The Taiping Rebellion was an important social upheaval in Chinese history, and its peak was before the fall of Tianjing.
What is puzzling is that although the Young Heavenly King Hong Renji commanded an army of more than 100,000 people, the Taiping army was completely wiped out in just three months. There are a number of complex reasons behind this.
The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was riddled with internal contradictions. Although the unified slogan of the Taiping Army was to oppose the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty, there were serious divisions between the leaders and their staff, as well as between internal factions.
For example, the contradiction between Hong Renji and Zuo Zongtang is particularly prominent. These internal divisions severely weakened the unity of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, making it vulnerable to external pressures.
The encirclement and suppression of external forces posed a great threat to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
In the early days of the Taiping uprising, they managed to take control of some areas, but with the combined offensive of the Qing army and other external forces, the Taiping army gradually became at a disadvantage.
The Qing army's superiority in tactics and equipment, as well as increased external assistance, made it difficult for the Taiping army to withstand external pressure.
The Taiping Army was flawed in its internal management and military organization. Despite its large military strength, the Taiping Army's military management and command structure was not sound.
Insufficient coordination among commanders, lax military discipline, and a lack of adequate military training contributed to the poor performance of the Taiping Army in actual combat. There was also a serious problem of corruption within the Taiping army, and the morale of the soldiers was seriously weakened.
There was a shortage of resources and materials within the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. During the long fighting, the Taiping army lost a large amount of manpower and material resources, and it was difficult to provide sufficient support to maintain a large army.
At the same time, the leadership of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom failed to effectively manage and allocate limited resources, which led to a shortage of supplies and food.