Who is the strongest and largest army in the history of China?

When it comes to China's modern war history, we have all heard a saying: Although the soldiers of the Qing army fought bravely, the weapons gap was amazing, and their broadswords and spears could not fight against foreign guns of western powers, so they still failed.

I have been educated like this since I was a child, from a history teacher, a Chinese teacher and even a chemistry teacher. The battle of Baliqiao is the image display of this conclusion. I am deeply impressed by the image of the flag bearer in the movie Burning Yuanmingyuan.

At the Battle of Baliqiao, the Qing government mobilized the most elite Mongolian and Eight Banners cavalry at that time, killing 5 British and French allied troops and injuring dozens at the cost of local loss 1200 (so-called 3000 troops). Very brave, the battle-damage ratio is about 100: 1, which should explain the real gap between the two sides' equipment levels.

But in fact, the weapons used by the later Sudanese Boers even lagged behind the Qing army, but they all played a much more beautiful record against the British army than the Qing army.

Moreover, even without considering the war-to-loss ratio, if the loss is less than 5%, they will break up. Can such an army hardly be called a hero?

But later, I made a detailed analysis of all the battles of China's army since then, and found that compared with many of their successors, the performance of this army was indeed heroic.

1894 in the battle of Pyongyang, the Qing army15,000 people took "half a home" to face the Japanese invaders16,000 people. Different from 30 years ago, at this time, the Qing Dynasty was at the peak of the Westernization Movement, and its weapons and equipment did not lag behind the Japanese army on the other side, but it killed 2,000 people and 200 Japanese troops. Although the record is touching, it would be brave enough if one in eight soldiers really died.

However, among the 2,000 people, 1500 people were caught up and annihilated by the Japanese army on the way to escape. ...

And coach Ye Zhichao abandoned the city at the critical moment of the battle, and it seems that he can't ask ordinary soldiers to do anything.

Since then, the Qing army has been defeated thousands of miles on land until Shanhaiguan. In contrast, the performance of Beiyang Navy is quite gratifying. In fact, China's navy and air force have always performed better than the army in modern times. Of course, there is a reason for this, and the specific reasons will be analyzed later.

The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 completely awakened the dream of "rejuvenating the country with light", and since then China has completely fallen into the abyss of semi-colonial and semi-feudal society.

After the Sino-Japanese War, the Qing government established a new army modeled on the West. Since then, China's army has at least appeared as a modern army, but what has not changed is its fragility on the battlefield.

1920 Sino-Anhui War was the peak of the old warlord's melee and the first large-scale melee of China's new army. The two sides invested more than 200,000 troops and used all advanced weapons, including airplanes. Anhui warlords were kicked out of the historical stage by the direct allied forces in World War I, which changed the political situation in China.

So many advanced weapons were used in such a decisive battle that 200 people were killed on both sides.

Yes, I have the right number, and neither do you. It's 200 people.

When I first learned this data, I was equally shocked, but the fact forced me to refresh my cognition: because until the war in Anhui, many soldiers didn't know how to aim when shooting, and when they started fighting, they just fired into the air. ......

In fact, before the Anti-Japanese War, there was a saying in the infantry code of the National Government: "You must aim before shooting."

Even after more than ten years, when the upsurge of nationalism has been surging on the land of China, we also played one joke after another:

For example, when Guo Songling led his most elite Feng Jun in a life-and-death battle, hundreds of Japanese soldiers could draw a "demilitarized zone" near the warring sides, leaving Guo Songling helpless.

For example, Japan's ultimatum forced hundreds of thousands of northern expeditionary troops to detour north.

For example, during the "September 18th Incident", 700 Japanese troops occupied Shenyang, a major town in the northeast, and only two people were killed. One of them even rushed into the barracks of the Northeast Army single-handedly, showing arrogance. The man was killed by Wang Tiehan, a colonel of the Northeast Army, who disobeyed orders. Wang Tiehan also made history and fired War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression's first shot.

Later, in Jehol, 128, the Japanese army let the100000 troops stationed in Jehol run away.

Today, all this sounds like a joke to us. Many people have said that they don't understand. I once explained to a friend that if two people come into your house with knives and want to kill your parents, wife and children, you may be able to stop them yourself. But if two people rush into your company with knives and cut your boss, can you 100 people stop them?

The reason is simple, because China's nationalism didn't mature until 1930s. From the Qing government to the warlord scuffle, nationalism was a luxury for China people at that time.

Until 1950s and 1960s after liberation, when teachers went to some remote mountainous areas to popularize education, they always asked a question to test the knowledge level of students and parents. The question is:

Where are you from?

And many answers are not unknown, but at a loss. What is a country?

This is a true story. In fact, we can understand that an illiterate person, whose parents and relatives can't read, may never leave his mountain village. It is really difficult for him to understand this illusory thing.

This is exactly what happened before the birth of China's nationalist thought. What is the motivation for warlords and soldiers to fight? Nothing more than money and power. If you have a little affection for fellow villagers and comrades-in-arms, it is a fighting army.

For warlords, the army is their own. With the army, wherever you go, you can take the mountain as the king and live a life of debauchery. After the war with the Japanese, no one will come to supplement you. For ordinary soldiers, no matter which warlord they serve, even if they serve the Japanese, they earn money to support their families. If they lose their lives, what can they get? Country? Nation? What are those? In the climax of Guo Songling's anti-Feng campaign, he threw leaflets at the positions of the Northeast National Army. The content of the leaflet is: eat Lao Zhang's meal, don't hit Lao Zhang's home. The attributes of the warlord army were completely exposed, but the final effect was surprisingly good.

Of course, if China's army remains the same as before, even if the United States and the Soviet Union help again, China can't hold on to 1945. War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression was the first transformation of China's army. Because nationalism is an ideological weapon to arm itself, China's army can really bear huge casualties without collapse. The battle casualties in the week of the Battle of Songhu exceeded the sum of all foreign wars in China since modern times. However, after the end of the Anti-Japanese War, the Kuomintang army lost the banner of nationalism and its combat effectiveness plummeted.

Because they are facing the first modern army in the history of China.

Of course, this modernization is not the modernization of equipment, but the comprehensive modernization from thought to organizational ability and tactical discipline.

Zhu Qiqian, an old minister of Beiyang, predicted in 193 1 that the civil war in China depended largely on weapons, silver dollars and socialism. Moreover, silver dollars are not as good as weapons, and weapons are not as good as doctrine. I only have weapons and a few silver dollars in Beiyang, and I have no doctrine. I am a hero of the past. Now the Nanjing government has silver dollars, weapons and a little individualism, and it is a temporary hero. In my opinion, fifteen years later, a young man with weapons and determination may be the hero of China. "

When Zhu Qiqian made this prediction, the "* * * bearing teenager" in his mouth was facing round after round of encirclement and suppression, and was in danger of being wiped out several times.

Of course, we all know the final outcome.

The troops occupying the presidential palace in Nanjing took part in the scuffle between the old warlords and worked as puppet troops during the Anti-Japanese War. According to our statement, it is a standard "three surnames domestic slave", but after the uprising, it triumphed all the way and laid the Nanjing Presidential Palace.

The Northeast Army, which had created numerous humiliating records, was later incorporated into the Fourth Field Army by many people who joined the People's Liberation Army and fought all the way from Songhua River to Hainan Island.

The same people, under the leadership of different organizations, are completely different armies.

In addition, there are several details that deserve our careful consideration:

Before the battle of crossing the river, the British warship "Purple Yingshi" broke into our war zone without authorization and was shelled by our army. This is the first time in a century that China's army has taken the initiative to open fire on western powers. In fact, with the strength of the PLA artillery at that time, it was difficult to cause serious injuries to British warships, but Purple ran aground on the beach in a panic. Maybe they didn't expect China people to shoot them.

Thus, Britain became the first western country to establish diplomatic relations with New China.

A year later, Chinese people's Volunteer Army occupied Seoul and gave Eisenhower a loud slap in the face. The 50 th Army that occupied Seoul was also an army that came from the national army uprising. In the national army, he was ridiculed as 60 bears because of his poor record. In the People's Liberation Army, because of its strong fighting capacity, it was called "50 fierce".

In the famous Battle of Qingchuan River, the first division of the US Army, which rushed to break through, saw such a scene on the road and became an eternal classic.

Because the weather suddenly cooled down and the logistics supply was not in place, all three companies carrying out sniper missions froze to death, but they never left their positions. Imagine, if it was such an army that fought against the British and French Coalition forces a hundred years ago, what would be the final outcome?

And history really gives us this opportunity.

Half of the British troops who participated in the Battle of Baliqiao were Indian soldiers. Among them, Jeter United, a well-known unit, not only took part in two Opium Wars and burned Yuanmingyuan, but also took part in the 1904 Tibet operation, which can be described as "outstanding military achievements". After India's independence, it became a trump card for the Indian army.

1962, one hundred years after the Battle of Baliqiao, Jeter United once again fought against the Indian army in the Sino-Indian border war, and was annihilated by our army in just three days.

Far from home, our army fought a 1: 6 defeat with the Indian army to make up for the difficulties and dangers.

Although the PLA's weapons and equipment are not the same as those of a hundred years ago. But we should all realize that China's army has changed much more than weapons and equipment in the past 100 years.

The core of a truly powerful army is always people.

Who is the most powerful army in the history of China? The answer is obvious.