After the Tianjing Incident, Shi Dakai returned to Beijing to assist the government, but Hong Xiuquan, after experiencing Yang Xiuqing and Wei Changhui's control of the government, was no longer at ease with his brothers with different surnames, and moreover, Shi Dakai's voice among the military and the people actually overshadowed his own momentum, which Hong Xiuquan absolutely could not bear, so he found unpleasantness for Shi Dakai everywhere, and finally forced Shi Dakai to leave Tianjing with the Wing Palace and the Guards.
Leaving Tianjing, Shi Dakai first went to Anqing and then into Jiangxi, where Shi Dakai formed an alliance with Yang Xiuqing's younger brother Yang Fuqing, planning to use the strength of the two men to capture Zhejiang and Fujian provinces and occupy a base area with money and grain. According to the division of labor between the two, Shi Dakai entered Zhejiang and Yang Fuqing entered Fujian.
In April 1858, Shi Dakai officially led an army into Zhejiang, and after capturing Jiangshan County (present-day Jiangshan City, Quzhou City, Zhejiang Province, located at the junction of Zhejiang, Fujian, and Jiangxi Provinces, which is the gateway to the southwest of Zhejiang Province), Shi Dakai locked the important town of Quzhou in western Zhejiang. In order to be able to take Quzhou in one fell swoop, Shi Dakai divided his army into two parts, one led by himself directly to the city of Quzhou, and the other part moved around Changshan to block Qing reinforcements who might arrive from Huizhou.
As soon as Shi Dakai arrived at the city, he ordered the siege of the city, and Si did not notice that there was always a Qing army led by General Xi'an behind his army, when Shi Dakai ordered the siege of the city, General Xi'an quickly led people to fight behind Shi Dakai, and the Qing army in Quzhou City saw reinforcements and quickly opened the city gate to meet the enemy, so that Shi Dakai was attacked by the Qing army front and back, and retreated to camp.
The next day, 5,000 reinforcements of the Qing army poured in, and the Taiping Army attacked again, still not taking advantage, and could only retreat to the camp. Seeing that neither of the two attacks had captured the city, Shi Dakai ordered the Taiping Army to build more camps around Quzhou City and prepare for a long siege of Quzhou City, "with the intention of encircling it on all sides and planning for the long-trapped county city." It was precisely this hesitation that the reinforcements of the Qing army increased again, and there were Qing troops in the direction of Hangzhou and Huizhou. Shi Dakai's troops then went to war with the Qing army in all directions, from dawn to dusk, and even all-night combat, the Taiping Army had no chance to take down the city, and Shi Dakai even had several middle- and lower-ranking officers who died and had to make more plans.
Later, although Shi Dakai tried various means to attack many times, he was repeatedly defeated, and even once the Qing army took advantage of the Taiping Army to attack, the camp was empty, and took the opportunity to carry out a sneak attack, and the Taiping Army was destroyed more than ten camps.
Originally wanted to take Quzhou City in one fell swoop, but unexpectedly delayed here for three months, all the advantages slowly lost, and then Shouchang (now Shouchang Town, Jiande City, Fujian Province) was captured by the Qing army, all the Qing troops rushed to Quzhou to help, Shi Dakai's pressure was increasing, in order to change the predicament, Shi Dakai with his generals retreated from Quzhou and went to Fujian to meet Yang Fuqing's army.
So, what made Shi Dakai lose again and again, and finally had to withdraw his troops?
First of all, let's take a look at the geographical location of Quzhou, it is also at the junction of Zhejiang, Fujian, jiangxi provinces, and the distance from Jiangsu and Anhui is not willing, once there is a war in Quzhou, the Qing government is easy to transfer people from the surrounding areas, in fact, it is also the case, the Qing reinforcements to Quzhou are rushed from these places.
Secondly, Shi Dakai seems to regard Quzhou as the only city in Zhejiang, and there is a kind of momentum of not taking the city and not giving up, so in the case of the early defeat, he still insisted on besieging the city, giving the Qing army enough time to come and assemble, originally wanting to surround others, and finally being surrounded by others, falling into a passive position of being attacked by the Qing army before and after. Looking at the success or failure of a city too seriously, I feel that Shi Dakai lacks a certain overall view.
Moreover, there were more and more reinforcements from the Qing army, and Shi Dakai did not choose to transfer the army and get rid of the Qing army, but instead divided his own troops to attack the Qing army. The more people fought, the less they fought, and the Taiping Army went step by step on the road of withdrawal.
References: Luo Ergang, Wang Qingcheng, Taiping Heavenly Kingdom