, and under the leadership of Gordon, they could no longer take a needle and a thread from the people, so their military expenses could only be supported by Li Hongzhang.
In addition, the salary system implemented by Gordon greatly increased the enthusiasm of the army, but Li Hongzhang could not eat it. Later, whenever Li Hongzhang recalled this incident, he inevitably complained about Gordon, saying that he was too unreasonable. It can be said that Gordon's foreign gun team caused great trouble to the Taiping Army, and once frantically slaughtered the Taiping Army. After the war, he went to Egypt to speculate, and as a result, he was killed by the Sudanese National Army.
The Foreign Gun Corps did not exist for a long time, but its organization, equipment, training and tactics had a considerable impact on the modernization of the Qing Army. Among them, the Huai Army was the first to imitate the foreign gun brigade, equipped with Western-style weapons, conducted Western-style exercises, and took the lead in embarking on the road of military modernization.
Resources:
[Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Biography of Li Hongzhang, History of Wars in Chinese Dynasties, Review of Research on the Archival Work of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom]