Chapter 220 Is he a revolutionary? (Seeking monthly tickets and subscription)

“One two one, one two one”

“Look to the right. Look forward!”

“Stand at attention, rest for a while!”

“Gun on the shoulder, march in step”

Outside Tongshun Building, located at the junction of the British Concession and the Chinese area, on a street that usually did not have many people on it, loud commands and the sound of uniform footsteps were heard early this morning.

Eight companies of infantrymen dressed in the uniforms of the Hunan Brave Army of the Qing Dynasty, carrying brand new brown bass foreign rifles with bayonets, had been training on this cold road for most of the morning at the commands of their officers. They had started training after breakfast and had been training until now, almost noon, with only two breaks in between, each lasting less than a quarter of an hour.

Although the physical exertion of the training was not that great, it consisted of only four items: formation, marching, raising a gun, and simulated loading. But after practicing over and over again for a whole morning, they were really diligent!
Not to mention the Eight Banners and Green Camp of the Qing Dynasty, even a company of British soldiers and a company of French soldiers in the concession did not train like this.
While the eight companies of Hunan brave soldiers were training, several officials wearing official jackets and carrying swords were also standing outside the Tongshun Building, staring at a red flag embroidered with the seven large characters “The Great Wall Will Never Fall”. Leading them was a tall and burly young official, at least 1.78 meters tall. He was none other than Luo Yaoguo, who would soon be honored as “Snow Marshal”!

Looking at the 800 new soldiers in front of him, Luo Yaoguo finally showed an expectant expression – this was the new army in his mind that could wipe out the Qing Dynasty, unify the world, and compete with the great powers.

Of course, they were only new soldiers at the entry level, they could march in formation and fire a few flintlock rifles. This was accumulated slowly over the ten months that Luo Yaoguo had spent since he started teaching in Daozhou. And the only ones who could really march in formation were the 500 soldiers of the former training brigade that Wang Dalong had been leading.

The 300 Dark Hall soldiers brought by Jiao Hong and Feng Zicai were not so good. Not only was the team crooked, but the soldiers in the formation would scratch their ears and twist around if they stood for a little too long.

However, these Dark Hall warriors were extremely obedient to Luo Yaoguo and were also very loyal to the Kingdom of Heaven. All of them were members of the glorious God Worshipping Society, otherwise they would not have been able to enter the Dark Hall. So when Luo Yaoguo stood here, they were all very motivated and practiced very seriously.

Luo Yaoguo estimated that if the current training intensity was maintained, the Dark Hall fighters would be able to become as disciplined as the soldiers of the teaching brigade in ten days at most.

At that time, the new army could be expanded according to the standard of expanding one company to four companies. Eight companies could be expanded to thirty-two companies, which would be three thousand two hundred people. Twenty-seven of the companies would be drawn out to form three battalions, and the remaining five companies would be organized into artillery company, engineering company, baggage company, cavalry company, and guard company.

As long as we add some foreign soldiers and generals as consultants, we will have the framework of a teaching instructor!

As for Liu Lichuan and Li Yunxian’s people, let them stay in Shanghai County. When the time comes, the Xiaodao Society will revolt in Shanghai County, and the Shanghai New Army will take over the defense of the Shanghai Concession!

As long as they can delay for a few weeks, Su Sanniang, Zeng Tianyang, Li Shoucheng and others will lead an army of 20,000 to Shanghai.

By then, the number of Taiping troops in Shanghai will exceed 25,000, and the number of foreign guns they possess should exceed 15,000, with at least 70 to 80 foreign cannons. With just one or two years, Luo Yaoguo believed that he could expand these 25,000 troops into three infantry divisions of 9,000 people.
With three divisions of new troops and the God Worshipping Society that had been transformed into a revolutionary party, Luo Yaoguo had some confidence in completing his “mission as a time traveler” – to make China great again!
Of course, he also knew how difficult it was 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 powers, there is still a lot of money to be made.
Two Western horse-drawn carriages slowly drove into the deserted road, escorted by dozens of Shanghai militiamen carrying foreign rifles and knives on their belts.

“what?”

Ma Hui, an American redneck major sitting in one of the carriages, was stunned when he saw the new army soldiers marching in formation outside the window.

Yesterday, when Luo Yaoguo led five hundred of the “strongest infantrymen of the Qing Dynasty” to stand at attention outside the British Consulate, he had already returned to the unpopular “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 catching up with their Virginia “state soldiers”!

“Robert, these are the Hunan Army from Hunan. They were brought by the chief secretary of the Hunan Governor, Lord Luo, to help defend Shanghai.”

The speaker was a handsome young man with a smiling face, in his twenties, wearing a well-tailored suit, but with a braid on his head, and speaking fluent American English. This young man was called Wu Chaoyue, the only grandson of Wu Jianzhang, the heir to one-seventh of the shares of Qichang Foreign Company, and of course a famous playboy in Shanghai.

He and Ma Hui, a former major of the Virginia State Troops from the United States, were friends who loved wine, meat, sex and gambling, so today he and his grandfather Wu Jianzhang came forward together to invite Major Ma Hui to a big meal at Tongshun Building, and also said that they would introduce him to a capable official of the Westernization Movement from Hunan.

Major Ma Hui had no interest in a capable official from China’s inland provinces. In the eyes of foreigners in Shanghai and Hong Kong, the only Chinese official with whom they could communicate was Wu Jianzhang.

How could an official from a closed inland province understand Western affairs?
“This, is this really the army from Hunan?” Ma Hui took a while to react, and then he thought of something that made cold sweat break out on his forehead.

The Qing troops in Hunan were of such quality, so how were they defeated by the Taiping Army?

Wasn’t the Taiping Army a group of desperate mobs, but an army like the revolutionary army of the French Republic?

This American, whose mind was full of republican revolution, had already imagined the scene of the Taiping Army holding high the tricolor flag, carrying flintlock rifles, and charging at the Qing army’s new army.

The carriage had already stopped in front of Tongshun Building.

With the command of “Stand at attention and salute”, Major Ma Hui finally came to his senses. He turned his head and saw that hundreds of Qing Dynasty’s new-style army had formed two square formations on both sides of the door of his carriage, with a road leading to the gate between the square formations.

Several Chinese officers wearing Ma褂, wearing top hats and carrying swords on their waists stood solemnly outside the gate. Red military flags were fluttering in the two square formations and behind the officers.

“Welcome, respected Major Ma Hui. I am Luo Xueyan, the chief secretary of Mr. Luo, the governor of Hunan Province of the Qing Dynasty. I grew up listening to the stories of your country’s founding president Washington. Today, I finally meet an American soldier from Washington’s hometown!”

When a tall, gentle-looking Qing official who spoke “Oxford-accented English” and claimed to have “grown up listening to stories about Washington” stood in front of Major Ma Hui who had just stepped out of the carriage and stretched out his right hand to shake hands with him, he began to doubt himself – was he drunk last night? Was he dreaming now?

An official of the Qing Dynasty actually “grew up listening to stories about Washington”?

Are there 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 spell, so he quickly reminded him loudly.

Major Ma Hui finally woke up from his dream and reached out his hand to Luo Yaoguo, who shook his hand vigorously, then raised his hand high and shouted in English: “Salute to Washington, make China great again!”

As soon as he shouted this, Wu Jianzhang and Wu Chaoyue, both grandfather and grandson who could understand English, changed their expressions – who on earth was this Luo Xueyan? Could he be a revolutionary?

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.
Just as the two were about to move away from Luo Xueyan, the latter spoke to them in Cantonese: “Master Wu, Young Master Wu, don’t get me wrong. Today I’m meeting an American, so of course I have to pretend to be a republican. Tomorrow when I meet the French, I’ll be a devout Catholic monarchist!”

(End of this chapter)