Preface
In modern Chinese history, the Hunan army emerged on the battlefield with its image of being brave and good at fighting. However, two of the outstanding generals, Shi Dakai and Chen Yucheng, showed different styles in terms of combat performance. Shi Dakai and Chen Yucheng, the two have different fighting styles, which makes people have a lot of discussions about their status in the history of the Hunan army. By examining the Hunan army's military achievements, we may be able to reveal the differences between Shi Dakai's and Chen Yucheng's military talents and leadership styles.
This article will delve into the military careers of these two generals and analyze the similarities and differences in their fighting styles, in order to lead readers into the war picture of the history of the Hunan army and explore the legendary stories of these two outstanding generals. In this war-torn historical journey, we will explore the glorious achievements of the Hunan army and the unique roles played by Shi Dakai and Chen Yucheng.
First, the Hunan army tried its edge for the first time, and Chen Yucheng started a desperate game with it from Guangji
In 1851, Jiang Zhongyuan led Chu Yong to participate in the war, officially opening the cruel tug-of-war between the Hunan army and the Taiping army that lasted for ten years. However, what really made the Hunan army famous and powerful was four years later in 1856, when Hu Linyi personally led the Hunan Army's Eastern Crusade.
In that turbulent era, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom flourished like the sun and won successive battles. The invincible momentum made the Western powers tremble. However, from the time Hu Linyi led the children of the Eight Banners to the east to establish the Hunan Army, all this began to reverse. The brutal decisive battle between the Qing army and the Taiping army, represented by the Hunan army, became the most thrilling chapter in that period of history.
In this round of life-and-death fighting, Shi Dakai and Chen Yucheng, as the two fierce generals of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, naturally have to bear the brunt of it. In September 1855, Li Mengqun's troops attacked Guangji, and the 27-year-old Chen Yucheng led his troops to meet them, officially opening the prelude to the battle with the Hunan army.
This was the first time Chen Yucheng fought against the Hunan army. At first, with the superiority of troops, Chen Yucheng successfully repelled the attack of the Hunan army. However, soon, with the cooperation of the Hunan Army's naval division, the battle situation took a sharp turn for the worse. After all, Chen Yucheng was still defeated by the Hunan army, so he had to give up the city of Guangji.
Despite this, this confrontation has made Li Mengqun deeply understand the strength of Chen Yucheng. In his heart, the generals of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom who could fight with the Hunan army were none other than "two Li and one Bao", and this "Bao" was the famous general Bao Chao, who fought side by side with Chen Yucheng all the year round and was later killed by Shi Dakai. Come to think of it, blood, gunsmoke, and life and death have accompanied these three people through the ups and downs of the entire "Eastern Army" movement.
Any rising group will always succeed and triumph under the leadership of certain key figures. And Chen Yucheng is the Green Lynch who led the Green Camp to fight the Manchu Qing to the end. In this first encounter, the commanders of the Hunan army can keep pace with him, and Chen Yucheng's talent as a military general has been initially revealed. Later generations often say that Shi Dakai is only eight buckets tall and has strong martial arts, but it is a pity that he is too cautious. And Chen Yucheng, who is also the choice of the moment, can be said to be an opposite representative.
Second, Shi Dakai is because of his fame, but he has repeatedly failed because of his different styles
is also commendable with Chen Yucheng, as well as Wing King Shi Dakai. It was a turbulent era, and as long as the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was victorious, it would be able to recruit troops and buy horses, and push the Northern Expedition with great momentum. Shi Dakai relied on martial arts that are difficult for ordinary people to reach, and he also made a good reputation.
At the end of 1854, Shi Dakai, who had 300,000 troops, was ordered to supervise Hukou and meet the main force of Hu Linyi and the Hunan army of the Eastern Expedition. In this battle, Shi Dakai strategized, mobilized the fierce general Luo Outliner and other fierce generals, and burned all the heavy battles of Zeng Guofan in one go. He personally led the elite deep into the inner line of the Hunan army and besieged the main force of Hu Linyi's naval division.
For a time, the news of Hukou's victory spread all over the country. Shi Dakai also became famous in the first battle and became a formidable enemy for Zeng Guofan. However, if we look at the battle situation at that time, we will find that Shi Dakai decided to give up a golden opportunity.
That was the remnants of Taqib left behind by the annihilation of Hu Linyi.
Originally, in order to relieve the siege of Wuchang, Hu Linyi led the main force westward to fight Wei Jun and had already left Hukou. This caused a fatal gap in the Hunan army's defense line left behind at Hukou. In the Battle of Hukou, Shi Dakai almost wiped out all the Hunan army and sailors. At this time, Taqibu also suffered many heavy blows from Lin Qirong and Luo Xuan, and there were only 4,000 people left.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Shi Dakai's elite 30,000 men could concentrate their forces to encircle and annihilate Taqibu, and then take advantage of the situation to take Nanchang in the east and Wuhan in the west, and firmly encircle the main force of the Hunan army between Poyang Lake and the Yangtze River.
However, Shi Dakai did not do so in the end. Perhaps he valued the superficial results more than the substantive annihilation. Or they are too cautious and unwilling to bear more losses for it. So even though Taqib was at the end of his crossbow, Shi Dakai still let it go—which became one of the consequences of his repeated defeats in the future.
From the aid of Wuchang in 1856 to the Battle of Baoqing in 1859, Shi Dakai was no longer able to fight with the main force of the Hunan army like Hu Linyi. The failure of countless duels against third-rate Hunan generals also made Shi Dakai's prestige and status much worse than before. As the article said, Shi Dakai, who fought alone, was repeatedly defeated and embarrassed.
3. Chen Yucheng pursued excessively, and the Battle of Three Rivers captured 8,000 in one fell swoop
Compared with Shi Dakai's weakness that he made progress but did not dare to fight to the death, Chen Yucheng fought with the Hunan army more often and his style was tougher. In 1857, he led the New Army to train in Hubei, and fought many times with most of Hu Linyi's Duolu. What made the Hunan army even more frightened was that Chen Yucheng also rescued the friendly troops who were besieged in Chikou.
This confrontation injured many Hunan army generals, including Bao Chao, who had been fighting Chen Yucheng for many years in the future. A year later, in the Battle of Huangmei, Chen Yucheng was a half-baked new army, which was on a par with Hu Linyi, a famous general of the Hunan army.
It can be seen that the grievances between Chen Yucheng and the Hunan army have been like a sea of blood. What was even more shocking was the Battle of the Three Rivers that broke out in 1860. In this battle, Chen Yucheng waved his army north, and annihilated more than 6,000 people of Li Xubin with jade and stones. Immediately afterwards, more than 1,000 remnants were annihilated in Shucheng, and a sensational victory was achieved.
The fiasco of this battle was undoubtedly the most painful defeat of the Hunan army since the Eastern Crusade. Nearly 8,000 elites were reduced to prisoners, which was almost equivalent to the total annihilation of the entire early veterans of Luo Zenan. Zeng Guofan was terrified when he heard the news, and Hu Linyi vomited blood - this indicated that the Taiping Army had officially shifted from a strategic defensive position to a strategic offensive.
Chen Yucheng's high-profile and relentless pursuit style has made him highly praised on both sides of the enemy. And behind his stubborn pursuit, what kind of mental journey is hidden?
Fourth, the styles of the two kings are very different, and the Taiping army can be called the world together
So, how can Chen Yucheng repeatedly perform miraculous feats and obviously outperform Shi Dakai on the battlefield?
If we analyze it deeply, we will find that this is inseparable from the different fighting ideas and styles of the two princes. To put it simply, Shi Dakai is heavy on security and skillful, while Chen Yucheng is resolute in pursuit and good at fighting tough battles.
For example, the Battle of Taihu Lake, which took place in 1864 and shocked the Central Plains. Shi Dakai faced the attack of the Hunan army's fierce generals Bao Chao and Hu Linyi, and it was likely that he would choose to avoid the main force and find the soft underbelly of the battlefield to break through. But Chen Yucheng resolutely chose to meet the enemy head-on, and he specifically tried to besiege and annihilate Bao Chao's army.
However, even with all his might, Chen Yucheng was ultimately defeated by Hu Linyi's tactical layout of defending the danger and defending the Hunan army's inner line, and he was defeated. But at that moment of life and death, Chen Yucheng still ordered his soldiers to break through and fight the enemy to the end with the courage and bravery, which was also beyond the reach of Shi Dakai and others.
In the face of the Hunan army advancing eastward, the two had very different styles and achieved very different fates.
In fact, when the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was first established, it also tried to mediate the conflicts between various generals. The most obvious was Hong Xiuquan's personal tour of the south in 1860 in an attempt to reconcile the deteriorating relationship between Yang Xiuqing and Shi Dakai.
However, Shi Dakai's absence, and the gradual distancing of the two of them, disappointed Hong Xiuquan's good intentions. In the end, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom lacked unified command, and all wings fought on their own, so they lost the initiative on the battlefield. If Shi Dakai's caution and Chen Yucheng's bravery can be perfectly integrated, who else can be worthy of the opponents of these two fierce generals?
In the face of such an iron horse, the Hunan army is afraid that it will already be defeated. Therefore, the final collapse of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is really suffocating, and I almost want to cry bitterly!
五、石达开虎落平阳，壮志难酬
In 1863, in the battle of the Dadu River, Shi Dakai was finally defeated under Ling Chengen. Since then, it has been sluggish, and it can only hide overseas, and there is no longer the vigor of the past to fight across provinces. This is undoubtedly one of the signs that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has fallen from the peak to the trough.
In contrast, although Chen Yucheng was heroic in the Battle of Anqing the following year, his temperament and prestige still shine in the hearts of revolutionaries and will never be extinguished. As the saying goes, it is difficult to repay righteousness, and the mountains and rivers are far away.
As two geniuses who belong to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Shi Dakai and Chen Yucheng have their own merits. However, judging from the results of the battle with the Hunan army, Chen Yucheng's results were greater, and the blow to the enemy was even more painful. This undoubtedly stems from the essential difference in the style of the two.
A bright and open-minded; One is gloomy, deep, and scheming. One will accept it when he sees it and seek an opportunity to break through, while the other will seek good fortune and avoid danger and sacrifice his life to pursue. Both of them have their own merits, but in the end, they have not escaped the sporadic fortune and the mockery of fate.
epilogue
Although it ended in failure, the magnificent, fierce and earth-shattering struggle of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom still left countless legends in people's hearts. As for Shi Dakai and Chen Yucheng, the two heroes who made the enemy fearful, the strong imprint they left behind will only be talked about by countless people and passed on forever!