He Guiqing, the dismissed governor of Liangjiang, was arrested by Guan Zhuofan and led troops to enter Beijing in the provincial office of Shanghai Province, and the incident of locking him into Beijing immediately caused a sensation in Shanghai. Whether it is in the officialdom, in the market, or even among the foreigners in the concession, they are all talking about this matter excitedly, and the voices opposing the establishment of foreign gun teams have naturally disappeared - there is an example of He Guiqing there, who is willing to do the song of war horses again?

No one doubted Wu Xu. In the Taoist Department, he pretended to be very similar to the one on his door, and deceived everyone. In fact, if it weren't for the invitation he placed, Guan Zhuofan would have had to spend a lot of money if he wanted to deceive He Guiqing out of the concession.

Count him as quick as he sees the opportunity, Guan Zhuofan thought to himself. In this case, we can still cooperate with Wu Xu for now, and we will talk about it later.

Wall began to run to the county office often, discussing everything about the foreign gun team with Guan Zhuofan. He Guiqing, a first-class master, blocked the way of the foreign gun team, Guan Zhuofan said that he would take it, which made Wall admire Guan Zhuofan and increase his awe, and felt that this person was extraordinary.

His two lieutenants, Forrest and Bai Qiwen, had also met. As fellow Americans, Forrest looked a little more composed, while Bai Qiwen looked a little more fierce, and their Chinese was not as good as Wall's, but they had no problem dealing with basic dialogue and shouting on the battlefield.

The question came out of an unexpected place: what uniforms should the foreign guns wear?

This was a question that Guan Zhuofan didn't take into account, so as soon as Wall brought it up, he froze, thought about it, and asked, "How about wearing the official uniform?" ”

Wall disagreed, and frankly stated that the Taiping army should be able to see at a glance that the foreign gun team was different from the ordinary official army, and was composed of foreign soldiers, which could cause confusion and make the Taiping army feel afraid.

Guan Zhuofan had to admit that he had a point. According to Wall's idea, simply wear a suit, and the distinction is most obvious. However, using a suit as a military uniform seems to be too child's play, so the discussion comes and goes, but it never gets the point.

"Boss, Wall," Bai Qiwen made a suggestion in stiff Chinese, "I am in the United States, I wear hunting clothes, many pockets, wear-resistant, I can tie a belt, hang a knife." ”

Guan Zhuofan glanced at Wall and thought that this suggestion was good. So it was decided, Bai Qiwen found a good tailor shop, took out the appearance of the hunting costume, and then Jin Yulin and him, respectively, let all the tailor shops in the county and the concession rush to sew, the workmanship does not have to be fine, but it must be strong and durable, first 700 sets, and then 700.

"What color, you want?" Bai Qiwen asked, gesturing. Because Jin Yulin was present, he had to speak Chinese.

"Hunting suits, yellow, of course." Wall said.

Guan Zhuofan smiled, do you think you are marching into the western part of your United States?

"The three of you are all officials of the imperial court." He leaned back in his chair, pointed at the three Americans, stretched out his right palm, and volleyed into the air: "With yellow, you want to cut off your head!" ”

*

*

According to the new method, the recruitment of brave soldiers was carried out in an orderly manner, and the quota was recruited smoothly.

The gram of Ixan, the first battalion of Ding Xianda, and the finished glyph of the camp of the horse team are the so-called "horns of each other". Wall's foreign spear team was based in Zhoupu, across the river, and used cavalry and ferries to communicate.

Twelve eight-pounder French field guns, each of which was towed by three mules, were escorted to the barracks. The moment the foreign artillery entered the camp, the whole army was in a sensation and elated, just like a festival.

The fly in the ointment is that four of these cannons were "intercepted" by Wall.

"Yixuan, why didn't you give me a cannon?" Together with Guan Zhuofan, Wall watched the grand scene of the field artillery entering the camp and protested, "You should treat each of your troops fairly. ”

Wall's remark is reasonable, and there is no way to refute him. Guan Zhuofan's little selfishness was pointed out by him, and he was speechless, muttering in his heart: You are called the "foreign gun team", not the "foreign artillery team", what do you want the cannon to do?

However, there is also a very beautiful part of Wall's words, that is, the phrase "every one of your troops". Guan Zhuofan listened to it, and felt ironing in his heart, thinking to himself, whether he was intentional or unintentional, it was a good thing to be able to make such a statement. So, Guan Zhuofan was in charge, and allocated two cannons from each of the Kezi battalion and the Xianzi battalion to give them to Huaer, and promised to buy two more guns for each battalion to make up for the six.

There are eight gunners in the Xuan army who can operate artillery, and when Guan Zhuofan left Beijing, he wrote a letter to the fourth uncle Shengbao. Shengbao's battalion also used foreign artillery, and he received a letter from Guan Zhuofan, and specially sent eight skilled men to Shanghai to report to Guan Zhuofan.

Eight people are naturally not enough, according to foreign merchants, each cannon needs a fixed number of seven people, who are responsible for firing, loading, carrying, cleaning, fire door man, driver and other positions, in order to ensure the smooth operation in the battle. So each battalion was assigned two as "cannon," and thirty soldiers from each stud were appointed as "cannon warriors," and the gunners sent by Katsuho were responsible for guiding them, so that they could learn before the battle.

As for the training of Buyong, according to Wall, if you use a bow and arrow, then it is difficult for a soldier to become a truly qualified archer without two or three years of kung fu, but if you use a foreign gun, you can barely go to the battlefield with three months of training. If you still want to speed up, then you have to be willing to spend money and "feed" with live ammunition.

Live ammunition is silver, although it is not spent by yourself, but to say that you are not distressed, it is fake. But what about being distressed? Guan Zhuofan gritted his teeth, feed it!

So, at the shooting range outside the battalions, the crackling guns, mixed with the sound of flowering shells, sounded from morning to night, the Portuguese instructors, who had always been thrifty, now saw the Xuan army squandering ammunition like this, they were all heartbroken, especially the teaching of the horse team, watching these Qiu Ba knock out those new Minne bullets like beans, but the target board was still as clean as before, and they shook their heads even more: this kind of behavior of a loser is really unforgivable.

*

*

waited until he entered Layue, and Guan Zhuofan's recital to the court finally had an answer.

For the title of the four products invited by Wall, it will be approved.

For Forrest and Bai Qiwen's invitation to the five-rank garrison title, according to the standard.

Guan Zhuofan's battalion system and the candidates for officers in each battalion were all followed.

Wu Xu, the gentry who were happy to lose their salaries, made a list, and the Ministry of Rites commended them according to the rules.

In addition to these, there is another encouraging passage in the edict: "I know all the members of Shanghai and are loyal and brave, and at this extraordinary time, the generals of the Xuan Army's base camp, the foreign gun team and the Green Battalion should also work together and forge ahead, so that a bandit can enter Shanghai, then on the day of success, will the imperial court be stingy with rewards?" Since he should be gracious, he will be rewarded together. ”

This edict for the first time compared the "Xuan Army" with the already famous army such as the "Thunder Army", which is equivalent to officially recognizing the name of the Xuan Army. At the same time, it also contains mysteries, dividing the Xuan Army into two teams: the "base camp" and the "foreign gun team", which cleverly placed the foreign gun team in the establishment of the Xuan army, which is also equivalent to announcing that the foreign gun team is under the jurisdiction of Guan Zhuofan.

Such a good writing, I don't know which military aircraft Zhang Jing is from, Guan Zhuofan thought to himself, maybe it was Cao Yuying's own hand, but I don't know.

This guess is probably good, because the envelope sent by the Ministry of War and the Bulletin Office along with the edict was accompanied by two letters.

The first is Cao Yuying's letter. The letter said three things, one is that the two palaces are very satisfied with his performance in reorganizing the army in Shanghai and capturing He Guiqing, and King Gong is also very face-saving, so the matter in Beijing reassures him that he will definitely get full support. The second is that He Guiqing's future is bleak, and the imperial court must be strict in order to enforce discipline and boost morale, implying that He Guiqing can't escape the knife in the West Market. Third, Li Hongzhang's Huai army could not reach Shanghai until about April because of the lack of armament, and it was hoped that the Xuan army would be supported until that time no matter what.

These three things are good news for Guan Zhuofan - with the support of the two palaces and King Gong, everything will naturally go smoothly; He Guiqing is to blame, and if he does not die, he will become his great enemy in the future, so he is optimistic about his death; As for Li Hongzhang's postponement, he was originally a ghost himself, not to mention.

The second letter is a letter from home. The Mr. Huang who taught Xiaoyun, Guan Zhuofan had hired him as a Xixi seat before leaving Beijing, and lived in the second courtyard of the Guan family's mansion. This letter was written by two sisters-in-law, in addition to writing two pieces of paper about all kinds of trivial matters at home these days, and also brought up a topic again: he has been away for a long time, and he should find someone to take care of him.

In this matter, when Guan Zhuofan decided to leave Beijing, Bai had already solemnly told him: He is a big man, no one takes care of him, and it is not a way after all. Of course, marrying a relative in Shanghai is something that can't be done, if you can, take a concubine, she and the Ming family can also feel at ease in Beijing.

This can be regarded as a very "virtuous" expression, but after Guan Zhuofan read the letter, he only smiled bitterly. Receiving the letter from home is of course a great comfort to him who is alone, but seeing that the war is approaching, taking a concubine or something, he really can't worry about it, not to mention that there is still a big worry in his heart, which has not been resolved.

He won't fight.

*

(Monday, ask for a recommendation ticket, Xie Lu Xie~)