Text/Wending
On May 11, 1860, with the siege of Tianjing, Hong Ren and others celebrated and discussed the next strategic deployment.
The situation at that time was: on the western front, from 1859 onwards, Zeng Guofan and Hu Linyi decided to attack Anqing with the main force. After the collapse of the Jiangnan camp, the Qing government fully supported the Xiang army in suppressing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. On June 8, 1860, the Qing government appointed Zeng Guofan as the military secretary of the Viceroy of Liangjiang, and on August 10, he was actually awarded the title of Viceroy of Liangjiang, and was appointed as the Minister of Chincha to supervise the military affairs of Jiangnan, and all the armies on the north and south sides of the Yangtze River were under control. At that time, the Intention of the Qing Government was to tell him to quickly move to Jiangsu to defend Su and Chang, while Zeng Guofan regarded The gains and losses of Anqing as an important issue "related to the safety of the world", and he was determined to fight for Anqing with all his might, and then attack Tianjing down the river.
For the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Anqing was strategically important. With Anqing, Tianjing will have a barrier, the Waterway of the Yangtze River will be unimpeded, and the grain from the Chaohu Plain will be continuously transported to Tianjing to ensure the supply of military supplies. Anqing was also a stronghold for liaison with the Northern Anhui Twister Army. At that time, Zeng Guofan had become the most important enemy of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and he was determined to attack Anqing with all his might, and the focus of encirclement and counter-encirclement and suppression was in Anqing. Therefore, the strategic center of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom should be moved to the Western Front.
King Chen Yucheng advocated saving Anqing and attacking Xiang Yong of Zeng Guofan. Hong Ren and Li Xiucheng held that the large camp in Jiangnan was broken, and the enemy's defenses in the Suzhou, Chang, and Shanghai areas were empty, and that "taking advantage of the victory, its merits are easy to achieve," and then returned to Anhui, "If hubei is taken together, then the two sides of the Yangtze River, if I have it, it will be possible to make a big deal for a long time."
The Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan agreed with and approved the opinions of Hong Ren and Li Xiucheng, and ordered Chen Yucheng and Li Xiucheng to lead a large army to the east, and the vanguard was Chen Yucheng's subordinate Xiao General Jingdong General Liu Juelin. The King of Heaven paid special attention to the "Purging Echo in January". Hong Xiuquan's deadline was very important, and its intention was not to entangle with the enemy, so as to delay the time, go to the quick victory, and then return to the west. The focus is still on the West Road. The eastward march was one of the preparations for the westward march.
The Taiping army attacked Danyang from Jingju Rong. King Chen Yucheng said: "Ten years, break through the long siege of Jinling, chase Zhang Guoliang to Danyang, fall into the water and die. "The Battle of Danyang took place on May 19, with 10,000 enemy soldiers killed. In addition to Zhang Guoliang's death on the spot, HeChun and Xu Naizhao "rode from the small river to Changzhou with twelve horses." On May 26, Hechun fled to Hushuguan and died of "remorseful intersection" and "swallowing foreign smoke with shochu".
After the great victory of Danyang, the enemy's East Road had no main force, Chen Yucheng crossed the river to attack Yangzhou, and the supreme command of the East Road was handed over to Li Xiucheng, but the vanguard was still Liu Xiaolin. At this time, the Taiping army swept through Wuzhong like a bamboo, and the masses of the people responded enthusiastically and occupied the vast land in jiangnan. 26 days to Changzhou, 30 days to Wuxi. On June 1, it arrived at Suzhou Zhangmen. Urban and rural residents in Suzhou posted slogans at their doors that read, "Kill Zhang and Thief with One Heart" to warmly welcome the Taiping Army. On the outskirts of Suzhou, "from ChenHu out of Tangpu to Xietang", "the townspeople were armed and slaughtered on the shore" of the enemy's defeated troops. On June 2, the capital of the prefecture was revived, and Xu Youren, the governor of Jiangsu, was killed, and the Qing army surrendered to 50,000 or 60,000 people. On the same day, Kejiangyin.
At this time, it was less than 20 days before he left Tianjing. However, when they arrived in Suzhou, Li Xiucheng's military operations came to a halt. He was not able to take advantage of the victory and advance quickly. Why? It is likely that Li Xiucheng was busy recruiting troops. He said: At that time, "there were suddenly two Guangdong, two lakes, and three rivers of righteousness, hundreds of officials in the Qing Dynasty, who led 20,000 or 30,000 soldiers to surrender, and immediately stayed in the camp for effectiveness." As a result, he delayed and did not occupy Kunshan until June 15. On the 17th, Ketaicang, on the 22nd, Kejiading, and on the 30th, Qingpu was attacked. The people of Qingpu responded internally, "the white flag on the city is raised, and the four sides are on fire", and they are conquered in an instant. On July 1, he returned to Songjiang and arrived outside Shanghai.
In early July 1861, Li Xiucheng led a large army back to Jiangxi and Zhejiang. Li Xiucheng claimed that he had recruited "about 300,000 troops" in Hubei, and in Jiangxi there were more than 200,000 Taiping troops who had broken with Shi Dakai and returned to the east, and a part of the Tiandihui rebel army in the north of Guangdong, a total of more than 200,000 people joined his ranks, and if he added the troops he had originally commanded, the total number should be around 700,000.
These 700,000 troops, from west to east, swept through the enemy army like a sweep. Passing through Quzhou, passing through Lanxiao, entering Yanzhou, Kexincheng, Lin'an, and Yuhang, attacking Hangzhou. On December 29, the city of Hangzhou was destroyed, and on the 31st, the city of Hangzhou was destroyed, and the Qing Governor Wang Youling and the general Ruichang were killed.
After the restoration of Hangzhou, the Taiping Army attacked in separate ways, and lianke prefectures and counties. On January 17, 1862, Zeng Guofan said:
"The capitals of Jinhua, Yanzhou, Shaoxing, Ningbo, Taizhou, and Chuzhou in Zhejiang have been lost successively. Wenzhou was sacked by bandits, and although it is said that it was recovered, it was expected that it would be difficult to protect it in the end. However, the two cities of Hu County and Haining Prefecture still exist, but they are all lonely thieves, and there is no reason to be lucky. In total, the whole of Zhejiang is only one capital in Quzhou, which can be stored. ”
In the process of marching into the whole province of Zhejiang, the Taiping Army won the support and support of the broad masses of the people. Under the leadership of Zhou Rong and Pan Ying, the Money Society occupied Wenzhou Prefecture; the Heaven and Earth Society assisted the Taiping Army in conquering the Prefecture Capital; and when attacking Zhuji, the Lianpeng Party responded positively.
Li Xiucheng left the generals Deng Guangming and The Heavenly General Tong Hairong to defend the city of Hangzhou, and on January 7, 1862, he led the Mu King Tan Shaoguang and other generals to attack Shanghai.
The formation of the bases in southern Jiangsu and Zhejiang Everbright was strongly supported.