Slaying the Qing: My Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

"In addition to the Western Expeditionary Army, the Northern Expeditionary Army, the Eastern Expeditionary Army, and the Southern Expeditionary Army, I will establish a Royal Guard Army. The Royal Guard Army will be formed based on the Royal Guard Army composed of boys from the orphanages, and some soldiers will be recruited from the Boy Scouts to form the Heavenly Kingdom Royal Guard Army, which will be responsible for protecting the Heavenly Capital and providing reinforcements to all sides."

Currently, the Guards Corps has begun forming its first infantry division. More infantry divisions will follow.

The Imperial Guard Corps, with General Chen Yucheng as its deputy commander, is responsible for its daily training and combat operations. I, the Emperor, will personally assume the role of Commander of the Imperial Guard Corps!

Hong Tian then announced to the crowd.

Hong Tian knew very well that the Imperial Guard was his base of operations.

Only when the Imperial Guard becomes stronger can he gradually and completely control the entire Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Next, once the Imperial Guard has established several infantry divisions, it will have sufficient strength to launch a decisive battle against the Tartars.

Then, the other corps of the Taiping Army will be gradually reorganized.

They could even draw key soldiers and officers from the Imperial Guard to reinforce other units, thereby gaining control of the Taiping Army.

All the high-ranking officials of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom knew that the Imperial Guard was the army that Hong Tian had started with.

Although Hong Tian had founded the orphanage two and a half years ago.

But no one paid attention to this, and everyone thought that Hong Tian was just looking for some playmates for himself.

As the orphanage grew larger, no one paid any attention to it.

On the contrary, people believed that the establishment of orphanages would further boost morale and make the Taiping soldiers more valiant on the battlefield.

Even though Hong Tian created an army within the orphanage, everyone just thought it was child's play.

No one expected that this army, composed of sixteen or seventeen-year-old boys, would be so powerful.

With fewer than two thousand men, they crushed the three thousand elite soldiers of the Northern Prince's Mansion, becoming the biggest winner of the Tianjing Incident.

Hong Tian wanted to further expand the size of the Imperial Guard Legion, and no one could stop him, nor was there any reason for them to.

"Your Majesty, the Imperial Guard's muskets and cannons are advanced, and the Heavenly Kingdom's frontline soldiers undoubtedly need these muskets and cannons as well. I wonder if Your Majesty could provide these muskets and cannons to the various legions?" Shi Dakai asked.

Qin Rigang's gaze also became urgent.

In their view, the strength of the Janissaries was entirely based on their advanced firearms and artillery.

If other legions could also be equipped with these advanced fireballs and cannons, then the combat effectiveness of each legion would inevitably be further enhanced.

"Of course! However, the orphanage's arsenal is too small and has limited production capacity. We need to focus all our efforts on supplying the expansion of the Guards Legion."

In addition, the production of new firearms and cannons required large quantities of steel and copper.

Next, the Western Expeditionary Army will focus all its efforts on mining copper in Tonglin and smelting copper ingots.

At the same time, we should find a way to break the Tartar blockade in Wuchang Prefecture, move south to occupy Daye, and mine the iron and copper mines there.

With these resources, the arsenal will be further expanded.

At that time, more muskets and artillery can be produced to equip the various troops.

Hong Tian said.

"Your Majesty, rest assured, the Western Expeditionary Army will focus on developing Wuchang Prefecture next!" Shi Dakai replied.

The Imperial Guards were equipped with very advanced muskets and artillery. If the arsenal's production capacity were further expanded to equip all units of the Taiping Army, then the Taiping Army's combat effectiveness would be further enhanced.

Defeating the Tartars and their many lackeys would naturally be much easier.

Subsequently, Hong Tian announced a series of appointments for military commanders.

The Western Expeditionary Army had eight commanders: Li Fuyou, Wang Haiyang, Tong Ronghai, Peng Dashun, Zhu Yidian, Shi Zhenji, Lai Yuxin, and Yu Zhongfu. The Northern Expeditionary Army had three commanders: Wei Zhijun, Qin Ziyi, and Qin Zizhong. The Eastern Expeditionary Army had two commanders: Li Mingcheng and Li Shixian. The Southern Expeditionary Army had two commanders: Lai Guiying and Huang Wenjin.

These military commanders were all renowned generals of the Taiping Army at the time.

Among them, Wei Zhijun was the younger brother of Wei Changhui, the Prince of the North.

In another timeline, Wei Zhijun was implicated in the Tianjing Incident and ultimately surrendered to the Tartars.

In this timeline, after the Tianjing Incident, Hong Tian publicly stated that Wei Zhijun and Wei Changhui were unrelated. Furthermore, he transferred Wei Zhijun from the Western Expeditionary Army to the Northern Expeditionary Army.

This was not merely to appease Wei Zhijun. It was also to infiltrate the Northern Expeditionary Army with spies.

The commanders of the Western Expeditionary Army were all Shi Dakai's confidants. In the Northern Expeditionary Army, Qin Ziyi and Qin Zizhong were both relatives of Qin Rigang. In the Eastern Expeditionary Army, Li Mingcheng was Li Xiucheng's younger brother, and Li Shixian was his cousin.

It can be said that these legion commanders had a great deal of control over these armies.

Among these armies, even Hong Tian's words probably don't carry as much weight as those of the legion commanders.

Hong Tian was well aware of these things.

He also knew that if he wanted to control the army, he had to do it step by step; it couldn't be done in a day or two.

Fortunately, the Royal Guard is constantly expanding.

As the boys in the orphanage grow up, a large number of boys can also be recruited from the Scouts.

The first infantry division of the Guards Corps will be established soon. It is expected that the second and third infantry divisions will be formed after the start of the year.

Once the production capacity of the arsenal is further expanded, it will be possible to reorganize the other legions.

This reorganization will further enhance Hong Tian's influence within these units.

Ultimately, this ensured that Hong Tian could have complete control over these troops.

"From now until next spring, the task for each legion is to reorganize and strengthen training in preparation for the upcoming major battle!" Hong Tian ordered.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" all the high-ranking officials of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom replied.

After the meeting, Hong Tian specifically asked Shi Dakai and Qin Rigang to stay behind.

Both of them held the positions of Minister of Military Affairs and Vice Minister of Military Affairs, so matters concerning military affairs were inextricably linked to them.

"Your Majesty, I hold the positions of Minister of Military Affairs and Commander-in-Chief of the Western Expeditionary Army. Furthermore, according to Your Majesty's plan, the headquarters of the Western Expeditionary Army will be located in Anqing. Anqing is more than 500 li from Tianjing. In addition, the Western Expeditionary Army is facing the increasingly powerful Xiang Army, making it difficult for me to frequently travel between Anqing and Tianjing."

"I humbly request Your Majesty's permission to resign from my position as Minister of Military Affairs!"

Shi Dakai pleaded.

Compared to the Minister of Military Affairs, Shi Dakai placed greater emphasis on the position of Commander of the Western Expeditionary Army.

This means that they directly put more than 100,000 elite troops in their hands for the Western Expedition.

"Your Majesty, I also request permission to resign from my position as Vice Minister of Military Affairs!"

Qin Rigang also expressed the same wish.

"I am well aware of your concerns. And I have already come up with a solution. The Ministry of Military Affairs doesn't have much to deal with on a daily basis. Prince Yi can be stationed in Anqing, and Prince Yan can be stationed in Yangzhou."

As for contact with the capital city, that can be handled by telegram!

Hong Tian said.

"Telegram? What is this?" Shi Dakai asked, puzzled.

Qin Rigang also looked puzzled.

Although the West has already established a large-scale telegraph network, it has not yet reached the East.

It's understandable that Shi Dakai and Qin Rigang were unaware of this.

"A telegraph is made by connecting two wires..." Hong Tian explained the principle of wired telegraph.

However, Shi Dakai and Qin Rigang were still completely baffled.

Therefore, a single sentence was used to summarize it in a simple way.

"You can understand it as telegrams enabling communication over long distances. Even if you are stationed in Anqing and Yangzhou respectively, you can still report the relevant situation to me in an instant via telegram," Hong Tian said.

Both Shi Dakai and Qin Rigang's eyes lit up.

Both men were military commanders and were well aware of the significant benefits that greatly shortening communication time could bring to military command.

The situation on the battlefield can change in an instant.

As a commander, you must be able to respond to changes in the battlefield situation at any time.

In this day and age, messages are mainly delivered by messengers on horseback, which is very untimely.

If this problem could be solved within the Taiping army, it would undoubtedly greatly enhance their fighting capacity.