readx;? Rebel hero in a suit

On April 22, 1859 (the ninth year of Xianfeng), 38-year-old Hong Renji walked from Hong Kong to Tianjing. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Hong Xiuquan was particularly happy.

changed the promise of "never being crowned king", and named him "the king of the Jingzhong army of the opening dynasty and the king of the heavens and the gang".

It caused dissatisfaction and rebuke from many generals.

Chen Yucheng was named King of England, and Li Xiucheng was soon named King Zhong.

Hong In-gil presented the "New Chapter of Capital Administration" to the Heavenly King, proposing that "power should be one", developing private industry, mining, transportation, and banking, setting up news centers, and adopting foreign trade policies, with the intention of establishing a capitalist system.

In 1868, Japan carried out the Meiji Restoration, enriching the country and strengthening the army.

Can China also implement a new policy?

Hong Renji really wants to make a career.

However, history still let him down after all.

Hong Xiuquan seemed to appreciate the "New Chapter of Senior Administration" and approved the words "this policy is feasible", but when it came time to actually implement it, he retreated......

The last glimmer of life in the kingdom of heaven has been cut off.

Alas.

Luo Xiaoquan, an American who had refused to baptize Hong Xiuquan, came to Tianjing with a hope and served as the foreign prime minister of the Celestial Empire.

He lashed out, saying:

"I don't believe they have any political organization, and I don't believe they know how to organize a government.

"Everything seems to be entirely subordinate to military law, and those in power from the highest to the lowest level are on the line of killing. ”

The world is turbulent, and I stand still.

And a government that cannot get rid of feudal superstition, lacks the participation of intellectuals, advocates advanced ideas such as freedom, equality, and fraternity, and makes great efforts to govern the country is just a gang of gangsters who can't get on the table!

Rogues are rioters.

There is only ugly destruction.

There is not a hint of construction work.

It is still impossible for the Chinese nation to stand tall in the world.

By the beginning of 1860 (the tenth year of Xianfeng), the Jiangnan battalion of the Qing army had 100,000 soldiers.

In the north, east and south of Tianjing City, more than 130 miles of trenches were dug and walls were built, and more than 130 large and small camps were built, and the siege was the same as an iron bucket.

A strong assault will inevitably cost heavy casualties.

The generals devised a way to break the siege.

Hong Renji suggested that he should use strange troops to march eastward to smash Hu and Hangzhou, divide the enemy's troops, and then return to attack the camp in the south of the Yangtze River.

The strategy was established, and Li Xiucheng led the main force into Zhejiang. On March 11, more than 1,000 of its forwards disguised as Qing troops entered the Wulin Gate in Hangzhou.

There were about 7,000 troops stationed in Hangzhou.

When the Taiping army failed to make a sneak attack, they turned to a strong attack. Li Xiucheng camped outside the south gate, dug a tunnel outside the Qingbo gate, and destroyed the city wall several zhang with mines to conquer Hangzhou.

He Chun had to divide troops from the Jiangnan camp to aid Zhejiang.

Li Xiucheng planted flags all over the city of Hangzhou, thinking that he was suspicious, and led his troops to withdraw overnight.

King Zhong summoned Yang Fuqing, Liu Guanfang, Huang Wenjin, Wu Dingcai, and Chen Kunshu generals to aid Tianjing.

At that time, the Jiangnan battalion had been divided into four troops, and the strength was less than 40,000.

On May 2, 100,000 Taiping troops braved the rain to launch a fierce attack on Hechun Yingpan, and Chen Yucheng's troops built several pontoon bridges in Shanghe Town and Maogongdu, and attacked the Qing army inside and outside the Taiping army in the city.

The Taiping army threw homemade grenades at the Qing army camp, causing gunpowder to explode and fire everywhere. When the Qing army was scattered, the Taiping army destroyed more than 50 camps in the south of the Yangtze River, and killed thousands of people under the general Huang Qing and deputy general Lei Anbang.

On the 6th, the entire Jiangnan camp was completely paralyzed.

The Eastern Crusade and the Battle of Shanghai

On the 11th, Hong Renji, together with other generals, ascended to the court to celebrate and discuss the next military action.

At this time, the territory of the Celestial Empire was only near Tianjing and parts of Anhui, and human and material resources were greatly limited.

Chen Yucheng: Focusing on Anhui, concentrate troops to fight for the upper reaches of Tianjing and return to Anqing;

Li Shixian: Exploring Zhejiang and Fujian;

Hong Renji and Li Xiucheng were optimistic about the rich land of grain and rice, and advocated the eastward expedition to Suzhou and Changzhou to seize the important economic base in the south of the Yangtze River.

The King of Heaven ordered the kings to march eastward, "to purge the echo in one month".

Li Shixian led his division into southern Anhui, entered Zhejiang through Guangde and Huizhou, Kelin'an, Fuyang, and Yuhang, and approached Hangzhou.

On the 15th, Li Xiucheng led the main force of the Eastern Expedition from Tianjing and occupied Jurong on the same day. Due to Chen Yucheng's effective cooperation, the Qing army was defeated outside Danyang City, Zhang Guoliang fell into the river and drowned in the rout, and the minister He Chun fled to Hushu Pass in the northwest of Suzhou and committed suicide.

After Li Xiucheng conquered Danyang, he successfully captured Changzhou, Wuxi, Suzhou, and Jiangyin.

On the occasion of the Taiping Army's eastward crusade, the Hunan army invaded Jixian Pass and besieged Anqing.

King Chen Yucheng of England led the army back to help.

...... His erratic whereabouts reflected his mixed feelings of having to carry out orders and not wanting to fight on the Eastern Front.

Li Xiucheng continued to march eastward, connecting Jiaxing in Zhejiang, Kunshan, Taicang, Jiading, Qingpu in Jiangsu, and Kesongjiang in July, and his troops approached the suburbs of Shanghai.

At that time, Shanghai was not a relatively large city in the country.

But it also developed into a large-scale treaty port.

The capture of Shanghai could not only cut off the lifeline of the Qing court's north-south transportation, but also allow it to develop trade with Western countries and obtain a stable supply of weapons and military materials by virtue of the convenience of the treaty port.

At the same time, it also obtains huge economic benefits.

The American missionary Hayassy and the British missionary Joseph Al arrived in Suzhou one after another.

Because Li Xiucheng did not understand the international situation, he mistakenly thought that "foreigners were coming to surrender," and he was full of confidence in taking Shanghai lightly.

At this time, Britain, France and other countries had opened concessions in Shanghai.

Where the interests lie, we cannot fail to abide by them.

The British minister Prouss and the French minister Bourblon issued a notice that they would protect the Shanghai concession and the county seat by force.

In addition, Yang Fang, a wealthy businessman, funded the organization of a "foreign gun team" composed of more than 100 foreigners, all equipped with foreign guns and cannons. American Wall is the team leader, and Bai Qiwen and Farsted are the deputy team leaders.

The Taiping army Lu Shunde was defeated at Songjiang.

The Qing army and the foreign guns surrounded Qingpu and attacked it by land and water.

Qingpu guard Zhou Wenjia insisted on one side, and Feishu Zhongwang on the other.

When Li Xiucheng learned that Qingpu was in an emergency, he immediately led light cavalry to help, and broke the Qing soldiers and foreign spear teams under Qingpu City, and Shanghai was shaken.

Take advantage of the victory and re-Ke Songjiang Mansion.

On August 16, Li Xiucheng marched to Shanghai.

On the 18th, he stationed in Xujiahui, set up a base camp in the Catholic Church, and the generals Cai Yuanlong and Gao Yongkuan entered the Jiuli Bridge nine miles away from the county seat, broke the four battalions of the Qing army, and took advantage of the victory to force the west and south gates.

However, the besieging troops were fired upon by the British and suffered many casualties.

Li Xiucheng ordered the siege of the city, but was still bombarded by the artillery fire of the British, French, naval and army forces, and was wounded by shrapnel in the cheek and retreated to Xujiahui.

On the 19th, the British Consulate interpreter Fu Lici arrived at the Taiping military camp and handed over the Proclamation of Prussia.

Li Xiucheng learned that the British and French troops directly helped defend the city, and also learned that the Qing army Zhang Yuliang was besieging Jiaxing, so he relieved the siege of Shanghai on the 24th, and went to aid Jiaxing through Songjiang and Qingpu.

The Battle of Shanghai ended in the defeat of the Taiping Army.

8. Famous generals are not blown

In the summer of 1860, Zeng Guofan, the new governor of Liangjiang and minister of Qincha, led 70,000 land and water divisions of the Hunan and Hubei armies, marched from Hubei to capture Taihu Lake, Qianshan and Shipai in Anhui, and approached Anqing.

Zeng Guofan suddenly grasped the key point.

Since the fall of Jiujiang, Anqing has become the only barrier in the upper reaches of Tianjing, and once lost, the Hunan army can directly point to Tianjing.

It's a pity that there are not many people in the Taiping army who keep a clear head?

Chen Yucheng is definitely one, but he doesn't count what he said.

Hong Renji has a job but no power.

The king of heaven grabbed his eyebrows and mustache, and he has always said that it doesn't count, and he doesn't say it......

Zeng Guofan was lucky.

He was in his fifties and had much grayer hair.

He fought with the Taiping army for several years, won fewer victories and lost more, and committed suicide several times. And every time he loses, he will be scolded by the government and the opposition.

Brother Zeng Guohua died in battle, Luo Zenan was killed, Li Xubin committed suicide, and Taqib ......

For countless nights, Zeng Guofan tossed and turned, unable to sleep, the death of his relatives, the ridicule and ridicule of the ministers, and the deterioration of the war situation, which could simply drive people crazy!

"Knocking out teeth and swallowing blood".

But what about the victory, and where is the victory?

Thinking about it, he was just a scholar from a peasant family, and the rooster crowed, with hard work, and he only gained fame at the age of 28. Reading the Four Books and the Five Classics and writing moral articles was the result of this popular uprising that pushed him to the forefront of the storm......

Zeng Guofan struggled to find, observe, and wait in a difficult situation......

Onslaught!

"Tianjing infighting" undoubtedly gave him the best chance to turn the book.

Take advantage of the momentum –

first captured Wuchang, then occupied Jiujiang, and then the victorious army rushed to Anqing with an unstoppable momentum......

"Since ancient times, the thieves in the south of the Yangtze River will be able to succeed if they are far from the upstream and go down. (Zeng Guofan)

Anqing was garrisoned by Ye Yunlai and Zhang Chaojue.

Ye Yunlai is stoic and good at fighting, arranging the city guards, and is well organized.

Zeng Guofan transferred Zeng Jiu (Guoquan) to the city of Anqing and waited for the battle; Duolonga and Li Xuyi led 20,000 Hunan troops to garrison the trailer river south of Tongcheng, with deep ditches and high fortifications, to block the reinforcements of the Taiping army.

Hong Xiuquan adopted the strategy of "taking Hubei together", advancing in five directions, with Chen Yucheng and Li Xiu as the main force, and planned to join Wuhan in the spring of the following year to mobilize the enemy besieging Anqing.

Chen Yucheng led his troops to cross the Jiangxi expedition.

He united with about 100,000 people from Gong Deshu and Sun Kui's heart to enter the area of the trailer river southwest of Tongcheng in an attempt to rescue Anqing. It was blocked by Duolonga and Li Xuyi, and thousands of casualties were imposed.

The Taiping army retreated to the Lujiang River.

In January 1861 (the 11th year of Xianfeng), Chen Yucheng led his army over the Dabie Mountain and advanced into Hubei, connecting Keying Mountain, Qishui and other places within a few days. On March 18, it attacked Huangzhou Mansion, only 160 miles away from Wuchang. At that time, there were only 2,000 Qing soldiers and 80 horses in Wuchang City, "the battle could not be fought, and the defense could not be defended", Hu Linyi, the governor of Hubei, was angry and anxious, vomiting blood.

Wuchang City was in chaos.

At this moment, Chen Yucheng is like an army marching straight forward, and Wuhan can go down in one go.

Then cut off the source of grain, grass and ordnance of the Hunan army, and went down the east of the river, and attacked the Anqing army back and forth, Zeng Guofan's life was not easy.

Unfortunately, at the critical moment, Chen Yucheng credulously believed the alarmist "advice" of the British Counselor Pasha Li and stopped marching to Wuhan. Lai Wenguang's ministry was stationed in Huangzhou, and he himself led his army to capture De'an, Suizhou, Yingcheng, Yunmeng and other prefectures and counties, waiting for Li Xiucheng's arrival.

Until late April, Li Xiucheng had not arrived.

However, Anqing had been besieged for nearly a year, and the situation was becoming increasingly tense, so Chen Yucheng had no choice but to give up the plan to jointly attack Wuhan and lead his troops east to rescue Anqing again.

Lee so-sung's sorrow

Li Xiucheng has always wanted to take Hangzhou, and he is not enthusiastic about rescuing Anqing.

Hong Xiuquan urged sternly.

It was a last resort to enter southern Anhui, through Anhui Dangtu, Wuhu, Fanchang, Nanling, Taipingfu, and occupy Yixian, and Liu Guanfang and Huang Wenjin.

Eighty miles west of Yixian County, that is, the Qimen camp of Zeng Guofan.

- Zeng Guofan was so frightened that he even wrote a suicide note.

If Li Xiucheng raises the first brigade to attack Qimen and destroy the withering and decaying, he can capture the commander of the Hunan army alive.

But he gave up.

Led the army to Changshan, Zhejiang.

In late April, it entered Jiangxi, passed through Guangxin and went to Jianchang, attacked the city, passed the Fuzhou Chongrenyi sassafras tree at the end of March, and occupied Ji'an in mid-April. In May, 300,000 troops were recruited in Ruizhou, and it was not until mid-June that they entered Hubei and captured Wuchang County.

Two months later than scheduled.

Chen Yucheng had already returned to his division to seek relief from the siege of Anqing.

If Li Xiucheng attacked Wuchang at this time, the conditions would be very good.

With an army of 400,000 under his command, Huangzhou relied on the cooperation of the Ministry of Wenguang and had sufficient human and material resources.

The plan for the Western Expedition failed.

When Tianjing fell in 1864 and Li Xiucheng was captured, Zhao Liewen, a senior staff officer of Zeng Guofan, asked about this:

Zhao Liewen: "In the autumn of the eleventh year, your soldiers invaded Hubei, if you take Wuchang, Hubei Province will be shaken, and the siege of Anqing will not be broken." Why did you retreat without a fight as soon as you heard about Bao Chaozhi?"

Li Xiucheng: There are not enough soldiers.

Zhao Liewen didn't believe it: Isn't it enough to have 400,000 troops?

Li Xiucheng: I got Suzhou, but without Hangzhou, it's like a bird missing a wing.

Zhao Liewen: Why didn't you plot against Hangzhou before coming to Jiangxi? After traveling thousands of miles and using troops for long distances, can you change your mind halfway? Besides, your younger brother Li Shixian, the king of the chamberlain, is in Anhui, so wouldn't it be more convenient to take Hangzhou!"

Li Xiucheng sighed: "I am indeed a pig's head." I first thought about saving Anqing, and I always thought about Hangzhou, and I heard that Lao Bao (super) was strong, so he slipped away. Mess. Look at what I've done, providence......"

The soul returns

Anqing is on the north bank of the Yangtze River, densely populated, and a few years later this gave birth to a well-known local repertoire - Huangmei Opera.

In 1861, however, it was not the beautiful yellow plum tunes that reverberated over the city, but the rumbling of guns and shouts.

On April 27, Chen Yucheng led 30,000 Taiping troops to garrison Jixian Pass on the outskirts of Anqing, approaching the besieging Hunan army, echoing the defenders in the city.

Zeng Guofan personally came to Anqing to supervise the battle.

Tianjing also sent Hong Renji and Lin Shaozhang to lead troops to directly rescue Anqing.

It was a veritable war of attrition.

Wrap dumplings in layers.

The entire front is intertwined, and the situation is extremely complicated.

Both sides decided to take a gamble.

The Taiping army was defeated, and Tianjing was in danger; the Hunan army could not win, not only was the encirclement of Anqing broken, but the main force under the city was also likely to be buried by the whole army.

Let's do it.

On May 1, Chen Yucheng sent his general Wu Dingcai to lead 1,000 Taiping troops from Linghu into Anqing City to help defend the city, and he himself led his troops to attack the besieging Hunan army.

The two sides fought fiercely for a day, and the Taiping army suffered heavy casualties.

The next day, the Taiping army under Hong Renji and Lin Shaozhang also rushed to reinforce them.

The fierce general of the Hunan army, Duolonga, led his troops to meet the battle.

The Taiping army was immediately defeated.

Huang Wenjin and more than 20,000 people from Wuhu rushed to support. The combined forces of Hong Renji, Lin Shaozhang, and Huang Wenjin attacked Duolonga again, and Cheng Daji, the Hunan army, also led 5,000 troops to support. The two armies fought a big battle at the Trailer River, and the Hunan army was very strong in combat, shouting loudly and charging bravely. The Taiping army was defeated again, discarding countless weapons.

Hong Renji and Lin Shaozhang couldn't get close to Anqing and retreated to Tongcheng.

Duolong Acheng defeated the reinforcements, turned his head to join the brave general Bao Chao, and flanked Chen Yucheng's troops.

Chen Yucheng fought hard for days, and the grain and grass were exhausted, and he gradually could not withstand the onslaught of the Hunan army.

He left Liu Yulin to lead 4,000 troops to guard the four camps in Chigangling outside Jixian Pass, and left thousands of people to guard the camp on the north shore of Linghu Lake, and he led the main force back to Tongcheng.

The Hunan army stormed Chigangling.

Heavy casualties.

Bao Chao, known as the "Iron Commander", took the lead in the charge, but he couldn't get close to first base, and couldn't help exclaiming: "This thief's bravery is better than elsewhere!"

On the 23rd, Chen Yucheng, Hong Renji, and Lin Shaozhang joined forces to attack the Trailer River in three ways, and Duolonga divided his troops to attack.

Hong Renji and Lin Shaozhang couldn't resist the impact of the Hunan army, and retreated in defeat.

Chen Yucheng's troops fought independently, suffered heavy casualties, and had to retreat to Tongcheng again.

The Hunan army intensified artillery fire to bombard the Chigangling camp.

The Taiping army ran out of ammunition and food, and the situation was critical.

On June 8, the Hunan army launched a fierce attack on all fronts.

The Taiping army in Chigangling was outnumbered, and more than 3,000 people were killed in battle. Liu Xuanlin led his men to break through to the north, engaged in a fierce battle with Bao Chao's troops, was shot and killed, and the Hunan army dismembered Liu Xuanlin's body and cut off his head and hung it in the camp.

On July 8, the Linghu Taiping military camp was breached by Zeng Guoquan, more than 1,000 people were killed in battle, and 5,000 were captured.

Zeng Guoquan slaughtered thousands of captives.

So far, there is no Taiping army outside the city of Anqing.

Anqing is exhausted of food and ammunition. The soldiers and the common people only drank porridge every day, and then ate cats, dogs, voles, and leaves, grass and roots, and more and more people starved to death, and the living could not afford to bury them. The bones along the road are miserable.

Ye Yunlai and Wu Dingcai waited for reinforcements.

Chen Yucheng was extremely sad and indignant, but he had no soldiers in his hands.

He needs fresh troops.

At present, only the most powerful person is the loyal king Li Xiucheng.

Hundreds of thousands of troops.

However, Li Xiucheng was greedy for the wealth of Suzhou and Hangzhou, and was leading his troops to leave the main battlefield and wantonly build a "small paradise", and even the Supreme Treasure of the Heavenly King could not command and transfer.

Repair the king's mansion and beauty pageant.

Silver chopsticks, silver knives and forks, gold and silver wine glasses.

The solid gold crown is inlaid with many jewels and pearls......

Zhongwang's Mansion is magnificent and magnificent, and Qionglou Yuyu is "really like a fairy cave house", which is comparable to Hong Xiuquan's Tianwang Mansion. Li Hongzhang couldn't help but marvel when he saw it.

Reinforcements are finally coming:

There are 20,000 people in the Yang Fuqing Department in southern Anhui.

On August 7, more than 50,000 troops of Chen Yucheng and Yang Fuqing, 6,000 troops of Lin Shaozhang and Wu Ruxiao from the southwest, and several thousand troops of Huang Wenjin from the east attacked the trailer river with all their might.

The three-way army launched the final decisive battle to rescue Anqing.

Lin Shaozhang and Huang Wenjin's troops were quickly defeated by Duolonga and withdrew from the battle.

From the 21st to the 24th, Chen Yucheng and Yang Fuqing led the army into Jixian Pass and camped more than 40 seats.

Fierce attack on the trenches.

Zeng Guoquan brought 30 Western cannons from the sailors overnight.

Gunsmoke billowed and the sound of artillery continued.

Chen Yucheng and Yang Fuqing came to supervise the battle, and the Taiping army followed one after another, and the dead bodies filled in many trenches. Zeng Guofan sent a shotgun team to support Zeng Guoquan, and the Hunan army's naval division also fired artillery to bombard the Taiping army's camp.

The Taiping army suffered repeated setbacks and suffered extremely heavy losses.

On the night of September 3, Chen Yucheng used a small boat to transport grain and rice into Anqing, but was taken away by the Hunan army and sailors on the way.

Chen Yucheng was extremely sad, and rode his horse and shouted: "All the soldiers work hard to take Anqing!"

Six hundred ** female soldiers bravely rushed to the trench, trying to crack the artillery of the Hunan army, but they did not survive under the intensive bullets.

The Taiping army attacked day and night, charging more than ten times in turn, but they were all blocked by the fierce fire of the Hunan army.

Failed to cross a single step over the long trench.

In the early morning of the 5th, Zeng Guoquan ordered the main force of the Hunan army to launch a general attack on Anqing.

The northern city wall of Anqing was destroyed with artillery, and the Hunan army surged in and slashed and slaughtered.

The corpses flowed down the river, densely packed and almost filled the river.

The main generals Ye Yunlai and Wu Dingcai were killed in battle, Zhang Chaojue's whereabouts are unknown, and all 16,000 defenders in the city were martyred.

Anqing fell.

Chen Yucheng and Yang Fuqing, who were outside the city, looked at the fire in the city from afar, and knew that they were powerless to return to the sky, so they had to look at each other and sigh, and led the army to retreat to Tongcheng.

err

Chen Yucheng retreated to Luzhou.

The Western Expedition was frustrated, Anqing fell, and Hong Xiuquan was greatly annoyed.

Chen Yucheng's eight generations of ancestors executed several errant female officials and beat their favorite concubines, and even his original wife, Queen Lai, was also beaten by him without a trace.

He issued two edicts in succession:

Hong Renji was demoted by three ranks, and Chen Yucheng was dismissed and retained.

And crowned the British royal generals Chen Decai Fu Wang, Lai Wenguang Zun Wang, Liang Chengfu Qi Wang, Lan Cheng Chunhu Wang, Chen Shirong Guide Wang!

Chen Yucheng's heart is like a knife.

I did my duty to relieve the siege of Anqing, several in and out, bloody and hard fighting, and the elite troops lost everything......

It is not enough to lose his official position and resign, but it is only when he sees that the overall situation cannot be cleaned up and that there is no place for heroes to be used, which makes people's hearts ache! If the king does not deprive him of his command, I believe that it will not be long before he will be able to make a comeback and regain his strength.

Now that the commander has been dismissed, his subordinates have all been promoted to king, and the troops are self-respecting and unconvinced, and the troops can no longer be unified in command.

Subsequently, the cadre king who supported him, Hong Renji, was also demoted from Tianjing and went to southern Anhui to fight against the Qing army.

Winter is coming.

The north wind blew suddenly, and the snow was sprinkled.

Chen Yucheng suppressed the mood of the decadent Tang Dynasty and sent Chen Decai, Zhang Lexing, and Lai Wenguang to lead 30,000 Taiping troops to expedition to the northwest.

Open up base areas.

Only 3,000 soldiers were left to guard Luzhou.

Zeng Guofan was overjoyed, he summoned all the generals, and said: "Once the lion is driven into the cage, even if it has the ability to reach the sky, it will be difficult to use it. Kill people and send them to heaven, now is the time to beat the water dogs. ”

Pai Duolonga and Yuan Jiasan led their troops to Luzhou.

The Taiping army had limited food and grass and suffered serious losses.

Chen Yucheng was trapped in a lonely city, and sent several letters for help, but he did not see the arrival of reinforcements for a long time. When he was at a loss, he received a letter from Miao Peilin, the king of music, inviting him to go to Shouzhou.

The letter also stated:

Hearing that the King of England was demoted, the whole army was in an uproar, and everyone was upset for His Royal Highness.

Alone in the city, the soldiers are taboo.

Shouzhou has a lot of soldiers and a wide range of food, and 50,000 Pixiu are all under your command.

Hope to come soon and plan for great things together.

After Chen Yucheng received the letter, he discussed with the generals, and the strategist Yin Xieqing said: "Miao Peilin is capricious and a villain. I don't think I can go. ”

Shi Kun also said: "I am a fellow villager with Miao Peilin, and I know that he is a person who has a lot of tricks, so he has made a fortune. I also heard that I had a relationship with the Qing general Sheng a few days ago, so don't fall for his tricks. ”

Chen Yucheng hesitated.

After all, it still can't withstand Miao Peilin's flattery and sweetness.

Chen Yucheng did not listen to the repeated dissuasion of his subordinates, immediately crossed his sword, led his troops to break through the siege, and defected to Shouzhou.

As soon as he stepped into the city gate, he was surrounded and captured by ambush soldiers.

Miao Peilin's nephew Miao Yunchang said: "It's just in time, my uncle has taken refuge in the Qing Dynasty and is about to take you as a gift!"

Chen Yucheng scolded endlessly.

Miao Peilin personally escorted Chen Yucheng to Shengbao's camp.

In the court, Chen Yucheng refused to kneel, calmly, and experienced several glorious victories against Qincha.

Shengbao jumped like thunder.

Chen Yucheng wrote a hundreds of words of "The King's Self-Statement", abandoned the pen and said: "The knife, saw, axe, and axe, I accept it alone, and I have nothing to do with the public." ”

On June 4, 1862 (the first year of Tongzhi), he was inaugurated in Yanjin, Henan, at the age of 26.

9. For whom does the bell ring?

Around 1861, the internal fighting within the Qing Dynasty was also in full swing.

Since the short-lived emperor Xianfeng died of illness in the Rehe Palace, and the 6-year-old son Zaichun ascended the throne, the Yehenara clan was revered as the "Queen Mother".

Eight regents controlled the government.

The Nala clan colluded with the little uncle Ziyi to launch a palace coup, killed Zaiyuan, Duanhua, and Sushun and other ministers, and listened to the government.

Yehenala is also known as the "Empress Dowager of the West", the Empress Dowager Cixi.

Speaking of Cixi, many people have the impression of a wrinkled old woman, and the sentence "Whoever makes me unhappy for a while, I will make him unhappy for a lifetime"?

In fact, she was only 27 years old at this time.

Quite young.

A woman in her twenties can settle eight treacherous and cunning ministers, poisonous and ruthless!

Yi is the king of parliament and the prime minister of national affairs.

He advocated the legalization of trade and opium trade in the interior in accordance with the "Treaty of Beijing", and proposed to "borrow foreign troops to help suppress" and use foreign forces and Hunan troops to end China's civil war as soon as possible.

In the first month of 1862, the Qing court awarded Zeng Guofan a co-organizer of the university to supervise the military affairs of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Anhui provinces.

Zeng Guofan sent Zuo Zongtang to lead the army into Zhejiang, and sent Li Hongzhang to lead the new Huai army of 6,000 people into Shanghai to contain the Taiping army of Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

In April, 20,000 people from Zeng Guoquanbu and Peng Yulin arrived at Tianjing City.

The Qing army had sharpened its knives and was ready to attack, but Tianjing was still unaware.

Since the godfather Hong Renji was cleared out of the power structure, Hong Xiuquan's elder brother Hong Renfa Hong Renda, and Xiao Youhe, the king of Youxi, formed a three-person cabinet.

Xiao Youhe is the son of Xiao Chaogui, who was only 12 years old at this time.

I'm still a junior high school student.

The power of the DPRK and China is completely held by Hong In-da and Hong In-fat.

Hong Xiuquan even pretended to be Heavenly Father to go down to earth, changed the name of the country to "Heavenly Father, Heavenly Brother, Heavenly King Taiping Heavenly Kingdom", and also pretended to make up a "Chaotian Dynasty Main Map".

The Hong clan is all crowned kings and oversees the government.

King Hong was afraid that the generals who led the troops would not be convinced, so he sealed more than ninety kings in one go.

Because Wei Jun was the younger brother of Wei Changhui, he was appointed late and defected to the enemy in Chizhou, Anhui.

The wind of sealing the king spread for a while, and the Hong brothers openly sold their official positions and became unscrupulous. A total of more than 2,700 kings were crowned before and after.

The money is abundant.

All those who were crowned kings, regardless of rank, immediately talked about pomp and circumstance, held honor guards, and hugged before going out.

The king Li Shixian went out to sit in a dragon and phoenix yellow sedan chair carried by fifty-four people, which was luxurious and magnificent, and a small military meeting could be held on the sedan chair.

Moreover, wherever the prince's sedan chair and horse went, the soldiers and civilians had to avoid it, kneeling down to greet and send it off, and if they accidentally collided with the guard of honor, they would be punished with a rod or beheaded at the worst. At that time, because there were too many princes, the people couldn't welcome them, so a folk song was circulated: "The prince walks everywhere, and the small people are in tears."

Hong Renfa and Hong Renda are also in charge of the Tianjing City Gate and sell "Hong's tickets".

Go in and out of town and pay for a pass.

Even Li Xiucheng had to take 100,000 taels of silver to buy troops out of the city.

Before Tianjing fell under siege, some people suggested that grain should be purchased and transported back to Beijing to stockpile. However, due to the high price of the "Hong's ticket" and the unprofitable transportation of grain, no one refused to traffick, so that there was a food shortage after Tianjing was besieged!

The flames of war burned again

In January 1862, the Taiping Army of Jiangsu and Zhejiang launched the Second Battle of Shanghai.

The total number of troops put into the battlefield is said to be 200,000, and it is estimated that there are about 50,000 to 80,000, and they are equipped with several thousand smoothbore guns, rifled guns, and some Western guns.

The Qing army stationed in Shanghai had about 13,600 sailors and 1,000 British and French troops.

The Huayang Gun Brigade is stationed in Songjiang Province.

Li Xiucheng rushed back to Suzhou to quell the rebellion, and handed over the battle of Shanghai to the general Tan Shaoguang.

The Battle of Shanghai officially began.

Tan Shaoguang, Gao Yongkuan, and Li Xiucheng's second son, Li Rongfa, went south through outside Songjiang City, and Lianke Dongtouqiao, Xinchang, Gaoqiao, Zhoupu and other towns, approaching Shanghai. The French ** ship "Gao Ao" bombarded Gaoqiao, "**** cannon sound is endless", the Taiping army continued to advance along the embankment, conquered Bailianjing, and Shanghai County across the river.

The Qing general Xue Huan mobilized more than 100 sea ships to line up on the west bank of the Pujiang River, set up gunboats, and bombarded the Taiping army.

The Taiping army was forced to break the siege and retreat.

On January 30, the weather was freezing and the Qingpu Taiping army crossed the lake on ice and went straight to Songjiang. Fought with the Huaer Yang Lance team in Yingxibang, did not win, and returned to Qingpu.

On 13 February, the British and French consuls and military commanders held a meeting at the French Consulate and decided to set up a mobile force of 2,700 men, under the unified command of Hober, Stifley, Brod and Wall. On the same day, British Commander McCall led a company of the 99th Infantry Regiment and an artillery unit to Shanghai.

The Anglo-French forces then entered the battle, and after two hours of onslaught, they took the high bridge.

On April 3, the British and French allied forces, the Russian soldiers and the guns of the Shanghai Conference and Defense Bureau set out from the county seat of Shanghai and arrived at Qibao at 4 p.m. to join the Huaer Foreign Gun Corps, and the troops split the road to raid the base camp of the Taiping Army at Wangjiasi.

Six barracks were destroyed by artillery.

The Taiping army abandoned all positions and retreated to Qingpu.

On May 3, Li Hongzhang's 13th Battalion of 6,500 Huai troops arrived in Shanghai on a British merchant ship.

The commander of the coalition army led nearly 4,000 troops and foreign spearmen, with 30 field guns, from Shanghai to attack Jiading and was defeated by Tan Shaoguang.

The British and French armies and the foreign guns team, together with the Qing army Li Hengsong, attacked Jiading again. The coalition forces used modern artillery technology to target accurately and bombard the hidden positions of the Taiping army.

On the 6th, the Anglo-French forces rushed to Qingpu through Songjiang, and the Qing troops of Huaeryang, Li Hengsong, Guo Taiping and other troops also went to rendezvous. After four days of fierce fighting, the city wall of Qingpu West Gate was bombarded by foreign artillery for more than ten zhang, the city fell, and the Taiping army was captured as many as 800 people (including two foreigners).

The coalition forces turned to attack Nanqiao again, and 2,500 men from the five battalions of the Huai Army also participated in the attack. The Taiping army fought back, killed Brod, and killed and wounded more than a dozen allied soldiers.

In the end, because he could not resist the heavy artillery bombardment, he was ambushed with corpses.

On the 21st, the Taiping army withdrew from Fengxian County.

Li Xiucheng felt that the situation was serious, and he led 10,000 elite soldiers to counterattack. As soon as he arrived in Taicang, he won the first battle and captured a large number of foreign guns and artillery.

Immediately trapped Jiading, went down to Qingpu, captured the deputy commander of the foreign gun team, and broke through more than 130 large and small camps.

He once again led his army to besiege Matsue.

By mid-June, 50,000 Taiping troops gathered in Shanghai and launched fierce attacks on Xujiahui, Hongqiao, and Fahua Temple, and the battle line advanced to the area of Jiuliqiao.

The Huai army and foreign soldiers were helpless.

Tianjing is in a hurry.

Zeng Guoquan's 20,000 Hunan troops arrived at Yuhuatai in the south of the city, and the situation was critical!

Li Xiucheng had no choice but to abandon his position, hand over the front-line military affairs to Tan Shaoguang, and withdraw his troops back to Suzhou.

Foreign devils are soldiers

Foreigners could be seen in the Taiping army from time to time.

There are about 200 foreigners under the loyal king Li Xiucheng, who come from Europe, America, Australia and Africa.

Thirteen of them were named: five from England, four from the United States, two from France, one from Italy, and one from Greece. Six people were killed in the battle.

The British sighed (in the autumn of the year, he and his wife Mary drove a steamer into the Taiping military territory to buy raw silk.

He met Li Xiucheng, who was famous at the time.

Li Xiucheng let Yu live in the palace and enjoy the most friendly treatment. He was also given a pass to travel freely within the Taiping military area.

He expressed his willingness to join the Taiping Army.

Traveled in and out of Shanghai and other Qing areas to purchase arms and weapons for the Celestial Empire.

A former soldier, he tried his best to pass on his knowledge to the Taiping soldiers, such as casting cannonballs, making fuses, and aiming guns. "These Chinese are very good at copying, and they can learn English and all kinds of other skills very quickly, which is amazing," he said.

Another American, Henry Andrea Burgevine, was a real hooligan.

Bai Qiwen used to be the commander of the foreign gun team, but he fell out with Li Hongzhang because of the demand for money and joined the Taiping army. Bai Qiwen likes to brag and be flashy. He demanded a huge sum of money and went to Shanghai to recruit new soldiers and purchase arms, but after several round-trips, he only brought back boxes of brandy......

As a result, the officers and men drank heavily and made trouble.

The battle in Tianjing was tight, and he guarded the Jingpu fortress Jiuhuanzhou with the Taiping army, and fought fiercely with the Qing army, and was seriously wounded.

At the end of November 1863 (the second year of Tongzhi), he and his assistant White went to Shanghai.

Soon after the two arrived in Shanghai, White was arrested and imprisoned by the British Consulate for three years on charges of "aiding rebellion". At this time, he was also sick and unable to move, so he decided to return to the UK to recuperate.

After returning to China, he decided to write a book about his experience in the Taiping Army and tell people about this period of history in the East.

On February 3, 1866, the manuscript was completed under the title Taiping Heavenly Kingdom: A History of the Taiping Revolution, Including the Author's Personal Experience.

It is also known as "The Personal Experience of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom".

The title page of the book reads:

Dedicated to the commander-in-chief of the Taiping Army, Zhongwang Li Xiucheng, if he has died, this book serves as a memorial to him.

Remembrance and respect are on the page.

When he filled in his career column before his death, he always declared: "Former colonel of the Taiping Army".

On the banks of the Dadu River

Shi Dakai left Tianjing in May 1857 and has been fighting in the southern provinces.

It is also strange to say that since the Wing King of the Celestial Empire has been like a fish out of water, it has lost its vitality and vitality.

Shi Dakai has always been shrewd and flexible in the use of troops, and he is especially good at tricks, and he has used guerrilla tactics extremely skillfully. However, it lacks the style of fierce and courageous fighting, and it does not dare to attack tough problems, nor does it lack the strategic vision to control the overall situation.

These shortcomings are not obvious at first.

It was only after he led the crowd out and fought independently, and the troops suffered heavy losses repeatedly, and the weaknesses of his personal character and military command were gradually revealed.

After leaving, he spent several months in Jiangxi, undecided, and the team fled to the public.

Later, he arrived in Fuzhou and aided Ji'an, but was repeatedly frustrated.

The siege of Quzhou lasted for three months.

Tens of thousands of soldiers were lost.

The transfer of troops to Shouchang was defeated again, and Shi Da was happy and discouraged, so he decided to retreat on all fronts in mid-July 1858 and changed his map to Fujian.

His subordinate Yang Fuqing (Yang Xiuqing's old department) was unwilling to follow King Yi, so he led an army of 60,000 or 70,000 people to Jiangxi and returned to Heaven.

Shi Da's army was less than 100,000, and he was defeated in Pucheng and then in Shuike, and the grain and grass were all abandoned, and he was trapped in the lonely city of Shaowu. The soldiers began to flee en masse:

Hu Qixiang led the elite troops to flee, was intercepted and killed by the Hunan army, and had no choice but to surrender;

Yang Zaitian fought hard for days and fled overnight;

Lin Caixin took 30,000 Citi troops out of the battlefield;

Yiwang number one Xiao withdrew Shi Zhenji to southwest Fujian, formed an army of his own, and no longer accepted Shi Dakai's orders.

After many failures, Shi Dakai re-transferred to Jiangxi by way.

Captured Nan'an and gathered 200,000 troops.

At this time, most of the prefectures and counties in Jiangxi were occupied by the Qing army, and they were alone. Seeing that Hunan Province was empty, Iwaku decided to evacuate Jiangxi and attack Hunan.

At the end of February 1859, Shi Dakai led 100,000 people from Nan'an to Hunan and connected the three major fortresses in the southeast of Hunan (Guiyang, Yizhang and Xingning).

Chenzhou, Yongzhou and other places will gather people to respond.

Luo Bingzhang, a military and political officer in Hunan, heard that Shi entered Hunan in a big way, played the imperial court, and Zeng Guofan urgently transferred the eight battalions of the Hunan army to prevent blockage. Zuo Zongtang also ordered the squires in various places to rectify the regimental training, strictly deploy defenses, and delay Shi Dakai's offensive.

80,000 Taiping troops besieged Yongzhou Buke and went north to Baoqing Mansion.

It opened the prelude to the bloody battle of Baoqing.

Shi Dakai's besieging troops at that time were known as "300,000".

The defenders of Baoqing were about 40,000.

The two sides fought bloodily.

The cut off of internal and external aid from the Hunan army was a good opportunity for the Taiping army to break through the city in a bloody battle. However, Shi Dakai was afraid of a tough battle, and gave up after a few days of attacking, intending to besiege for a long time.

The Hunan army Liu Changyou, He Shaocai, and Li Xuyi came to help one after another, and the brigade fought fiercely outside Baoqing City for several days.

Shi Dakai led a large army to copy Li Xuyi's camp, but was assaulted by the Hunan army and suffered heavy losses, 48 generals were captured alive, 8,000 soldiers were killed, and 10,000 surrendered.

The Wing King did not accept defeat, made a desperate bet, and then fought a decisive battle with Li Xuyi.

launched a series of attacks on the camp of the Hunan army, although it was defeated, it did not retreat, and lasted for more than ten days. was plagiarized by Li Xuyi, and the troops scattered and fled.

Shi Dakai saw that Baoqing was indestructible, and intended to retreat from Chenzhou and Yong'an, Zuo Zongtang sent troops to pursue, and the Hunan army Tian Xingshu and Liu Changyou pursued all the way, chasing Shi Dakai's main force of more than 10,000 people in Dong'an, the two armies fought bloodily, and the Taiping army was defeated, and only a few hundred people fled.

"Hunan Baozhonglu" contains:

When Shi Dakai's department traveled all over Hunan, he abducted strong men, ** women, killed monks, and robbed materials, "ravaging all the way", and the cruelty of the methods was no worse than that of modern barbarian warlords.

"If he refuses to obey, he will cut off his head and his blood will flow to his face, but if he refuses to obey the thief, he will stab him in the back with a knife and pierce him through it, and he will die......

"Cut out his heart and died. ”

"** disobeyed, insulted, the thief broke his waist and died. ”

(The **** thief forcibly untied his clothes, and Zhou bit his hand and scolded more and more.) The thief cut off his tongue, the Zhou family spurted blood and cursed, and the two thieves stabbed him with a messy spear. ”

In the fifth year of Xianfeng (1855), the Taiping army committed Xiangxiang, and the 18-year-old village girl Aigu sewed her underwear up and down in advance and hid in a thatched hut in the sugarcane field.

The Taiping army searched the sugarcane fields, saw its beauty, and wanted to be rude.

Aigu would rather die than obey.

The soldiers who were eager to vent their ** tore their clothes and forcibly hugged them, and their aunts scuffled with them, scolding endlessly. After holding on for a long time, the sugarcane was invincible. The soldier was not satisfied, and after a few slashes, he turned around and cursed and left.

Afterwards, the villagers collected the corpse and saw that Ai's clothes and pants were tightly sewn, and her nails were full of mud and sand.

The surrounding sugar cane was stained red with blood......

The audience wept.

Under Shi Dakai's embarrassment, he collected all the scattered remnants, recruited troops in Quanzhou and other places, and the troops recovered to more than 100,000 people and marched into Qingyuan Mansion in Guangxi.

Qingyuan is barren and sparsely populated, and there is a serious shortage of food.

On the one hand, the Taiping army forcibly requisitioned grain, and on the other hand, expanded its army to 300,000 people. Although Shi Dakai claimed to "train the soldiers day by day," the combat effectiveness of the troops was not correspondingly improved.

Several times with the Hunan army Tian Xingshu troops, repeated defeats.

had to withdraw from Qingyuan.

The generals of the cronies missed their old master, and constantly staged mutinies, demanding to return to Tianjing.

Shi Dakai reluctantly led a team that was still loyal to him and returned to his hometown of Guixian. His subordinates Ji Qingyuan, Peng Dashun and others suggested that he go back to Tianjing to ask for guilt and protect the king, but Shi Dakai was depressed and even wanted to return to the mountains and forests. Seeing him like this, Peng and Ji led 200,000 Taiping troops to leave, passing through Hunan, Fujian, and then to Jiangxi, fighting bloody battles all the way, and finally took refuge under the command of Li Xiucheng, the king of loyalty.

Shi Dakai hid in the mountains and forests, wanting to spend his life in the clouds.

But the court offered a reward for his arrest, so that he had nowhere to stay.

I had no choice but to go back out of the mountain.

Shi Dakai incorporated Li Fuyou's team in Guixian County, merged tens of thousands of remnants of Dachengguo, recruited 40,000 horses, known as 100,000, and raised the banner of an expedition to Sichuan.

In February 1862, it entered Sichuan via Lichuan, Hubei.

Take Fuzhou, slightly Xuyong, and enter Guizhou to the east.

Attacking Dadingfu did not stop, and went west to Bijie and entered the border of Yunnan.

In mid-to-late November, Xiongbei from northern Yunnan town went north to Sichuan, occupied Gao County, Hengjiang Town, Shuanglongchang, and Yuhuanglou, preparing to cross the Jinsha River and plot Xuzhou Mansion.

Fierce battle with the Qing army in Hengjiang, heavy casualties.

Withdraw to Yunnan.

In March 1863 (the second year of Tongzhi), he led the army to re-enter Sichuan and traveled west along the Jinsha River. On May 14th, Shi Dakaibu arrived at the Zida land of Tusi Wang Yingyuan on the south bank of the Dadu River, and there was no defender on the other side of the river.

Shi Dakai's concubine gave birth to a child, and the whole army celebrated for three days.

Heavy rain fell in the middle of the night.

The river is swollen.

The Qing army of Tang Yougeng has also arrived on the north shore.

There is the Dadu River in front of Zidadi, there is the Songlin River on the left, the mountains stand on the wall, the river rises sharply after the rain and the Qing army strictly guards the opposite bank, it is extremely difficult to cross the river.

Shi Dakai sent thousands of people to rush to the ferry several times, but they were all shelled by the Qing army, and the raft was washed away by the flood. Crossing the Songlin River to the west, it was intercepted by Tusi Wang Yingyuan, and the back road was cut off by Tusi Ling Chengen. On June 11, the whole army was in a desperate situation.

The Taiping army slaughtered horses, picked mulberry leaves to satisfy hunger, and malaria and dysentery were epidemic, and their morale was extremely low and exhausted.

The Qing army took the opportunity to lure them down.

Shi Dakai threw himself into the Qing camp, wanting to sacrifice his life to protect the three armies.

He was sent to Chengdu and killed on the 25th. When he was about to be executed, Zeng Shihe, the general of the department, couldn't bear the pain and groaned, Shi Dakai said loudly: "Why can't you bear the pain? ”

Calmly die.

After the Wing King surrendered, more than 7,000 of his subordinates were also executed.

Mountains and rivers are broken

The spring of 1862 was a beautiful year for Tsang.

He mobilized 70,000 Hunan and Huai troops, divided into ten routes, and carried out a general attack on the Taiping army's occupied area centered on Tianjing.

Purge the Taiping army along the river in Anqing.

Zuo Zongtang led the army to sweep Zhejiang, Li Hongzhang blocked Li Xiucheng in Shanghai, waiting for an opportunity to plunder Su (Zhou) and Chang (Zhou) in the west, and the victory was already under control.

Zeng Guofan smiled meaningfully, gritted his teeth and said, "If you want to pull out the roots, prune the branches and leaves first." ”

At the end of May, more than 20,000 people of Peng Yulin and Zeng Guoquanxiang's army marched eastward and captured Moling Pass, Dasheng Pass, and Sanxia River on the periphery of Tianjing.

Tianjing was heavily surrounded.

For the Hunan army under Tianjing City, Li Xiucheng did not advocate a quick battle.

The reasons are:

The Hunan Army's naval division controls the entire Yangtze River, and logistical supply is light and convenient? It is better to use southern Jiangsu rice grain and arms to aid Tianjing, contain the enemy army, and wait for his division to be exhausted and a battle can be decided!

The idea is good, but Hong Xiuquan can't wait.

Yan Zhao urged Li Xiucheng.

Li Xiucheng decided to gather forces to rescue Tianjing. On October 13, the "Thirteen Kings" led an army of 150,000 (known as 600,000) to the outskirts of Tianjing City.

Li Shixian also led 30,000 people to help in the battle.

There are still Tianjing defenders in the city.

The Taiping army was also armed with a large number of sophisticated Western rifles.

Zeng Guoquan's lone army was only 20,000 people.

Many people are still plagued.

180,000 against 20,000.

No matter how you calculate it, it should be a war without suspense?

Let's fight!

Western artillery shelled the Hunan army barracks, shocking the earth and bursting with fire.

Under the fierce blow of artillery fire, the Hunan army did not even dare to raise its head.

The Taiping army dug tunnels again and reached the camp wall. A thunderclap of smoke rose into the air, and the soil and stones flew into the sky, and the wall of the Hunan military camp was collapsed more than ten feet.

Zeng Guoquan relied on the deep ditch and high base to stick to the camp.

Forty-six days of war.

Due to the long-term inability to attack, the morale of the Taiping army was greatly reduced.

The kings were selfish and passive and fearful of war.

Under the pretext of lack of winter clothing, the grain and grass were not well transported, and on November 26, Li Xiucheng ordered a retreat.

The siege relief operation was declared a failure.

Hong Xiuquan lost his temper, scolded Li Xiucheng, and was dismissed from his post.

On December 1, Li Xiucheng followed the instructions of King Hong Tian, crossed the river and marched north to attack Hubei.

Implement the "transfer of the tiger from the mountain".

Alleviate the siege of Tianjing.

Unexpectedly, he was recognized at a glance by the scheming Zeng Guofan.

On the one hand, he ordered Zeng Guoquan to stick to the camp and not move, and on the other hand, he sent reinforcements into Anhui to intercept it.

The defeated general Lin Shaozhang led tens of thousands of Taiping troops across the Jiangbei, first occupied Hanshan, Chaoxian, and Hezhou, and waited for the rear team.

Li Xiucheng and Chen Kunshu marched westward, attacked Lujiang and Shucheng, and approached Lu'an on May 11, 1863. The Hunan army hindered Li Xiucheng's westward advance.

At this time, Luo Guozhong, the Changshu defender of the Taiping Army, raised the city to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, the Huai Army and the foreign gun team advanced westward from Shanghai, and Jiangsu and Zhejiang were shaken.

The Taiping army, which responded in southern Anhui, also suffered repeated defeats.

Li Xiucheng saw that his westward expansion was blocked and that there was a severe shortage of food, so he gave up his plan to go west to Hubei, returned east through Shouzhou, and returned to the areas of Tianchang and Lai'an in Jiangsu.

The besieging force under the command of Zeng Guoquan increased to more than 30,000 people.

Hong Xiuquan ordered Li Xiucheng to return to Tianjing as soon as possible.

Yuhuataishi, a key pass in the south of Tianjing City, has been captured by the Hunan army.

In late June, the Taiping army began to cross south, but was intercepted by the gunboats of the Hunan army's naval division, and tens of thousands of soldiers were blown up and drowned, floating corpses drifted, and only 15,000 people remained when they arrived on the shore.

10. Dead City

Zeng Guoquan took advantage of the situation to launch an offensive, occupying Jiangpu County and Jiuhuanzhou, and shrinking the encirclement.

The situation on the battlefield in Jiangsu and Zhejiang has also changed overnight!

Li Hongzhang's Huai army and foreign guns captured Changshu, Taicang, Kunshan, and Wujiang, and advanced to Suzhou.

Governor Zuo Zongtang led the Hunan army to capture Shaoxing, Jinhua, Ningbo, Longyou, Yanjun, Taizhou, Wenzhou, Bingtun Fuyang, and pointed directly at Hangzhou.

Fires broke out in all directions, and smoke rose in all directions.

Li Xiucheng went out of Beijing to supervise the teacher, and the Hong brothers ordered him to pay 100,000 taels of silver before leaving; Li sold the family's jewelry and cash on hand for only 70,000 yuan.

Hong Xiuquan ordered to return to Beijing within 40 days and make up the salary, otherwise "according to the laws of the country."

Li Xiucheng rode out of the customs alone.

Arrived in Suzhou on November 28.

He found that Gao Yongkuan, the defender of Suzhou, and others had the intention of defecting to the enemy, but Gu Nian followed him for many years, could not bear to kill, and did not take effective measures to stop it. After Li Xiucheng withdrew from Suzhou, Gao Yongkuan, Zhou Wenjia, Wu Guiwen, Wang Youwei, Wang Huaiwu and other eight people colluded with the Qing army to kill Tan Shaoguang, the defender of Suzhou, on December 4 and surrender the city.

Li Shixian persuaded Li Xiucheng not to go back and not to make other plans, but he rushed back to Tianjing overnight out of concern for his family.

On December 19, Li Xiucheng went to the palace to play the Heavenly King, stated the current situation, and proposed to give up Tianjing and "let the city not go".

"Big things are not good. Li Xiucheng reported: "The demon soldiers occupy Yuhuatai and cut off the way of my south gate; Occupy the Seven Urn Bridge again, set up camp outside the east gate and dig a long ditch, and garrison heavy troops in Xiaguantun, the grain road of the Beijing division has been extinct, and the people's hearts are floating ......"

Hong Xiuquan didn't squeak.

Li Xiucheng also said: "The Celestial Empire has no generals with troops, the old, the weak, the sick and the disabled, there are many women, and there are few soldiers in the city, so they cannot be defended. ”

Hong Xiuquan began to speak the "words of heaven" and sternly rebuked: Obeying the holy decree of God and Brother Heaven, he is the only Allah of all the nations under heaven.

My heavenly soldiers are more than water, so why not be afraid of the demon head!

My iron bucket country, you don't help it, someone will help you.

You are afraid of death, you go to die!

I don't have to worry about my affairs.

If you want to do it, you can do it, and if you don't want to do it, you can get out.

The two big dung brothers in the court are in power, dare to disobey, kill you!

Li Xiucheng knelt on the ground and cried: "Give me a knife." Dead peace of mind......"

Tearfully walked out of the palace gate.

In the spring of 1864 (the third year of Tongzhi), there was a food shortage in Tianjing, and Hong Xiuquan took the lead in eating grass, which was called "sweet dew". And vigorously call on all the military and civilians to return to their primitive state, strive to be a living Shennong, and eat grass dumplings.

It is also advertised for free: it tastes great, nutritious and healthy!

In March, Zuo Zongtang captured Hangzhou.

In May, Changzhou and Jintan were lost, and the protector Chen Kunshu was killed, and Danyang then fell into the hands of the enemy.

The southeast and southeast barriers of Tianjing were lost, and the fortifications outside the city were broken by the Hunan army one by one.

It has become a lonely city completely.

Dead City.

"Let the city go" may be the only living move.

Even if you lose a son with your eyes closed like a monk Xuzhu, it is better than being trapped in a lonely city?

What's more, in February 1864, Chen Decai and Lai Wenguang raised 200,000 troops from Hanzhong and sent them east in three ways. If Hong Xiuquan adopts a major strategic shift at the beginning of the year, he can join forces with Chen and Lai's expeditionary forces in the summer and enter Hanzhong together, gain a firm foothold in the northwest, and then try to advance into the Central Plains.

The existence of the Kingdom of Heaven does not depend on whether there is a Tianjing?

In a war, we should not pay too much attention to the gains and losses of one city and one place, and it is the best policy to be flexible and mobile and annihilate the enemy.

If ****** gives up Yan'an at an untimely time, avoids the important and takes it lightly, and fights with Hu Zongnan's 250,000 army, what will be the outcome?

On June 1, King Hong Tianwang completed his merits and ascended to heaven.

Before he died, he was swollen, and Hu Chai: "Don't worry, I will borrow 100,000 heavenly soldiers from Heaven and kill all the demons ......"

On July 3, the Hunan army captured the fortress city of Purple Mountain, and the Taiping army lost the last barrier to protect the city.

The Hunan army was condescending, erected more than 100 cannons, and bombarded the city day and night.

At noon on the 19th, Zeng Guoquan ordered to go into flames, only to hear a loud noise, the city wall collapsed more than 20 zhang, the smoke and dust covered the air, and the masonry was all over the ground. The Hunan army rushed in, the Taiping army tilted the burning gunpowder into the city, and the Hunan army howled and retreated......

By the evening, all nine gates in Tianjing were captured by the Hunan army.

The defenders engaged in fierce street battles with them, either killed or **, and tens of thousands of people did not surrender.

A fire broke out in the city.

The Hunan army slaughtered in sections in the city, on the banks of the Qinhuai River, the corpses were like hemp.

Dead bodies were piled up along the street, including elderly people and children of several years old, who were cut into several pieces and thrown on the side of the road. There are also those who have been slashed more than ten times but are not dead, wailing and screaming......

Women under the age of 40 are taken into military prostitution.

The families of the captured Taiping soldiers were handed over to a group of executioners.

The women and girls were raped and dragged back to be put to death, and the scoundrels were not in a hurry to kill, but they turned the women upside down, tore off their clothes, and then cut open their chests with knives and reached into their chests, pulling out a steaming heart......

The victim opened his eyes and stared at this horrific scene!

Strong male captives were not only disemboweled, but also subjected to the punishment of Ling Chi, whose executioners cut off pieces of flesh from them, sometimes into their mouths, sometimes into the noisy crowd......

Qing Renji:

"The battle of Jinling, Qin Huai is red, and the sound of crying shakes the four fields. ”

The body of King Hong was dug up, slashed and burned, and he was still angry!

A general of the Hunan army named Li Chendian had a whimsical idea to put the ashes of the king of heaven and gunpowder into the muzzle of the cannon, and after a loud "boom", Hong Xiuquan's bones and the foundation he created were wiped out together.

bibliography

"The Complete Biography of Hu Xiu", Tian Yuan, Hubei People's Publishing House, 1982 edition

"The Road to Heaven and Blood - The Past of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom", West Wind Bully Dream Thread Binding Books, 2006 edition

Dictionary of Modern Chinese History, edited by Chen Xulu et al., Shanghai Lexicographical Publishing House, 1982

"Overview of the History of Taiping Tian**" [I] by Li Chun

"Taiping Miscellaneous" by Pan Xulan

Online information (about 900,000 words):

The historical style of "Shi Da Kai Biography".

"Heroines in Chinese History" Ren Aijie

"Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Political Examination" Luo Ergang

"Re-exploration of the Construction of Taiping Army Engineers" Lu Kaiyu

An Analysis of the "Neutrality" Policy of the Great Powers Toward China during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Huang Yulan

"Discussion on the Marital Status and Gender Relations of the Taiping Army", Xia Chuntao

"A Re-study of the Status of Women in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom", Xia Chuntao

"The Secret of the Atrocities of the Taiping Army" is unknown

"The Excessive Death of the Jiangnan Population during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom" by Zhou Wu

The Impact of the Taiping War on the Population of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Cao Shuji, Li Yushang

"Returning the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to its Original Appearance" historical style

"The Re-evaluation of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement", Zhang Yongdong

"On the Supreme Law Enforcement Agency of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom" Zhang Zhenguo, Zhang Tong (to be continued. )