In November 1852, Yang Xiuqing, the Eastern King, looked back at Changsha and was very depressed. After dozens of days of siege, the Taiping Army suffered heavy losses, and Xiao Chaogui, the King of the West, was killed on the battlefield, but there was no progress. At this time, Xu Guangjin, Sai Shang'a, Xiang Rong, Zhang Guoliang, He Chun, Yu Wanqing and others led a 60,000-strong army to follow, and the Taiping Army was in a very difficult situation, and the entire army was destroyed if it was not careful.
He had not studied the art of war or read the book of soldiers, but Yang Xiuqing, the King of the East, was very talented, and he understood the importance of the speed of soldiers. In order to reach Nanjing as soon as possible, he did not hesitate, but the fire rate department went north, not greedy for siege and land, so as not to waste time. However, by chance, Yang Xiuqing changed his combat strategy, and he decided to capture Yuezhou and give the Qing army a chance to dismount.
Yuezhou, that is, the ancient Baling County, is the traffic throat of the Yangtze River, Xiangjiang River and Dongting Lake, and is also one of the distribution centers of commodities in central China, and its strategic position is very important. By capturing Yuezhou and exiting Dongting Lake, you can directly cross the Yangtze River and threaten the safety of Wuchang. Moving west, you can capture Jingzhou and Xiangyang, and then enter Henan to attack the heart of the Qing Dynasty.
It is even rumored that when Wu Sangui raised an army, he left a large number of guns and ammunition in Yuezhou, which could give the "new brothers" the necessary armament. There is no shortage of food, ammunition, clothing, oil and salt in Yuezhou, and there is no problem in the taiping army. In addition, there are many fishermen in the Yuezhou area, and there are thousands of merchant ships, civilian boats, and fishing boats, which is very convenient for transporting materials and improving the mobility of the troops.
Yuezhou's strategic position was important, and the Qing Dynasty knew it, but the defensive force was very weak. At this time, the Yuezhou garrison was only 525 people, more than 1,000 Wang Jinxiu's troops sent reinforcements to Rong, and the Qing army totaled more than 1,500 people. The Taiping Army was almost all out, about 50,000 people, which was crushed.
Nominally, Yuezhou had more than 1,500 troops, but in fact there were not so many, and only about 1,100 people could be put into battle. Why are there so few troops? For two reasons, the Qing Dynasty Green Camp Army adopted a scattered garrison, each city had very few troops, and the Yuezhou troop index was 525 people. The Qing Dynasty implemented the "supervision system", and the governor and inspector managed their own jurisdiction and were rarely willing to "help" their neighbors.
The Taiping Army marched into Yuezhou, and the next step was naturally to attack Wuchang. When the Taiping Army entered Hunan, Inspector Zhang Liangji transferred troops from all over the country and played the Xianfeng Emperor to also transfer the Hubei Green Battalion troops stationed in Yuezhou. In this way, the already sparse Yuezhou defenders were transferred more than 300 people, and then 100 people were transferred to escort grain and grass, and the defenders in the city were less than 100 people.
There were no troops in the city, and Hubei Inspector Dachun, for the safety of Hubei, could only deploy defense with a hard scalp, and asked the Xianfeng Emperor to let him transfer the Hubei soldiers back. The result? Sai Shang'a, Zhang Liangji, Xiang Rong, and others did not reinforce Yuezhou in time on the grounds of military urgency.
The Green Battalion was not enough, and Chang Dachun could only recruit fishermen, fishermen, and sailors to serve as "regimental exercises" to guard the two choke points of Dongting Lake: Linzikou and Saturn Harbor, and prevent the Taiping Army from capturing Yuezhou and entering Dongting Lake to protect the safety of Wuchang. Who knows, these fishermen and sailors are bullied and oppressed by the government on weekdays, and their enthusiasm for fighting is not high, and they pit Chang Dachun.
Chang Dachun, a descendant of the Ming Dynasty general Chang Yuchun, although no ancestor can fight in battle, but he is still very good at governing civil affairs. Fighting a war, Chang Dachun's strengths and Chang Dachun's weaknesses are destined to be unlucky. In order to defend Yuezhou, Chang Dachun also sent the Hubei admiral Bole Gongwu and the general Akdong'a to assist in the defense. Bole Gongwu and Akton A are both from the army, good at riding and shooting, and are famous generals of the Eight Banners.
There were so many soldiers and horses, and the frontal hard Taiping Army was definitely not ok, and Chang Dachun could only find a way to delay time and wait for Xiang Rong's main force to arrive. In order to prevent the Taiping Army from entering Dongting Lake, Chang Dachun had fishermen, fishermen, and sailors fill their boats with stones and then sink to the bottom of the lake to block the channel.
The Qing army blocked Linzikou and the port of Saturn, and Yang Xiuqing ordered a battle to fight a tough battle, but the progress was not smooth, and many ships were lost. Under normal circumstances, if the Taiping Army wanted to dredge the channel, it would take at least more than a month. As the saying goes, "He who wins the hearts and minds of the people wins the world", at this time, the discipline of the Qing army was poor, the fishermen's boats were forcibly expropriated, and the people's grievances boiled over.
Hearing that the Taiping Army attacked Linzikou, fishermen, fishermen, sailors, etc. took the initiative to come to help, they sneaked into the bottom of the lake, cleared obstacles, and dredged the channel. The Chu Kou Jiluo records: "Tens of thousands of people went to shipwrecks and passed in one day. "The defensive line that Chang Dachun had painstakingly built, the Taiping Army only needed one day to break through, because of the support of the people.
Fishermen, fishermen, sailors, they not only dredged the channel, but also took the initiative to join the Taiping Army, and brought thousands of ships of various types. On this basis, Yang Xiuqing formed a "water camp" force, thus gradually controlling the Yangtze River, laying the foundation for the later capture of Wuchang, Nanjing, Yangzhou, and Zhenjiang.
The people took the initiative to help, the Taiping Army broke through the defensive line, and Yuezhou was in danger. An interesting scene appeared, known as the Eight Banners of famous generals Bole Gongwu and Akdong'a took the lead in fleeing, before seeing the Taiping Army, they withdrew first, XianFeng wanted to cry without tears. The eight banner generals did not dare to fight, the Yuezhou defenders also fled, and the Taiping army seized the city.
In order to evade responsibility, Akton'a, under the cover of his brother-in-law Jiang Wenqing, the inspector of Anhui, informed the Xianfeng Emperor with his "death", saying that he had been killed in battle. Xian Feng was very sad and ordered a pension to give preferential treatment to his family. Zhang Liangji, the inspector of Hunan, was very dissatisfied, and bluntly said that Akdong'a had fled, and there was no battle at all, so why should he be "killed".
As a result, we all know that after Zhang Liangji received instructions from the imperial court, he took someone to open the coffin for autopsy, and there was no one inside. The Xianfeng Emperor was furious and ordered Akton'a to be captured and put to death. Bole Gongwu, who was 75 years old at the time, also said that he had been seriously injured in battle and wanted to go to recuperation. As a result, "unsubstantiated", they were executed together.
Bibliography: History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom