Speaking of the fierce general of the Xiang Army, it is easy to think of Bao Chao, who fought more than 500 times in his life and suffered 108 wounds, but he never suffered defeat, which can be described as a victorious general. Some people even said that when Chen Yucheng and Li Xiucheng saw the banner of Bao Chao's "Thunder Army," they immediately took a detour and did not have any temper at all. So, is Bao Chao really so powerful? Naturally not, in the Battle of Chigangling, Bao Chao and Zeng Guoquan commanded more than 10,000 soldiers and horses, and Liu Xiaolin only had more than 1,000 people, but the Xiang army repeatedly failed to attack the front.
In the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom camp, someone can defeat Bao Chao, and this person is Lai Wenhong. During the Battle of Ningguo, Bao Chao took the initiative to attack, lost several generals, and retreated to defend the city. In August 1864, Lai Wenhong covered the breakthrough of the young king Hong Tianguifu and fought with tens of thousands of Xiang and Huai troops in Huzhou, but unfortunately was hit by guns and killed on the battlefield.
Lai Wenhong, a native of Jiaying Prefecture, Guangdong, was the younger brother of Lai Wenguang the Prince of Zun and the cousin of Lai Lianying, the wife of Hong Xiuquan, and a famous general of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In January 1851, Hong Xiuquan launched an uprising in Jintian, and the brothers Lai Wenguang and Lai Wenhong had come from Guangdong to join their brother-in-law and participate in the uprising together. At this time, Lai Wenhong's status was average, and he was subordinate to Wei Changhui's account.
In June 1853, the Taiping Army marched west, Wei Jun was one of the forward generals, Lai Wenhong followed him to conquer Wuchang, twice captured the city, and made great achievements. In early 1856, the Xiang army general Luo Zenan led an army to attack Wuchang, and Lai Wenhong led his troops to engage it, luring him in pursuit. As a result, the Taiping army laid an ambush near the city gate and killed Luo Zenan.
Luo Zenan, zeng guofan's hardcore brother, was also the number one general in the Xiang army, and his position was prominent. After Luo Zenan's death, Hubei Governor Hu Linyi did not dare to easily attack Wuchang, but instead adopted siege tactics and fought a war of attrition. In this way, the situation in Wuchang is stable and there is no pressure for the time being.
Wei Junzhen guarded Wuchang and threatened the rear of the Xiang Army at all times, and zeng Guofan, Hu Linyi and other commanders of the Xiang army were deeply uneasy, but they had no choice. In September 1856, the Tianjing Incident broke out, the Eastern King and the Northern King died in an infighting, and Shi Dakai led his troops out to do it alone, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was seriously injured. In this way, the Xiang army turned to the offensive again, but it was still unable to capture the city of Wuchang, and the soldiers of the Xiang army suffered heavy casualties.
After the Tianjing Incident broke out, Wei Jun was in a very difficult situation because his brother Wei Changhui killed innocents indiscriminately. At this time, the Qing army besieged Wuchang, the Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan did not trust, the Taiping Army general did not understand, and no one was willing to reinforce Wuchang. After the grain and grass were cut off, Wei Jun could only take Lai Wenhong and others to break through the siege overnight to preserve his living strength.
After Wei Jun broke through, trouble soon came. At the end of 1858, Yang Fuqing broke away from Shi Dakai and returned to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom camp again. Hong Xiuquan was very pleased, granted Yang Fuqing the position of "chief general of the Chinese army" and sent him to fight in the southern Anhui region, where the jurisdiction overlapped with Wei Jun.
When the enemy met, he was extremely red-eyed, Yang Fuqing often provoked Wei Jun, and the soldiers on both sides rubbed many times. In this regard, Wei Jun decided to avoid the front and took Huang Wenjin, Lai Wenhong, Liu Guanfang, Gu Longxian, Hu Dingwen and other tough generals to Jiangbei to defect to Li Xiucheng. Who knows, Chen Yucheng actually blocked the Yangtze River, Yang Fuqing followed from behind, and the two sides fought a big fight at the border of Hezhou and fell into infighting again.
After the "Hezhou Incident", Wei Jun was very angry and surrendered to the Qing Dynasty in order to survive. The commander surrendered, and Lai Wenhong also surrendered, but soon "woke up" and defected to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom again. Wei Jun wanted to capture Wuhu as a greeting gift for surrendering to the Xiang army, but Lai Wenhong and others were "drunk" halfway through and were reluctant to attack their companions.
Lai Wenhong, Liu Guanfang, Huang Wenjin, and others refused to surrender, and joined forces with Yang Fuqing to retake Chizhou. After that, Lai Wenhong basically fought in southern Anhui and guarded the western gate of Tianjing, but he had a bad relationship with Yang Fuqing and often had conflicts.
The southern Anhui region was very poor, and there were problems in the supply of the Taiping Army, and the generals could only find their own ways to solve it. Lai Wenhong attacked the state of Ning and beheaded the viceroy Zhou Tianyu, and the threat was temporary. However, Yang Fuqing was the "main general of the Chinese army", and he was the nominal commander. Ning Guo was laid by Lai Wenhong, but Yang Fuqing sent people to "receive", and there was friction between the two sides, and Lai Wenhong's strength was relatively weak and he could only withdraw.
Yang Fuqing "does not talk about martial virtue", but Lai Wenhong is still very moralistic. In 1862, Zeng Guofan attacked Tianjing and sent Bao Chao to conquer southern Anhui and cover the rear road of the Xiang army. The Xiang army attacked southern Anhui, and due to the rebellion of Tong Ronghai, the prince of Bao, the state of Ning fell again. Ningguo, a strategic place in southern Anhui, could not afford to lose, and Lai Wenhong attacked Ningguo again.
The Taiping army attacked Ningguo, and Zeng Guofan asked Bao Chao to quickly reinforce and enter the city to assist in the defense. The next day, the two sides fought a great battle outside the city, the Xiang army was defeated, and 7 generals were killed. Shi Zai: "Bao Chaochi arrived, entered the city to help defend, and the next day, the battle was outside the city, and the Three Kings Array beheaded the generals Luo Guocai and Ma Desheng, and guerrilla Tan Shenglian, Zhou Yingcheng, Li Dahai, xu Qiusheng, Li Hongxing, and so on. ”
In the Battle of Ningguo, Bao Chao was defeated, and the "Thunder Army" was not invincible. Of course, Lai Wenhong and others were only temporarily victorious, the Taiping Army lacked weapons, ammunition, and grain and grass, while the Xiang Army had sufficient grain and grass. After many battles, Bao Chao defended Ningguo, and Lai Wenhong could only withdraw his troops to find food, but the "Thunder Army" did not pursue.
Being able to defeat Bao Chao once, Lai Wenhong is indeed not simple, but he still cannot recover the decline. Soon, Lai Wenhong's hardcore partner Gu Longxian led 80,000 soldiers and horses to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, and the situation in southern Anhui became more critical. At this time, Gu Longxian suggested that Lai Wenhong surrender, and Bao Chao agreed to accept it, but Lai Wenhong refused, and he remained loyal to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
In July 1864, the Xiang army conquered Tianjing, and the young king fled to Huzhou. In August, the Xiang army and the Huai army attacked Huzhou, Huang Wenjin covered the breakthrough of the young lord, and Lai Wenhong was responsible for breaking the rear. After the fight, Lai Wenhong was unfortunately hit by a shell and killed on the battlefield.
Bibliography: History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom