The "trained army" of the Qing Empire
The model for the Qing dynasty's "New Army" was Frederick Ward's "Ever-Victorious Army." However, this model was not unique: the Europeans, fearful that the Taipings might strip them of all the conquests they had gained in the Opium Wars, trained several more "New Model" units in China. For example, in Ningpo, the British naval officer Roderick Dew assembled a detachment of 100 Chinese, gradually developing it into the "Ever-Defended Army" of 1000 men: six companies of 150 men each, commanded by Royal Marine sergeants, plus 50-100 artillerymen. This "army" was sometimes merged with "Ward's Boys" and then separated again, but by 1863 it had become a fully independent unit numbering 1500.
Franco-Chinese Corps of Kyangsu
The French weren't far behind the Anglo-Saxons. In June 1861, they created the "Franco-Chinese Corps of Kiangsoo"—400 Chinese and 40 French army sergeants. Initially, the corps had its own artillery — two six-pounder cannons, but it subsequently became a purely infantry unit. Soon, the "corps," which received the luxurious Chinese name "the ever-triumphant army," numbered 1200 men, and was commanded by A.E. Le Breton de Coligny. At its peak, the "army" numbered 2,500 men, but was soon reduced to 1300 fighters.
McCartney, but not Paul, but Holliday
McCartney's forces are interesting for their different approach to recruitment: Governor Li Hung-chang handed over 1000 soldiers of the Eight Banner Army to former military surgeon Halliday McCartney and ordered them to be trained as "disciplined soldiers." Several foreign officers were hired to retrain the "banners," and McCartney himself became a colonel. This unit had its own steamship (until it was stolen by the Taipings), six or more 12-pounder howitzers, and five mortars.
"Chinese Gordon" (center) with a fighter from Kingsley's detachment and a Taiping prisoner
Another detachment was formed in a similar manner in Fahwa. The imperial soldiers were handed over to British Lieutenant Kingsley of the 6th Regiment, who soon commanded a detachment of 1100 men. He accompanied "Chinese Gordon"—later known for his Sudan epic, Charles Gordon, who once commanded the "Ever-Victorious"—on their advance to Suzhou.
Zeng Guofan is a popular poet and the first "Chinese militarist".
But, without a doubt, the most outstanding military leader of the Qing Empire was the renowned poet Zeng Guofan. He was the polar opposite of the Taiping leader! Born in 1811 to a wealthy peasant family (sometimes written as a nobleman), he passed the county examination in 1833, the provincial examination a year later, and in 1838, at the age of just 27, the imperial examination! He passed with distinction, earning him the rank of "jinshi," a distinction attained by 1, maximum 2 percent of examinees. With such abilities, he was accepted without question into the elite Hanlin Academy, where scholars fulfilled imperial secretarial and literary assignments. The most prominent Chinese writers and poets worked there. Zeng Guofan worked at the Academy for 13 years, becoming a second-rank official after just five years. In 1843, he was appointed literary critic in Sichuan Province, then became deputy secretary of the Council of Rituals, one of the six main ministries of the Celestial Empire.
The Taipings were very unlucky: in 1851, Zeng Guofan's mother died, and as a devout Confucian, he returned to his native Hunan to observe the required three years of mourning. It was there that the rebellion struck. The emperor issued a special decree ordering an official to help the provincial governor raise a volunteer force. And he did! Zeng Guofan demonstrated incredible activism: he not only raised volunteers, but also, on his own initiative, created a river transport. fleet from the battle junks and instead of defending, he attacked!
Soldiers of the Xiang Army
To conduct military operations, the poet-general formed the "Xiang Army." The new formation was based on village militias—the "tuanlian." But the main difference was that, unlike the old Chinese army, all soldiers became the "property" of the commander. Previously, armies and generals existed in different dimensions: a general had no permanent soldiers, and soldiers had no permanent general. Zeng Guofan created an army from scratch, and it was his "personal" army. In essence, he became the first of those who would later be called "Chinese militarists."
The Xiang army takes Jinling, a suburb of Nanjing.
While the Ever-Victorious Army and Gordon held off the Taipings, the Xiang Army sacked Nanjing, the capital of the Heavenly Kingdom. What exactly was this force? Its total strength was nearly 360,000 soldiers. They were divided into battalions (ying) of 500 soldiers and 5 officers (plus over a hundred coolie porters). Each battalion was divided into four shao companies and a bodyguard detachment. Each battalion was to have two light guns and 48 gingals (fortress rifles). Initially, the remaining soldiers were armed with swords, spears, and matchlock muskets, but soon European weapons began to be adopted. weaponTwo to ten battalions made up a brigade, commanded by a brigadier general; two or three brigades could form an army. Soldiers were well paid, and Zeng Guofang also established arsenals, schools, and ammunition factories. All of this remained after the army that defeated the Taipings was disbanded.
Prince Gong
The experience of Zeng Guofan and other "armies" and "corps" created on the European model prompted China to launch the "Self-Improvement Movement" (or "Self-Strengthening Movement"—Chinese words are ambiguous!). Prince Gong, appointed regent in 1861, together with the Empress Dowager Cixi, staged a coup d'état, seized power, and embarked on reforms. This included the formation of new troops, known as the "trained army"—"lianjun." Training was conducted... the first groups of personnel (60 soldiers and 6 officers) began training in Kyakhta in October 1861.
Kyakhta is Russian? Well, Russian officers trained them! Muravyov-Amursky didn't just take Primorye and the Amur region from China for nothing: a military-technical assistance agreement was signed, under which Captain I. A. Zeifort and Lieutenant I. I. Filipenko began training Chinese soldiers and officers in European military wisdom. The logic was ironclad: the Qing Empire, from Russia's perspective, needed to be able to defend itself against the British, with whom Russia's relations at the time were... not so great. At the same time, China was incapable of opposing Russia in terms of arms supplies and personnel training.
Chinese Tuan militiamen: boater hats are impressive!
But it didn't work out! Although all the soldiers trained by Russian officers demonstrated good marksmanship, as a result of a series of political intrigues, the training was discontinued in February 1862, the soldiers and officers were recalled, and the new instructors were Germans, British, and French. So what exactly were these "trained troops"? Let's start with the fact that they were mercenaries. While service in the old "banner troops" was hereditary, the new Chinese army recruited volunteers. Service was typically six years, but contracts were often signed for 10–20 years.
A private's salary was 4 liang in silver per month. True, the Chinese generals received their pay regularly, but they might not recruit the required number of soldiers, pocketing the money. Upon receiving the order to form a unit, the commander would post a notice in the square and select the applicants. Health and strength were the only criteria, so among the soldiers there were plenty of branded convicts and men who had lost their ears under the executioner's knife.
The "Trained Army" soldier looks brave!
Soldiers were trained in Tianjin military camps, and those who had served their time were resettled in Manchuria, becoming a trained reserve force. Sometimes soldiers of the Green Banner Army were sent through these camps, but this wasn't the best solution: they brought with them the habits and traditions of the old army, which were very difficult to break. Another problem was that, although individually strong and well-trained, Chinese soldiers often lacked a sense of camaraderie: the Qing Dynasty was unpopular, people enlisted purely for money, and the military profession was not respected in China, so... Heroic achievements on the battlefield were not to be expected from them.
On the other hand, there was a vast gulf between the officers (military mandarins, essentially) and the soldier masses. Commanders weren't shy about stealing soldiers' allowances and salaries, and the soldiers didn't trust their commanders. Nevertheless, the "trained" army was a clear winner over the old "banner troops."
If a soldier has a silver liang in his pocket, then things aren't so bad today!
The weak point of the new Chinese army was its rear. Supplies were not organized for a simple reason: it was believed that if a soldier was paid well and on time, he would be self-sufficient. But since soldiers did not always serve in Beijing, the silver paid in remote provinces was often impossible to exchange for the copper coins used in the market. This meant the copper-silver exchange rate rose, and the soldiers automatically became poorer! So, eventually, supply management had to be organized. This was usually the responsibility of the provincial governor-general. He would roughly estimate the need for uniforms and ammunition, calculate a budget, purchase everything needed or place orders with enterprises, and store everything in a warehouse, from which the necessary equipment was issued to unit commanders. Uniforms were usually issued for a year, while knapsacks and cartridge belts were issued indefinitely.
A copper coin from the Qing Dynasty, that's what was quoted on the market, not this silver of yours!
Provisions were purchased centrally, with money deducted from soldiers' pay. However, given theft at all levels, the soldiers were fed poorly, and they, in turn, made up for the missing calories by plundering the local population. In remote areas—Tibet, Mongolia, and Xinjiang—uniforms and food were supplied from the center: local supplies were simply insufficient to feed the troops.
In a trained army, there were no allowances, such as travel allowances, and only a small bonus was given for participating in construction work. In general, misunderstandings often arose between the local population and the soldiers, which were mostly resolved by force, which did not endear them to the army.
In theory, soldiers were entitled to 300 grams of meat per day. However, this was often not provided. In particularly severe cases, meat could be replaced with... opium! As the Russian officer V.V. Radlov noted, opium smoking is less harmful when accompanied by a good diet and high levels of physical activity. Meanwhile, Chinese soldiers had neither, so this practice quickly reduced them to wreckage. But that wasn't the main problem! The drug made soldiers timid, which led to sentries frequently opening fire at the slightest sound and resulting in instability on the battlefield.
In addition to meat (or its "substitute"), the daily ration of a Chinese soldier included 600-900 grams of flour and some grain. Rice was issued on the march, in significant quantities, using a large number of supply wagons. And for the autumn festival and the New Year (Chinese, of course!), one ram was issued per five men. Soldiers ate in teams of 5-20 people, preparing their own meals; alcohol was purchased with the permission of officers.
A dapper Qing officer, this is 1900, but the uniform has not changed by this time.
Soldiers began receiving uniforms from the treasury in 1874. There was no uniform for the entire army; everything depended on the individual general's taste. The basic items, however, were a shirt, trousers, a sleeveless jacket, and stockings. Strictly speaking, only the sleeveless jacket (called a "kurma" in Manchu) distinguished soldiers from peasants; by removing it, a soldier could easily blend into a crowd. This is precisely why the Chinese often massacred civilians: in times of danger, soldiers would throw down their weapons, remove their kurmas, and disappear into the surrounding crowds—at best. At worst, they could open fire from the crowd...
Uniform colors varied, including blue, red, orange, and even white. The kurma usually had a border of a different color from the overall uniform (for infantry, the kurma was most often blue, with a red border). A circle with an inscription indicating the branch of service, the commander's name, and the place of service was sewn onto the front and back. This circle was the insignia of soldiers of the "trained army": the "eight-banner" and "green-banner" soldiers did not have one. Non-commissioned officers wore stripes on their kurma corresponding to their rank.
In winter, soldiers wore long quilted robes for cavalrymen and jackets for infantrymen. For footwear, they wore cloth boots or shoes with quilted soles. Soldiers wore a thick turban in winter and a headscarf in summer, often complemented by a straw visor. Officers wore conical hats with a red tassel and a ball, or a bureaucratic cap with the same tassel and ball. The color of the ball indicated military rank.
On campaign, a soldier took a knapsack, a cartridge belt, a gourd flask, a knife, chopsticks, a wadded blanket, an umbrella, a fan, a waterproof raincoat, and a cup. Only the knapsack and cartridge belt were issued by the treasury. Other military equipment was carried on two-wheeled carts, at a rate of one cart for every 10-20 men. Each officer was entitled to several tents (for himself and his servants), while soldiers made do with one tent for every 20 men.
Soldiers of the "Trained Army"
The basic tactical unit of the "trained army" was the battalion (ying). Theoretically, it was supposed to have 500 fighters, but in reality, it could have had 800-900, but some of them were non-combatants (mostly porters). The army often deployed local residents for engineering work, but the soldiers themselves were also skilled at quickly and efficiently digging trenches or setting up camp. Each battalion was divided into five companies (shao), and each company into eight squads (peng). Two squads formed a platoon. A common problem with the new Chinese army was its undermanning, so all these figures are pure theory!
Sometimes Chinese generals attempted to combine battalions into brigades of five battalions: front, rear, left, right, and center. Two or three brigades were considered an army, but they were usually smaller in numbers than a Russian division. Corps of 4,500 men were also common, although the battalion was most often the tactical unit. Each general had a retinue of officials who formed a military chancery, but this was not a headquarters in the true sense of the word, and decision-making authority always remained with the general.
But our charter is Prussian!
If, after the Russians, the British took over the training of the new army, then, starting in 1870, the Prussian regulations were introduced into the "trained troops." Well, as they were introduced, many commanders adapted them to their own tastes. Training was conducted with varying quality in different locations: troops in port cities were found to be the best prepared, but Russian observers did not rate this training very highly. The Chinese were particularly surprised by the vocal commands: usually, Chinese troops used gongs, horns, and fires. missiles and signal flags. It was especially strange when Chinese officers gave commands to Chinese soldiers in broken French or English.
Weapons and tactics are a separate topic! Even as late as the 80s, pikemen remained in the Chinese army: they were usually placed in the front rank, although bows had already been abandoned by that time. But the general opinion of European observers was unanimous: the Chinese were much more skilled with bladed weapons than with firearms! They were excellent with both pikes and sabers, and many could even use two sabers simultaneously (by "sabres," the Europeans most likely meant the traditional curved "dao" swords). Rifles were kept in terrible disarray, and not all marksmen were skilled at shooting. This was attributed to the recent transition to more sophisticated weapons: the matchlock arquebuses used before the defeat in the Opium Wars were impossible to hit; only volley fire was effective.
Liuedao type swords
Speaking of firearms, their "diversity" was absolutely astonishing! In 1883, the army of one of the "militarists," Li Hongzhang, was armed with rifles and carbines from the following brands: Snider-Enfield, Sharps, Remington, Chassapeau, Albini, Winchester, Peabody, Martini, and Mauser. And all of this at once! It's easy to imagine how difficult it was to organize training in the use of these weapons, not to mention supplying ammunition... The reason for all of this was the Taiping Rebellion and the Ili Crisis, which forced the Chinese to frantically buy any modern firearms they could get their hands on.
Relative unification occurred in 1880, when the decision was made to retain only the 11mm Mauser Model 1871 rifle in service (by 1894, improved versions of this rifle, the Model 1871/84, with an 8-round magazine, had appeared). But while the decision was a decision, the Japanese, during their first capture (the Sino-Japanese War will be covered in a separate article) of Port Arthur, assembled rifles of seven different models on the battlefield! As contemporaries wrote, at best, they managed to arm one squad in a company with rifles of one model... Officers were armed with revolvers of equally diverse models (Colt, Smith & Wesson, Remington, etc.), and sabres of the "luedao" type (roughly corresponding very roughly to the Japanese "tachi," although it traces its origins to the Mongolian sabre), although European-style sabres were also encountered. Soldiers weren't supposed to carry sabers, but they were found among the trophies—most likely, some of the new recruits brought their grandfathers' swords with them (this happened even in the Kuomintang army!)...
Mauser 1871/84 inside and out
It's worth noting right away that Japanese prints often depict the Mikado's valiant soldiers defeating the Chinese, armed with truly archaic weapons: tridents, halberds, wicker shields... This is most likely propaganda, but such artifacts could well have been present among the honor guard companies. They depicted the most combat-ready Chinese units near Pyongyang not only with shields and halberds, but also in war paint! So, using Japanese prints as a reference historical The source is not worth it. Although they are beautiful... However, Chinese soldiers independently purchased various exotic items for self-defense: flails, clubs, knives, and other Shaolin artifacts.
Having been thrashed by European navies, the Qing government also focused on building a modern navy. Admittedly, the choice of ship supplier was somewhat peculiar. While most developing countries of the time purchased ships from Britain or France, the leading naval powers, the Chinese chose the Germans. This is odd, as the German shipbuilding school had yet to prove itself. Most likely, the reason is that China hadn't yet waged war against the Germans, while the Limeys and Frogmen had already managed to offend China.
The battleship Dingyuan is a Chinese of Aryan origin.
Nevertheless, it was Stettin Vulkan AG that the Empire chose to commission a fleet of 12 ironclads. However, the Osetra fleet was soon reduced to three ironclads, and later to two ships (the third was converted into an armored cruiser). The performance characteristics of the main body of the Chinese navy were similarly reduced. In short, the ironclads Dingyuan (Eternal Peace) and Zhenyuan (I couldn't find a translation, even Google Translate is slow!) were laid down a year apart—on January 1, 1879 and January 1, 1880—but were commissioned simultaneously: on January 1, 1884. The ships were somewhat reminiscent of the English battleships Ajax and Agamemnon; their main caliber guns were located in transition structures from the barbette to the turret, arranged diagonally, which, theoretically, allowed all four guns to fire not only at the side, but also straight ahead (the Battle of Lissa Island set the trend for a long time for a frontal or wedge formation as the main battle formation).
37 mm Hotchkiss revolver cannon
The ships' main battery, however, was quite respectable—two twin 305mm breech-loading Krupp guns, firing a shot every four minutes. However, this arrangement proved extremely unfortunate: the guns were short-barreled (25 calibers long) and, when fired forward, could damage the superstructure with propellant gases. In battle, the Chinese fleet commander suffered a concussion from a salvo from one. Much worse was the battleships' intermediate caliber, a joke: two six-inch guns in turrets fore and aft. The secondary battery was equally weak: six 57mm guns, five 47mm guns, and four 37mm Hotchkiss rapid-fire guns on the topsails and bridge.
But the ships were heavily armored! A citadel of armored belt with armored athwarts protected the central part of the ship—a common armor scheme at the time. The belt, 3 meters high, was 16 inches thick amidships, 6 inches below the waterline, and 10 inches thick atop, with athwarts of similar thickness. The armor was made of steel—a "compound." The bow and stern were protected by a 3-inch-thick armored deck. Some compartments not protected by armor were filled with cork, and there were over 200 compartments separated by watertight bulkheads! In short, German shipbuilding was already producing extremely durable ships! These 7,5-ton ships were propelled by 6300-horsepower engines, giving them a speed of 14,5-15 knots—quite impressive for the 80s.
"Jingyuan" by "Vulcan AG"
In addition to the battleships, the Beiyang Fleet (the Chinese Navy was divided into four fleets, the main ones being the Beiyang and Nanyang Fleets) included eight armored cruisers and armored deck cruisers built in Germany and England. However, by the standards of European navies, many of them could only be considered gunboats, like the Russian "Koreyets." In fact, the Germans, who built the "Jingyuan" and "Laiyuan" in Stettin with the Chinese, actually called them gunboats, but the Chinese, for the sake of appearances, reclassified these 2900-ton ships, with a speed of 16 knots and an artillery of two 210mm and two 150mm guns, as armored cruisers (their armor was truly impressive: the belt was 24 cm thick, the turret 20 cm thick!).
Even more ridiculous is the classification of the "Rendell gunboats" Chaoyong and Yanwei as cruisers, with a displacement of 1350 tons, a speed of 16 knots, and no armor. True, they had a solid armament: a pair of 254mm Armstrong & Whitworth guns and four 120mm guns from the same manufacturer (their anti-mine caliber was downright laughable: four 37mm Hotchkiss guns and two Nordenfeld mitrailleuses).
"Zhiyuan" by Armstrong with Mitchell
The armored cruisers Zhiyuan, Jiyuan (it’s called Jingyuan, but I’m writing it that way so as not to confuse them with the German-built Jingyuan—Chinese is a tonal language, so it’s difficult to convey the name correctly) and Chingyuan, built in Elswick by Armstrong & Mitchell, are typical Elswick cruisers: displacement of 2310 tons, three 210 mm guns, two in the bow and one in the stern, protected by armor shields, two six-inch guns on the sides, eight 57 mm Hotchkiss guns and six 37 mm Gatling mitrailleuses, 50 mm armored deck, 100 mm slopes, 51 mm gun shields, and a 76 mm conning tower.
"Pingyuan" is small, but Chinese!
There was also the armored cruiser Pingyuan, whose main feature was that this steamship was built in China, at a shipyard near Fuzhou (albeit to a French design). This 2500-ton ship had impressive armor: a 127-203 mm armor belt, a 127 mm thick turret barbette and conning tower, a 51 mm thick deck, and 37 mm thick gun shields. But her armament was unimpressive: one 260 mm short-barreled gun, two single 150 mm guns with 35 calibers, and four single 47 mm guns. And her speed was even less impressive: 10,5 knots was quite slow for 1890! Let me clarify right away: all the ships had torpedo tubes, but they were of no use in battle (though they did cause harm!).
Overall, the Chinese fleet wouldn't have been particularly good in the Atlantic, but... it was the strongest in the Far East (and 8th strongest in the world). The visit of Chinese battleships to Vladivostok in July 1886 caused a queasy feeling in the Russian naval department: at that time, we had only one armored cruiser in the Pacific Ocean, the Vladimir Monomakh, so despite the imperfect design of the Chinese battleships and cruisers, they could easily have simply crushed it with their weight!
The military reforms of the "Self-Improvement Movement" resulted in a significant strengthening of China. At least when Russian troops occupied Xinjiang in 1871 under the pretext of protecting Russian subjects from local Muslim rebels led by Yaqub Beg, in 1881, despite the ten-year presence of the Russian Imperial Army (which had conquered all of Central Asia!) in Xinjiang, the territory was forced to vacate under Chinese pressure. Of course, Alexander II immediately declared that the Russian troops in those regions were temporary, but as experience showed, temporary easily became permanent, and here, they did not. The "Ili Crisis" was resolved to the advantage of the Qing Empire precisely thanks to the emergence of a well-trained and armed Chinese army and navy. But the Manchu dynasty would soon face far more serious trials...
Information