But victory will not happen if the spirit does not fall. For example, when Zuo swore to recover Xinjiang, he hit back at the seemingly terrible "Russia", which was really the hardest backbone in the late Qing Dynasty.
/kloc-At the beginning of the 7th century, Russia often invaded the northwest of China. Later, it embezzled the territory of the northwest region in various ways. By the middle of19th century, Russia basically occupied Xinjiang. 1864 When peasant uprisings broke out in many places in the Qing Dynasty, Russia took advantage of the inability of the Qing government to take care of them and made waves in Xinjiang.
Zuo repeatedly wrote to the court to recover Xinjiang, but he did not get permission. 1872, when Zuo proposed to recover Xinjiang in the imperial court, most Qing government officials represented by Li Hongzhang expressed their opposition. They believe that whether Xinjiang is recovered or not will not have much influence on the Qing Dynasty, whose military strength is far from that of Russia. Finally, Zuo argued and got the approval of Cixi.
But why did Zuo persist in recovering Xinjiang despite the opposition of so many people? This will start with Zuo's early experience.
18 12 Zuo was born in a farming and reading family in Xiangyin County, Hunan Province. He began to study at the age of five, mainly studying the theory of "practical application". However, practical knowledge involves China's water conservancy, economy, military, geography, history and many other aspects. So he was very concerned about all aspects of the country since he was a child, and he was ambitious.
Later, Zuo gradually became an important official in the late Qing Dynasty through his own efforts. With rich practical knowledge, he made his own professional judgment on the situation in Xinjiang at that time.
First of all, he thinks Xinjiang is an inseparable part of China. Xinjiang has been the territory of China since the Western Han Dynasty. Since Xinjiang has always been the territory of China, there is no reason for foreigners to keep occupying it, and there is no reason for Xinjiang people to be bullied by foreigners at will.
Secondly, he believes that Xinjiang has a vast territory and rich natural and mineral resources, and these precious wealth should not be given away in vain.
Thirdly, he thought that if Xinjiang was not recovered at that time, Russia would invade China by occupying Xinjiang.
From the whole process of Zuo's determination to recover Xinjiang, we can see that his in-depth study of practical knowledge helped him make a professional judgment on the situation in Xinjiang. It was Zuo's professional judgment that finally persuaded Cixi to recover Xinjiang as she wished. But the reason why Zuo made up his mind to recover Xinjiang was mainly because Zuo did not feel that his strength was inferior to that of Russia, and he was going to be slaughtered by Russia.
Zuo Tang Zong recovered Xinjiang from 1876, and it took less than two years to recover the territory of Xinjiang except Yili. Zuo became a national hero in the hearts of the people, and all the people in Xinjiang built temples and incense for him. But what Li Hongzhang and others were worried about before was that the Qing court and Russia were indeed far apart. In this case, how did Zuo repel Russia and recover Xinjiang?
First of all, I have made full preparations. When Zuo decided to start an army, he mainly made two preparations. The most important aspect is the formulation of strategy. According to the actual situation of the Qing court, Zuo decided to adopt the strategy of "slow progress and quick decision"
Because the military strength of the Qing court was not as good as that of Russia, the left "slow advance" meant not to send troops immediately, but to spend some time training the army and sorting out the logistics at the same time, and then send troops when the army and logistics reached a higher level.
And "quick decision" is actually a quick decision. Zuo formulated this strategy because the treasury of the Qing court was empty and the financial resources of the Qing court could not support the long-term confrontation between Zuo and Russia. However, "a quick victory" is only a way to reduce the cost of war. Left must raise the funds needed for the war, which is the second aspect of left preparation.
First of all, he accurately calculated the cost of the war and calculated the cost of 8 million taels. So Zuo added 2 million taels to this precise figure for a rainy day, and finally declared to the court100,000 taels. Although Zuo kept the military budget to a minimum, the Qing government treasury finally took out only 5 million taels, and Zuo borrowed 5 million taels of government bonds to collect the money.
However, when Zuo decided to start fighting, he didn't start preparing to recover lost ground. In fact, he began to prepare from the first letter. At that time, he also made two preparations. On the one hand, he carefully selected 60,000 soldiers from his own army and then trained them in all directions.
On the other hand, he laid down a death rule for soldiers, that is, they must not do anything that harms the interests of the people during the war. Therefore, when Zuo fought fiercely with Russia, he was strongly supported by the people of Xinjiang, and the unity between the army and the people was also a key to his victory.
In addition to full preparation, Zuo Zai's actions in the battle also became the key to his victory. Before leaving, Zuo prepared a coffin for him, and then asked the soldiers to carry it on their backs when leaving.
Zuo is ready to "make or break". His actions not only cut off his own retreat, but also cut off the soldiers' retreat. And his behavior also gave the Russian army a great shock.
Zuo's determination and careful preparation to recover Xinjiang finally achieved the feat of recovering Xinjiang. But the reason why he made such careful preparations stems from his determination to recover lost ground to the death.
However, Zuo's feat of recovering Xinjiang did not change the "deserved" of the Qing court. In the imperial court, there are not many or even no such determined hawks as Zuo. After Zuo recovered Xinjiang, he watched the Qing court cut land and pay reparations again and again in the negotiations with the powers, and his heart was filled with indignation.
After the defeat of the Second Opium War, Li Hongzhang prepared to sign the Tianjin Treaty with the great powers. Zuo was very angry when he learned that, so he publicly criticized Li Hongzhang. Li Hongzhang became angry from embarrassment. He felt that "Left" was a big obstacle for him to make peace with the great powers, but he was afraid of the position of Left in the imperial court. So I decided to frame the left man to defeat him.
Zuo was very angry when he saw that his subordinates were suppressed for no reason. He pleaded for his subordinates but got no response. He could only watch his country being trampled on. Soon, Zuo suddenly fell ill and died of grief.
In the face of the invasion of foreign powers, when the Qing court regarded repeated defeats and wars and peace as "a matter of course", Zuo did not think so at all, and his spirit was never depressed. It was the indomitable spirit of Left that made him regain Xinjiang and become a national hero. But it was his indomitable spirit that made him the loneliest person in the late Qing Dynasty. Left, the hardest backbone of the late Qing Dynasty, eventually died in loneliness.