In modern times, the Qing Dynasty has become increasingly decayed, and it no longer sees the might of the Great Power of the Heavenly Dynasty. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, a Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement almost made the Qing Half Dead. In the early days, the Vulnerability of the Qing Army was simply staggering, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's 20,000-strong Northern Expedition hit Tianjin in 3 months! Since the Qing Dynasty is so vulnerable, 20,000 people can hit Tianjin, so why didn't Hong Xiuquan directly dispatch the whole army and destroy the Qing Dynasty with a single blow?
In March 1853, the Taiping Army captured Nanjing, Hong Xiuquan changed it to Tianjin, as the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and at the same time sent Lin Fengxiang, Li Kaifang, Ji Wenyuan and others to lead 20,000 Taiping Troops to carry out the Northern Expedition, starting from Yangzhou, all the way through Shandong, Henan, the forward reached Tianjin. The Qing dynasty army can be described as vulnerable, and if the Taiping Army has enough troops and enough grain and grass supplies at this time, it will not be difficult to take Beijing. At that time, the Qing Dynasty was directly destroyed! So, why did Hong Xiuquan let the lone army go deeper, instead of directly sending a large army to directly attack the Yellow Dragon?
There are three main considerations:
First, after Hong Xiuquan entered Nanjing, he was completely impressed by the prosperity of the city!
Therefore, with the preparation of calling the emperor behind closed doors, I began to be busy repairing the palace, choosing beautiful women, and the enterprising spirit was almost lost. There is no courage to make a desperate bet and let go when the uprising was first initiated. Therefore, the Northern Expedition was such a big event, and one of its great generals, such as Yang Xiuqing, the Eastern King, Wei Changhui, the Northern King, and Shi Dakai, the Wing King, did not send them, but instead sent three partial generals to the Northern Expedition, or went deep alone, and it cannot be said that their enterprising spirit has been lost.
Second, the strategic objectives are different.
After Hong Xiuquan was founded, he wanted to keep this country, so he would not put all his eggs in one basket. Because the whole army's Northern Expedition, once defeated, then there is no way to retreat. Moreover, he sent 20,000 people to the Northern Expedition, and did not expect to rely on these 20,000 people to destroy the 300-year Qing Dynasty. It is also based on strategy and military strength, and the destruction of the Great Qing is estimated to be unthinkable. As for the strategic temptation, these 20,000 people are completely enough, because this is the old team of Hong Xiuquan's uprising, 20,000 Guangxi wolf soldiers. The combat effectiveness was extremely fierce, and the Qing army was caught off guard.
Third, it is dangerous.
Under the circumstances at that time, after Hong Xiuquan occupied Nanjing, the main strategic focus was to consolidate Nanjing and occupy the areas around Nanjing, such as Suzhou, Anqing, Jiujiang, etc., so the vast majority of troops had to attack the surrounding cities and plunder land, especially the western expedition, and it was impossible to send more people to the Northern Expedition to the Qing Dynasty. From this point of view, Hong Xiuquan is typical of small peasant thoughts. Occupying a piece of land is satisfied, but there is no desire to compete for the world.
Judging from the Tianjing Incident in 1856, the leadership of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had begun to fall into enjoyment and struggle for power and profit. The world has not yet been fought, the nest fighting has begun, can there be spare strength for the Northern Expedition? Later, the Tianjing Incident was only a concentrated outbreak of contradictions. And this poor 20,000 Northern Expeditionary Army, hit Tianjin and fell into the Siege of the Qing Army, and finally the entire army was destroyed, and the three commanders were escorted to Beijing Lingchi for execution!