Preface
Chen Yucheng of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was a controversial military general on the stage of history. His name is both a symbol of majesty and fear on countless battlefields.
However, how powerful his military level is, history has left many controversies and legends. Zeng Guofan, as an outstanding general of the Qing Dynasty, his evaluation of Chen Yucheng is even more concerning.
So, is what he said a praise or a criticism of Chen Yucheng? Today, let us follow the footsteps of history, travel through time, and explore the truth of Chen Yucheng's military legend.
Chen Yucheng: Optimus Prime of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom
Before the Tianjing Incident, Chen Yucheng was already a famous general. He slashed many governors, governors, and generals of the Qing Dynasty, and his achievements were impressive. Zeng Guofan bluntly said that Chen Yucheng was the pillar of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the key figure supporting the current situation.
Chen Yucheng has read military books since he was a child and knows war strategies well. He was born in poverty, but since he was a child, he has had the ambition to repay the shame of the country. After joining the Taiping Army, he quickly rose to prominence with his extraordinary bravery and resourcefulness. Before the Tianjing Incident, he was already a fierce general in the Taiping Army.
Wu Wenrong, the governor of Huguang, Zarafen, the general of Xi'an, and Gil Hang'a, the governor of Jiangsu, all of the important ministers and masters of the Qing Dynasty, were all beheaded by Chen Yucheng himself. In every battle, Chen Yucheng can carefully deploy and win by surprise, so that the enemy is unable to defend against it. His fame spread far and wide, which made the Taiping army extremely excited, and the Qing army changed color when they heard about it.
Young generals, training elite soldiers
After the Tianjing Incident, Chen Yucheng had few soldiers and horses. He recruited more than 10,000 hungry people in Anhui, and after months of training, he finally formed an elite army. Since then, Chen Yucheng has embarked on a journey of crusade to the east and west.
It was a time of famine and displaced refugees. Chen Yucheng saw these people who were ruthlessly ravaged by the war, and his heart was mixed. He decided to give them a chance to start over and recruit them into the army.
At first, these hungry people were malnourished and too thin to fight. Chen Yucheng personally trained them, starting with the most basic foot drills and gradually increasing the intensity. He strictly demanded that those who did not meet the physical fitness standards could not enlist in the army. After a few months, this unit finally tempered its excellent combat effectiveness and became Chen Yucheng's right-hand man.
The battle of northern Anhui turned the tide
In 1858, Chen Yucheng joined forces with Wei Jun and Li Shixian to seize Luzhou, an important town in northern Anhui, and built the Sanhe Fortress to lay the foundation for the Taiping army. Then, he traveled thousands of miles to reinforce Li Xiucheng, and fought the soldiers and horses of the Eight Banners of Dexinga and Shengbao in Pukou, completely destroying the Jiangbei camp.
The city of Luzhou was once the base camp of the Taiping Army, and it was of great significance to Chen Yucheng to recover it. They built a strong fortress of Mikawa in the city to store grain and grass as a base to lay the foundation for future battles.
At this time, Li Xiucheng was sniped by the Qing army in Jiangbei and fell into a situation of being passively beaten. After Chen Yucheng learned the news, without saying a word, he led the army to reinforce Li Xiucheng thousands of miles. They fought to the death with the Qing army's Eight Banners Iron Cavalry at Pukou, and finally completely defeated the enemy army with elite tactics.
Danger lurks, blocking the Hunan army alone
Chen Yucheng had just won the victory at Pukou when he received the news that Anqing was surrounded. He didn't care about respite, and immediately divided his troops to reinforce them. At the same time, Li Xubin's elite Hunan army also began to advance towards Luzhou. Chen Yucheng fell into a situation of internal and external troubles.
He divided his limited forces into two routes, one way to reinforce Anqing and the other to defend Luzhou. The two sides met in the area of the Three Rivers and fell into a desperate struggle. Chen Yucheng personally commanded the army, strategized, and finally annihilated Li Xubin's Hunan army in this battle, reversing the passive situation.
Eryang River fought hard, and fought many dragons and tigers
Although he won the Battle of Three Rivers, Chen Yucheng did not stop there. He continued to march towards the Eryang River, wanting to completely sweep away the stronghold of the Hunan army. Unfortunately, Li Xiucheng did not reinforce in time this time, which caused Chen Yucheng's attack to be blocked, and he could only retreat temporarily.
After that, Chen Yucheng successively defeated the army of the Shengbao Army and the governor of Anhui, Li Mengqun, and swept away the Qing army in northern Anhui. At this moment, Hu Linyi, the governor of Hubei, went east again, and brought Duolong'a, Bao Chao and other fierce generals to the border. Although Chen Yucheng's troops were thin, with only 40,000 horses, he was not afraid and fought in three ways.
Koike Station Jedi strikes back
In the battle of Xiaochiyi, Chen Yucheng fought alone, tenacious and unyielding. He personally led the main force in the middle and launched a decisive battle against Bao Chao's army. The two sides fell into a stalemate, and Chen Yucheng's encirclement gradually tightened, almost besieging all the "dragons and tigers".
At this moment, Jin Guochen's reinforcements suddenly cut off Chen Yucheng's grain and grass line, putting him in a desperate situation of being attacked by the enemy before and after. Chen Yucheng had no choice but to abandon the encirclement and retreat overnight to avoid the annihilation of the whole army. Although he suffered a setback this time, Chen Yucheng was not discouraged, and immediately transferred troops to the south and threw himself into the decisive battle in Nanjing.
The power of one person can help the crisis
After the Tianjing Incident, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom suffered a great loss of vitality, its basic base was weak, and its troops were weak. However, in this difficult environment, Chen Yucheng relied on his extraordinary military talent and tenacious will to conquer the east and west, fight in the north and south, and became the mainstay of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
He laid a foundation in northern Anhui and built a strong fortress of Sanhe; he traveled thousands of miles to reinforce Li Xiucheng and destroyed the camp in Jiangbei in the Battle of Pukou; he single-handedly resisted the attack of the Hunan army, and annihilated Li Xubin's elite army in the Battle of Sanhe...... In battle after battle, Chen Yucheng was the backbone of the Taiping Army and the key to turning the tide of the war.
As Zeng Guofan said: "Since the civil strife in Hong and Yang, Zhenjiang has been restored, Jinling has been rebellious for a long time, and the dogs have been going back and forth to Jiangbei in vain, colluding with bandits, Luzhou, Pukou, Sanhe and other places, frustrating our division, so that northern Anhui is eroding day by day, and the thieves in the south of the Yangtze River are endless." Chen Yucheng almost single-handedly supported the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
It can be said that it was Chen Yucheng's heroic battles that enabled the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to continue the war in the most difficult period and reverse the situation of the generals.
epilogue
The power of a person is often underestimated. In the most difficult period of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Chen Yucheng alone resisted the counterattack of the Hunan Army, the Green Battalion, and the Eight Banners, fought in the east and west, fought in the north and south, and used his military talent and tenacious will to extend the life of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom for 8 years.
He is the Optimus Prime of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and he is the key force supporting the situation. It was with a figure like Chen Yucheng that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was able to thrive in the crisis and continue the war.
Although the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was ultimately defeated, Chen Yucheng's heroic struggle created a history that can be sung and cried. He used his blood and life to defend the last dignity of the Taiping Army, and also let future generations see the persistent pursuit of ideals by a hot-blooded young man.