In January 1855, Shi Dakai stood on the edge of the Yangtze River, proud of the Xiang Army with the posture of a victor, and enjoyed the glory brought by the great victory at the mouth of the lake, at this time he was the god of war and the nemesis of the Qing army. Eight years later, Shi Dakai once again stood on the edge of the Yangtze River, to be precise, on the banks of the Dadu River, a tributary of the Yangtze River. At this time, the Wing King was dejected, gray-headed, and the former prestige was no longer there, and he was as panicked as a dog that had lost his family. The Dadu River has become the home of Shi Dakai, and has also become the "grave" of tens of thousands of Taiping Army soldiers; a small river has made Shi Dakai a "tragic hero" and also made future generations remember him, after all, tragedy always makes people sympathetic.
Why can't Shi Dakai cross the river? Historians say that he encountered a "once in a hundred years" of extraordinary floods, before there were blockades and then chasing soldiers, fell into the Jedi, this is all fate. Floods are naturally one of the causes, but they are only external and cannot play a decisive role. It should be known that when Shi Dakai arrived at the Dadu River, the Qing army did not gather, and the number of troops along the river was pitiful. So, what are the determinants? Two "crowd brawls" reveal the truth.
The first case, Lin Fengxiang's "cattle cultivation incident", gathered crowds to fight
Speaking of Lin Fengxiang, everyone knows that everyone knows that everyone knows that he once led the Taiping Army in the Northern Expedition, killed Tianjin with a single blow, and frightened the Xianfeng Emperor. However, Lin Fengxiang's place of origin has aroused controversy among historians, some of whom say it is a Wuming person, some say it is a Guangdong Jieyang person, and some say it is a Guiping person.
So, where is Lin Fengxiang? The truth is revealed in the "Heavenly Brother's Holy Will" transmitted from overseas, Lin Fengxiang is a native of Baisha in Guiping County, and Xiao Chaogui once said when he was "Heavenly Brother Under the Heavenly Brothers", naturally it cannot be faked. However, it does not matter where Lin Fengxiang is, what matters is whether he has the ability or not.
According to the "Heavenly Brother's Holy Will", in the 30th year of Daoguang (1850), in order to avoid the blackmail of the landlord, the sharecropper Li Desheng fostered the cattle in Lin Fengxiang's house and let him take care of it on his behalf. The next day, the landlord of Lingwei Village sent someone to lead the cattle, but Lin Fengxiang did not say a word, directly beat the landlord's family and snatched back the cultivated cattle.
The landlord saw that Jia Ding was beaten, and he was ashamed and angry, so he brought fifty people with cannons and prepared to teach Lin Fengxiang a lesson. Who knows, before the landlord set up the earth cannon, Lin Fengxiang actually led 5 people with swords and spears and other weapons to kill them from their homes, slashing and slashing, and the landlord fled in a daze.
5 people beat 50 people, Lin Fengxiang is also fierce enough, but not the most fierce. On the third day, the landlord gathered more than 200 outlaws, armed with earthen guns and cannons, and came to take revenge. At this time, Lin Fengxiang did not back down, leading 58 people to intercept the attack halfway and personally slashing and killing more than ten people. In this way, the landlord fled home and never dared to come and rob the cattle again.
A few things can be seen from the "Cattle Farming Incident". First of all, Lin Fengxiang is very moralistic, the cow is not his, but his friend, but Lin Fengxiang can insert a knife in his friend's ribs and fight with the landlord. Moreover, Lin Fengxiang has courage and strategy, full of blood, not only dares to fight more with less, but also can fight to the end in blood, which is a tough guy. In this way, it is not difficult to understand why he can become the commander of the Northern Expedition and kill Tianjin in less than 6 months.
In the second case, Shi Dakai fought with his grandmother's "relatives"
After lin fengxiang's "cattle cultivation incident", I looked at Shi Dakai's weapon fight with zhou Fengming, a "relative" of his grandmother's family. At the age of 16, Shi Dakai was interviewed to go out of the mountains and join the cult of God, preparing for a revolution.
What does Shi Dakai's participation in the revolution have to do with Zhou Fengming? You know, Shi Dakai's mother and Zhou Fengming are just "Zhou surname" brothers and sisters in the same village, and their blood relations are very distant, so it is not his turn to teach his "uncle" to teach his "nephew".
Zhou Fengming taught Shi Dakai, definitely not because of the "relative" relationship, nor did he want him to get lost and return, but a conflict of interest. Li Xiucheng's "Self-Description" said that the contradiction between the Guangxi Cult of Worshiping God and the Tuanxian Sect was sharp, attacking and killing each other, and eventually triggering the Jintian Uprising.
Zhou Fengming was a landlord with a wealthy family, and he also bought a meritorious name, belonging to the gentry class; Shi Dakai was a worshipper of God and was preparing to make a revolution, and his relations with the landlords were naturally not good.
After joining the Worship of God, Shi Dakai continued to pull people into the company, which attracted the attention of Zhou Fengming. Therefore, Zhou Fengming led the regiment to sneak up on Shi Dakai and beat him violently. Shi Dakai was "violently beaten", which paid off, he was one of the leaders of the Hakka family, how could he be bullied.
There are many Hakka people, and if the fight really starts in an all-round way, Zhou Fengming is estimated to be crippled. In this way, Shi Dakai summoned the relatives of the clan and the Wang family of Shigu Village to come to help, and also asked Xiao Chaogui, Wei Changhui and other fierce men to help, and angrily slaughtered Zhou Fengming's mansion.
Shi Dakai was numerous, and Xiao Chaogui and Wei Changhui were brave and invincible, so they directly broke through the door and beat the regiment to a severe beating. Zhou Fengming saw that the situation was not good and quickly slipped away. In this way, Shi Dakai won, his fame soared, and he became the god of war in the minds of the Hakka.
After defeating Zhou Fengming, Xiao Chaogui wanted to go home for the New Year, so he planned to withdraw his troops. At this time, Ye Heng, one of Shi Dakai's small soldiers, said that he could not withdraw his troops and would kill them to the end. This paid off, Xiao Chaogui was a "heavenly brother", and the little soldier actually opposed it, and there must be someone behind it.
After questioning, I learned that it was Shi Dakai who did not want to withdraw his troops, wanted Xiao Chaogui and Wei Changhui to stay and help, and was embarrassed to say it to his face, so he let the small soldiers come forward. In this way, Xiao Chaogui called Shi Dakai, and Shi Dakai also admitted that he did not want to withdraw his troops.
This is funny enough, Xiao Chaogui and Wei Changhui are here to help, and they are not the protagonists. Now that it is the New Year, you Shi Dakai will not let everyone truce, what does it mean? Zhou Fengming's regiment had only trained hundreds of people and had already been defeated, while Shi Dakai could summon thousands of Hakka. It should be known that soon after this incident, Shi Dakai took 5,000 Hakka families to participate in the Jintian Uprising. Thousands to deal with hundreds, but also rely on helpers, Shi Dakai is too bad.
Not daring to fight with the regiment alone, Shi Dakai wanted Xiao Chaogui and Wei Changhui to stay behind to help, so he refused to withdraw his troops. Xiao Chaogui was very annoyed, and simply played "Heavenly Brother Xiafan" and reprimanded: "According to Master Yuanzi in Gao Tian's view, there are some nailless things, so why don't you have any courage?" "Meaning, the opponent is so little bit of a person, can't you Shi Dakai have a little guts?" It's a small matter, and it has to bother everyone.
Xiao Chaogui played "Heavenly Brother Under The Mortal", and Shi Dakai naturally did not dare to insist on his own opinion, so he agreed to withdraw his troops. So, what does this have to do with his defeat at the Dadu River? Quite simply, Shi Dakai did not have the courage to fight to the end in blood, and could only fight a movement war under favorable conditions; he did not have the domineering spirit of not being afraid and daring to fight and dare to kill. In this way, it is no wonder that the Qing Dynasty said: "Wing thieves are the most timid." ”
When the soldiers approached the Dadu River, the main force of Tang Yougeng on the opposite bank had not yet arrived, and the pursuing soldiers were only Wang Songlin's lone army. Who is Wang Songlin? It is only a matter of four products, and the combat effectiveness is average. However, even such a few people could drag Shi Dakai's legion. Then, the Qing army gathered, Shi Dakai did not dare to break through in a bloody battle, but thought of "please surrender", and the result was ling late.
Reference: History of Taihei Heaven