Slaying the Qing: My Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

"Yu Cheng, has the 1st Infantry Division of the Imperial Guard completed its reorganization?"

Hong Tian asked.

To defeat the Tartars in this battle, the 1st Infantry Division of the Imperial Guard will undoubtedly be the main force.

This force, equipped with the world's most advanced firearms and artillery, possesses combat capabilities far exceeding those of armies of this era. Even the armies of those Western powers are no match for the Guards Legion.

However, the Guards Legion is still too small.

So far, only one infantry division has been formed.

Meanwhile, three more battalions have been formed at the orphanage and are still in training.

According to the plan, the Guards Corps will use these three battalions as the core and select suitable soldiers from the Scouts to form the 2nd Guards Infantry Division.

"Your Majesty, the 1st Infantry Division has completed its reorganization and is currently undergoing training. However, the training is not yet fully completed," Chen Yucheng replied.

Hong Tian nodded: "How much longer will it take for the 1st Infantry Division to complete its training?"

"It will take about another month!" Chen Yucheng replied.

"Then, the counterattack against the Tartars will be scheduled for one month from now!" Hong Tian said to everyone.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Chen Yucheng and Li Xiucheng both replied.

"A month later, the 1st Infantry Division of the Imperial Guard, in coordination with the Eastern Expeditionary Army, launched the first attack on the Tartars' Jiangnan Camp, crushing the Tartars and leveling the Jiangnan Camp in one fell swoop."

Subsequently, the army continued its offensive in the southeast, capturing Danyang, Wujin, and Suzhou, thus eradicating all Tartar forces in southern Jiangsu.

Afterwards, the 1st Infantry Division of the Imperial Guards marched north again, crossed the Yangtze River, and cooperated with the Northern Expeditionary Army to defeat the Tartar forces attacking Yangzhou and clear out the Tartars from the Jiangbei camp.

Then, the entire army marched westward into Anhui Province, annihilating the Anhui army and the Hunan army that had entered the province.

Finally, the main force marched south to northern Jiangxi, defeating the Jiangxi army and the Hunan army that had entered northern Jiangxi province. Furthermore, they advanced westward and captured the entire Wuchang Prefecture!

Hong Tianxia issued a series of orders.

Without a doubt, in the upcoming battle, the Imperial Guard will be the main force and the spearhead to defeat the various Qing army units.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" the group of people replied in unison.

Chen Yucheng had an almost mysterious confidence in the Imperial Guard.

Although Li Xiucheng wasn't entirely clear on the details, he had gleaned some information from other sources and knew that the Imperial Guard was very powerful.

At the same time, His Majesty the Heavenly King regards the Imperial Guard as the main force in defeating the Tartars.

Therefore, the Imperial Guard must have something extraordinary about them.

Perhaps in the upcoming battles, the Imperial Guard will truly surprise everyone.

"Also, Yu Cheng. The second infantry division of the Imperial Guard can begin to be formed. It will still be based on the three battalions formed in the orphanage, and more scouts will be selected to join them to form the 2nd Infantry Division!" Hong Tian said.

Hong Tian has never forgotten that the Imperial Guard has always been his base of operations and the armed force that he can directly influence.

Even after becoming a superstar and moving away from the orphanage.

However, Hong Tian would still often take time to watch the training of the boys in the orphanage, and even personally teach these boys in the orphanage, in order to further deepen the connection and feelings between the two sides and ensure that the boys from the orphanage would be loyal to him.

When these boys grew up, they entered various positions within the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and even various industries.

This will further enhance Hong Tian's prestige.

Perhaps it won't be long before Hong Tian becomes the true supreme ruler of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Throughout the entire Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, no one could compare to him or pose a threat to his position.

Even Shi Dakai, the Wing King, wouldn't do it!

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Chen Yucheng replied quickly.

Chen Yucheng naturally hoped that the strength of his Imperial Guard Legion could be further improved.

The Imperial Guard Corps will form another infantry division, and when the 1st Infantry Division and the Eastern Expeditionary Corps go into battle, Tianjing City will have sufficient defensive strength.

We can't have our main force fighting outside while the Tartars raid our capital, Tianjing.

"Send telegrams to the Western Expeditionary Army, the Northern Expeditionary Army, and the Southern Expeditionary Army, informing them of my decision. Instruct them to hold their positions and persevere until we gradually defeat the Tartars!" Hong Tian ordered.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" the high-ranking officials replied in unison.

With the introduction of wireless telegraph machines, communication between Tianjing (Nanjing) and other Taiping forces was greatly strengthened.

Not only has timeliness improved, allowing for timely understanding of the situation on the front lines, but decision-makers are also able to react immediately and issue new instructions and decisions.

Currently, wireless telegraphs have been distributed to the corps level in all four field corps. As for the Imperial Guard Corps, being Hong Tian's direct subordinate, it naturally receives special attention.

Wireless telegraphy will be provided to regimental-level units in each of the Guards infantry divisions.

If possible in the future, they could even be assigned to battalion-level units.

After all, a single infantry battalion of the Imperial Guard has nine hundred men.

Given their combat capabilities, they can often be responsible for a large area.

Relaying orders manually is naturally not as convenient as sending and receiving telegrams directly.

However, this requires that the production capacity of wireless telegraph machines and the training of telegraph operators be able to keep up.

At the same time, wireless telegraph machines also need to be further miniaturized, their weight reduced, and their reliability improved.

For Hong Tian, ​​the most pressing need right now is time.

If there were more time to develop, the situation would be completely different.

But the Tartars wouldn't give the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom that much time.

Therefore, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom must win this next battle.

This would allow the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to gain more time and space for development.

Only then could the strength of the entire Taiping Heavenly Kingdom undergo a complete transformation.

Only in the future showdown with the Tartars will the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom gain a greater advantage and achieve final victory!

After receiving the telegram from Tianjing City, Shi Dakai, commander of the Western Expeditionary Army, Qin Rigang, commander of the Northern Expeditionary Army, and Lai Guiying, commander of the Southern Expeditionary Army, all expressed their determination to hold their defensive lines and would not allow the Tartars to break through them.

Everyone was very much looking forward to the Imperial Guard and the Eastern Expeditionary Army launching a counterattack against the Tartars south of Tianjing City a month later.

The Imperial Guard, equipped with a large number of advanced firearms and artillery, might actually become the decisive force in this battle if they perform well on the battlefield.

The critical situation on the entire battlefield can then be completely resolved.

A month passed quickly, and it was already mid-January 1857.

Despite the cold weather, hundreds of thousands of Taiping soldiers and Qing soldiers were locked in fierce combat in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, from Hubei Province to Jiangsu Province.

The battle was extremely fierce, with large numbers of soldiers dying every day, their blood spilled on the battlefield.

What is unacceptable is that many of the people on both sides of the conflict are compatriots.

But now, they have become mortal enemies, facing each other to the death.

On January 17, 1 officers and soldiers stood in neat rows on the training ground of the 1st Infantry Division of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's Imperial Guard Corps.

Hong Tian, ​​along with other high-ranking officials of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, also arrived at the training ground to give a final mobilization speech to the soldiers.

"Soldiers of the Heavenly Kingdom, the Tartars have re-surrounded Tianjing. The entire Heavenly Kingdom is in an extremely dangerous situation. If we cannot defeat the Tartars in this next battle, our Heavenly Kingdom, which we have worked so hard to build, will be destroyed by the Tartars."

Our brothers and sisters will be slaughtered by the Tartars. Our children and grandchildren will be enslaved by the Tartars.

You are all the most loyal warriors of the Kingdom of Heaven, and the very foundation upon which the Kingdom of Heaven is sustained.

I hope that you will fight bravely in the battles to come, defeat the Tartars, and make the Heavenly Kingdom even greater!

Hong Tian's youthful voice was transmitted through the brass loudspeaker to the ears of every Guardsman on the training ground.

Thanks to the ideological education consistently implemented by the Imperial Guard, these soldiers were filled with admiration for Hong Tian. Every single one of them had an incredibly fervent gaze and was brimming with fighting spirit.

"Long live the Heavenly King! Long live the Heavenly Kingdom!"

The soldiers all roared loudly.

The roar of more than 15,000 people was incredibly powerful and exhilarating.

Everyone was full of confidence about the war to come.

The next day, the 1st Infantry Division of the Imperial Guard and two armies of the Eastern Expeditionary Army set off from Tianjing City to launch a large-scale counterattack against the Qing army.

And this was the first battle since the formation of the Guards!