The Taiping Rebellion, which took place in the middle and late Qing Dynasty, was undoubtedly a catastrophe on earth. Hundreds of millions of people were involved and became innocent souls. However, there is no denying that the combat effectiveness of the Taiping Army has always been very strong, and it is no exaggeration to say that it was the ceiling of combat strength at that time. Almost every time they faced the Qing Dynasty officials, their troops were at a disadvantage, but the victory rate was not low.
There is such a set of figures: During the Hong Xiuquan Jintian Uprising, there were more than 20,000 believers, men, women, and children, and about 3,000 people could fight. However, there were more than 9,000 Qing troops who came to encircle and suppress them, and the difference in strength reached three to one, but in the end it was the Taiping Army that won; when they arrived in Xiangzhou, the followers of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom team expanded to more than 30,000 people, of which more than 5,000 could fight, but there were more than 17,000 Qing troops who came to meet the battle, and the result was that the Taiping Army won! In a series of battles such as the Jiangnan Jiangbei Camp and the Taiping Army's Northern Expedition, the situation was roughly the same.
The combat effectiveness of the Taiping Army made the commanders of the Qing Army tremble with fear. Zhou Tianjue, the inspector of Guangxi, once commented that the Taiping Army "regarded death as a homecoming, and fought the enemy naked," while the officers and men of the Qing Dynasty "had a cold heart," such as "seeing the birds of the eagle," so that "the camp of a thousand people, ten thieves can be broken." If it were not for the infighting in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom later, Hong Xiuquan would have done nothing in Tianjing, and it is difficult to say who would have failed in the end.
The reason why the Taiping Army was so strong was manifold. On the one hand, in the early days of the movement, generals such as Yang Xiuqing, the Eastern King, and Shi Dakai, the Wing King, were indeed able to fight well; on the other hand, the Taiping Army paid great attention to the use of new weapons, so the firearms in the army, both in quality and quantity, were much better than those of the Qing army; and the most important reason was the qing army's own decay. At that time, whether it was the Eight Banners of the Manchu Han Dynasty or the soldiers of the Green Battalion, under the erosion of opium and money, they had already become a pool of mud, and they were not vulnerable to a war at all. What the Qing Dynasty could rely on was the Xiang Army, the Huai Army, and other regiments to practice village courage, which was really a sad thing.
In this way, being able to defeat the decaying Qing army does not seem to explain whether the combat effectiveness of the Taiping Army can be ranked in the forefront of the world. After all, the "Changsheng Army", a foreigner unit in Shanghai, once caused them a lot of damage. But in fact, in order to gain the recognition of the foreigners, the Taiping Army always feared its head and tail when it directly faced them, and it was completely unable to let go of its hands and feet. If you really make up your mind to fight a war, the situation can be staggering. There was such a unit, after the failure of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, instead used its amazing combat effectiveness to fight the prestige of the Chinese, and even almost occupied a country. What's going on?
The time goes back to June 1, 1864. On this day, Hong Xiuquan died of illness in Tianjing, and the already chaotic Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was even more godless. The "Ninth Marshal" of the Xiang Army, Zeng Guoquan, swung his army to attack fiercely, and finally attacked the Tianjing City a month later! At this time, many people in the remnants of the Taiping Army were still fighting, and they suddenly became rootless water, and there was no point in holding on any longer!
If they could no longer fight, they still had two ways to go: one was to surrender to the Qing Dynasty and give their lives to the Manchu generals who could only kill the good and the bad; and the other was to go overseas as "contract laborers" to avoid disasters. At that time, many people chose the first path, and the final outcome was good or bad. There are also some people who willingly board the ships of Western colonists and try their luck in unknown countries.
In this way, 30,000 men and women of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom sat on a stuffy tank ship on the ocean and marched towards distant South America. Their destination, some say, is the narrow Chile, while others say it is Chile's neighbor Peru. Later, these two theories evolved into two stories, leading history in two different directions.
Let's start with the story of Chile.
It is said that after the remnants of the Taiping Army arrived at their destination, they were forced to work as saltpeter miners under the whips of local slave owners. The extremely high labor intensity and lack of food and clothing make them unbearable. However, in 1866, Chile and Peru were underfloored because of the saltpeter mine, and Chile's troops were insufficient, so they began to consult with the Taiping Army and asked for their cooperation. The Taiping Army also took the opportunity to restore the original combat units and participated in the war with the Hunan people Weng Derong and the Guangdong people Chen Yonglu as leaders.
Although nominally under the command of Major General Sirapizzo of Chile, the Taiping Army always fought in their own way on the battlefield. In 1866, 1868 and 1869, they fought with the Chilean army many times, killing and capturing the enemy. Their activity made the Chileans both respected and feared, and offered to send the town of Iquique to the Taiping Army and set up an "autonomous town" for them to multiply. However, there was a price for this, that is, the Taiping Army had to continue to fight with the Chilean troops. However, at this time, the Taiping Army was unwilling to use these foreigners as cannon fodder, did not agree to this proposal, but after gaining freedom, took the initiative to integrate into the local society, and became a Chilean force.
After talking about going to Chile, let's talk about going to Peru.
After the Taiping Army went to Peru, they were managed separately, sold to different plantations as laborers, and lived an inhuman life. For them, this is a boundless hell! Plantation owners do not treat them as human beings, and humiliation and torture are often used. In 1870, some taiping army laborers on the "Alaya" plantation in the Patty Birka Valley finally broke out in brutal exploitation and took up rudimentary weapons against the plantation owners who were high above!
Unfortunately, due to the dispersion of the Taiping Army's laborers, this rebel army was never able to absorb all its comrades, and the number never exceeded 1500. And they were facing an army more than ten times their own and armed with sophisticated weapons! Eventually, under the brutal repression of the Peruvian ruling class, the uprising failed. But even so, the rebel army once occupied the coastal towns of Patibilka and Baranga, creating a miracle in the history of war. Imagine if the Taiping Army was more concentrated at that time, and could recall tens of thousands of troops, maybe it would really be able to capture all of Peru!
In 1879, the "Saltpeter War" broke out between Chile and Peru, and the remnants of the Chinese workers in the Taiping Army felt that the Chileans might help themselves, so they spontaneously organized to help the Chileans in battle. These people are known as the "Vulcan Battalion" and have exploded in battle with amazing combat power! Regrettably, however, the Chileans eventually betrayed the Vulcan Camp for profit, taking them all captive after the war and continuing to be slaves in saltpeter mines. It was only later that the Western world abolished serfdom that they were liberated and integrated into local society.
Either way, one can see the fact that after the remnants of the Taiping Army went overseas, their combat effectiveness remained, and they still had the upper hand in fighting south American troops equipped with advanced weapons. Unfortunately, at that time, they had no foundation at all, and they were unable to dominate a country at all, and could only choose to bow to reality. Many people in South America today are of Chinese descent, and some of them are descendants of the Taiping Army.