At the beginning of 1853, seeing that the Eight Banners and the Green Camp were completely defeated, Xianfeng could not take care of the "ancestral training", so he ordered bureaucrats and gentry in various places to handle "regimental training" and suppress the Taiping Army with the help of Han armed forces. Among them, the "Xiang Army" founded by Zeng Guofan had the greatest influence, and after eleven years of hard work, the Xiang Army conquered Tianjing as desired, destroyed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and continued the life of the Qing Dynasty for decades. In this way, Zeng Guofan was known as "Zhongxing Famous Minister" and his nickname was "Wenzheng", which was the honor of the supremacy of civilian officials.
The Xiang army won one victory after another, and many of them suffered fierce defeats. Among them, the Battle of Hukou, the Battle of Baqiao, the Battle of Shooting and Hunting Pass, the Battle of Sanhe, the Battle of Tongcheng, the Battle of Yuezhou, and the Battle of Zhangshu are typical. Especially in the Battle of Sanhe, the Xiang army lost more than 7,000 soldiers before and after, so that the Hunan family was wearing Ma Dai filial piety, and Zeng Guofan and Hu Linyi were miserable. After the war, the Xiang army was seriously injured, and Chen Yucheng and Li Xiucheng were successively crowned kings.
For the Xiang army, the Battle of Baqiao lost the most troops, 13,000 soldiers and horses were completely annihilated, and Zeng Guofan's relative Liu Rong was removed from his post as inspector of Shaanxi and no longer reused. The Battle of Baqiao lost a lot of troops, but the degree of suffering was far less than that of the Battle of Sanhe; the Battle of Sanhe lost more than 7,000 people, all of which were the family foundations of Zeng Guofan, which was incomparable to the Battle of Baqiao.
When Zeng Guofan founded the Xiang Army, it was divided into two parts: the Marine Division and the Army, with a total strength of more than 17,000 troops. Among them, the commanders of the water division were Li Mengqun, Chu Ruhang, Peng Yulin, and Yang Zaifu. Later, Chu Ruhang was killed on the battlefield, and Li Mengqun was expelled from the game because he was not a two lakers; Peng Yulin and Yang Zaifu came to the top and became winners in life.
The army was divided into two divisions, commanded by Tazib and Rozenan. In 1855, Taqibu was "killed" alive by Lin Qirong under Jiujiang City, led by Zhou Fengshan, and was defeated at the Battle of Zhangshu, almost completely destroyed. In early 1856, Luo Zenan attacked Wuchang and was killed by Wei Zhijun's guns, led by his apprentice Li Xubin. In November 1858, Li Xubin was defeated at Sanhe, and the Xiang army of Shucheng was also completely annihilated, and 7,000 Xiang troops were killed in battle.
In the Battle of the Three Rivers, Li Xubin was defeated and killed, which was a wound for Zeng Guofan. So, why did Li Xubin defeat the town of Three Rivers? It should be known that in the scholar Wang Minyun's "XiangJun Chronicle", Li Xubin's evaluation is "the first fierce general of the Xiang Army", saying that he is very capable of fighting and brave and invincible. In the Battle of the Three Rivers, Li Xubin and Chen Yucheng fought directly, and after only one day of persistence, they committed suicide, which is really interesting.
Many people say that the xiang army's Battle of The Three Rivers was completely destroyed because Li Xubin's lone army went deep and was surrounded by Chen Yucheng's 100,000 troops, and the Taiping Army fought more and less, and won the victory. So, li Xubin's defeat in The Town of Three Rivers was really because of the lone army? The answer is no, Li Xubin did not go deep alone, and Li Xiucheng and Chen Yucheng did not have an army of 100,000.
The key to the defeat of the Xiang Army was that Li Xubin lacked the necessary qualities as a commander, and Li Xubin did not have the ability to act alone, and was only a general at best.
In August 1858, the Xiang army attacked Anhui in three ways, and Li Xubin, Duolong'a, and Bao Chao led their troops to kill Anqing. Among them, Bao Chao and Duolong'a led troops to besiege Anqing, while Li Xubin connected Taihu Lake, Qianshan, Tongcheng, and Shucheng, and the troops reached the town of Sanhe. At this time, Chen Yucheng was busy at the Battle of Pukou, drawing soldiers and horses from Anhui, and Li Xubin "entered the realm of no man" and won consecutive victories.
When Li Xubin arrived at Sanhe Town, he fought a tough battle, losing more than a thousand people and barely destroying the nine camps of the Taiping Army. However, the Xiang army still had a great advantage, because Chen Yucheng had not yet returned, and Li Mengqun, Yuan Jiasan and others led 30,000 soldiers and horses were stationed near Luzhou, and they could echo each other.
After the Battle of Pukou, Chen Yucheng and Li Xiu formed troops to garrison Pukou, Jiangpu, Liuhe, Chuzhou, and Yizheng, and then rushed to the town of Sanhe to participate in the battle. At this time, the Xiang army was waiting for work, and the Taiping army was running for a long time and did not get a rest, but the result was that the Xiang army was completely destroyed, which can only be said to be Li Xubin's failure.
The strength of the Taiping Army participating in the Battle of the Three Rivers is recorded in different Historical records of the Qing Dynasty, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and hundreds of thousands, and the Li Xubin Chronicle says that it is 400,000. So, how many Taiping Troops were there? The author believes that the more reliable are 30,000 people, because they are long-distance raids. Moreover, there were not many elite Taiping troops, and those who could be tough with Li Xubin's Xiang Army were thousands of "old brothers" of Liangguang.
During the Battle of Anqing, Chen Yucheng's main force was all dispatched, most of them stationed at JixianGuan and Linghu, totaling about 12,000 people. The importance of the Battle of Anqing is far from being comparable to the Battle of the Three Rivers, and the so-called Battle of the Three Rivers has hundreds of thousands of Taiping troops, which can only be a joke. After all, the Xiang Army also wanted face, and could only exaggerate the number of the Taiping Army.
Chen Yucheng and Li Xubin faced off head-on, that is, just one day. Riding on the fog, Li Xubin divided his troops to raid the Taiping Army stationed in Jinniu Town, only to be surrounded by Chen Yucheng and trapped at Yandungang. Then, Chen Yucheng left the main force to besiege the Xiang army at Yandungang, and then led the elite to raid the Xiang army camp and directly deal with Li Xubin.
The Xiang army was divided and surrounded, but it was not easy for the Taiping Army to completely annihilate them, because the Taiping Army lacked the necessary offensive weapons, as long as the Xiang Army itself was not chaotic and insisted on waiting for help, there was still a way to break through. In 1860, during the Battle of Xiaochiyi, Bao Chao was surrounded by the Taiping Army, and his troops suffered heavy losses, but he did not give up, but insisted on waiting for help. Hu Linyi dispatched troops from all over the country and raided the grain transportation line in the rear of the Taiping Army, and Chen Yucheng was forced to withdraw his troops.
Perhaps it was too smooth before, and there was no setback, Li Xubin was actually flustered, not calm at all. The Taiping Army continued to attack, and the Xiang Army desperately held on, and the battle was very fierce. Due to the division of troops sneaking into Jinniu Town, the soldiers of Li Xubin's battalion were only more than a thousand, and in the protracted battle, the Xiang army became more and more passive.
The Taiping Army tore open the gap many times, and although the Xiang Army was able to block it, it suffered heavy losses and was in a very dangerous situation. At this time, Li Xubin, as the manager, actually had no clue and did not know how to deal with the situation; he handed over the suicide note to his close confidant Zhou Kuanshi, and then committed suicide.
The commander committed suicide, the Xiang army was in chaos, and after the Xiang army received the news, the fighting spirit was completely lost, and it was completely annihilated by the Taiping Army. Zeng Guofan's younger brother Zeng Guohua rushed out of Li Xubin's camp and was beheaded by the Taiping Army. Zhou Kuanshi was not in danger, he gathered the rout troops, strengthened the fortifications, continued to hold out for 2 days, and looked for opportunities to break through.
Zhou Kuanshi's efforts were not in vain, he successfully broke through and returned to Hubei with a small number of his own soldiers. Seven months later, Zhou Kuanshi led his troops to a fierce battle with Shi Da under Baoqing City, repeatedly blocking the Taiping Army's offensive, waiting for the arrival of reinforcements from Li Xuyi and Liu Changyou, and finally defeating Shi Dakai and winning the battle.
Zhou Kuanshi can break through, why can't Li Xubin, if Li Xubin is calm and self-assured, he can also break through and make a comeback. However, after a slight setback, Li Xubin committed suicide, and from the perspective of a manager, Li Xubin is not a qualified manager, at best a general.
At the Battle of Wuchang and the Battle of Jiujiang, Li Xubin was full of vigor and went all the way to the rank of knight, but the actual gold content was too small. At the Battle of Wuchang and the Battle of Jiujiang, the commander was Hu Linyi, who was responsible for coordinating and commanding; Jiang Yilan, Bao Chao, Duo Long'a, etc. were responsible for providing reinforcements; Yang Zaifu and Peng Yulin were responsible for transporting grain. Li Xubin's task is to build a "fortress" under the city, besiege the city, fight a protracted war, a war of attrition, and harvest the fruits of victory.
During the Battle of the Three Rivers, Hu Linyi returned home to Ding Worried and was unable to coordinate the actions of the various departments. Jiang Yilan was not satisfied with Li Xubin, the contradictions were very deep, and the Battle of Wuchang was not yet over, so Jiang Yilan went home to "recuperate.". Duolonga and Bao Chao are besieging Anqing, not in Sanhe Town. At this time, Li Xubin can only be alone and think of his own way.
The Xiang army camp, without Hu Linyi, Li Xubin defeated the town of Sanhe, and the entire army was destroyed. In the Taiping Army camp, without the command of Yang Xiuqing, Shi Dakai lost consecutive battles, and finally the entire army was destroyed. It can be seen that Shi Dakai and Li Xubin are only generals, and Hu Linyi and Yang Xiuqing are handsome talents.
Bibliography: History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom