In May 1858, when summer had just arrived and the Yangtze River flowed heavily, the general Wei Chaocheng jumped into the river and swam desperately to the other side, and was able to escape the disaster. At this time, if the World Cup is held, Wei Chaocheng will definitely be the champion, and the trophy will be soft and enviable. On the other side, Wei Chaocheng looked back and saw that the city of Jiujiang was full of fireworks, and 17,000 soldiers, including the defender Lin Qirong, were killed by Li Xubin, the first general of the Xiang Army.
After conquering Jiujiang, Li Xubin hated Lin Qirong's long-term insistence, causing huge casualties to the Xiang army. To this end, Li Xubin ordered Lin Qirong to be dissected to see what was in his stomach, and why could he persist for so long when the grain and grass were cut off? As a result, their stomachs were full of grass, and they ran out of food, but they did not want to retreat, but chose to coexist and die with the city. In this regard, some scholars believe that Lin Qirong is the Zhang Tour of the Tang Dynasty, and his will to fight is worthy of admiration. In fact, Lin Qirong did not need to hold on to Jiujiang, and the 17,000 soldiers should be transferred.
In June 1853, Hu Yihuang and Lai Hanying led 10,000 soldiers to the west to capture the strategic town of Anqing, and Hu Yihuang stayed behind to defend as a base for passing through Anhui. Lai Hanying then continued his expedition westward, with the goal of capturing Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi Province, cutting off the grain transportation line of the "Jiangnan Camp", and supporting the Tianjing Battlefield. The Battle of Nanchang lasted for 93 days, because Jiang Zhongyuan was strictly guarded, Lai Hanying and the "iron rooster" Shi Xiangzhen had a conflict, and the Taiping Army lost the battle and was forced to retreat.
Yang Xiuqing transferred Lai Hanying back to the Beijing Division, and originally wanted to deal with it by military law, but because he was Hong Xiuquan's brother-in-law, he let go of a horse and asked him to sort out the documents and stay away from military affairs. Next, Wei Zhijun, Shi Xiangzhen, Lin Qirong, and others continued their western expedition. In order to create a stable base for the Western Expedition, the Taiping Army first captured Jiujiang and Hukou, and then attacked Hubei, lianketianjia town, Banbishan, Huangzhou, Hankou, Hanyang, and the soldiers pointed directly at Wuchang.
Unable to capture Nanchang, Jiujiang became the forward base for the Taiping Army to operate Jiangxi and Hubei, and was also one of the three major towns in the upper defense line of Tianjing. However, from any point of view, Jiujiang is not as important as Nanchang, let alone Wuchang and Anqing, and even the strategic position of Hukou is stronger than that of Jiujiang.
After Wei Zhijun and Shi Xiangzhen captured Jiujiang, Lin Qirong did not have the opportunity to defend it, but he was very lucky. In April 1854, Lin Shaozhang was defeated at Xiangtan, 20,000 soldiers of the Western Expedition were killed, and the Xiang army took the opportunity to counterattack, liankeyue prefecture, Wuchang, Tianjia town, banbi mountain, the army reached Jiujiang and Hukou. At this time, Yang Xiuqing adjusted the deployment of troops, allowing his cronies Lin Qirong to guard Jiujiang, Huang Wenjin to guard Hukou, and Lai Guiying to guard Peng Ze.
Lin Qirong, a native of Guiping, Guangxi, and Yang Xiuqing, the Eastern King, pulled up with one hand and was loyal and reliable. Of course, Lin Qirong's defensive ability is also very strong, comparable to the famous Tang Dynasty general Zhang Tour. In January 1855, Lin Qirong fought with the main force of the Xiang Army under Jiujiang City and made a great achievement for Shi Dakai to win the great victory at Hukou. Soon, the Xiang army general Taqibu was unable to capture Jiujiang, and he attacked his heart in a hurry and died violently.
The Defenders of Jiujiang fought bravely, Shi Dakai won a great victory at the mouth of the lake, and the Offensive of the Xiang Army was blocked. Subsequently, the Taiping Army in Jiangbei took advantage of the situation to launch an attack, from Qianshan and Taihu to Hubei, and conquered Wuchang for the third time. In this way, the strategic position of Jiujiang is still very important, but Lin Qirong does not need to hold the city and consume the living strength of the Taiping Army.
In September 1856, the Tianjing Incident broke out and Yang Xiuqing, the Eastern King, was killed, which was a turning point in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. As a hardcore confidant of Yang Xiuqing, Lin Qirong was in a very passive situation, Wei Changhui expanded the situation, and the Eastern King's generals who guarded the town were also implicated, and the situation was very sinister. At this time, the Eight Banners, the Green Battalion, and the Xiang Army took advantage of the situation to counterattack, and Shi Dakai went out to work alone, making the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom even worse and in a difficult situation.
The Eight Banners and the Green Camp once again went to Tianjing City and formed the "Jiangnan Camp" for the second time. In the western battlefield, the Xiang army relied on the superiority of the water division to be active again, counterattacking the Taiping Army in Jiangxi and Hubei. Hong Xiuquan hated Wei Changhui for killing innocents indiscriminately, and Wei Zhijun, who guarded Wuchang, "lay down his gun" and bore the sins of his brother. To this end, Hong Xiuquan not only did not send troops to rescue Wuchang, but also killed Wei Zhijun. In this way, Wei Zhijun had no choice but to abandon Wuchang and preserve his living strength.
In December 1856, Wei Zhijun withdrew from Wuchang, and although the Taiping Army lost the city, the main force was not damaged. In May 1857, Shi Dakai was dissatisfied with Hong Xiuquan and gathered 100,000 troops to go out alone. So, where did these 100,000 troops come from? Quite simply, from all over Jiangxi to "suck blood", Shi Dakai's prestige is high, and most of the cities in Jiangxi are fought down by him, and the soldiers are naturally willing to follow the Wing King.
During Shi Dakai's "blood-sucking" campaign, taiping troops from all over Jiangxi came to defect one after another, such as Lai Yuxin, Fu Zhongxin, and other fierce generals. Of course, Shi Dakai most hoped that Lin Qirong could follow him, but Lin Qirong insisted on Jiujiang and was unwilling to follow and break away from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, thus annoying Shi Dakai. When the Xiang army surrounded Jiujiang, Lin Qirong twice "blood lettered" to Shi Dakai, who was close at hand, for help, but there was no response. At this time, Lin Qirong was guarding Jiujiang, and Shi Dakai was in Anqing.
Wei Zhijun withdrew from Wuchang, and all parts of Hubei were subsequently occupied by the Xiang army; the Shi Dakaila people and the generals in all parts of Jiangxi basically followed the Yi King, and the Qing army counterattacked again; Lin Qirong offended Shi Dakai, and the Yi King was unwilling to rescue Jiujiang; the Xiang Army had obvious advantages in water divisions, Jiujiang was blocked, all the supply lines were cut off, and the city was in danger. At this time, teammate Huang Wenjin gave up the lake mouth, and Jiujiang was an isolated city.
Wuchang, Jiujiang, Hukou, Anqing, the western barrier of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Beijing Division. In terms of strategic position, Jiujiang was far inferior to Wuchang, and it was a helpless choice when the Taiping Army could not take Nanchang. It should be known that in order to capture Wuchang, Hu Linyi could ignore Zeng Guofan's bitter pleas and not send a soldier from Jiangxi to reinforce Zeng Guofan and let him be suppressed and beaten by Shi Dakai. At this time, Wuchang can give up, why can't Jiujiang?
An isolated city, grain and grass cut off, teammates see death and can not be saved, what is the point of holding on. Lin Qirong refused to evacuate and held on to the city, not only to no avail, but also to bury the living forces of the Taiping Army in vain. 17,000 soldiers were killed, some of them "old brothers" from Liangguang, which were the pillars of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and the cost of holding jiujiang was too high. Because there was no food, when Jiujiang fell, these 17,000 soldiers were hungry and exhausted, unable to take up arms and fight, which was really sad.
Bibliography: History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom