1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 356 The Capture of Tianjin
In the depths of winter, in the twelfth lunar month, leaden clouds hung low over the territory of Shuntian Prefecture in Zhili Province, and dense, goose-feather-like snowflakes fell, turning the plains around the capital into a vast expanse of white. The bare branches of trees were covered with a few inches of white snow, which made a crisp sound in the north wind, and a desolate and oppressive atmosphere permeated the world.

The banners of the Northern Expeditionary Army camp fluttered in the wind and snow.

Wei Changhui, Lin Fengxiang, and Li Kaifang, wearing cloaks of different colors, rode their horses to a small hill on the southern outskirts of Tianjin, gazing at the city walls covered in snow.

The Northern Expeditionary Army's two-month-long raid was thunderous. Starting from Lu'an and heading north out of the Taihang Mountains, they successively captured more than a dozen prefectures and counties in Zhili. Only then did the 70,000 soldiers of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's Northern Expeditionary Army arrive at Tianjin, a key hub for the Grand Canal.

At this moment, the icicles on the outer city wall of Tianjin are gleaming coldly in the twilight.

The Northern Expeditionary Army's commander, Assistant Prince Wei Changhui, pointed his whip at Tianjin: "Although our army has just captured Jinghai County, it is still a small city with little food and supplies. For our army of over 70,000, it is just a drop in the ocean. Tianjin must be taken as soon as possible, no matter what!"

Although this is the most glorious moment of Wei Changhui's life, leading an army of 70,000 in the Northern Expedition, Wei Changhui has no heroic spirit of commanding the country and making great strides. Instead, he is at a loss.

This included 5,000 troops stationed in Jinghai County, Tianjin Prefecture, and 6,000 troops under the command of Ji Wenyuan, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Ministry of Rites, who was sent to attack Wuqing County, Shuntian Prefecture.

It is true that Wei Changhui had 70,000 troops in the Northern Expedition, but more than half of these 70,000 troops were newly recruited brothers and their families in the north.

Of the more than 40,000 old brothers from the south who swore an oath in Tianjing to launch the Northern Expedition, only a little over 30,000 remain.

What's even more heartbreaking is that of the more than 10,000 old comrades from the south who died or went missing, only about 30% actually died on the battlefield.

Sixty to seventy percent of the casualties were non-combat casualties caused by lack of food and clothing, which made Wei Changhui feel extremely humiliated.

Such brave brothers from Guangdong and Hunan, who did not die on the battlefield, but instead froze and starved to death, what kind of nonsense is this!

In the past, when Wei Changhui was in charge of managing the Heavenly Kingdom's Holy Treasury, he also encountered difficulties and shortages of food and fodder, but he never saw so many people starve or freeze to death!
Although Wei Changhui and his men captured eighteen prefectures and counties in Zhili, they were not able to obtain much food from these small towns.

Since entering Beizhili, the Northern Expeditionary Army has been in a state of emergency regarding food and military supplies.

To solve the critical problem of food rations, Wei Changhui and others had no choice but to focus their attention on Tianjin, a key hub for the Grand Canal.

It is hoped that the grain reserves in Tianjin can support the 70,000-strong Northern Expeditionary Army to get through the harsh winter in the north and endure this difficult period.

"Your Majesty, what if the grain reserves in Tianjin City are also insufficient?" Lin Fengxiang asked, gazing at the distant city of Tianjin with a worried expression.

The Qing army adopted a scorched-earth policy in Beizhili, and many of the granaries in the cities they had captured in the past were burned down before the cities fell.

Lin Fengxiang feared that the same thing would happen in Tianjin.

“Tianjin is a major city and a crucial hub for grain transport. Even grain transported by sea had to pass through Tianjin, so there’s absolutely no way this is possible,” Wei Changhui said with a grim expression.

"Prime Minister Lin, you shall be the vanguard in attacking Tianjin City."

What Lin Fengxiang said was exactly what Wei Changhui was most worried about.

Tianjin was the last hope for the Northern Expeditionary Army to survive the winter and besiege the capital the following year.

If even Tianjin city doesn't have enough grain, then within a radius of 800 li, only the capital city probably has enough grain to support more than 70,000 people.

Seeing Wei Changhui's displeasure, Lin Fengxiang said no more, rode back to camp, and organized his troops to attack Tianjin.

The following day, Lin Fengxiang organized 6,000 Northern Expeditionary Army soldiers to attack the city.

Of the 6,000 Northern Expeditionary Army soldiers who attacked Tianjin, 2,000 were old comrades from the Western Palace, while the remaining 4,000 were emaciated new comrades.

When fighting in Anhui, the Northern Expeditionary Army still only let the old comrades fight. They were not very willing to use the soldiers who joined from Hubei. They only let them work with the newly joined comrades from Anhui to transport supplies, repair weapons, mend clothes, prepare food, and manufacture siege equipment. They did not let the newcomers participate in the battle directly.

Therefore, the casualty ratio of the Northern Expeditionary Army was still quite good when it fought in Anhui.

However, as they entered Henan, the fighting became more urgent, and logistics became increasingly strained.

Gradually, the generals of the Northern Expeditionary Army could no longer afford to worry about anything else and had no choice but to bite the bullet and use newly recruited newcomers to directly participate in the battle.

Lin Fengxiang glanced at the old men from Guangxi in the group. Even their faces were cracked from the cold, and they looked pale.

Lin Fengxiang felt a lump in his throat. All he could do for these old brothers who had shared life and death with him was to provide them with a hearty meal before the battle.

After the meal, Lin Fengxiang led his troops to attack the city.

The city of Tianjin was defended by Zhili Governor-General Nerjing'e and Chahar Military Governor Xiling'a. Facing the fierce offensive of the Northern Expeditionary Army, Xiling'a gritted his teeth and held Tianjin for half a month.

Under the Taiping army's relentless attacks, which spared no casualties, Xi Ling'a finally could no longer hold out. He burned down the official granaries and grain shops in Tianjin and led the Heilongjiang cavalry to break out of the city through the Sanqing Gate in the west.

The western part of Tianjin was the lifeline for Xi Ling'a Liu, thanks to Wei Changhui and his group. They hoped to capture Tianjin as soon as possible to solve the pressing problems of food and winter survival.

They did not want Xi Ling'a to hold out in Tianjin, so Xi Ling'a broke through the encirclement and fled, which was exactly what Wei Changhui and others wanted.

Xi Ling'a's main force consisted of the Heilongjiang cavalry. Although the Northern Expeditionary Army had a small number of cavalry, for more than two months, the men had not been able to get enough to eat, let alone feed the warhorses.

Although Wei Changhui, Lin Fengxiang, Li Kaifang and others really wanted to annihilate the cavalry that had been fighting them for half a year to prevent future troubles, they were simply powerless to do so.

Xi Ling'a's Heilongjiang cavalry broke through the encirclement and fled, while the left and right battalions of Tianjin Town and the three battalions of the Tianjin City garrison became the central force defending Tianjin City.

When Xi Ling'a's field troops were present, the Tianjin garrison struggled to defend the city. After Xi Ling'a left, the Tianjin garrison's strength was greatly reduced, and they could only rely on the Green Standard Army and the local militia hastily recruited to defend the city.

The three battalions of the Green Standard Army and the local militia in Tianjin were unable to withstand the repeated attacks by the Taiping Army. Less than two days after Xi Ling'a withdrew, Lin Fengxiang led his troops to capture the Lai Xun Gate of the outer city of Tianjin and entered the outer city.

Tianjin was the residence of the Governor-General of Zhili, and the highest military and political official in Tianjin was naturally the Governor-General of Zhili, Nerjing'e. However, Nerjing'e had already fled from the west of the city two days earlier, together with the General of Tianjin Garrison and Xiling'a's Heilongjiang cavalry.

When the prefect of Tianjin learned that the Taiping rebels had entered the city, he died of fright. Tianjin quickly fell into a state of chaos and leaderlessness, with no one to organize the defense of the inner city. The entire city of Tianjin was soon occupied by the Northern Expeditionary Army.

After a fierce attack on Tianjin for more than half a month with an exhausted and starving army, and at the cost of more than 4,000 casualties, Wei Changhui, Lin Fengxiang, Li Kaifang and others finally entered the city of Tianjin as they had hoped.

On the day the Northern Expeditionary Army captured Tianjin, the snow finally stopped, and the outline of Tianjin appeared exceptionally clear in the pale sunlight.

Wei Changhui climbed to the top of the city gate tower with a river on the north wall of the inner city of Tianjin and placed his hand on the cold battlements.

The walls of Tianjin's inner city were covered with icicles, like mourning banners hanging for the Taiping soldiers who died in battle.

Looking down at the city that had been won with the lives of four thousand brothers, Wei Changhui felt a mix of emotions.

Although Tianjin was won, the victory was far too humiliating, and the price paid was far too heavy.

The Northern Expeditionary Army won a series of victories in Anhui and Henan. At that time, Wei Changhui was very confident and truly believed that he could capture Yanjing and complete the Northern Expedition.

However, after entering Beizhili, the Northern Expeditionary Army found it increasingly difficult to advance, and its pace of advance slowed down. Wei Changhui also gradually became less confident.

The number of troops defending Tianjin was not large. Even when Xi Ling'a's Qing troops were still in Tianjin, the total number of Tianjin's garrison was only a little over ten thousand.

Even so, Wei Changhui and his men only managed to capture Tianjin after Xi Ling'a and his elite troops broke through and escaped, and they suffered heavy casualties.

If the Qing army, with over 10,000 troops stationed in Tianjin, was struggling so much, could they really have taken Yanjing?

Wei Changhui was unusually caught in self-doubt, and even began to question whether Yang Xiuqing's hasty Northern Expedition was reasonable.

"Go to the granary."

After a moment of contemplation, Wei Changhui finally spoke, leading his accompanying generals to the granary in Tianjin.

As the group trudged through the charred rubble into the ruins of the official granary, all the generals gasped in shock, their faces turning extremely grim.

Lin Fengxiang squatted down, grabbed a handful of carbonized wheat grains mixed with snow water, and rubbed them between his fingers into a jet-black powder.

He exhaled a puff of white breath into his palm and said with great distress, "The burnt smell still carries the fragrance of rice. What good grain it is, and it's been wasted like this."

Disturbed and frustrated, Li Kaifang kicked away the half-burnt and warped iron scale, the scale beam bouncing up and kicking up a cloud of ashes.

"Xi Ling'a's move was truly ruthless!" Li Kaifang said through gritted teeth. "Not a single grain of rice was left intact! Not only were the official granaries in the city burned down, but the granaries of wealthy households were also burned down."

The Northern Expeditionary Army generals walked out of the granary in silence. At the street corner, a few emaciated people were secretly watching. When they saw the Taiping Army generals passing by, they immediately shrank back into the depths of the alley like startled rabbits.

“The official granaries are empty, the wealthy households are empty, but the common people should still have some surplus grain to get through the winter. It’s impossible for Xi Ling’a and his men to burn all the grain in Tianjin in just half a month,” Wei Changhui said as he rode his horse forward.

The Qing Dynasty Imperial Guards in Yanjing had not yet clashed with the Northern Expeditionary Army, and Wei Changhui did not know what kind of people the Qing Dynasty Imperial Guards in Yanjing were.

However, there were Senggelinqin's Mongolian cavalry and Sheng Bao's Jilin cavalry in the Yanjing direction. Although the Northern Expeditionary Army had a better record of winning than losing against the Mongolian and Jilin cavalry in the past.

Since these two groups of Qing demon troops are mainly cavalry, they are quite difficult to deal with.

The Northern Expeditionary Army lacked a large-scale, organized cavalry force and was never able to inflict heavy losses on the Mongol and Jilin cavalry.

Given the current situation and state of the Northern Expeditionary Army, it is unrealistic to continue advancing towards Yanjing.

Wei Changhui had no choice but to lead his army to temporarily garrison and rest in Tianjin, and to make further plans when the weather warmed up in the spring of the following year.

Li Kaifang said, "Your Majesty, the people of Zhili already regard us as bandits. If we are forcibly conscripted, it will inevitably arouse public resentment."

Li Kaifang had been in Zhili for quite some time, and Lin Fengxiang knew the situation of the people there very well.

Although Zhili was under the emperor's nose, the people of Zhili were extremely poor, only slightly better off than those of Guangxi.

"Then tell me what to do?!" Wei Changhui roared. "Should we let 70,000 brothers starve to death in this freezing cold? Or should we go south back to Jiangnan on empty stomachs? Last night, another 37 old brothers didn't make it. They were all old brothers from Guangxi who had followed us since the Jintian Uprising!"

Wei Changhui plans to be stationed in Tianjin for a long time. To be honest, he also hopes to get along well with the people of Tianjin and does not want to strain his relationship with them.

Unfortunately, Wei Changhui had no choice but to find a way to help his men get through this period.

“Not only will we requisition grain,” Lin Fengxiang added, “we also need to requisition some warm clothing.”

At present, the Northern Expeditionary Army is not only short of food, but also of warm clothing, fuel, and even cosmetics.

Although Lin Fengxiang was a man who listened to advice and took Peng Gang's suggestion, he consciously collected some winter clothes in Henan before winter even arrived in the north. However, the Northern Expeditionary Army was too large, and currently only about 10,000 soldiers had winter clothes to wear.

The Northern King did not approve of the radical Northern Expedition strategy of directly attacking Yanjing. It is said that because of this, the relationship between the Northern King, the Eastern King, and the Heavenly King has become somewhat strained.

At the beginning of the Northern Expedition, when the Northern Expeditionary Army was making rapid progress in Anhui, Lin Fengxiang felt that Peng Gang was somewhat conservative.

Upon entering Zhili, the Northern Expeditionary Army found it increasingly difficult to continue, and Lin Fengxiang had to admit that the Northern King's suggestion was correct.

If the Northern Expeditionary Army had followed the Northern King's plan to first take northern Anhui and northern Jiangsu, and then occupy Shandong, using Shandong as a springboard to gradually advance towards Beijing, the Northern Expeditionary Army would not have fallen into such a dilemma.

"Order all battalions to collect grain and winter clothing from each household." Wei Changhui's Adam's apple bobbed as he said, "Try to be polite and use silver to buy grain and clothing from the people, leaving some surplus grain for the people in the city."

There was nothing wrong with Wei Changhui's order; he didn't want to drive the people of Tianjin to their doom.

However, the Taiping Army of today is no longer the disciplined force it was in Guangxi and Hunan.

The old brothers from Guangdong and Guangxi and Hunan were well-disciplined and were able to follow Wei Changhui's orders to use money to buy grain and clothing from the people of Tianjin, leaving some surplus grain for them.

The Northern Expeditionary soldiers in other places, especially those in the north, didn't care about these things. They basically went straight into people's homes to seize clothes and food. For a time, Tianjin was in chaos and no one could have peace.

As for enforcing strict discipline and restraining new recruits.

If the ratio is 40,000 veterans and 20,000 new recruits, discipline can still be maintained.

Before entering Shanxi, the ratio of veteran soldiers to new recruits in the Northern Expeditionary Army remained at this level.

After arriving in Zhili, due to the fact that the veteran soldiers could not endure the hunger and cold in the north, the number of casualties was very large and the combat effectiveness declined significantly. Wei Changhui had no choice but to recruit more new soldiers from the north.

At present, there are more new soldiers than old soldiers in the Northern Expeditionary Army in Tianjin, so there is no way to enforce discipline.

Wei Changhui could only turn a blind eye to the chaotic situation of requisitioning grain and clothing in Tianjin.

After collecting grain for three days and gathering a batch of grain, Wei Changhui, feeling troubled, discussed the distribution of grain with his generals at the Zhili Governor-General's Mansion. Suddenly, the sound of rapid hoofbeats came from outside the gate, growing louder as they approached.

"Report——!"

A West Palace attendant tumbled and crawled into the hall. He was covered in blood, his left arm was only half of what it used to be, which was haphazardly wrapped with dirty strips of cloth, and he was spitting out bloody foam as he spoke.

"Wuqing. Wuqing failed to be taken. Of the six thousand brothers who attacked Wuqing, less than four thousand returned. Prime Minister Ji..."

(End of this chapter)