Guiyang, Wu army camp.

On the military field of the school, groups of Wu soldiers were training in queues, fighting, shooting, etc., and everyone was working very hard, for fear of being surpassed by other comrades.

Despite the cold weather, every soldier was sweating profusely, which shows how hard they trained.

The elite division is not blown out by itself, let alone praised by others, but watered by countless blood and sweat.

Li Weiguo has been taking Shi Dakai to visit various units of the Wu army in the past few days, from the four major arms of the army, such as infantry, artillery, baggage troops, and cavalry, to advanced weapons and equipment such as patriotic rifles, 59 infantry guns, ground radium, and hand radium, and even took Shi Dakai to see the field hospital of the Wu army.

For Shi Dakai, Li Weiguo really cherishes this talent, and hopes that he can integrate into the big family of Wu Jun and make contributions in the future.

Shi Dakai was also greatly shocked, in the past, he only thought that Li Weiguo's success was due to the fact that his army had advanced weapons and equipment. Shi Dakai has always attributed the failure of his eastern expedition to Shanghai to the fact that Li Weiguo's army was all equipped with Western muskets and artillery at that time, and only a small number of Taiping troops equipped with muskets were defeated because they were not as well equipped as the Shanghai army. In the later Battle of Songhu, Shi Dakai still adhered to this view, believing that Li Weiguo's army was equipped with more advanced patriotic rifles and 59 infantry guns, thus defeating the British and French forces.

But it was not until this moment that Shi Dakai really stayed in the Wu army's barracks and saw the training of the Wu army with his own eyes, and he found out that the Wu army did not rely on advanced weapons and equipment to win, even if the Taiping army had the advanced weapons and equipment of the Wu army, there was still no chance of victory against the Wu army.

The reason for this is the difference in tactical concepts.

Obviously, the Wu army is crushing the armies of all countries in the world with advanced war concepts that are ahead of the world.

"King Wu has such an elite tiger army, why worry about the injustice of the world? I used to be a frog at the bottom of a well! ”

Hearing Shi Da's heartfelt emotion. Li Weiguo finally smiled.

"Actually, you are already very good, you are the most talented soldier I have ever met, you were born for war!"

Shi Dakai smiled bitterly and said: "King Wu, don't comfort me, the general of the defeated army is not brave enough." ”

Li Weiguo didn't think so, he said: "You Shi Dakai have been poor since you were a child and can't afford to go to a private school. Relying on self-study, you can command thousands of troops and horses to fight, and the Qing army will hear your name change, and you will defeat Zeng Guofan, the commander of the Hunan army, and force Zeng Guofan to commit suicide by throwing himself into the river several times, which is enough to prove your military talent, if you can have military school study experience, your achievements will be higher, and the god of war is your fate. ”

Hearing the word God of War, Shi Dakai's heart was a little excited. For soldiers, who doesn't want to be the god of war, the undefeated god of war, who dominates all wars.

"I don't know what the military academy mentioned by King Wu means?"

Li Weiguo smiled slightly, knowing that Shi Da was happy, so he explained: "The private school taught by Confucius is to train literati, and if it is a private school taught by generals, it is naturally to train soldiers. Military school is a Western term, and its essence is the same as that of a private school. Teaching and educating people, but the instructors in the military academy teach how to arrange troops and march to fight. Teach you how to train soldiers, how to defeat enemies. ”

Shi Dakai was shocked, it was the first time he had heard that there was a school dedicated to teaching people to fight, and in his impression, only in the army did officers teach soldiers how to fight, but they were hiding their secrets. It is impossible to teach everything.

"Could it be that Wu Jun came here like this?"

Li Weiguo nodded in admiration and said, "You are really smart, and you can see the crux of the problem at once." That's right, the officers at all levels of the Wu army were trained by military academies, and they learned various military theories in military academies. has become Zhao Kuo, who can talk on paper. But in the end, they will not follow Zhao Kuo's old path, because they will be sent to the army for training and promotion. ”

Shi Dakai said with admiration: "No wonder! There are military theories comparable to Zhao Kuo to lay the foundation, as long as you don't make the mistake of Zhao Kuo talking about soldiers on paper, everyone will become a general. ”

Li Weiguo nodded and said, "You can too!" ”

Shi Dakai was surprised: "King Wu, once I am a general, do I also have this opportunity?" ”

Li Weiguo nodded again and said, "I know what you think now, you don't want to join the Wu Army as an official, do you not want to fight with the Taiping Army brothers in the past?" ”

Seeing Shi Dakai nodding, Li Weiguo continued: "I understand your feelings, so I don't force you." I'll send you to study at a military academy so you don't have to fight the Taipings. By the time you graduate from military school, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will no longer exist, will you still reject me at that time? ”

"This-" Shi Dakai hesitated, these days, he could clearly feel that Li Weiguo attached great importance to him. He wanted to die last, but seeing the strength of the Wu army and Li Weiguo's domineering heart, he was a little unwilling in his heart, and he wanted to fight on the battlefield, as Li Weiguo said, he was born a soldier and was born for war.

"King Wu, can you tell us about your aspirations? Do you want to overthrow the Manchu court? ”

Li Weiguo smiled and nodded: "I must overthrow the Manchu court!" I can tell you this very clearly! As for my ambitions, I don't know exactly what I want to do, but I have a timetable, would you like to hear about it? ”

Shi Dakai also knew that it was a bit abrupt to ask Li Weiguo's ambition rashly, unless he was close to his relatives, no one would tell outsiders about his ambition.

However, Shi Dakai was curious, and nodded subconsciously.

Li Weiguo then said: "My timetable is to destroy the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom within one year, the Hunan army and the Huai army within two years, the Manchu court within three years, the European and American powers out of Asia within five years, the Pacific Ocean within ten years, the Eastern Hemisphere within fifteen years, and the whole world within thirty years." ”

The goals in the first five years, Shi Dakai still understands it, and the concepts of the Pacific Ocean, the Eastern Hemisphere, and the whole world are beyond his understanding, after all, Shi Dakai's own cognition is very limited, limited to China.

But despite this, Shi Dakai was still shocked, he felt Li Weiguo's ambition, but he didn't expect the other party's ambition to be so strong.

This made Shi Dakai excited, and in his lifetime, he didn't seem to have to be lonely.

"As long as it is not against the Taiping army, Shi Dakai is willing to serve King Wu to the death!"

As he spoke, Shi Dakai knelt down on one knee and bowed to Li Weiguo.

So many days. Li Weiguo finally subdued Shi Dakai, and it was not in vain that he wasted all his efforts, and even the matter of returning to Tianjing was temporarily shelved, everything was for Shi Dakai.

Li Weiguo felt that he was worth it, Shi Dakai was a miracle in China's modern military history, and should not be buried by history. There should be higher achievements.

"Shi Dakai listened to the order, this king is to grant you the rank of lieutenant colonel, and appoint you as a trainee staff officer of the General Staff of the Wu Army, you can observe and study with the army, after the army returns to Shanghai, I will send you to the Whampoa Military Academy to study, I hope you will seriously grasp this opportunity, and when you return from school, this king will be reused!"

"King Xie Wu. The ministers will live up to the trust of King Wu! ”

Li Weiguo immediately helped Shi Dakai up, and the two looked at each other and laughed, both of them were extremely happy.

After completely getting rid of Shi Dakai, Li Weiguo finally had the energy to ask about other things.

First of all, it was the urgent report of the Jiangnan camp, Li Xiucheng led Hong Xiuquan to break through, until Hong Xiu died and Tianjing fell. For example, today Beijing is occupied by the Wu army, the Hunan army and the Huai army, of which the inner city and the imperial city are under the control of the Wu army. Su Sanniang asked Li Weiguo to return as soon as possible, after all, the fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was imminent. The enemies of the Wu army will become the Hunan army and the Huai army, and Li Weiguo must personally sit in the town and make a personal decision, and no one else can replace it.

For this matter, Li Weiguo's response was to give the credit to one of them, Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang, that is, either Zeng Guofan was crowned king, or Li Hongzhang was crowned king. The further split between the Hunan and Huai armies would allow the Wu army to attack either the Huai army or the Hunan army in the future, and the other side would sit idly by, so as to minimize the military pressure on the Wu army to deal with Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang on both fronts.

However, giving credit is not the same as giving away the chassis. In exchange. Either side of the Hunan army or the Huai army had to withdraw from Tianjing if they received the benefits, and Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangningfu and other places controlled by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would be taken over by the Wu army.

In fact, this is already obvious, Anhui is Li Hongzhang's Huai army territory, but it is also Li Weiguo's Wu king's fief, and it is destined that the Wu army will be the first to conflict with the Huai army, because it is impossible for Li Hongzhang to honestly withdraw from Anhui.

Then, Li Weiguo's strategy basically has the answer, and the credit for capturing Tianjing will eventually be given to Li Hongzhang.

This incident once puzzled Li Weiguo's staff, since the first to clash with the Huai army would be the first to clash, so why should the credit be given to Li Hongzhang, so that Li Hongzhang has the opportunity to be crowned king? Why don't you give Zeng Guofan and curry favor with the Hunan army?

Li Weiguo's explanation for this problem is very simple, that is, the more enemies he is, the more benefits he must give him and build a good relationship. It turns out that a stab in the back works better.

Li Hongzhang has been named the minister of Beiyang, according to the previous agreement between Li Weiguo and Yi Xin, whoever captures Tianjing first will be appointed as the governor of Zhili, and later Yi Xin added a condition for the king. Then, Li Weiguo will give credit to Li Hongzhang, and Li Hongzhang will become the governor of Zhili, the minister of Beiyang, plus a king.

In this way, Li Hongzhang's actual official position and title surpass Li Weiguo, because the Governor of Zhili is the head of the nine governors, surpassing Li Weiguo's Governor of Liangjiang, and the status of the Beiyang Minister is also higher than that of the Nanyang Minister, and it also surpasses Li Weiguo.

What will the world think? What would the Manchu government think? What would Zeng Guofan think?

Compared with Li Weiguo's meritorious master, Li Hongzhang will be more dazzling.

This is pulling hatred! The banner people who used to envy, envy and hate Li Weiguo will turn their attention to Li Hongzhang, after all, Li Weiguo is in the south of the Yangtze River, far away from the capital, and Li Hongzhang is the minister of Beiyang and the governor of Zhili, right under his nose.

Similarly, Li Hongzhang's previous appointment as the minister of Beiyang had already made Zeng Guofan unhappy, and the Hunan army group was dissatisfied, and now he gave Li Hongzhang, the governor of Zhili, who should have belonged to Zeng Guofan, and then gave Li Hongzhang the king, what would happen to Zeng Guofan? It will definitely vomit blood. What will happen to the Hunan army? must hate Li Hongzhang even more.

Once Li Weiguo wants to take back Anhui, Zeng Guofan and his Hunan army will definitely not intervene.

When Li Weiguo made the above explanation, the members of the staff group were in awe, or their master had foresight, this strategy was simply amazing.

Li Hongzhang and Zeng Guofan both came to Su Sanniang to theorize and asked the Wu army to let go of the inner city and let the Huai army and the Hunan army enter.

So Su Sanniang began to bargain with Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang according to Li Weiguo's instructions.

Although Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang have a deep estrangement, in the matter of confronting Li Weiguo, the two of them are surprisingly cooperative, and it seems that they are on the same front.

However, Su Sanniang soon talked with Li Hongzhang and Zeng Guofan respectively, and had a tough attitude towards Zeng Guofan, not only did not allow the Hunan army to enter the inner city, but asked Zeng Guofan to withdraw from the outer city immediately, on the grounds that Tianjing was within the fief of King Wu and was under the jurisdiction of King Wu, while Zeng Guofan's jurisdiction was in Huguang and did not match.

Zeng Guofan originally wanted to unite with Li Hongzhang to compete with Su Sanniang, but unfortunately Li Hongzhang changed his mind in the middle, because Li Hongzhang could not withstand the temptation of huge interests, Su Sanniang officially agreed on behalf of King Wu to give Li Hongzhang the credit for breaking Tianjing, and supported Li Hongzhang to become the king and serve as the governor of Zhili. The condition was that the Huai army withdrew from Tianjing, and the Jiangxi occupied by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was handed over to the Wu army to recover.

After all, Li Hongzhang is young, the king of Feng, the minister of Beiyang, and the governor of Zhili, this temptation is too great, and the condition proposed by Su Sanniang is only to withdraw from Tianjing and not interfere with the Wu army to occupy Jiangxi. Jiangxi is not the territory of the Huai Army anyway, Li Hongzhang didn't think much about it at the time, and Su Sanniang said that he would not ask for Anhui, and Anhui was still under the control of the Huai Army, which made Li Hongzhang and the Huai Army generals feel at ease, so Li Hongzhang immediately agreed to Su Sanniang's conditions under the bewitchment of the Huai Army generals.

Three days later, the Huai army withdrew from Tianjing and returned directly to Anhui. Zeng Guofan then became a lone army, alone in the face of the strength of the Wu army, Zeng Guofan scolded Li Hongzhang for being shameless, the king was in vain, and the governor of Zhili was also snatched away by Li Hongzhang, Zeng Guofan instantly aged for more than ten years, and finally had no choice but to order the Hunan army to withdraw from Tianjing and retreat directly to Hankou.

So, the task of exterminating the remnants of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was given to the Wu army, and then Su Sanniang ordered the Wu army to attack from all sides, sweeping the remnants of the Taiping army, and recovering the entire territory of Jiangxi in less than three months.

At the same time, Li Hongzhang's Huai army also exterminated the remnants of the Taiping army in Anhui.

In early March 1864, with the last remnants of the Taiping Army wiped out in Anhui, the Taiping rebellion ended in complete failure.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which lasted for more than ten years, was wiped out, and the huge Qing Empire was the biggest loser because it used up its last strength. The armed forces of the Han landlords rose strongly, and the three major forces of Li Weiguo, Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang became the biggest winners.

But among these three, Li Weiguo was the biggest winner, because Li Weiguo successfully developed himself with the help of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and the Wu army annexed eight provinces south of the Yangtze River, including Jiangxi, Jiangnan, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangxi, Guangdong, Yunnan and Guizhou, becoming the largest vassal power. (To be continued.) )