Expedition to the West

In March 1853, after the Taiping Emperor established the capital of Tianjing, in order to seize Anhui and Jiangxi, enter Hunan and Hubei, control Anqing, Jiujiang and other military important places, and shield Tianjing, it was decided to launch a westward expedition at the same time as the Northern Expedition. On June 3, the Taiping Emperor ordered Lai Hanying, deputy prime minister of Xiaguan, to lead 20,000 troops and more than 1,000 warships to begin the expedition from Tianjing Shuojiang to the west. On June 10, he occupied Anqing, an important town on the north bank of the Yangtze River, and Lai Hanying led more than 10,000 soldiers to continue to march westward, linking towns along the Yangtze River and besieging Nanchang. The siege of the city was not overcome for three months, and the siege was withdrawn to the north. Shi Xiangzhen, Wei Junxi aid, Kejiujiang, defeated the Qing soldiers in Tianjia Town, and won two grams of Hanyang and Hankou. After that, Hu Yihuang and Zeng Tianyang sent troops from Anqing and occupied Jixianguan, Tongcheng and Shucheng in the north. In January 1854, in Kelu Prefecture (now Hefei), the Qing governor Jiang Zhongyuan was defeated. In February, Shi Xiangzhen, Wei Jun, and Zeng Tianyang marched westward again, defeated Wu Wenrong, the governor of Qinghuguang, in the blockade of the city, and occupied Hanyang three times. The division of troops was three: Zeng Tianyang passed through northern Hubei, Wei Jun crossed the river to encircle Wuchang, and Shi Xiangzhen captured Hunan. After the Taiping army entered Hunan Province, Zeng Guofan formed a Hunan army to resist. In April, Shi Xiangzhen defeated the Hunan army at Jinggang. In early May, Lin Shaozhang's troops were defeated in Xiangtan and lost about 2,000 ships. In June, Wei Juner Ke Wuchang. From July to August, the two armies fought in northern Hunan Province, and the Taiping army was continuously defeated and retreated because of the death of the Xiao general Zeng Tianyang in Chenglingji. In October, the three towns of Wuhan were lost one after another. In December, Qin Rigang's troops defeated Tianjia Town, and the Hunan army approached Jiujiang. In January 1855, Shi Dakai and others led the army to the west, organized the battles of Jiujiang and Hukou, annihilated the Hunan army and naval division, took advantage of the victory to counterattack, defeated Yang Pei, the governor of Huguang, and occupied Hanyang and Wuchang. In November, the Taiping army abandoned Luzhou, and the situation in northern Anhui reversed. At the end of this year, the Hunan army besieged Wuhan, and Shi Dakai led his division to the west to aid Hubei, but because the Hunan army intercepted it, he transferred to Jiangxi. In March 1856, Shi Dakai defeated the Hunan army Zhou Fengshan in Zhangshu Town, occupied more than 50 prefectures and counties in Jiangxi, and besieged Zeng Guofan in Nanchang. However, Wuhan was still besieged by the Hunan army, and the war ended in a stalemate. The Taiping Army's westward expedition lasted nearly three years, and it controlled the three major towns of Anqing, Jiujiang, and Wuchang in the upper reaches of Tianjing, and occupied Jiangxi, Anhui, and eastern Hubei Province, becoming the main strategic base of Taiping Tianjing, effectively shielding Tianjing, ensuring food sources, and creating conditions for Taiping Tianyuan to persist in the struggle.

Yuyao activities

On October 20 of the 11th year of Xianfeng (1861), the Taiping Army was led by Huang Laichang, a local rebel army of the 18th Bureau, and under the command of Huang Chengzhong, the king of Dai, to conquer Yuyao. Geng Tianyi Ruan Shizhen is in charge of the county government. Show the whole people's hair, set up township officials all over, and the officials have the names of the supervising army division, brigade division, Sima, and the commander of the army, and set up a famous brand in each household. Peasants from all villages joined the Taiping Army. In Ansanqiao Village alone, 70% of young adults participated.

On 27 October, the Anglo-American-French consular representative of Ningbo, Yazhi, came to Yao to consult with Huang Chengzhong to discuss the protection of foreigners after the Taiping army marched into Ningbo.

On April 22 of the first year of Tongzhi (1862) (May 22 of the Gregorian calendar), Fan Ruzeng and Huang Chengzhong of the Taiping Army retreated from Ningbo to Yuyao, built fortifications in the suburbs, dug tunnels, and arranged wooden stakes at the water passes. Daotai Zhang Jingqu led Yuyao Huang Touyong, Cixi Bai Tou Yong, and the former Zhejiang Governor Chen Shizhang led the Qing army to attack the city twice, but they were both repulsed. On the seventh day of the seventh month of July (August 2 of the Gregorian calendar), the British general Ma Chun led the victorious army to Ningbo. He Changjie's army attacked Yuyao. It was repelled by the Taiping army. The next day, the general of the British Naval Division, the general of the French Naval Division, the Leborough Donghe Changsheng Army, led Ma Chun, the Changjie Army Commander, and Zhang Jingqu of the Qingdao Terrace led the army to attack again, and the warships sailed straight to the city wall to bombard, and the Taiping Army bravely met the attack, and the fierce battle lasted all day. The county town fell, Huang Chengzhong's troops retreated to Shangyu, and Fan Ruzeng's troops retreated to Mazhu. birthday

At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, in the Hengtou area of Kipshi Town, Haining, every August 23rd, every household burned brown sugar taro porridge to eat, which was said to be a "birthday" for the Taiping Army. According to legend, Qing Xianfeng ten years (1860), the Taiping army team attacked Kipshi, August 23 stationed in Kipshi, because of the rescue of mothers and babies, after the local people set August 23 as the "Taiping Army's birthday", burn brown sugar taro porridge to eat, this custom has continued until the eve of the War of Resistance against Japan. According to word-of-mouth surveys, the source of this custom has no further meaning or not.