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"Look to the right...look forward!" "Stand at attention and take a break!"
"Put your gun on your shoulder and walk together..."
Outside Tongshun Building, located at the junction of the British Concession and the Chinese Concession, on a road that did not have many people in the past, a loud command and the sound of uniform footsteps rang out early this morning.
A total of eight companies, infantrymen wearing the uniforms of Xiangyong of the Qing Dynasty, carrying brand-new brown bass rifles with bayonets, practiced on this cold road for most of the morning under the command of the officers. I started practicing after breakfast until it was almost noon, with only two breaks, each lasting less than a quarter of an hour.
Although the physical exertion of the training is not very high, it only consists of four events: formation, marching, raising a gun, and simulated reloading. But after practicing over and over again for a whole morning, it is really hard enough!
Not to mention the Eight Banners and the Green Camp of the Qing Dynasty, not even a company of British soldiers and a company of French soldiers in the concession practiced this way...
While the eight companies of Xiang Yong were training troops, several officials wearing linen coats and carrying swords were also outside Tongshun Tower, holding a red flag embroidered with the seven characters "The Great Wall Will Never Fall." Staring down, the leader among them was a tall and burly young official with a height of 1.78 meters. It was Luo Yaoguo who was about to be revered as "Snow Commander"!
Looking at the 800 new troops in front of him, Luo Yaoguo finally showed an expectant expression - this was the new army in his mind that could wipe out the Manchus, unify the world, and compete with the great powers.
Of course, they are just new troops in the entry-level stage. They can walk in a queue and shoot a dozen flintlock rifles. This was when Luo Yaoguo started from the first lecturer class in Daozhou. It took him ten months to slowly The only ones who had accumulated and could actually reach the queue were the 500 former teaching brigade soldiers that Wang Dalong had been leading.
The three hundred dark hall soldiers brought by Jiao Hong and Feng Zicai were not very good. Not only did the team look crooked, but the soldiers who formed the queue would scratch their heads and twist around if they stood for a little longer.
However, the obedience of these Dark Hall warriors to Luo Yaoguo is extremely high, and their loyalty to the cause of the Kingdom of Heaven is also top-notch. All of them are glorious members of the God Worshiping Society, otherwise they would not be able to enter the Dark Hall. So. When Luo Yaoguo stopped here, they were all very motivated and practiced very seriously.
Luo Yaoguo estimated that if the current training intensity is maintained, in ten days at most, the soldiers in the dark hall will be as strict as the soldiers in the teaching brigade.
At that time, the new army can be expanded...According to the standard of expanding four companies from one company to another, eight companies can be expanded into thirty-two companies, which is 3,200 people. Twenty-seven companies will be drawn out of them to form Three battalions, and the remaining five companies were organized into artillery company, engineer company, baggage company, cavalry company, and guard company.
As long as some foreign soldiers and generals are added as consultants, the air of a trainer will be there!
As for Liu Lichuan and Li Yunxian's people, let them stay in Shanghai County... When the time comes, Xiaodao will revolt in Shanghai County, and the Shanghai New Army will take over the defense of the Shanghai Concession!
As long as it can be delayed for a few weeks, Su Sanniang, Zeng Tianyang, Li Shoucheng and others will lead the 20,000-strong army to Shanghai.
By then, the number of Taiping troops in Shanghai will exceed 25,000, the number of foreign guns they possess should also exceed 15,000, and the number of foreign cannons will be at least 70 or 80. As long as there is another year or two, Luo Yaoguo believed that he could expand and transform the 25,000 troops into three 9,000 infantry divisions. With three new army divisions and a God-Worship Association that had been transformed into a revolutionary party, Luo Yaoguo Then you have some confidence to complete your "traveler's mission" - make China great again!
Of course, he also knows how difficult it is to achieve this big goal!
In today's world, the great powers are looking around, and although China has long been poor and weak, in the eyes of these great powers, it still has a lot to exploit.
Two Western carriages, escorted by dozens of Shanghai regiment trainees carrying foreign guns and knives in their belts, slowly drove into this cold road.
"Huh?"
Ma Hui, an American red-necked major sitting in one of the carriages, was stunned when he saw the New Army soldiers lining up outside the carriage window.
Yesterday, when Luo Yaoguo led 500 of the "Qing's Strongest Infantry" to take up military posture outside the British Consulate, he had already returned to the less popular "American Concession" on the north bank of the Suzhou River, so he didn't know about this.
So when I saw the eight companies training today, I was completely stunned.
At first glance, this level is almost on par with their Virginia "state soldiers"!
"Robert, these are the Hunan troops from Hunan. They were brought by the chief secretary of Lord Luo, the governor of Hunan, to help defend Shanghai."
The speaker was a young man with handsome features and a smile on his face. He was in his twenties, wearing a well-dressed suit, but "wearing a dress, leaving his braids behind his head." He could also speak fluent American English.
This young man's name is Wu Chaoyue, he is Wu Jianzhang's only grandson, the heir to one-seventh of the shares of Qichang Foreign Company, and of course he is also a famous dandy on the beach in Shanghai.
He and Ma Hui, a former "state soldier" major from Virginia, USA, are "wine, meat, sex and gambling" friends, so today it was he and his grandfather Wu Jianzhang who came forward to invite this major Ma Hui to Tongshun House for a big meal During the meal, he also said that he would introduce him to a capable foreign minister from Hunan.
Major Ma Hui had no interest in a capable foreign minister from an inland province in China. In the eyes of foreigners in Shanghai and Hong Kong, the only Chinese official who could communicate was Wu Jianzhang.
How could an official from a closed inland province understand Westernization?
"This, is this really the army from Hunan?" It took Ma Hui a while to realize it, and then he thought of something that made him break into a cold sweat on his forehead.
The Qing army in Hunan was of this quality, so how were they defeated by the Taiping Army?
Could it be that the Taiping Army was not a desperate mob, but an army like the Revolutionary Army of the French Republic?
This American, who was thinking about the republican revolution, had already imagined the scene of the Taiping Army holding high the tricolor flag, carrying flintlock guns, and charging towards the Qing army's new army.
The carriage had stopped in front of Tongshun Building at this time.
With the command of "Stand at attention...salute", Major Ma Hui came to his senses from his wild thoughts. He turned around and saw that hundreds of new Qing Dynasty Army soldiers had formed a formation on both sides of the carriage door where he was riding. There are two square formations, and there is a road leading to the gate between the square formations.
Several Chinese officers wearing mandarin jackets, wearing turbans, and carrying waist knives stood solemnly outside the gate. Red military flags were flying in the two square formations and behind the officers.
"Welcome, distinguished Major Ma Hui, I am Luo Xueyan, the chief secretary to Mr. Luo, the governor of Hunan Province in the Qing Dynasty... I grew up listening to the story of Washington, the founding president of your country. Today I finally met the American from Washington's hometown. A soldier!"
When a tall Qing Dynasty official with a gentle smile, who spoke "Oxford-accented English" and claimed to have "grew up listening to stories about Washington", stood in front of Major Ma Hui, who had just gotten out of the carriage, and stretched out his right hand to talk to him. When shaking hands, he had a little self-doubt - did he drink too much last night? Is he dreaming now?
An official of the Qing Dynasty actually "grew up listening to stories about Washington"?
Could it be that there are republicans in the Qing Dynasty now?
Their progress seems a bit fast! Will the Qing Dynasty become a republic in a few years?
"Mr. Ma Hui! Robert Ma Hui!"
Wu Chaoyue saw that his foreign friend seemed to be under a restraining spell, so he quickly reminded him loudly.
Major Ma Hui then seemed to have woken up from a dream, and stretched out his hand to Luo Yaoguo, who shook his hand vigorously, then took his hand and raised it high, shouting in English: "Salute to Washington, let China once again great!"
As soon as he shouted these words, Wu Jianzhang, who could understand English, and Wu Chaoyue's grandfather and grandson all changed their expressions - who is this Luo Xueyan? He can't be a revolutionary party, right?
By the way, his ancestor was Luo Fangbo, who also founded the Republic!
He has republican ideas in his heart! No, we must stay away from this scourge...
Chapter completed!