Zeng Guofan founded the Hunan Army and Li Hongzhang founded the Huai Army. Who has the stronger combat effectiveness?

Zeng Guofan founded the Hunan Army, and Li Hongzhang founded the Huai Army. Who has the stronger combat effectiveness?

In modern China, the late Qing government was already in danger. There were foreign powers looking at it, and there were many civil uprisings inside. In order to suppress the domestic uprisings, Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang made a lot of efforts. Big force. Zeng Guofan's Hunan Army and Li Hongzhang's Huai Army became the main forces of the Qing Dynasty's national defense. Zeng Guofan's Hunan Army was established in 1853. Zeng Guofan created a new army based on the system of Qi Jiguang of the Ming Dynasty. Most of the soldiers in the army were soldiers from his hometown in Hunan, so people named this army Xiang. military.

In 1862, Li Hongzhang recruited soldiers from his hometown in Anhui to organize an army. However, there were still many soldiers who had been in the Hunan Army, and many generals were also former generals of the Hunan Army. And this relatively new army was called the Huai Army. These are also the two most famous armies in the late Qing Dynasty. In some historical dramas, we often hear the names of these two armies. Li Hongzhang is considered a student of Zeng Guofan, so which of these two armies is stronger?

In modern national defense, when we look at whether an army is strong, it depends largely on the weapons they use. So let’s first take a look at the weapons of the two armies.

When the Hunan Army was founded, most of the Chinese army still used swords and spears, and some firearms. The Hunan Army's weapons are basically in the same situation. The main weapons of the troops are a mixture of spears, swords and other weapons. The navy is equipped with artillery, but there are still many traditional weapons such as swords and spears. Mainly to be able to fight at close range. But later, when the Hunan Army got rich, it bought a lot of foreign guns and cannons from foreign weapons factories, opened shipyards, and also copied weapons. But still not all are equipped with new weapons.

The Huai Army was founded in 1862. Like the Hunan Army, when the Huai Army was first established, its weapons and equipment were also miscellaneous. But later, after Li Hongzhang saw the power of foreign guns and cannons, he decided to quickly develop military power, at least to use the same weapons as the foreigners. Li Hongzhang also took up this matter and invited foreign coaches to train the new army. In 1865, the Huai Army had basically eliminated traditional cold weapons. It can be said that in this aspect, the Huai Army was far stronger than the Hunan Army.

But having advanced weapons may not necessarily lead to victory. The Hunan Army created the key when it was first established to deal with the Taiping Army. In the battle with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Hunan Army was almost defeated again and again in the early stage, and even Zeng Guofan could not stand it anymore. However, in the face of such a defeat, the Hunan Army showed its tenacity and successively won victories in important battles such as the Battle of Anqing and the Battle of Tianjing. The Taiping Rebellion began to decline and was eventually brought to an end.

When the Huai Army was established, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had been beaten to the point of losing its temper, so the Huai Army did not fight any tough battles with the Taiping Army. However, the Nian Army was the main target of the Huai Army. The relatively powerful civilian uprising army of the Nian Army was divided into the East Nian Army and the West Nian Army, and were destroyed by Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang respectively.

However, in the war, the quality of the Hunan Army was far higher than that of the Huai Army, and when facing strong enemies, they rarely fled without fighting. The internal officers of Li Hongzhang's Huai Army were relatively corrupt, and many of these officers were already greedy for pleasure. It was okay when things were going smoothly, but once they encountered a strong enemy, they would lose their combat effectiveness. It can be said that the Huai Army is stronger than the Hunan Army in terms of weapons, but the quality of its soldiers and officers is far inferior.