Taiping Military Eye

One of the earliest books engraved in the Taiping Tianwan, known to have been published in four editions, namely 1851 (the first year of Xianfeng), 1852, 1853 and early 1854. It is rumored to have been written by Feng Yunshan. According to the 1852 edition cited in Zhang Dejian's "Collection of Thieves' Affairs", its content mainly describes the establishment of the Taiping Army and the flag pattern. Take the first army as an example, with its organization and establishment, five people are in force, and the commander of the army is in charge of charging, breaking the enemy, winning, and winning four soldiers; The five armies are two, and the two Sima Guan are strong, brave, majestic, resolute, and mighty, and the five army chiefs, 25 people; Four taels are pawns, and the chief of the pawns is in charge of the east, west, south, and north four Sima, 104 people; The five pawns are brigades, and the brigade commanders are in charge of the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth brigade commanders, 525 people; The five brigades are divisions, and the division commanders are in charge of the front battalion, rear battalion, right battalion, left battalion, and middle battalion, with 2,625 people (it should be 2,630 people), and the five divisions are the army, and the army commander is in charge of the front battalion, rear battalion, left battalion, right battalion, and middle battalion, with 13,125 people (it should be 13,155 people). Above the military commander, there are the superintendent of the army, the general system, the general, the commander, the inspector, the prime minister, and even the military commander moderation. It also stipulates that the flags used from the two Sima to the military division are diverse, and the flags are divided into 5 colors. In terms of one army, there are as many as 656 large and small yellow flags.

1. The Taiping army won, and the Qing army lost.

Typical example: The victory of the Three Rivers

The victory of Sanhe Town was a famous battle in which the Taiping Army annihilated the elite Li Xubin of the Hunan Army in Sanhe Town, Anhui Province (now Feixi County) in the late Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and it was also a famous example of concentrating superior forces to fight a war of annihilation in the history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In September 1858, Li Xubin, a fierce general of the Hunan army, led 8,000 elite soldiers into Anhui, and successively conquered Taihu, Qianshan, Tongcheng and Shucheng, and the troops pointed directly at Luzhou and Anqing. Li fought in Anhui for 32 consecutive days, penetrating four or five hundred miles into the hinterland, leaving part of the troops stationed in the conquered cities, and leading 6,000 elites to attack Luzhou.

I think the reasons for the outcome of this campaign are varied, and the reasons are as follows:

(1) On the part of the Taiping Army:

1. The Taiping Army attaches great importance to intelligence. Wu Dinggui hurriedly Pegasus reported the military situation to Tianjing, which fully illustrated this point.

2. The Taiping Army made correct and decisive decisions, concentrated superior forces, divided and encircled, had flexible tactics, and had correct command. The soldiers are fast, Chen Yucheng waved his army to the west, and the military opportunity could not be lost, which is very clear to any military general, and Chen Yucheng is no exception. Fighting with friendly forces, Chen Yucheng invited Li Xiucheng to move to rescue Anhui and tighten his fists (mobilize all friendly forces that can hit the opponent to create his own favorable conditions). Chen Yucheng's troops rushed to Sanhe in the starry night, and they did it, which was a prerequisite for this operation. Cutting off the opponent's retreat, Chen Yucheng's troops bypassed Jinniu Town and Baishi Mountain, cut off Li Xubin's back road, and made the opponent's combat cowardly before fighting to pre-empt favorable conditions, and Chen Yucheng's troops did it again. Li Xiucheng's troops also arrived with troops to bring Wu Ruxiao and Zhang Lexing of the Twist Army. Thus, an absolute superiority in military strength was formed. When attacking the enemy, the Taiping army adopted the tactics of frontal attack, ambush, and attack flank. All units cooperated closely, quickly divided and surrounded the Hunan army, defeated the opponent head and tail, and achieved the goal of the campaign in a quick and decisive way, completely annihilating more than 7,000 people of Li Xubin's department, and killing Li Xubin and Zeng

Guohua.

(2) On the side of the Qing army:

1. There are not many troops, only a mere 8,000 people.

2. The troops were quite tired, and Li Xubin's troops had been fighting for 32 consecutive days and had not received considerable supplies and sufficient rest.

3. Rush alone. Li Xubin's troops went deep into the hinterland of Anhui for four or five hundred miles, and Li Xubin, the fierce general of the Hunan army, led 8,000 elite soldiers into Anhui, and successively conquered Taihu Lake, Qianshan, Tongcheng, and Shucheng, leaving some troops stationed in the cities to conquer, and led 6,000 elites to Luzhou. Regard yourself as the god of war and fight deep into the hinterland of the place with a force of only a few thousand people, how can you be undefeated

4. They do not have their own reconnaissance and intelligence network, and they are not at all familiar with all the situations of their opponents. Blindly attacking Luzhou, a target location that he is not familiar with---- and continuing to attack Luzhou, which is not his sphere ----of influence, without knowing how many troops his opponent has deployed, and without any friendly troops following up.