In June 1862, King Chen Yucheng was executed by Ling Chi in Yanjin County, Henan Province, at the age of 26, for refusing to surrender to the Qing Dynasty. Before dying, Chen Yucheng made a comment on the famous generals of the Xiang Army, believing that there were only three opponents: Li Xubin, Li Mengqun, and Bao Chao, "two Li and one Bao." The three fierce generals who were looked up to by Chen Yucheng, Li Xubin and Li Mengqun, were all killed by him, and only Bao Chao escaped the disaster. So, can Chen Yucheng win against Bao Chao?
Many people said that Bao Chao was Chen Yucheng's nemesis, and the King had never won. Is this really the case? Chen Yucheng's failure to kill Bao Chao is not false, but it is definitely not a fight that cannot be won; if it is a single challenge, without relying on the strength of his superiors, Chen Yucheng can suppress Bao Chao and hang him. Here, we come to the Battle of Taihu Lake: Chen Yucheng fought against Hu Linyi and the Army of Zeng Guofan, pressing Bao Chao to fight.
In December 1859, Xue Zhiyuan rebelled at Pukou, the achievements of the Taiping Army's Battle of Pukou were wiped out, Li Xiucheng was unable to recover the lost land, and Tianjing was in a critical situation. At this time, Chen Yucheng led his army from Taihu Lake and Qianshan to fight with the rebels in Jiangbei, retake Pukou, and once reversed the situation. Zeng Guofan, Hu Linyi, and others took advantage of the British king Chen Yucheng's great battle against Jiangbei to lead an army to march east to Anhui, gathering 30,000 soldiers and horses, and Bao Chao, Duolong'a, Jiang Ningxue, Tang Xunfang, Jin Guochen and other tough generals all followed, and the lineup was very luxurious. At this time, Hu Linyi, the governor of Hubei, was the supreme commander, and Zeng Guofan did not have real local power.
The Xiang army attacked Anhui, besieged Taihu Lake, and threatened the rear of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and Chen Yucheng had to return to meet the battle. Fighting on the run for many years, fighting with the Eight Banners, the Green Battalion, the Xiang Army, and the regiment, the Taiping Army was very tired, while the Xiang Army was often rested, and its combat effectiveness was very strong. In order to ensure the victory of the Battle of Taihu Lake, King Chen Yucheng invited his old friends Zhang Lexing and Gong Deshu to piece together an army of 30,000, known as 100,000, to face the Xiang army. In this way, the main forces of the two sides gathered around Taihu Lake, and a fight was inevitable, whose hand the deer died.
In January 1860, Chen Yucheng's army arrived on the outskirts of Taihu Lake, camped for more than 30 miles, and prepared to fight with the besieging Xiang army, the main target of which was Bao Chao's "Thunder Army". The "XiangJun Chronicle" records: "Approaching Bao Chaoting's camp, stretching for more than thirty miles, building more than 100 fortifications", the momentum is very huge. Chen Yucheng chose Bao Chao as the key target of attack because the "Thunder Army" had the strongest combat effectiveness, and as long as the "Thunder Army" was destroyed, the rest of the Xiang Army would be much easier to deal with.
The Taiping Army approached the encampment, and the Xiang Army decided to sneak in and seize the initiative. Who knows, Chen Yucheng took the lead in launching an attack and commanded a large army to attack the Xiang Army, of which the "Twist Army" acted as the first echelon, "the mountains are everywhere, the layers are dense, there are many twists, the release of guns and cannons, and the plagiarism is abnormal." Although Bao Chao was brave and fierce, the impact of the "Twist Army" horse team was too strong, so he had to withdraw to the camp and could not hold out.
Bao Chao retreated to the camp, Chen Yucheng continuously sent troops to attack at night, and the "Thunder Army" was restless. In order to rescue Bao Chao, Hu Linyi transferred the Duolong'a Eight Banners horse team and secretly attacked the taiping army's flank. Who knows, Chen Yucheng prepared in advance and ambushed the Eight Banners Horse Team, and the two fierce generals of the vice capital, Xi Linbu and Khalku, were killed, and the horse team lost more than three hundred people.
After losing consecutive battles, the Xiang Army and the Eight Banners Horse Team suffered many casualties, and Hu Linyi, as the commander, was worried, so he had to dispatch troops everywhere to reinforce Bao Chao's army. Who knows, no one is willing to rescue. Li Xuyi was reluctant to come to the front line on the grounds that his mother was unwell. Jiang Ningxue and Tang Xunfang were also in Taihu Lake, but they stressed that they were under great pressure and could not draw troops and horses for reinforcements for the time being. As for Zeng Guoquan, he was not willing to come at all. In this way, Bao Chao was very helpless, and once planned to withdraw his troops and no longer hold the camp.
Hu Linyi is the commander-in-chief, but in Wuchang, it is difficult to reconcile the contradictions between the front-line generals. In this way, Hu Linyi planned to make Dolonga the front-line commander, restrain all the soldiers and horses, and rescue Bao Chao. Who knows, Zeng Guofan is very dissatisfied, he doesn't want Duolonga to emerge, who makes him a manchu. However, Hu Linyi insisted that the front-line commander had no choice but to do long'a, and Zeng Guofan had no real power in his hands, so he had to agree.
In order to increase the strength of the Taihu front, Zeng Guofan sent Zeng Zhengan, Yu Jisan, Zhao Kezhang, Li Xutao and other tough generals, and asked them to lead their troops from Hunan and Hubei to Taihu Lake to fight Chen Yucheng. Thus, a new round of fighting begins.
The Xiang army gathered at Taihu Lake, and the strength of the army increased to more than 50,000 people, surpassing the Taiping Army in number. However, the Xiang army was afraid of Chen Yucheng, and no one dared to take the initiative to launch an attack and fight a bloody battle with the Taiping Army. At this time, as the commander of the front line, Duo Long'a had to fight on the front line, and he invited Tang Xunfang to act: the large army entered the siege, replaced the defensive camp of the "Thunder Army", and let Bao Chao rest. It has to be said that Duolong'a was indeed fierce enough, the horse team suddenly attacked, the Taiping Army was caught off guard, and the Xiang Army successfully broke through the siege and entered Bao Chao's camp.
The Xiang army fell into a heavy siege, and Chen Yucheng gathered soldiers and horses again and continued to storm the camp. Doronga was fast, and soon deployed, relying on strong fortifications to counterattack the Taiping Army, killing and wounding many people. Tang Xunfang was not so lucky, he had just rushed into the siege, and before he could deploy, the Taiping Army directly charged and killed, and the Xiang Army was defeated. Seeing that the Taiping Army was about to be killed, Tang Xunfang had no confidence and directly led his troops to break out, and he was embarrassed.
Tang Xunfang fled, and Bao Chao and Duo Long'a were trapped in the formation, and their situation was even more critical. The reason is very simple, the frontline soldiers of Taihu Lake, no one dares to come back to reinforcements, they are afraid of being turned into a pot by Chen Yucheng. Hu Linyi had no choice but to continue to increase his troops, transferring more than 10,000 people from Hubei to Jin Guochen and Yu Jichang, and letting them sneak into the Taiping Army's grain route, and finally reversing the situation - Chen Yucheng withdrew his troops and Taihu Lake fell.
In summary, Chen Yucheng is a very brave and good general, if he fights alone, Bao Chao is not Chen Yucheng's opponent. Chen Yucheng was the commander-in-chief, and Zeng Guofan and Hu Linyi were his fierce enemies; Bao Chao was only a strong general under Hu Linyi, not the commander of the legion. Throughout Bao Chao's life, he has never served as a manager, and his achievements have been achieved under the command of Hu Linyi and Zeng Guofan. King Chen Yucheng was different, he was the military commander of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but he was too young, and with time, his achievements were unlimited.
Bibliography: The Complete History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom War