Text/Wending
In May 1860, after breaking through the Jiangnan camp, Hong Xiuquan accepted Hong Ren's advice and took advantage of the victory over su and Chang. The main force of the Taiping Army was concentrated on the eastern front, and the Xiang army took advantage of the situation to strengthen the siege of Anqing, the upper gateway to Tianjing. In late September, Hong Xiuquan convened a military conference and decided to divide and attack along the two banks of the Yangtze River with Chen Yucheng and Li Xiu as the main forces, and in April of the following year, he would meet to capture Wuchang to relieve the siege of Anqing.
At the end of September, Chen Yucheng led his army along the north bank of the Yangtze River to Anhui and attacked west. However, after Li Xiucheng of the Yangtze River South Road newly acquired the territory of Su and Chang, he had a negative attitude towards the Western Expedition. Under the strict supervision of Hong Xiuquan, he set off in late October. When he marched west, he was bent on recruiting troops and horses to expand the ranks, and did not hesitate to take detours and stay. Chen Yucheng arrived in Huangzhou on March 18, 1861 ( only 50 miles from Hankou ) , and Li Xiucheng 's party didn't even see a shadow. Anqing was in danger, Chen Yucheng left Lai Wenguang behind, and he led the main force back to the division to aid Anqing. Li Xiucheng only arrived in Wuchang County on the other side of Huangzhou on June 15, and saw Chen Yucheng returning to the east, and he did not return to Zhejiang without fighting.
Li Xiucheng's selfishness led to the failure of The Second Western Expedition to save Anqing.
At the end of April 1861, Chen Yucheng arrived at Jixian Pass and immediately sent Wu Dingcai, the commander of Pingxi, to lead an army into Anqing. At the same time, Tianjing also sent reinforcements to the vicinity of Anqing. On May 1, King Hongren of Gan, Lin Shaozhang of Zhang, and Wu Ruxiao, the former commander of the army, led an army of more than 20,000 people to help, and the next day they were defeated by the Xiang army and retreated to Tongcheng. On the 3rd, Huang Wenjin, the commander of Dingnan, led 8,000 people from Wuhu to cross the river to the first line of Tongcheng, and together with Lin Shaozhang's troops and 20,000 people of the Twist army, prepared to fight again. On the 6th and 11th, they were defeated. After the Qing side finished providing reinforcements, it launched a general attack on Chen Yucheng's troops. In early May, Chen Yucheng attacked the Xiang army camp several times since JixianGuan, but made no progress. At this time, the Qing reinforcements arrived again, in order to avoid being surrounded and annihilated by the enemy, on the 19th, 8,000 people were left to guard the jixian pass and the camps on both sides of the Ling Lake, so that the Jingdong lord General Lin and 4,000 other people guarded the fourth base of Chigangling outside the pass, asking them to "die and wait for help." He took an army back to Tongcheng.
On the 23rd, Chen, Hong, Lin, Huang and others led a total of 30,000 points and three strong attacks, the enemy counterattacked in five ways, and the Taiping Army collapsed in its entirety and then retreated to Tongcheng. At the same time, the Xiang army stormed the fourth base of Chigang ridge outside Jixian Pass, and at the same time cut off the retreat of the Taiping Army in Guanxi. On June 7, the Xiang army bombarded with artillery, because the lone army was helpless, it was surrounded on all sides, and on the 9th, all four bases of Chigangling fell. The famous Xiao generals Liu Xuanlin and Li Shifu were captured and killed. Then the fortifications on both sides of linghu lake were also broken, and all 8,000 people of the Taiping Army were killed. In this battle, Chen Yucheng lost more than 10,000 elites, and Liu and Li were all first-class generals under Chen. In August, Chen, Lin, and Huang made one last effort to save Anqing, and attacked jointly with three large armies, and on the 24th, they once again rushed into jixian Pass to attack the rear trenches of Zeng Guoquan's besieging army, and the defenders in Anqing City also "lined up at the west gate and responded from afar."
The Taiping Army attacked more than ten times, but it could not be broken. The long siege of the Qing army made the defenders in Anqing City "run out of rice and grain". On September 4, the Xiang army detonated explosives in the tunnel at the north gate, collapsed the city wall, and attacked the city. On the 5th, Anqing fell. The Taiping Army defenders Ye Yunlai, Wu Dingcai, and more than 10,000 defenders of the city were slaughtered.
The attack on Wuchang was unsuccessful, and the Taiping Army was forced to fight a decisive battle with the Qing army at Anqing, with heavy casualties and chen Yucheng's troops were completely lost. Later, Hong said bitterly: "The biggest loss of our army is that Anqing fell into the hands of the Qing army." This city is actually the one who guarantees its safety by the key of the Tianjing Lock, and as soon as it falls into the hands of the demon, it can be the basis for attacking me. Anqing was lost, and along the way to the city of Tianjing, it fell one after another and could not be restored. ”
After the fall of Anqing, Chen Yucheng retreated to Luzhou, and he sent Ma Ronghe, Qiu Yuancai, Chen Decai, and Lai Wenguang to lead a team to the northwest in an attempt to recruit soldiers and horses and retake Anhui Province. The traitor Miao Peilin lured Chen Yucheng into Shouzhou. In the face of the enemy's persuasion, Chen Yucheng said awe-inspiringly: "When the eldest husband dies, he dies, and He Rap also speaks." On June 4, 1862, Chen Yucheng was executed by Ling Chi and died in Yanjin, Henan, at the age of 26. The king's martyrdom destroyed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, as he said to himself: "When the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom went to me alone, the Jiangshan was also counted as half." "Since the Tianjing Incident, Chen Yucheng is undoubtedly the Great Wall of Heaven. From the Second Broken Jiangbei Camp to the Eastern Expedition to Su Chang, the British King's Iron Horse rode everywhere in the north and south of the great river. He was brave and good at war, selfless and fearless, and repeatedly served as a forward, which made the enemy feel frightened, and even Zeng Guofan was "deeply afraid of it." Now "as soon as the king is gone, the military is mighty, and at the same time it has fallen, and it has all disintegrated."