C3398 Called for help in Xinjiang (1/2)

Xinjiang is very large, with three mountains and two basins, Tianshan, Altai, Kunlun Mountains and then formed the Quasi-Ge and Tarim basins.

All of the Tarim Basin had fallen into Yaqub's hands, and the northern border, which was the Quasi-Ge Basin, was still holding its ground in the hands of the Qing Government.

Just the Jaeger Basin alone was 400,000 square kilometers, and this was not even considering the surrounding deserts and mountains!

Such a vast expanse of land had a total of five thousand cavalrymen guarding it? Gordon was shocked.

Rong Quan looked at Gordon with an expression of vigilance. He had been sent to the border since the age of Xian Feng, so he did not participate in the entire war to stabilize the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Gordon had never seen it either!

Guan Lu quickly introduced him, ”This is the general of the imperial government, the general of the Chang Sheng Jun, Gordon. This time, the His Majesty has hired someone to help train the new army!

”Oh? Was it the Chang Sheng Jun who first evolved in the Gun? ”My apologies, my apologies …” Rong Quan quickly cupped his fists and bowed.

He had never seen it before but Rong Quan had read about it in the imperial government's residence before. He had also heard from his colleagues that Gordon also performed the usual martial general's salute when he entered the country.

”Master Gordon, right? Let's walk and chat. It's not that I, Rong Quan, do not want to train more, it's just that I am unable to do it.

From Rong Quan's words, Gordon found out that when he wasn't in China, the Manchu dynasty's internal department had erupted into an extremely serious but relatively low-key dispute over strategy and tactics.

At the end of the Qing Empire, it could be said that the broken houses were leaking air everywhere, and both internal and external problems were surging up, yet they still encountered major change, which had never been seen in three thousand years.

The human society's Industrial Revolution was getting deeper and deeper, and the strong warriors' fighting abilities were getting fiercer and fiercer. They simply did not give the people behind them any opportunity to catch their breath.

There were powerful countries like the English and French in the sea and the greedy Sha Russia outside the border along with Xinjiang. It was simply impossible for the empire's finances to sustain a two-line war … No no no, it should be called two line of defense.

The Qing Empire no longer had the strength and courage to attack. To be able to protect the territory left behind by the Old Ancestor was already burning incense!

Since the empire's finances could not maintain a double line of defense or even multiple lines of defense, they could only give up on a portion of it. At this time, the important officials of the imperial court were divided into two factions.

The Huai Army, led by Li Hongzhang, was also Bei Yang's previous self. They wanted to give up Xinjiang and concentrate on marine defense, building up a fleet and turret to develop the oceanic navigation business.

Zuo Zongtang, on the other hand, represented the other faction and did not give up on Xinjiang, which was an inherent territory. Of course, it was not because they did not want to protect the sea, but they wanted to develop their navy under the condition of protecting Xinjiang.

These two thoughts were in fact what the Qing Empire had to do after it fell into desolation. It was because the Empire had lost its power. Without money, there was no way it could be made into something like that.

It was originally a policy debate on the strategic direction of the country, but after being infected by the bad atmosphere in the Qing Dynasty, it became a strange party conflict.

Those close to Li Hongzhang, no matter what reason they had, would always support the sea defense. They probably did not know that the boat was made of steel.

Meanwhile, the officials who had their own interests in Zuo Zongtang refused to give up on Xinjiang, even though he had never been there in his entire life.

Once the discussion turned into a dispute between the parties, this matter would be troublesome. This was forcing the officials of the imperial court to stand on their side!

Both sides disliked each other. As long as they were not in the same faction, they would do their best to impeach the other!