【Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Series 448, Original Works of Little Buddha History, Please Do Not Reprint】
After the Taiping army was unsuccessful in attacking Changsha, it withdrew from Changsha under the leadership of Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing, and then Liankning Township, Yiyang, Yuezhou and other places. The situation of the Taiping Army was very good, and Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing and others were also full of confidence in being able to defeat the Qing government. Looking at the Qing army in the two lakes at this time, it can be said that the reaction was very slow, especially in the area from Yuezhou to Wuchang, they seemed to think that the Taiping Army would not attack Wuhan, which directly led to the emptiness of defense in this area, and the pursuing soldiers behind the Taiping Army, which had always been the army led by Xiang Rong, seemed to have never appeared in the figure of others.
The emptiness of defense, the Taiping Army will naturally take advantage of the void to enter, 600 miles of waterway down the river, soon the Taiping Army will be under the city of Wuchang, and Xiang Rong is still in Yuezhou, after all, the Taiping Army left some people and horses to treat the Xiang Rong army, it can be said that the Taiping Army and Xiang Rong fought for so long, but also gave Xiang Rong enough attention, later, Xiang Rong detoured to Wuchang, and he arranged before the advance troops 3,000 people on the road because of the encounter with the Taiping Army, actually lost 2,000 people.
In any case, Xiang Rong still fought harder against the Taiping Army, and relatively speaking, Chang Dachun, the former Inspector of Hubei Who was stationed in the city, was not so optimistic. Chang Dachun had already been appointed inspector of Shanxi, because the Taiping Army entered Hubei, and he had to insist on staying in Hubei and never went to Shanxi to take office, which was more common during the Taiping Rebellion. According to the consultation of Chang Dachun, Xiang Rong and others, the strategy of "internal and external attack" was formulated, however, Chang Dachun was more negative.
The first time the Taiping army attacked Wuchang was in the middle of the night, the sudden shouting of Zhentian woke the Qing army in the city from sleep, Chang Dachun was also terrified, because it was the defender, the Qing army used cannons, wood, and stones one after another, and barely repelled the Taiping army's attack. At dawn, the Taiping army withdrew, and Chang Dachun was as frightened as the soldiers in the city.
The night sneak attack of the Taiping Army gave the Qing army a lot of mental pressure, and Chang Dachun ordered the city gates to be closed, so that there was less and less food in the city, and the government had to implement a limited supply, pinning its hopes on Xiang Rongjun. However, the Taiping Army failed to sneak in, and while harassing with small troops, it dug tunnels to prepare for the demolition of the city wall at that time. When Chang Dachun heard the news, he was frightened and asked the whole city to dig a trench next to the city gate, and then install the urn to listen to the sound of the Taiping Army's construction.
In January 1853, more men and horses of the Taiping Army arrived outside Wuchang City, captured twin peaks mountain that Hechunduo had recaptured, placed a lot of cannons, and wanted to shell Xiangrong at any time, and at the same time deployed military camps at various important points outside Wuchang City to surround Wuchang.
According to the "Chronicle of Wuchang" and the "Chronicle of the Bandits of Guangdong", Xiang Rong once led his troops to engage the Taiping Army in the eastern suburbs of Wuchang on the 7th, and Chang Dachun did not attack the Taiping Army back and forth with Xiang Rong according to the previous agreement, as to why Chang Dachun did not leave Wuchang City, one said that Chang Dachun got the news a day late, and simply did not go out, saying that Chang Dachun was simply afraid of reacting passively, and even dared to open the city gate to meet the soldiers outside the city.
That is to say, the Qing army in the city has always been in a situation of being surrounded, the soldiers are becoming more and more desperate, Chang Dachun blindly waits for rescue and strictly prohibits taking the initiative to attack, psychologically, has lost.
On the night of January 12, the Taiping Army launched a final attack on Wuchang City, and the tunnels near Wenchang Gate that had been dug early in the morning were filled with gunpowder, only to hear a loud noise, Wenchang Gate collapsed, and the Taiping Army rushed into the city and took the first provincial capital city since the uprising. Chang Dachun was still asleep, and when he woke up, he learned the news that the Taiping Army had invaded the city, and with no way to retreat, he finally chose to commit suicide in the warehouse of the Clan Si Yamen.
References: Luo Ergang, Wang Qingcheng, Taiping Heavenly Kingdom