Slaying the Qing: My Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

Suzhou was the location of the Jiangsu Provincial Governor's Office.

After Jiangning was captured by the Taiping Army, the Tatars' Jiangning General, the Governor-General of Liangjiang and other government offices moved to Suzhou, where they commanded the Qing army to fight against the Taiping Army.

Suzhou is too close to Tianjing City. If this thorn in our side is not removed, it will continue to seriously threaten the safety of Tianjing City.

Moreover, the entire southern Jiangsu region is a land of plenty with a developed economy.

If this fertile region could be directly controlled by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, establishing direct rule over it, it would undoubtedly greatly enhance the overall strength of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

At the same time, capturing the southern Jiangsu region would open the way for advancing into Zhejiang Province.

Once the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom swept across the entire Zhejiang province, it would further enhance the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's strength.

With this shift in power, the strength of the Tartars will be further weakened.

This will drastically alter the balance of power between the two sides.

"Yes, Your Majesty." General Chen Yucheng accepted the order without any hesitation.

"General Li, the 1st Army of the Eastern Expeditionary Force, advance up the river into northern Jiangxi Province and assist the Southern Expeditionary Force in resisting the main force of the Hunan Army. The Southern Expeditionary Force is in a difficult situation and needs reinforcements."

Hong Tian then issued the order.

"Yes, Your Majesty. However, what will happen to the safety of Tianjing City after the 1st Army of the Eastern Expeditionary Force is transferred?" General Li Xiucheng couldn't help but worry.

"The 2nd Infantry Division of the Imperial Guard has begun to be formed. The soldiers are undergoing training. It may still be some time before they are ready to go to the battlefield. However, the Tartars have already suffered heavy losses, and they will not pose any threat to Tianjing City in the short term," Hong Tian said.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" General Li Xiucheng replied.

"Your Majesty, the Eastern Expeditionary Army requests to be reorganized like the Imperial Guard," General Li Xiucheng continued.

The fighting prowess displayed by the Imperial Guard was truly formidable. This greatly impressed General Li Xiucheng.

"Let's wait a little longer. After we capture Suzhou, the 2nd Army of the Eastern Expeditionary Force will rest and reorganize." Hong Tian said.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" General Li Xiucheng was overjoyed.

This means that the Eastern Expeditionary Army will be the first unit in the entire army, besides the Imperial Guard, to be equipped with new muskets and artillery.

The fighting strength of the Eastern Expeditionary Army will be greatly enhanced.

The news that the Imperial Guard and the Eastern Expeditionary Army had cooperated in the battle and had inflicted a major defeat on the Qing army's Jiangnan Camp, annihilating nearly 80,000 enemy troops, was also reported to the other corps.

The commanders and generals of the other legions were greatly shocked when they learned of this news.

No one seemed to have expected that the Imperial Guard would demonstrate such formidable combat power.

However, the stronger the Imperial Guard, the more advantageous it would be for the entire Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

After the news spread, the morale of all Taiping Army units was greatly boosted.

Both their fighting spirit and confidence have been greatly strengthened.

On the other hand, the morale of the Qing army units was severely dampened after learning that the Jiangnan Grand Camp had been captured and suffered heavy losses.

Even their offensive involuntarily slowed down.

Local armies, especially the Hunan Army, were not only powerful and brave in battle.

However, the generals of the Xiang Army all wanted to preserve their strength.

They were willing to risk their lives for the Qing government, but at the same time, they hoped to protect their own interests as much as possible.

Their army was their livelihood. If they suffered too many losses, how could their wealth and status be guaranteed?

Under such circumstances, these generals would naturally prioritize ensuring that their losses are not too great.

This greatly relieved the pressure on the various corps of the Taiping Army.

Especially the Southern Expeditionary Army, which was already on the verge of collapse.

However, after the main force of the Hunan Army reduced its offensive intensity, the defensive line was stabilized again.

In particular, the arrival of the 1st Army of the Eastern Expeditionary Force to reinforce them forced the Hunan Army to divide its forces to intercept them.

This further reduced the pressure on the Southern Expeditionary Army.

The stability of the Taiping Army on other fronts allowed Hong Tian to devote his forces to the southern Jiangsu battlefield without any worries.

On January 30, 1857, the 1st Infantry Division of the Imperial Guard once again set off from Tianjing City for the southern Jiangsu battlefield.

At this time, the 2nd Army of the Eastern Expeditionary Force, under the leadership of Commander Li Shixian, had already captured Danyang and decisively defeated the Manchu city of Danyang.

A large number of Tartars were killed, and countless grains, gold, silver and other supplies were seized.

These supplies have all begun to be transported to Tianjing City.

Meanwhile, Li Shixian had already led the main force of the 2nd Army of the Eastern Expeditionary Army to continue the attack on Wujin in Changzhou Prefecture.

On February 2, the 1st Infantry Division of the Imperial Guard Corps was deployed to attack Wujin.

Although Changzhou Prefecture was considered a fortified city, it still could not withstand the powerful artillery and machine gun fire of the Imperial Guards.

Under the cover of their own powerful firepower, the Imperial Guard's engineers buried a large amount of gunpowder directly under the walls of Wujin.

After the gunpowder was detonated, a large section of Wujin's city wall collapsed.

The soldiers of the Imperial Guard and the Eastern Expeditionary Army then poured into Wujin City through the breach.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, the Qing soldiers defending the area fled in droves.

Those who couldn't escape chose to surrender to the Taiping Army.

After capturing Wujin, the Taiping army immediately launched an attack on other cities under the jurisdiction of Changzhou Prefecture.

The Qing army, having suffered heavy losses, was simply unable to resist the Taiping army's attack.

Numerous towns surrendered without resistance.

Especially the Qing government officials, all fled at the mere sight of the enemy.

Ordinary people would naturally not risk their lives to fight against the Taiping Army.

This allowed the Taiping army to quickly take control of the entire Changzhou Prefecture.

The fall of Changzhou Prefecture also greatly alarmed the Qing army in the Suzhou area.

The Imperial Commissioner and Governor-General of Jiangnan, He Chun, the Governor-General of Liangjiang, Yi Liang, the General of Jiangning, Kui Yu, and the Governor of Jiangsu Province, Zhao Dezhe, who had escaped from the front lines, were as anxious as ants on a hot pan.

Among these Qing Dynasty officials, in terms of rank, General Kuiyu of Jiangning naturally held the highest rank.

Kuiyu was the garrison minister, responsible for commanding all the Eight Banners troops in the Jiangnan region, holding a high position and great power.

But in reality, it was He Chun, the imperial envoy in charge of military affairs in the Jiangnan region, who made the real decisions.

If Hechun can defeat the Taiping Army in this battle.

Therefore, it's almost a certainty that he will take over as General of Jiangning.

Unfortunately, he was defeated by the Taiping Army.

Although the imperial decree to punish Hechun had not yet arrived, everyone knew that Hechun was likely to suffer a severe setback this time, with little chance of recovery.

"Your Excellency, Changzhou Prefecture has fallen completely. The Taiping rebels are now within arm's reach of Suzhou Prefecture. Can we withstand their attack?" Governor Zhao Dezhe of Jiangsu Province asked anxiously.

Qing officials had a duty to defend the territory.

Suzhou Prefecture was the seat of the Jiangsu Provincial Governor's Office.

If this place falls, he, the governor of Jiangsu Province, will surely be held accountable.

More importantly, among the high-ranking officials present, he was the only Han Chinese; the others were all Manchus.

It goes without saying that if the Qing court were to blame someone and need a scapegoat, who would be more suitable than him?

"We can't stop them, we simply can't stop them! I previously mobilized 80,000 troops and set up the Jiangnan Camp. I originally thought that we could blockade Jiangning City and starve the Taiping rebels to death in one fell swoop."

But to everyone's surprise, the Taiping Rebellion actually possessed a well-trained and extremely well-equipped army.

Even though the Taiping rebels only mobilized a little over ten thousand men, they still inflicted a crushing defeat on my army, causing heavy losses. I myself was forced to flee back to Suzhou in a sorry state.

Now, the entire Jiangnan region is severely understaffed, making it even more difficult to withstand the Taiping Rebellion's attack!

He Chun looked dejected, clearly not yet recovered from his previous failure.

"Then what should we do? Once the Taiping rebels invade Suzhou, the entire Suzhou prefecture will fall. Where can we go then?" General Kuiyu of Jiangning panicked.

With Jiangning lost, he, the General of Jiangning, had no choice but to stay in Suzhou, hoping that one day he could take back Jiangning.

If even Suzhou is lost, then the entire southern Jiangsu region will likely be lost completely.

These high-ranking officials stationed in Jiangsu Province, one by one, will all be held accountable and will suffer the consequences!