拒援临淮:同治二年李鸿章与曾国藩的战略分歧

Refusing Aid to Linhuai:Strategic Differences between Li Hongzhang and Zeng Guofan in the Second Year of Tongzhi Dynasty

同治二年,李鸿章拒派淮扬水师赴援临淮以助湘军平叛苗沛霖。李鸿章先以各种理由拖延,在曾国藩一再催促甚至威胁要劾奏的情况下,不惜正面对抗,直接上奏朝廷,陈明军情和拒赴临淮的原因。最终李鸿章以水陆师互相配合,攻克苏州。曾国藩得此消息,十分惊喜,不再计较李鸿章的不听命行为。李鸿章抗命成功,在于清廷和曾国藩、李鸿章一样,也希望尽早打败太平军,不愿借洋师“助剿”苏南等地的太平军,因而在处理曾国藩和李鸿章的分歧时,采取了灵活的应对方式。

In the second year of Tongzhi dynasty,Li Hongzhang,who stationed in Shanghai,refused to send Huaiyang naval forces to Linhuai to help the Xiang Army suppress the rebellion of Miao Peilin.Li Hongzhang first found a variety of reasons for the delay.In the case of Zeng Guofan repeatedly urging or even threating to impeach them,Li Hongzhang directly submitted a memorial to the court to state the military situation and the reason of refusing to Linhuai.Finally,Li Hongzhang’s land and water army captured Suzhou.Zeng Guofan got this news pleasantly and surprisingly,and didn’t care about Li Hongzhang’s disobeying order.Li Hongzhang achieved his goal because the Qing court and Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang had the same goal of defeating the Taiping Armies as soon as possible with no foreign troops helping to capture southern Su and other places.When dealing with the differences between Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang,the Qing court adopted a flexible approach.