In the spring of 1858, the imperial minister He Chun and the admiral of Qing Jiangnan Zhang Guoliang were ordered to form " Jiangnan camp " for the second time to besiege Tianjing.
The "Jiangnan Daying" was established in the east of Tianjing City. By February 1860, the Qing army of the "Jiangnan Daying" under the command of the Titan Zhang Guoliang had successively breached Xiaguan and Jiuqiuzhou in the northwest of Tianjing. The fortress of heaven, the soldiers are on the way to the city of heaven.
Tianjing City is facing a crisis, and the Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan is naturally anxious, so he urges his brother to "open the dynasty, the loyal military division to support the king of Ganggan" Hong Rengan to try to relieve the danger of Tianjing.
In order to solve the danger of Tianjing, the king of the gods Hong Rengan and the king of loyalty and Li Xiucheng discussed ways to break the "Jiangnan Daying" several times. Hong Rengan believes that "this time the siege of Beijing is difficult to attack, and we must attack the lake and Hangzhou. He will return to save the lake and Hangzhou. If he withdraws his troops and goes away, he will return to save himself, and he will surely win a victory. "
The two men agreed that Li Xiucheng and Li Shixian went straight to Hangzhou and Huzhou, and then attracted the main force of the "Jiangnan Daying" back to Shihu and Hangzhou. After the main force of the "Jiangnan Daying" returned to their teachers, the two Li immediately abandoned Lake and Hangzhou, and then drove back to the east of the Tianjing City by a small road. They joined forces with the King of England to destroy the "Jiangnan Daying".
The area of Jiangsu and Zhejiang has always been a wealthy area in China. Since the Tang and Song Dynasties, there has been a saying that "there is paradise above, and Suzhou and Hangzhou below". The failure of Jiangsu and Zhejiang was a major event that shook the foundation of the Qing Dynasty, and Hong Rengan's plan to "encircle Wei and save Zhao" was indeed clever.
The news of the Taiping Army's entry into Zhejiang shocked the Emperor Xianfeng. In order to save this wealthy place, he immediately ordered Hechun, who had already sent troops to aid the land of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, to rescue and rescue. If Lake and Hangzhou fail, they will be severely punished for ineffective rescue. By. At the same time, he deliberately ordered the Zeng Guofan of Anqing, the portal of Tianjing, to rescue the Hunan Army from Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
After receiving the order, Zeng Guofan only drew a small group of people to pretend to rescue Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and he personally supervised the Hunan army to continue to press on Anqing with a felony of resisting the decree.
Faced with his subordinate Zeng Guofan, who did not understand his difficulties, he said, "If you want to break through Jinling, you must first station heavy troops in Chu and He, and then you can go outside Jinling and break the grain road of Wuhu. The garrison of Chu and He must first break Anqing to break Chen Ni's (Chen Yucheng) lair; at the same time, pound Luzhou to attack Chen Ni’s place and save them. Sincerely can besieged two places, skip the next county, the Ni must prepare Duoli points, but I dare not go all the way to Qiyu north, and I don’t dare to go all the way to the east of Gujiangpu Liuhe."
This is Zeng Guofan's brilliance. He clearly knew that as long as he took Anqing and went straight to Jinling, it was the correct strategy to completely eliminate the Taiping Army. As long as the victory of Anqing endangers Tianjing, it will be difficult for the Taiping Army to take down the prosperous Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, which are easy to attack and difficult to defend.
Things happened as Zeng Guofan expected. After the Taiping Army captured the outer city of Hangzhou, when they learned that Hechun's main force was returning to Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the Taiping Army immediately withdrew from Hangzhou and rushed to the east of Beijing.
In April 1860, Taiping troops from all directions arrived at the outskirts of Tianjing, totaling more than 100,000 people. On May 2nd, with the start of the general offensive, the Taiping troops of all roads broke through more than 50 camps in the "Jiangnan Big Camp" in three days, and wiped out the total number of soldiers under Qing and Huang Jing. Thousands of people, and a large number of weapons and equipment were seized at the same time, and they only gained more than 100,000 taels in silver.
On the surface, the Taiping Army’s second break of the "Jiangnan Camp" was a great tactical victory for the Taiping Army. Although this victory was not annihilation of the enemy, it was only a defeat, but the large amount of military materials seized was enough to be used by the Taiping Army. for a while. So, why should I say that the Taiping Army's second break of the "Jiangnan Camp" was a tactical victory and a strategic failure? Please look down.
Just when Taiping Heavenly Kingdom celebrated the second break of the "Jiangnan Big Camp", the king Hong Xiuquan commented on his merits, in June of this year,Zeng Guofan's Hunan Army, led by the Taiping Army's rebel general Wei Jun, broke through the military town of Zongyang.
After the fall of Zongyang, Anqing, the gateway to Tianjing, became an isolated city and was completely encircled by the Hunan army from then on. Since then, Chen Yucheng tried to retake Zongyang several times, but was blocked by his old boss Wei Jun, who was well-known for his offensive and defensive skills. Until Anqing was captured by the Hunan Army, Chen Yucheng could only look at Zongyang City. Excited.
In September 1860, in the face of Anqing's crisis, Hong Xiuquan remembered the importance of Anqing's gains and losses to Tianjing. Before that, only Chen Yucheng was the cause of the fief to pay attention to Anqing's gains and losses.
At this time, the relationship between Li Xiucheng and Chen Yucheng has completely froze. No matter how Hong Rengan emphasizes the importance of Anqing to him, Li Xiucheng is just indifferent because he is enjoying his victory in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
In September 1861, Anqing was captured by the Hunan Army because of the contradictions between the kings of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The countdown to the demise of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom entered.
.
