"Forget it, forget it..." Xiao Letian waved his hand. "I'm in a bad mood these two days, I'm sorry for you if I vent my anger..."

Xiao Letian is indeed very confused. On the one hand, his strategy was disrupted, which was the main reason, but there is no irreparable solution for this chaos. Xiao Letian can even take advantage of the chaos to get more benefits.

What made him unhappy was that due to this out of control strategy, others actually saw the opportunity to take advantage, especially the cunning Hunan Army Group, who actually wanted to enter Xinjiang in advance, which was not a good sign.

In real history, it should have been seven years after Zuo Zongtang entered Xinjiang. He spent seven years quelling the rebellion of the Hui tribe, and then led his troops west to Yumen in the first year of Guangxu.

Moreover, the war to pacify Xinjiang took three years to basically end, and Zuo Zongtang himself stayed for another two years until he officially returned to Beijing in 1881.

In other words, the elite troops of the Hunan Army Group were delayed by the war in the Northwest until 1881, and they were relieved.

This year is 1868, which means it will take thirteen years for the main force of the Hunan Army to return to the Central Plains. How many thirteen years does a person have to wait for?

Xiao Letian couldn't help but sigh and said in his heart that many people don't understand why the battle-torn Hunan Army did not rebel in the end, and why it disappeared silently in the long river of history? The answer is actually here.

When was the Hunan Army established? It is difficult to find out very detailed records, but there are Qing Palace archives that record that the imperial court allowed local corps training in 1853, and Zeng Guofan only gained the power to train troops that year.

This is also due to fate. Zeng Guofan was originally a Beijing official and did not serve in his hometown, but why was he able to train troops in his hometown? That was because in the second year of Xianfeng in 1852, his mother died of illness according to the rules of the past. In order to show his filial piety, the official had to go home for three years.

In his hometown, he witnessed the tragic scene of local gentry fleeing home under the threat of the aggressive Taiping Army.

The court knew that Zeng Guofan was a talented person, and that he was now in his hometown. It was not the front line of the Tianping Army. So it was natural that he gave Zeng Guofan this order to train troops, which was the original source of the Hunan Army.

When the Hunan Army was established in 1853, let's assume that the average age of the new recruits was twenty years old at that time. So when Nanjing City was captured in 1864, what age should these veterans be? The answer is thirty-one.

Of course, this data is not very accurate, because the army attracts new recruits every year, which will cause the average age to grow very slowly. However, this data is very accurate for elites, because only veterans are the soul of an army.

After 1864, did the veterans of the Hunan Army release Nanshan? Of course not. There was also the Nian Army after the Tianping Army, and there was also the Hui army rebellion after the Nian Army.

When Zuo Jigao and the main elite of the Hunan Army began to enter Xinjiang in 1875 in the first year of Guangxu, what was the average age of the earliest Hunan Army veterans? It was 42 years old!

Of course, the soldiers who were still fighting in the army at the age of 42 have actually become officers at all levels, and a group of disabled people have already left the army.

At that time, the veterans of the Hunan Army under Zuo Ji Gao were no longer all the first batch of veterans. They were more soldiers recruited in batches when they pacified the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom for more than ten years. They belonged to the second and third echelons. Even if they were a little younger, their average age should be over 35 years old.

Then he fought against Agubo, Xinjiang, until Zuo Zongtang returned to Beijing in 1881. The veterans, who were in their forties, had already turned gray-haired. They had exhausted their vitality and life for this empire and reached their forties.

The average lifespan of ancient people is not as long as that of modern people. Forty is not as long as they are, but fifty is the fate of heaven! Where did the Hunan Army go for hundreds of battles? In fact, they have long melted into the long river of time and become the invisible dust particles in our civilization.

Emotionally speaking, Xiao Letian hope that these people will let Nanshan go home early to enjoy family happiness and stop fighting, they have fought enough.

But strategically speaking, he must also let the Hunan Army continue to move forward along the lines of the past life, at least not to make any mistakes in the time nodes.

Because Xiao Letian knew very well that once the Hunan Army stopped the national war, this powerful military group was destined to vent its extra energy. The radicals led by Zeng Guoquan were destined to cause something, and Xiao Letian could not turn against them now.

To put it outside the topic, why did the Jiushang Zeng Guoquan not rebel in real history? On the one hand, it was suppressed by his brother, and on the other hand, it was because of his age. He was actually defeated by time, just like the Hunan Army.

When the veterans who were loyal to him gradually grew old and could not swing their swords, Jiushuai Zeng Guoquan was already in old age. When Zuo Zongtang returned to Beijing in 1881, Jiushuai was already 57 years old, and only 9 years before his death. Even if he wanted to rebel, he would no longer have the energy.

So don’t think that the Manchu group such as Cixi and others were so smart. Sometimes they used the stupidest way to deal with Han officials, especially those old commanders of the Hunan Army, to use time to survive.

So for politicians, what is real ability? In fact, it is to live a long life. If you live longer than others, you will naturally be able to go further. Even if you walk slowly than a turtle, there is no problem.

Xiao Letian waved his hand and stopped his random thoughts. "It seems that the development of the situation is a little out of our control. Many details in the ten-year plan need to be fine-tuned. We must seize the time to quickly solve some important problems..."

"Once the Russians reduce their support for Aguber, Zuo Zongtang will quickly expand the results of the war. I originally thought that it would take more than ten years to quell the war, which may have to be advanced..."

"On the contrary, in the Far East, our burden has increased... I am really unwilling to accept it. I always hope that Xinjiang will drag it for a longer time, which is like carrying a burden. The two borders of the east and west of the Qing Dynasty are both ends of the burden. The pressure on the west side has been reduced, and as a result, we will be tight in the east..."

"Hey... my Master Long! What kind of hero are you showing off? These are so good. You will attract at least 30,000 to 40,000 Cossack elites from the Northwest. This battle will not be easy to fight!"

The three of them pondered for a moment, and Wang Huaiyuan asked, "What should we do with Beijing? The ministers of all countries have expressed serious concerns now. We must give Britain, the United States, France, Russia and other countries an explanation? Avoiding is not a solution..."
Chapter completed!