On February 9, 1853, Hong Yang evacuated Wuchang, and led 500,000 soldiers and civilians, known as one million, to advance by land and water, directly towards Jinling. On the 10th, he surrounded Wuxue, an important town on the Yangtze River.
The commander-in-chief of Shouchun Town, En Chang, led 4,000 officers and soldiers, destroyed more than 30 Taiping warships, and resisted for three days, and the entire army was wiped out.
At Wuxue Wharf, the Taiping Army was on both land and water, with thousands of sails competing against each other, dozens of miles apart from end to end, covering the river and the sun, and their momentum was like a mountain toppling the sea. Imperial envoy Lu Jianying was trembling, his liver and gallbladder were split, and he retreated to Anqing in panic.
Anhui governor Jiang Wenqing begged for joint defense. Lu waved his hands and said: "The thieves are powerful and invincible. You know it when you see it."
Zhang Fu, the governor of Jiangxi Province, heard that the former army had been destroyed and the imperial envoys had left without a fight. He also abandoned Jiujiang and fled to Nanchang.
Shi Dakai commanded an army of ten thousand and captured Jiujiang without any effort. Spin into Anhui and conquer Xiaohu Mountain in one fell swoop. Anhui Province takes Xiaohu Mountain as its gateway, and Xiaohu Mountain takes Jiujiang as its gateway. Both gates were lost, and Anqing was in danger.
Li Benren, the chief envoy of Anhui, fled Anqing in the name of escorting grain and wages. Zhou Tianjue, a retired imperial minister, was ordered to help defend Anqing. Before the bandits arrived, he sent a message to Jiang Wenqing to retreat to Luzhou. The message was leaked and rumors spread. The officers and soldiers fled with their hands down the city, and they were killed one after another. Jiang Wenqing was unable to survive, so he panicked and left his own body. He swallowed gold and drank medicine to make him stupefied, but he still couldn't die. Later, he was captured by the Taiping warriors and hacked to death.
Shi Da marched into Anqing and captured countless grain, wages and weapons. He then moved eastward along the Yangtze River and conquered Chizhou, Tongling, and Wuhu. Within twenty-eight days, he advanced 1,800 miles, and finally arrived at Shanxi Bridge in the south of Jinling City on March 8.
Lu Jianying was so frightened that he stopped working, did not know guests, and did not supervise soldiers. He burned incense every day and prayed to Guanyin Bodhisattva for help.
Yang Wending, the governor of Jiangsu, saw through the critical situation and fled to Zhenjiang on an excuse to raise food and troops. General Xianghou of Jiangning invited Lu to fight.
Lu Jianying said: "The city of Jiangning, which is surrounded for ninety-six miles, has been blocked by half a million thieves. We have five thousand soldiers and have blocked more than fifteen thousand crenels. May I ask General Xianghou, how many crenels are there per soldier? Climb high and look. As far as the eye can see from the outside of the city to Jiangdong Gate, it spans more than ten miles, and as far as the eye can see, there are red heads! If you say you go out of the city to kill the rebels, you have four thousand warriors, and in just half an hour, they all turned into dust and dispersed. General, the situation is over and Jinling is in danger."
Xianghou said: "Why not just stick around and wait for help?"
Lu Jianying said: "Where is the help? Xiang Xinran is obsessed with following him. Qijing'an is old and slow. He is hundreds of miles away and can only watch from a distance."
Xianghou said: "Xiang Rong and Qishan are both in trouble! I will guard the inner city alone and swear to live or die with Jiangning!"
On March 19, 1853, Lin Fengxiang claimed to attack from the east to the west. He pretended to attack the west gate of Shui with one of his troops. He led the main force to dig a hole under the Fengyi Gate, filled it with cargo and bombed the city wall, and the city of Jinling was destroyed. Commander Ji Wenyuan and Dian, the sixth commander from the right, The sixteenth man on the right commanded Huang Yiyun to rush in first. At the same time, Zhu Xikun, the third commander from the left of the palace, also broke through the east gate of Jinling.
The commander-in-chief of the Qing Dynasty, Cheng Sanguang, resisted and died in the battle. The Qing army collapsed, and Lu Jianying took a four-man green cloth minivan to enter the inner city to avoid disaster. Xianghou angrily refused and led his flag soldiers and family members to resist. This lasted for three days and nights. All the Manchus in the inner city, from infants to toothless old men, died.
After Jinling was defeated, Lin Fengxiang and others did not seal the sword, closed the city to search for suspects, and killed 40,000 men and women in the city, and castrated 3,000 boys, to vent the anger of the common people for helping the demon to defend the city.
The fourth conductor on the right side of the palace, Lai Hanying, Hong Xiuquan's wife and brother, rushed into the slaughterhouse, shouted to stop the indiscriminate killing, posted notices, preached doctrines, and comforted the people, and people in Jinling began to calm down.
Jinling made plans, and Hong Yang entered the city. In response to the cry of long live, long live, long live, Jinling was renamed Tianjing and made the capital of the country.
Hong Xiuquanxing issued an edict: The rotation of the earth will actually create a new north, and the rotation of the sky will forever establish a new celestial dynasty. The plan to unify the country has arrived, and the compatriots can relax and let it go.
Yang Xiuqing, the king of the East, also issued an edict: To establish the king's business, the common people should worship God quickly and destroy the evil gods, so as to reward the will of heaven and enjoy the blessings of heaven. Scholars, farmers, industry and merchants should all work hard on their own business. Since the edict, you and others should live in peace and contentment in your hometown, and be happy to stick to your usual business. The holy soldiers will not make any mistakes, and the people will not be frightened. You should not be surprised when traveling in the city, and think about the hope of success.
After the Eastern King's edict, he ordered Lin Fengxiang, Li Kaifang, Luo Gangyou and Wu Ruxiao to lead their troops eastward, attack Yangzhou and Zhenjiang, occupy the intersection of the canal, cut off the water transport route, and consolidate the east and south of Jingtian.
On March 28, 1853, Lin Fengxiang and Luo Gangtou led 10,000 troops and sailed eastward, first defeating Yizheng and then occupying Guazhou. On the 31st, Lin and Luo were separated. Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang went north to Yangzhou, while Luo Gangyou and Wu Ruxiao went south to Zhenjiang.
The next day, Lin and Luo invaded Yangzhou and Zhenjiang without losing any blood.
Yang Wending, the governor of Jiangsu, fled to Jiangyin again and reported hastily: There are only four to five thousand bandits and they have no special skills. However, the military preparations in the south of the Yangtze River had been depleted for a long time, and because of the fall of Jiangning, people were more frightened and suspicious, so the accident occurred. If Zhenjiang is like this, what will happen if the Su, Chang, Huai, Yang and other prefectures, as well as the soft and brittle soldiers, do not have them?
Hong Yang established his capital in Jinling and divided his family and country into two. Emperor Xianfeng was extremely angry and issued an edict saying: I am the master of the world and I cannot police officials and bring peace to the people. As a result, thieves and thieves are rampant, Yan Lu police are harassing them, and all lives are in ruins. My rule and care were ineffective, which resulted in the blockage of water transportation from the north to the south, and the failure of the Huaiyang Salt System. Even if I repeatedly blame myself, it is still a false statement. Every time I think about this, I can't sleep well and can't eat well. I can only cultivate myself, reflect on myself, and pray to the sky to make sure that I make a big mistake and give me a chance to correct myself so that I can save the people of Li. At this critical moment, the imperial envoys Xiang Rong, Qi Shan, Jiangning General Su Butong'a and others must rush to Jinling to set up camp and stop the thieves from escaping again; Tai Yong, Zhang Liangji, Luo Bingzhang, Jiang Zhongyuan, Guan Wen, Zeng Guofan and others are stationed in the two lakes. , thinking that it should be done later. Yiliang was awarded the title of Governor of Liangjiang, in charge of military, political and civil affairs in Jiangxi, Jiangxi and Anhui. Yang Wending retreated from the battle, was temporarily dismissed from his post, and stayed in the army to serve. Xu Naizhao acted as governor of Jiangsu and immediately supervised the troops to defend against the enemy. Zhou Tianjue was appointed governor of Anhui and was stationed in Luzhou immediately.
Jiang Zhongyuan, the governor of Hubei Province, fought all the way in Jintian. He was well aware of the bad habits of the Eight Banners and the Green Camp of "striving for credit when they win, and taking advantage of each other when they lose." , Observe the terrain, be strict in restraint, and be lenient in threats.
Emperor Xianfeng commended him and ordered Ye Mingchen, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, and Bai Gui, the governor of Guangdong: Now that the bandits are fleeing eastward, Jiang's defense is extremely tight, and he has ordered Xiang Rongchi to go to Jiangning to intercept them head-on. Ye Mingchen and Bai Gui were about to tow the ancient warships from the navy outside the province and collect a hundred crabs, big steaks, etc., and prepare more medicines. They selected the navy commander Yonggan to lead the town, and quickly traveled from the sea to the sea. Arrive in Jiangning and wait for the minister's use.
Zhou Tianjue, the governor of Anhui, and Lu Xianji, the minister of Anhui Tuanlian, said: things should be divided, and the Tuanlian orders the annihilation of bandits; the pastoral command should guard the local area and lead the commander to suppress the bandits, and should not be stationed a hundred miles away to avoid shirk. At present, the rebels have occupied Jinling. They must first choke the Yellow River and Du Hongyang flees north.
In order to be single-minded, Zhou Tianjue resigned as governor and devoted himself to military affairs. Lu Xianji asked Yuan Jiasan and Hanlin editor Li Hongzhang to assist the Anhui regiment in training and suppressing bandits.
Emperor Xianfeng promised to order Zhou Tianjue to supervise the army to suppress Suzhou, Huaiyuan, Mengcheng and Lingbi Nian bandits with the title of Minister of the Ministry of War. Li Jiarui, the Minister of Criminal Affairs, was temporarily appointed as the governor of Anhui and was given the title of admiral to oversee the entire province's army. Yuan Jiasan and Li Hongzhang immediately went there. Anhui, practice courage to resist adversity.
