On April 11, 1860, Li Xiucheng and his troops conquered Jianping, and immediately summoned Yang Fuqing, Li Shixian, Liu Guanfang, Huang Wenjin, Lai Wenhong, Gu Longxian and others to attack the Jiangnan camp.
Li Xiucheng said: In February of this year, He Chun Yao'er captured Jiusuzhou and cut off our Yangtze River waterway; the day before yesterday, Zhang Guoliang Yao'er built a camp outside Ande Gate, and the long siege of the west road was connected in parallel. We have almost no contact with the King of Heaven.
Liu Guanfang said: Tianjing is in danger! We have strong soldiers and horses, all at the command of His Highness King Zhong.
Li Xiucheng said: "In my opinion, the troops will be divided into three groups to attack the Jiangnan camp." His Royal Highness the King of Fu and his brother Liu Guanfang, the commander of the right army, attacked the south of Jiangying; Shixian and I attacked Liyang, pretended to enter Changzhou, reconciled the demons and divided our forces, and then returned to Jurong and attacked the east of Jiangying; the King of England was besieging Quanjiao in the north of the Yangtze River. Soon they will cross south and attack the west of Jiangying.
Yang Fuqing said: Quanjiao is connected to Hezhou and Hanshan in the south, and Liuhe and Tianchang in the east; it is actually an important land in the north of the Yangtze River. The soldiers are very quick, and our troops will attack Gaochun tomorrow to start the war, deter the monsters, and support the King of England.
Li Xiucheng said: "In the battle of Honglin Bridge, the Fuwang brothers had already crippled Zhou Tianshou Yao'er. Zhang Fu, a scholar, did not dare to act rashly. I left Li Yuan to continue to monitor Zhou and Zhang Yao'er." We proceed step by step and divide into the Hechun Camp for the combined attack. As soon as the King of Ying arrives, we will launch the general attack. War is raging everywhere, and the monsters are focused on one thing and not the other. How can they be undefeated!
On April 12, Yang Fuqing and Liu Guanfang joined forces and captured Dongba and Gaochun in one fell swoop; Li Shixian attacked Liyang in the west and conquered it in two days.
To the south of Gaochun's Jiangying camp, Liyang was the gateway to Su Chang. Both were lost, and Hechun was frightened. He said to Zhang Guoliang: "Li Xiucheng is the leader of the rebels. His direction is the direction of the rebels' counterattack. I think the rebels are getting stronger." Along the Yijing Road, Su Chang is the focus of our defense; only Wang Youling and Zhou Tianfu's troops are stationed in Changzhou, with less than 3,000 soldiers, so we must rescue them immediately.
Zhang Guoliang said: In the past two months, the thieves have attacked Jingxian, Ningguo, Taiping, Jixi, Guangde, Hangzhou, etc., but they have all taken and abandoned them; now the thieves are attacking Liyang, and they have also followed the trend of abandoning them. But in Dongba and Gaochun, Yang Thief is going all out to attack and defend. Quanjiao to Jinling and Liyang to Jinling are both hundreds of miles away. Chen Yucheng and Li Xiucheng can get there in two days; they can be at odds with Yang Thief at any time. At the end of the day, the general thought that the main place for the rebels to attack was our Jiangnan camp.
He Chun said: In the past four years, how could the thieves not attack Wujiang camp? But if the rebels capture Changzhou and strangle our southern Jiangsu Province, we will collapse without a fight. I defended Changzhou, relied on the wages of Suzhou and Hangzhou, and competed with them, and I was strong and energetic. Around Jinling, we spent four years, relying on Jiangying, to dredge hundreds of miles of Changhao, which was enough to resist for more than a month. Furthermore, Changzhou and Jinling are more than 200 miles away; if fighting breaks out in Jinling, the army from Changcheng will arrive in three days.
Zhang Guoliang said: "In that case, we will quickly send the troops from Zhejiang Province to protect Changzhou. If Changzhou is protected, we will immediately return to the Jiangnan camp to fight Ni."
Hechun said: I will immediately order the three generals Zhang Yuliang, Liu Jisan and Ma Dezhao to return to support Chang as soon as possible; the deputy generals Xiang Kui and Ma Zhangui will rush to Zhenjiang to protect the camp to Su Changshui Road; Zhou Tianfu's troops will rush to Jintan. He Guiqing was consulted again, and Xiao Zhiyin's troops were dispatched to Danyang to consolidate the land route between Daying and Su Chang.
Zhang Guoliang said: The thieves will attack Changzhou first and then Jiangying. The priority should be clear. The troops in my camp must also be replenished.
He Chun Dao: The way of playing chess is that if you keep it together, you will live, and if you break it, you will be hurt. Su Chang and I have good access to water and land, and can support each other at any time. The thieves will use all their strength to attack our camp in the south of the Yangtze River. I rely on Baili Changhao. Victory may be impossible, but defeat will never happen.
In the north of the Yangtze River, Chen Yucheng besieged Quanjiao for half a month, but failed and was very anxious. In the south of the Yangtze River, Li Xiucheng was very anxious and asked Li Shixian: "Chen Yucheng has not crossed the river for a long time. What can I do if I just cry out?" .
Li Shixian said: "Chen Yucheng will not listen to the king's request; Chen's tribe should not go south to hope."
Li Xiucheng said: If you want to win ten thousand battles with one fight, you must first unite ten thousand hearts and work with one heart. Whether Tianjing is besieged or not is crucial for Chen Yucheng to cross south! I will report it to the King of Heaven and urge the Chen tribe to go south. My brother and Yang and Liu's army are advancing from the north to the east, and must not delay.
On April 16, 1860, Yang Fuqing and Liu Guanfang marched northward from Gaochun and attacked Lishui. On the same day, Li Shixian attacked Yixing in the east, but failed; the next day, he attacked Jintan again, but failed. Upon seeing this, Li Xiucheng ordered Li Shixian to temporarily leave Yixing and Jintan and attack Changzhou.
Yang Fuqing and Liu Guanfang besieged Lishui, but Zheng Kuishi was defeated and asked He Chun for help. He Chunya is in Changzhou, unable to take care of both. Zheng Kuishi had no choice but to resist for two days and then abandoned the city and left. Yang Fuqing and Liu Guanfang fought non-stop to conquer Moling Pass again.
Chen Yucheng received Hong Xiuquan's order to cross the Yangtze River again, but did not dare to postpone it any longer. On April 23, Yucheng led his troops to cross from Xiliang Mountain to the west of Jiangnan Daying.
Li Xiucheng was overjoyed and ordered Li Shixian to leave Jintan and Changzhou quickly and attack Jurong; Xiucheng led the main force to attack Chunhua.
Liang Kexun, the general guarding Jurong, neither went to the city to defend nor camped outside the city. Seeing the Taiping Army approaching, he actually gave way to the city and left.
After Jurong fell, Hechun woke up from a dream and urgently sent his deputy general Zhang Weibang with 3,000 troops out of Chunhua Town to fight against Li Xiucheng.
Zhang Guoliang said: Chunhua is my last barrier. Zhang Weibang is not brave enough to resist Li Xiucheng. At the end of the day, he led his troops to Chunhua to attack Li Ni.
He Chun sighed and said: Yang Fuqing occupied Moling Pass, Li Shixian occupied Jurong, Li Xiucheng attacked Chunhua, Chen Yucheng crossed south, and pushed into Changwei on the west road. The rebels from all four directions came to my camp. I regret that I didn't listen to my brother's words, which led to today's difficulties!
Zhang Guoliang said: "The thieves occupied Jurong and attacked Chunhua. Our troops in Changzhou, Zhenjiang, Danyang and Jintan have all become decorations." It is not too late to make up for the lost situation. Quickly order the foreign aid ministries to return immediately to protect the camp; quickly consult Guanwen, He Guiqing, Zeng Guofan, Hu Linyi, Zhang Fu, etc. to divide their troops to provide assistance. We resisted step by step and rebelled after a delay. As soon as reinforcements arrived, we fought to the death with the rebels.
He Chundao: The rebels are on the offensive. The reinforcements from Zhejiang, southern Jiangsu, and southern Anhui are all isolated by the rebels. Even if they fight desperately to come to the rescue, it will only be of little help! Brother Zhang is going to Chunhua with many strong generals and soldiers. If he can annihilate the bandit leader Li Xiucheng, the situation in the south of the Yangtze River will suddenly become clear.
While He and Zhang were talking, they reported that Zhang Weibang was defeated by Li Xiucheng and had been defeated. Li Xiucheng and Li Shixian joined forces to attack Chunhua.
Zhang Guoliang did not dare to neglect, and personally supervised five thousand elite soldiers. They rushed there and fought bloody for a day, but they were still defeated.
Li Xiucheng and Li Shixian defeated Zhang Guoliang and occupied Chunhua Town. Afterwards, the two Li forces quietly divided their forces. Li Xiucheng advanced from Yaohuamen to Zijin Mountain, and Li Shixian attacked Yanziji, hoping to block He Chun's retreat to the north. Yang and Liu also separated on the middle road. Yang Fuqing entered Yuhuatai, and Liu Guanfang and Chen Kunshu entered Gaoqiao Gate. On the West Road, Chen Yucheng led an army of 30,000 troops and entered Banqiao and Shanqiao on the 29th. The next day, Yucheng set up camp outside Fengtai Gate and Ande Gate, echoing Yang Fuqing and Liu Guanfang.
