An important battle of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement

185 1 year 1 month1day, Hong Xiuquan (18 14- 1864) launched the jintian uprising in Jintian Village, Guangxi. 1853, 19 In March, the Taiping Army occupied Nanjing and went to Beijing another day. Pai, Li and Ji led the northern expedition, all in Tianjin. [ 1-2]

1In May, 853, the Northern Expeditionary Army set out from Yangzhou, passed through Anhui, Henan and other places, entered Zhili and approached Tianjin. Emperor Xianfeng declared martial law in the capital. In August, the Northern Expeditionary Army defeated Tianjin. 1March 855, Lin Fengxiang was captured in Lian Zhen. He died in Beijing on April 3rd. Li retreated to Fengguantun, Qiping, Shandong Province. After being captured, he was taken to Beijing and executed in June of A.D. 1 1. The Taiping Army finally failed in the Northern Expedition.

Battle of hukou

1855 (five years in Xianfeng, Qing dynasty) 65438+ 10 From October to February, during the Western Expedition of Taiping Army, Taiping Army defeated Hunan Navy in Hukou, Jiangxi Province.

1854 12 At the beginning of this year, Governor Zeng Guofan led the Xiang army to break through Tianjia Town and Banbi Mountain in the east of Taiping Army, and then attacked Jiujiang in the east. After more than a month, he failed to succeed, so he moved to Meijiazhou and Hukou in an attempt to seize the peripheral points of Jiujiang, destroy the water camp of Taiping Army in Poyang Lake, and isolate Jiujiang with the advantage of navy. Hukou is located on the east bank of Poyang Lake entering the Yangtze River estuary, with Meijiazhou on the other side and Jiujiang City 25 kilometers west. Kai Wing Lam, the Taiping Army, was guarding Jiujiang, and the winter official was guarding Meijiazhou for Prime Minister Luo Outline. Shi Dakai, the wing king who presided over the Western Expedition, was stationed at Hukou and took command. 1855 65438+1October 3rd, Xiangshui docked at Poyang Lake Mouth and Bali River. In view of the advantages of Xiang navy, Luo felt it difficult to win. On the evening of 8th, more than 100 ships were launched, and 35 1 ships joined in and set fire to it. More than 1000 soldiers were deployed on both sides of the strait to cheer and fired rockets and fireballs at them. Later, he often harassed the enemy with similar tactics, which made him sleepless at night. Taiping rebels also set up several wooden clips at the entrance of Poyang Lake, which were sealed tightly. On the 23rd, the Xiang Division that attacked Meijiazhou was repelled, but the wooden coffin at the entrance of Poyang Lake was burned by the Xiang Navy. In order to prevent the Xiang navy from bursting into the lake, the Taiping Army used a big ship to load sand and stones that night, sank and blocked the channel, leaving only a pass near the west bank to block the cable. On the 29th, more than 20 light warships led by Xiao Jie, the battalion officer of Xiangshui Division, rushed into the lake when the Marine Division attacked Meijiazhou and reached Dagutang. Shi Dakai seized the fighter plane and blocked the pass. The division is divided into two parts: the outer river and the inner lake. The people outside the river are heavy warships such as long dragons and fast crabs, which are difficult to transport and fight independently. That night, Shi Dakai sent dozens of oars into the Xiang water army camp, burned more than 40 Xiang ships, and the rest were defeated by Jiujiang. On February 2, Luo Outline led the troops to cross the river and occupied Xiaochikou on the other side of Jiujiang. 1 1 Day and night, the Taiping Army took more than 100 canoes from Jiujiang and Xiaochikou and attacked the Xiang Navy in the middle of the river, burning a large number of ships and seizing Zeng Guofan's boat. Zeng Guofan threw himself into the river, was rescued by the left and right, and fled to Luying in a mess. Xiang army won all the way to the east, especially thanks to the advantages of the navy.

Comments: The victory of Taiping Army in Hukou shattered Zeng Guofan's attempt to capture Jiujiang and attack Jinling, reversed the passive situation on the battlefield of the Western Expedition and became another turning point in the Western Expedition. After the defeat of Xiangtan, the Western Expedition Army abandoned Yuezhou and lost to Wuhan, and gradually retreated to Jiujiang and Hukou. The situation is very unfavorable. On the other hand, due to the attack of the Xiang army, the Taiping Army was forced to shorten the front line and concentrate its troops, thus eliminating the weakness that the front line was too long and the troops were scattered some time ago. In addition, Shi Dakai visited the front, strengthened leadership, and prepared the necessary premise for turning defeat into victory. Although the Xiang army has won successively, there are hidden factors of failure: because of the large number of prisoners, its fighting spirit is getting weaker and weaker; Because of repeated battles and victories, pride underestimates the enemy; Because of the long distance and the distance from the rear supply base, the supply transportation is becoming more and more difficult. It is in this case that Shi Dakai and others stuck to the main points to exhaust the enemy, took advantage of the favorable terrain, seized the favorable opportunity tactfully and decisively, and then immediately took the initiative to attack, and achieved a major victory in hitting the Xiang navy and changed the situation on the battlefield of the Western Expedition.

Battle of Jiangning

1853 (the third year of Xianfeng in Qing Dynasty) In March, during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, the Taiping Army captured Jiangning (now Nanjing) in Jiangsu Province. In 65438+ 10, after the Taiping Army captured three towns in Wuhan (see the Battle of Wuhan), after a short break, Hong Xiuquan and Yang claimed to be 500,000 people (about 65438+100000 troops). On February 9, they abandoned Wuhan, moved eastward along the river, and went hand in hand with land and water, heading for Jiangning. The Qing court attempted to annihilate the Taiping Army in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, dispatched troops and divided them into three ways to prevent the blockade, and appointed three imperial envoys to command the operation. On the east road along the Yangtze River, Lu Jianying, an imperial envoy and governor of the two rivers, commanded 5000 soldiers to guard Jiujiang. On June 5438+05, the vanguard of Taiping Army's water army defeated its river defense forces on the surface of Mouse Gorge River in Guangji County, eastern Hubei. Lu Jianying heard of the defeat, abandoned the army and fled back to Jiangning, and the troops along the river scattered. The commander of Taiping Army marched in and occupied Jiujiang on 18. On the 24th, he attacked Anqing, the capital of Anhui Province, killed Governor Jiang and seized a lot of munitions. From March 26th to 7th, Chizhou (now Guichi), Tongling, Wuhu, Taipingfu (now Dangtu) and Hezhou (now Hexian) in Anhui Province were connected together. On the 8th, the Marine Brigade arrived in Qiao Shan, southwest of Jiangning. On the 9 th, the water army striker also arrived, and the victory of berthing reached the Caoxiexia River. 12, the amphibious brigade arrived, divided troops to occupy Pukou and complete the siege of Jiangning. At that time, there were more than 5,000 soldiers in green camp, a flag soldier of the Qing army in Jiangning, temporarily raising 10000 people. Before the Taiping Army arrived, Lu Jianying withdrew the soldiers outside the city to the city in an attempt to hold on. The Qing court learned that Jiangning was besieged, and made an imperial envoy Xiangrong and Qishan lead the Qing army to help the north and south. Taiping Army selected the North Instrument Air Door as the breakthrough point, and adopted the way of hole-to-ground siege to bury gunpowder under the door. At the same time, hundreds of ladders were built, and each door attacked separately, confusing the Qing army. /kloc-at dawn on 0/9, the wall near the instrument air door was blown down and hundreds of soldiers rushed into the city. Then they split up into two ways, all the way to the Drum Tower, all the way along Jinchuan Gate and Toilet Gate, pointing to Xiaoying through Chengxian Street, and killing Lu Jianying in Huangjiatang. After the fierce counterattack of Manchu flag soldiers, they were invincible and were forced to quit. At this point, the Qing army defending Cheng Nan heard that Beicheng had been broken, and the governor was killed, and it collapsed without a fight. Thousands of Taiping troops, led by Lai and Lai, boarded the city by night stairs and opened Jubaomen (now Zhonghua Gate), Shuiximen and Hanximen. At dawn the next day, the Taiping Army Brigade broke into the city and went straight to the city where the flag soldiers gathered in the southeast of the city (the inner city of the Ming Dynasty). Hou Xiang, general of Jiangning, and Huo Longwu, deputy commander-in-chief, led the flag soldiers to fight to the death with Manchu. Taiping Army fought bravely, and finally the city was breached, Hou Xiang and others were killed, and the defenders were completely annihilated. The whole city of Jiangning was occupied by Taiping rebels. On the 29th, the heavenly king Hong Xiuquan entered the city and changed Jiangning to Tianjing as the capital, thus establishing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom peasant revolutionary regime against the Qing Dynasty.

Tianjin defending war

During the peasant war of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Taiping Army fought against the siege of Tianjing (now Nanjing) by Xiang Army.

After the Taiping Army failed to defend Anqing, Zeng Guofan, the governor of the two rivers, learned the lessons of two defeats in Jiangnan camp and put forward the general principle of pulling out roots and cutting branches and leaves first (Zeng Guofan's "overall planning according to orders"), and carried out a multi-channel centripetal attack on Tianjing from both east and west directions. 1862 (the first year of Tongzhi in Qing Dynasty in the 12th year of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom), in late March, more than 20,000 amphibious divisions of Xiang Army marched eastward from Anqing along the river, and at the end of May, they arrived in Tianjing, the capital city. Ceng Guoquan led Lv Ying to the Yuhuatai line in the south of the city, and Peng Yulin, assistant minister of the Ministry of War, led the navy to the moat. Li Hongzhang, governor of Jiangsu Province, led 6,500 Huai troops to Shanghai in batches in April and May. They colluded with the British and French aggressor troops and often stopped the Taiping Army from attacking Shanghai and prepared to attack Suzhou and Wuxi in the west. The Governor of Zhejiang led more than 10,000 people from Jiangxi to Zhejiang and pushed eastward step by step. Tianjing has been strategically surrounded by Xiang and Huai armies.

At this time, Chen Yucheng, the king of England, was seduced by Miao Qian 900 in Shouzhou (now Shouxian) and was martyred. Because the Xiang army threatened Tianjing, the heavenly king Hong Xiuquan urgently ordered Li Xiucheng, a loyal soldier who was supervising the war at the front line in Shanghai, to return to the division for rescue. Li Xiucheng held an emergency military meeting in Suzhou on June 22nd to discuss ways to save Tianjing. At that time, Xiang's offensive was in full swing, and Li Xiucheng put forward the trend of avoiding the enemy. When the fighting spirit weakened, he sent his brother Li Mingcheng to escort him back to Tianjing to strengthen his defense and stabilize the people's hearts. In July, the Taiping Army was defeated by Ningguo (now Xuanzhou) and Guangde in southern Anhui. Hong Rengan, the dry king, and Yang Fuqing, the auxiliary king, led twenty thousand officers and men to Jiangning and Chunhua and returned to Tianjing. Hong Xiuquan saw that the situation in Tianjing was getting tighter and tighter, and urged Li Xiucheng to immediately rescue the whole division. On August 6th, Li Xiucheng held another high-level military meeting in Suzhou and decided to send troops to rescue Tianjing. In addition to staying in Tan Shaoguang and guarding Suzhou, from September of 14, about 200,000 troops of the 13th King set off from Suzhou and other places one after another, assembled in Dongba, deployed in Orient Mountain and Xibanqiao, with hundreds of battalions, forming an anti-encirclement situation against the Yuhuatai camp of Xiang Army.

10 June 13, the Yuhuatai War kicked off. Li Xiucheng's army took turns to storm the Ceng Guoquan camp of Xiang army and Zeng Zhen's cadres stationed in Dashengguan area in an attempt to defeat them. The Xiang army, on the other hand, adopted the strategy of waiting for merit and shrinking its camp to protect itself. Deep ditch and high wall, can't hold on, Taiping army approached before firing. The Taiping Army has been filling trenches in sokcho for several days, and the guns have been released, but no progress has been made. 23, Li Shixian rate of thirty thousand troops from Quzhou, Zhejiang to the southern suburbs of Tianjing, cooperate with Li Xiucheng army to attack Xiangying. Xiang army contracted the front line and transferred 4000 Zeng town cadres to the camp to strengthen defense. 165438+1On October 3rd, Taiping Army launched a powerful offensive again, knocking down two camp walls of Xiang Army Camp. The forward rushed through the gap and Xiang tried to stop it. After five or six repeated struggles, he still failed to break into the Xiang camp. Li Xiu cost plans to make a quick decision with superior troops, but after a long time, morale is frustrated and the canteen is gone. Winter came, so he ordered the evacuation on the 26th. Li Shixian retreated to Moling and Dongba, and Li Xiucheng led his army into Tianjing from East Road. Seeing that the Qing dynasty failed, Hong Xiuquan decided to attack the south in the north, and ordered Li Xiucheng to lead an army to cross the Yangtze River in the north, bypassing Anqing, and March straight into Hubei, so as to mobilize the Xiang army to divide its troops and Huiyuan, and ease the siege of Beijing.

1 February 1 day, Lin, Gao Yongkuan and Li Rongfa led the first batch of tens of thousands of Taiping troops to leave Tianjing and pass through Jiubizhou. In the middle of this year, they successively occupied Hanshan, Chaoxian (now Chaohu City) and Hezhou (now Hexian County) in Anhui Province, waiting for the rear team. 1On February 27th, 863, Li Xiucheng and others led tens of thousands of troops to cross the river northward, successively captured Pukou (now Nanjing) and Jiangpu, resumed the crossing channel, and arrived in Chaoxian at the end of March, moving closer to the vanguard, intending to move westward from inaction. Zeng Guofan saw through this attempt, making Ceng Guoquan stick to the camp, unmoved, continue to besiege Nanjing, and draw reinforcements from Anhui to stop it. At this time, Liu, Gu Longxian, Huang and other Taiping troops who were cruising in southern Anhui were also ordered to go west to think about countermeasures. Due to the ineffective attack, the Xiang army was able to continuously send more troops to northern Anhui. /kloc-in April of 0/9, Li Xiucheng led his troops from Chaoxian to the west, and was even blocked by Xiang army, but failed to capture Lujiang and Shucheng. On May 1 1, we arrived in Lu 'an, and we couldn't attack the city for several days, so we retreated eastward on June 19, and were stopped by the Xiang Navy when crossing the river, with many casualties, only 65,430. The northern invasion of South Africa failed to mobilize the Xiang army, but it lost soldiers and delayed for half a year. At this point, Xiang has controlled the north bank of the Yangtze River, further narrowing the encirclement of Nanjing, and successively occupied the strongholds around Nanjing, such as Shangmenmen, Gao Qiao Gate, Shuangqiaomen, Qiqiaoweng and Jiangdong Bridge, as well as the peripheral Dongba, Moling, Hushu and Chunhua. There is no trace of Taiping rebels within a hundred miles south of Tianjing. Xiang camp moved from Yuhuatai to Xiaolingwei, and only Taiping and Ce Shen in Tianjing could contact other places.

On February 4, 65438, Suzhou fell. On the 20th, Li Xiucheng returned to Tianjing from Danyang front, explained his military situation to Hong Xiuquan, and proposed that he could not go to the city (Li Xiucheng readme), gave up Tianjing and made other plans. This reasonable proposal was flatly rejected by Hong Xiuquan, thus losing the last chance to break through. Li Xiucheng helpless, so we have to cling to the determination of survival with Tianjing * * *, and deploy to do his duty. 1On February 28th, 864, the Xiang army captured Tianbao City in Xifeng, Zijin Mountain, and on March 2nd, it entered the Taiping and Toilet God Gate, completing the siege of Tianjing. Since April, Xiang Army has dug more than ten tunnels outside Chaoyang, Ce Shen and Jinchuan, and the Taiping Army guarding the city has built the Moon City as the second line of defense. /kloc-in June, 2000, Hong Xiuquan died of illness and anxiety, and Li Xiucheng and other adoptive parents Tianguifu Hong succeeded him. On July 3, the Xiang army captured the bunker city at the dragon neck at the foot of Zijinshan Mountain on the east side of Taiping Gate, and the Taiping army lost the last barrier to protect the city. Xiang immediately built dozens of forts and bombarded the city day and night to cover the troops digging tunnels near Longjing. 19, Zhu Hongzhang, Liu Lianjie, Xiao Fusi and other departments of Xiang Army, as the main attack, assembled outside the emergency exit. At noon, the tunnel powder exploded and the wall collapsed more than ten feet. The main attack troops rushed into the city from the gap, and branches directly took Wang Fu and Ce Shen, Yifeng, Tongji, Chaoyang, Hongwu, Jubao and other gates. Chen Department of Xiang Army in the southwest of the city captured Shuiximen and Drought Ximen. By the evening, the gates of Tianjing were all trapped, and the Taiping Army and Xiang Army in the city started street fighting, or died or set themselves on fire. That night, Li Xiucheng and others broke through the gap in the emergency exit with Little King, and were later captured and sacrificed heroically. The fall of Tianjin marked the failure of the Taiping Revolution.

Since the fall of Anqing, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has been in a strategic passive position. But at this time, there are still hundreds of thousands of troops everywhere. If Hong Xiuquan can accept Li Xiucheng's suggestion, give up Tianjing, turn from inside to outside, turn passivity into initiative, and revive the army, there is still something to be done. Hong Xiuquan was opinionated and finally lost the last chance to turn the tide.