When it comes to the key nodes of the fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Battle of Anqing must be one of the most important historical nodes. The Xiang army led by Zeng Guofan completely opened the gateway to Tianjing in the Battle of Anqing, and also announced that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which had a magnificent scenery for a while, was moving towards the end of the torrent of history.
Looking at the war between the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Qing army, it is not difficult to find that in the early stage of the war, the Qing army can be described as repeatedly defeated and fought. The traditional Green Battalion was at a complete disadvantage in the war against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It was not until Zeng Guofan commanded the Xiang Army and the Taiping Army that the Qing army turned the tide of battle.
It is no exaggeration to say that at the level of war alone, the glory of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was destroyed in the hands of the Xiang Army. So, since the Taiping Army could kill the Qing army in the early stages of the war, why did it suffer such a big defeat at the hands of Zeng Guofan's Xiang army?
How big was the military gap between the Taiping Army and the Xiang Army? What role does Zeng Guofan play in this?
First, the growth of the Xiang Army
In fact, in the early days of the establishment of the Xiang Army, the strength of the Xiang Army was not strong. At least in the process and outcome of the battle against the Taiping Army, they were at a disadvantage. It can be said that the Xiang Army lost once in the battle with the Taiping Army. For this reason, Zeng Guofan even wanted to die more than once.
The reason for this was that in the Qing army fighting against the Taiping Army at that time, the Xiang Army was not the main force. At this time, the main force of the Qing army was still the decaying green camp, and Zeng Guofan did not have absolute command of the army.
Fortunately, later the Qing government realized the incompetence of the Green Camp and replaced the Green Camp from the main force. More importantly, the power of the military and political power in the southeast of the Qing army was handed over to the hands of Zeng Guofan. Since then, the Qing army has a unified military brain, and this brain is still Zeng Guofan, who has a very military strategic vision.
Second, the changes in the Taiping Army
After the successful reform of the Xiang Army, the internal changes of the Taiping Army also underwent earth-shaking changes. However, unlike the growth of the Xiang Army, the change of the Taiping Army was to cut off its own arm, resulting in a serious decline in the overall military strength of the Taiping Army.
From the beginning of the chaos in Tianjing, the Taiping Army was plunged into a brutal civil war. Some of the wars were "settled" internally, and some of them were left by the Taiping Army to stand on their own. This led to a huge change in the military system of the original Taiping Army.
As can be seen from the initial Taiping Military system, all military operations and military deployment adjustments are completely under the command of Tianjing. However, after the Tianjing Incident, the Taiping Army had split from a unified whole into one small group after another.
At this time, the Taiping Army encountered the initial problem of the Qing Army, that is, the deployment of military power was not concentrated. Each general can only allocate his own troops, and once a large-scale operation is required, the generals need to meet temporarily in order to achieve a unified deployment of troops.
3. The Battle of Anqing
Anqing's geographical location is extremely superior, and it has a two-tiered strategic position for the Taiping Army. One is the key center for transporting grain and grass, which is the lifeblood of the army. The second is the gateway to Tianjing, and for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Anqing will be captured if it loses tianjing.
Therefore, both the Taiping Army and the Xiang Army regarded Anqing as a place of contention. Even in order to take Anqing, the Xiang army even refused to send troops to Jiangsu and Zhejiang. It can be said that in the eyes of Zeng Guofan, the capture of Anqing is more important than anything.
At this time, the Xiang army was actually not superior in the number of troops, the Taiping Army had 100,000, while the total strength of the Xiang Army was only 60,000. Although this kind of military strength gap is not a world of difference, it is definitely not a small gap.
However, the large number of troops did not mean that it could win the war, because at this time, the command of the 60,000-strong army of the Xiang Army was firmly in the hands of Zeng Guofan alone. However, the Taiping Army's 100,000 troops were extremely dispersed, and they were far less efficient in military dispatch than the Xiang Army.
In addition, although the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was extremely prosperous, it was short-lived in the long river of Chinese history. However, in terms of overall background, it is far less powerful than that of the Great Qing Dynasty. Once it enters a tug-of-war, it is a confrontation of national strength, and at this point the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has no confidence.
This also led to the Taiping Army not daring to make a desperate effort, knowing that the Battle of Anqing was two years long. After many attritions and long-term tug-of-war, the Taiping Army was far inferior to the Xiang Army in terms of combat effectiveness and will to fight, and was finally completely defeated by the Xiang Army in the army engagement.
The Xiang army on land was defeated, so what about in the battle of the water army? The gap in strength between the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Qing Dynasty was even more nakedly displayed.
The water army of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom used very ordinary civilian ships, but only a few earthen cannons were erected on top of the civilian ships. The Xiang Army, on the other hand, used a very specialized military fleet. It can be said that in the comparison of the combat strength of the water army, the Taiping Army was "vulnerable" in front of the Xiang Army.
Therefore, after the defeat of the Taiping Army, Anqing was completely blocked by the Xiang Army. It can be said that not a single grain of grain can enter Anqing City, and not a single Taiping Army can escape. All the methods used by the Taiping Army were discovered and captured by the Xiang Army.
Finally, in September 1861, the Xiang Army completely invaded Anqing. The Taiping army in the city was killed by the Xiang army by more than 10,000 people. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was no longer in danger, and was eventually completely defeated at the hands of Zeng Guofan's Xiang army.
Fourth, the comparison of the military strength of the two armies
Judging from the military strength, the overall military strength of the Xiang Army was stronger than that of the Taiping Army during the Battle of Anqing. Whether it was the combat strength of the water army or the army, the Xiang army led by Zeng Guofan steadily suppressed the Taiping Army, which had long been disintegrated.
There are many reasons for this, including the gap in the individual capabilities of the two armies. The non-commissioned officers of the Xiang Army were all well-trained regular troops, while the Taiping Army was mostly a "miscellaneous army" with low combat ability and no systematic training.
There are also reasons for the state of combat between the two armies. During the Taiping Army's Battle of Anqing, military command could not be centralized, and each small group fought separately. The Xiang army was absolutely subordinate to the unified deployment of Zeng Guofan, and the author even believed that this gap was enough to make up for the gap in the number of troops between the two armies.
In addition, there was a gap between the background of the two armies, although the Qing government was in danger at that time, it was still far stronger than the newly established Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in terms of comprehensive national strength. This can be seen from the military configuration of the two armies.
5. Summary
Although it is said that during the Battle of Anqing, the overall military strength of the Xiang Army was superior to that of the Taiping Army. However, it is not difficult to find that the overall military strength of the Xiang Army and the Taiping Army is dynamically changing. In the early days of the establishment of the Xiang Army, it was far from being able to compete with the Taiping Army, but at the Battle of Anqing, the Xiang Army achieved military superiority.
In fact, the reason why in the Battle of Anqing, the Xiang Army came to the top to achieve military superiority. First, in the process of growing up, the Xiang Army has continuously accumulated military strength and unified military command. Second, the Taiping Army cut off its own arm, resulting in the dispersion of the Taiping Army's strength and the disintegration of military command.
So when doing a thing, there are two things to pay attention to. One is the best way to accumulate all your strength, and to concentrate on it is bound to succeed. Second, it is easier to seize the opportunity to launch a heavy blow when the enemy is weak and we are strong, and it is easier to succeed in one fell swoop.