For the generals of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, they were the "people" of God Jehovah, and it was an unshirkable duty to come to the human world to kill demons and ghosts. The Qing Dynasty, that is, the "Qing Demon", was the descendant of the hybridization of the red dog and the white fox, and the Fengtian Beg hu demon cloth four square edict said: "To examine the beginning and end of the Manchu Tartar, its ancestors were a white fox and a red dog, who intercourse into a sperm, and then gave birth to a demon, and the species was growing day by day, cooperating with each other, and there was no humane weathering." "is the object of necessary destruction." These god's "people" were able to kill the enemy bravely at first, but not in the later stages, and most of them surrendered to the Qing Dynasty in exchange for their lives. God's "people" surrendered or were captured, and the Qing Dynasty treated them differently: they should stay and stay, they should be persuaded, and they should be killed, but most of them were killed, and they were executed by Ling Chi, that is, by cutting a thousand knives.
01. Ding Ruchang could surrender, and later served as the commander-in-chief of the Beiyang Fleet, in charge of the main force of the Qing Navy
As we all know, Ding Ruchang was a hero of the Sino-Japanese War, who refused to surrender and martyred the country with his own body, leaving a strong mark in the history of the anti-aggression war. Ding Ruchang, a native of Hefei, Anhui Province, is a fellow of Li Hongzhang, a famous minister of ZTE. At first, Ding Ruchang joined the Taiping Army in order to mix food, became a general, and guarded the north gate in the Anqing Defense War, which made the Xiang army suffer a lot. In March 1861, Ding Ruchang followed Cheng Xueqi to surrender to the Xiang Army, and then transferred to the Huai Army, conquered southern Jiangsu, led cavalry across the battlefield, and made countless contributions. When Zuo Zongtang recaptured Xinjiang, he also invited him to participate, hoping that he would lead his cavalry to pursue and kill Agubai, but Ding Ruchang was left in Tianjin by Li Hongzhang and failed to participate in the Western Expedition. Soon, Li Hongzhang formed the Beiyang Naval Division, and Ding Ruchang served as the admiral (commander-in-chief of the fleet), in charge of the qing dynasty's most elite navy. As a subordinate general, Ding Ruchang was not only not executed, but also served as the commander-in-chief of the fleet, which was very fortunate.
02. Shengbao persuaded Chen Yucheng to surrender and promised the high-ranking official Houlu, but the king did not agree
In December 1858, Chen Yucheng killed a total of 9,000 elite soldiers of the Xiang Army in the three battles of Sanhe, Tongcheng and Shucheng, and the first general of the Xiang Army, Li Xubin, was killed, and the younger brother of Zeng Guofan was also killed. You must know that these 9,000 Xiang armies were trained by Luo Zenan, the earliest and most effective Xiang army, and can be regarded as veterans of hundreds of battles; Chen Yucheng can eliminate them, naturally there is still some material. In May 1862, Chen Yucheng was trapped by the traitor Miao Peilin and then given to the minister of Chincha, Katsuho, as a greeting gift. Katsuho was often beaten by Chen Yucheng. For example, at the Battle of Pukou, the Qing army was completely destroyed, and Katsuho hid alone in the grass to escape the disaster, which seemed very embarrassing. However, Katsuho still persuaded him to surrender, hoping that Chen Yucheng would understand the situation and change the court, so that he could be promoted to serve as a military attaché at the rank of chief soldier (Zheng Erpin). If King Chen Yucheng could surrender, he could serve as the chief soldier, and in a few years he could be mixed with a viceroy, but he refused to surrender and was later executed by Ling, only 26 years old.
03. Shi Dakai took the initiative to "please surrender", Luo Bingzhang ignored it, and directly executed Ling Chi
As Xiang Rong, commander of the "Jiangnan Battalion," said: "Wing thieves are the most timid." Wing King Shi Dakai is good at fighting sports warfare, good at mobile combat in a large range, but can not fight bloody and vicious battles, and does not have the determination and willpower to make a desperate bet, which is also the fundamental reason why he defeated daduhe and was forced to take the initiative to "please surrender" and end up with the total annihilation of the army. In June 1863, Shi Dakai's 20,000-strong army arrived on the banks of the Dadu River, preparing to cross the Yangtze River and attack Chengdu. At this time, the river did not rise, but Shi Dakai ordered camping, missing the best opportunity to cross the river. The next day, the river swelled slightly, the river crossing was slightly frustrated, and the concubine just happened to have a son, Shi Dakai thought that this was a blessing from God, so he ordered three days and three nights of celebration, and finally suffered bad luck.
Realistically speaking, the Qing army besieging Shi Dakai was limited in number (basically all of them were Toast troops), and there were almost no famous generals, all of whom were some eighth-rate generals. At this time, Shi Dakai had 20,000 soldiers and horses in his hands, and if he dared to make a desperate bet and break through in a bloody battle, the hope of survival was very great. Unfortunately, Shi Dakai did not have the courage to fight a bloody battle, but fought a war of attrition with the Qing army, waiting for the Qing reinforcements to gather and the situation to be reversed. In this way, Shi Dakai had no choice but to surrender on his own initiative and run to Luo Bingzhang's camp to negotiate, but it was useless; Luo Bingzhang did not accept the "please surrender" and directly delayed Shi Dakai. At this point, Shi Dakai, the wing king of the "God of War", who had once made the Xiang Army feel frightened, was planted in the hands of Luo Bingzhang.
Shi Dakai, Chen Yucheng, and Ding Ruchang are all famous generals in modern times, but the ending is different. Ding Ruchang could surrender, Chen Yucheng could persuade him to surrender, so why did Shi Dakai take the initiative to surrender but was killed?
First of all, the losses inflicted by The Wing King Shi Dakai on the Qing Dynasty were too great, and there were 4 feudal officials (inspectors and viceroys) who died at the hands of Shi Dakai: Jiang Zhongyuan, the governor of Anhui, Chang Dachun, Tao Enpei, and Lu Jianying, the governor of Liangjiang; more than 20 Wuguan, including the viceroy, the general soldier, and the deputy general; and also forced the general Jiang Ning (the highest official of the Eight Banners of the Manchu Qing Dynasty in Jiangnan) Xianghou to commit suicide, and the governor Huo Longwu was killed. On the other hand, the British kings Chen Yucheng and Ding Ruchang also killed the Xiang army general Li Xubin (Sanpin's Zhejiang envoy), causing very large losses to the Qing Dynasty; Ding Ruchang was not yet famous, and was generally just a young general. Therefore, it is difficult for the Qing Dynasty to forgive Shi Dakai, which is too costly.
Moreover, there is a difference between the "opponents" of Shi Dakai, Chen Yucheng, and Ding Ruchang. Ding Ruchang was a young general, and he had no position in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which could be ignored. What about Chen Yucheng? In the late Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, there were many generals and soldiers of the Xiang Army who died in his hands, but this did not matter. Because it was Shengbao who captured Chen Yucheng, not the Xiang army; Shengbao was a Manchurian, and the losses of the Xiang army were mixed for the Manchu Qing. Shi Dakai was different, in the early stage, the target of the destruction was the Xiang Army, and the captive was Luo Bingzhang, one of the commanders of the Xiang Army. When the enemy met, his eyes were extremely red, and Luo Bingzhang could not allow Shi Dakai to surrender on his own initiative.
In the end, the defeat of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had been decided, and Shi Dakai had no use value, which was fundamental. No matter how many feudal officials Shi Dakai killed, as long as he still had use value, he would not be killed. For example, Zhu Wen killed many high-ranking Tang officials, and also invaded Chang'an, driving out Emperor Tang, but the Tang Dynasty still accepted his surrender. Why? The Huangchao rebel army was still very strong, the Tang Dynasty needed to use Zhu Wen's strength, and recruiting Zhu Wen could also attract other rebel generals, so why not enjoy it. Shi Dakai's voluntary surrender was in June 1863, at this time the Xiang army had basically encircled Tianjing, Li Hongzhang's Huai army and Zuo Zongtang's Chu army had almost completed Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the defeat of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had been decided. At this time, whether Shi Dakai surrendered or not would not affect the development of the war situation.
All in all, when Shi Dakai took the initiative to "please surrender", the defeat of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was already decided, and there was no need for the Qing Dynasty to surrender again, and Shi Dakai just fell into the hands of luo Bingzhang, the commander of the Xiang Army, his old rival. In this way, Shi Dakai could only be delayed.
Bibliography: History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom