In prison, Li Xiucheng, the king of Zhong, wrote tens of thousands of words of "Self-Statement", telling his participation in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, commenting on the important princes, and summarizing the reasons for the demise of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Li Xiucheng believes that the main reason for the demise of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was "ten points", of which the Northern Expedition accounted for "three points". Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang led troops to the Northern Expedition; Zeng Lichang led troops to reinforce the Northern Expedition; Qin Rigang once again reinforced the Northern Expedition, and the elite taiping army suffered heavy losses.
For the Northern Expedition of the Taiping Army, many people said that this was a huge strategic mistake made by Yang Xiuqing, and that a mere 20,000 people dared to kill Yanjing directly, which was tantamount to committing suicide. In fact, Yang Xiuqing did not know that the Northern Expedition was full of crises, and he also knew that the probability of victory was very small, and it was difficult for Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang to invade Yanjing. However, at this time, the military situation of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was dangerous, and Yang Xiuqing was helpless.
In March 1853, the Taiping Army invaded Nanjing, captured the second largest city of the Qing Dynasty, and renamed it Tianjing, as the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, facing the Qing Dynasty across the river. In January 1851, the Jintian Rebellion broke out, and the Taiping Army, including its families, had only 20,000 men. After February 2 years, this army actually invaded Nanjing, which was indeed a great achievement, and the speed at which Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing started their own businesses was too fast.
Although it entered Nanjing, the military situation of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was very dangerous and could be extinguished by the Qing army at any time. At this time, the Taiping Army only controlled three cities such as Nanjing, Zhenjiang, and Yangzhou, and only controlled the city, and the outskirts were all garrisoned by the Qing army's "Jiangnan Camp" and "Jiangbei Camp", they besieged the city, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was in the strategic encirclement of the Qing army.
Guarding isolated strategic strongholds and cutting off internal and external grain routes is a major taboo for soldiers, and the Eight Banners of the Qing Army and the Green Camp have not been injured. Since the Jintian Uprising, Xiang Rong, Zhang Guoliang and others have been pursuing the Taiping Army, from Guangxi all the way to Nanjing. At this time, xiang Rong's generals were more than 60,000 people, and almost no yuan qi was injured.
In order to march quickly, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom implemented "movement tactics" and fought on a large scale, but ignored the effective forces that annihilated the enemy. Since the Jintian Uprising, Hong Xiuquan, Yang Xiuqing and others have never organized a large-scale strategic battle, and the main military forces of the Qing Dynasty have not been attacked. In this way, Xiang Rong, Zhang Guoliang and others had enough troops to besiege Tianjing and form the "Jiangnan Battalion".
Hong Xiuquan had just entered Nanjing on his front foot, and the Xianfeng Emperor sent the minister Of Chincha, Qi Shan, to lead 20,000 eight banners and a green battalion army to the south to form the "Jiangbei Camp" on the outskirts of Yangzhou. In this way, the three isolated cities of Tianjing, Zhenjiang, and Yangzhou were under the strategic encirclement of the "Jiangnan Camp" and the "Jiangbei Camp", which restricted the progress and development of the Taiping Army.
Some people may say that Hong Xiuquan, Yang Xiuqing, and others could concentrate their superior forces to attack the "two battalions" and eliminate the southern armed forces of the Qing Dynasty in one fell swoop. The ideal is very beautiful, the reality is very cruel, at this time the Taiping Army is not capable of destroying the "two battalions". The reason is very simple, the Taiping Army lacks heavy weapons, and does not have enough food supplies, and cannot take the "two battalions" in the short term.
In the protracted war with the "two battalions" around Tianjing, the Taiping Army had no chance of winning at all, after all, Xiang Rong and Zhang Guoliang were not vegetarians. At this time, the "two battalions" besieged Tianjing, and as long as a tug-of-war was carried out, Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing had only one way to die. It should be known that the Qing Dynasty could also transfer troops from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and from the north, especially from outside guanwai to transfer the Eight Banners and Horses, while the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom could only fight alone.
After the Qing army entered the customs, in order to prevent them from being driven back to the guanwai one day, they stationed heavy troops in the north as the last housekeeping capital. The Eight Flags Horse Team that remained outside the Guanwai still lived a primitive nomadic life and had a strong fighting force, which was a fierce enemy of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. How powerful is the Guanwai Eight Flags Horse Team? Chen Yucheng's fierce enemy, Duolong'a, was under his command, which was also five hundred as many as 500 Cavalry. During the Battle of Anqing, Chen Yucheng attacked many times, but he could not break through the defense line of the Eight Banners Horse Team.
The "two battalions" besieged Tianjing, Zhenjiang, and Yangzhou, and the Taiping Army could not succeed in the short term. At this time, if the Xianfeng Emperor had mobilized heavy troops from the north to the south and let the Eight Banners and Horses take the lead, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was estimated to have lasted less than 1864. In this way, Yang Xiuqing could only take the initiative to attack, sending troops Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang to the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains, fighting on the outside, covering the Tianjing battlefield, and the battlefield of the Western Expedition.
In Yang Xiuqing's strategic layout, Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang led 20,000 "old brothers" to the north to prevent the main force of the Qing army from going south and serving the Tianjing Battlefield and the Western Expedition Battlefield. When the Western Expedition is won, enough grain is raised, and the hinterland of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River is occupied, and the Northern Expedition can be fully launched to compete with the Qing Dynasty. As for the goal of the Northern Expedition, "Rush to Yanjing in the middle of the road, do not greedily attack the city and plunder the land, in order to save time." This is the request of the Eastern King, but the probability of success is very small, and Yang Xiuqing does not believe that Lin Fengxiang can really do it.
Yang Xiuqing knew better than anyone what the actual combat effectiveness of the Taiping Army was. Since the Jintian Uprising, if it were not for the contradictions between the various units of the Qing army, seeing each other's death and not saving each other, without absolute superiority, the Taiping Army could hardly seize a decent city. For example, the Taiping Army besieged Guilin and fought for more than two months, and even the city wall could not be touched. During the siege of Changsha, even Xiao Chaogui, the King of the West, was reimbursed.
At this time, the Northern Expeditionary Army was only 20,000 people, and it was lightly armed, did not carry heavy engineering weapons, and wanted to seize the solid Yanjing, how easy was it? During the Northern Expedition, Lin Fengxiang personally commanded the attack on Huaiqing in order to obtain supplies, and the battle lasted for nearly three months, without any progress, and was almost surrounded by the Qing army.
Judging from the strength and equipment of the Northern Expeditionary Army, the probability of Lin Fengxiang and Lin Kaifang winning is very small. With only 20,000 people, or lightly armed, how could they capture Yanjing? Yang Xiuqing naturally knew this, but he was helpless. If the Northern Expedition was not sent to attract the attention of the Qing army, the Tianjing Battlefield and the Western Expedition would have to bear greater pressure, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would be in a more difficult situation.
The Northern Expedition of the Taiping Army not only prevented the Qing army from going south to reinforce the "two battalions", but also because of Lin Fengxiang's rapid advance, the "Jiangbei Camp" had to dispatch troops to the north to block, thus alleviating the strategic pressure on Tianjing. Unfortunately, Lin Fengxiang was not flexible in combat and did not thoroughly understand Yang Xiuqing's meaning. After the rapid advance was blocked, Lin Fengxiang could establish a base in Lianghuai and threaten Yanjing at any time, thus dragging down the strength of the Qing army in the north and creating better conditions for the Tianjing battlefield and the western expedition battlefield.
Bibliography: History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom