Slaying the Qing: My Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

The British Empire and the Gallic Empire were both top-tier world powers, extremely formidable.

But they were too far from the Far East.

If the two sides are very close, Hong Tian might temporarily back down and choose to settle things peacefully when faced with the threat from the British.

However, since the British and the Gauls could not deploy too many troops to the Far East.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom also possessed formidable military strength, so naturally they had nothing to fear.

On the contrary, Hong Tian saw this battle as a good opportunity to boost his reputation.

After hearing Hong Tian's reasons, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's high-ranking officials also agreed with his point of view.

Although the British Empire and the Gauls were powerful, they were not invincible.

This time, with thorough preparations, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had a very good chance of giving the British and the Gauls a severe blow and making them pay a heavy price.

Perhaps the British and the Gauls will remember this so vividly that they will not dare to provoke the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom again for a long time.

This will buy the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom a long time to overthrow the Manchus and develop its power.

After Hong Tian made his decision, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom began preparations.

Because the British Empire and the Gallic armies were still in faraway Europe.

In the history that Hong Tian knew, the British would not be ready to launch an attack on Guangzhou until December.

As a result, the Qing army suffered a crushing defeat. Even Ye Mingchen, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, was captured by the British and the Gauls and taken to Calcutta on the Indian subcontinent.

But Ye Mingchen was a man of principle; he chose to go on a hunger strike and ultimately starved himself to death.

This means that it would take at least ten more months for the British and the Gauls to prepare for war.

With so much time, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom could make thorough preparations.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom could not only use this time to build up more troops, but also defeat the Manchus first, thus eliminating the Manchu threat to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

At that time, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will be able to focus all its efforts on dealing with the British and the Gauls.

Even though the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom lacked naval superiority, Hong Tian believed it still possessed an absolute advantage in ground combat power.

Therefore, Hong Tian ordered the 3rd Infantry Division of the Imperial Guard to begin its formation ahead of schedule.

Meanwhile, the arsenal is further expanding its scale and increasing its production capacity.

At the same time, Hong Tian personally organized a team to develop larger caliber artillery.

For the time being, the 75mm mountain guns and 75mm field guns were sufficient in terms of firepower on the ground battlefield.

However, such cannons are far from sufficient for dealing with warships.

Even though the main warships of this era were still sailing warships.

The British Royal Navy and the Gallic Navy were only just beginning to enter the era of ironclad warships.

Both countries still have a very small number of ironclad warships and are only just beginning to explore the field.

However, to destroy the massive warships of the British and the Gauls, even larger caliber cannons would be needed.

Hong Tian hopes that the arsenal can successfully develop a 105mm light howitzer and a 120mm naval gun or fortress gun within the next ten months.

Among them, the 105mm light howitzer can be equipped by army units. Although it is a bit heavy, it can stand alone as an army unit, forming a heavy artillery battalion to cooperate with ground troops in combat. It can also be deployed on fortresses, gun emplacements, or warships.

As for the 120mm naval guns and fortress guns, they were entirely intended for warships and fortresses.

For the army, a 120mm cannon was still too heavy.

Especially given the poor transportation infrastructure in the country, overly heavy artillery is unsuitable for mobility and maneuverability.

For a short period of time, 75mm mountain guns and field guns will remain the main artillery of the army.

A 105mm light howitzer is already considered a heavy artillery piece.

As for larger caliber artillery, it could only be used on warships and fortresses.

Hong Tian hoped that the next step would be to build fortifications along the Yangtze River to prevent the warships of the British and Gauls from entering the Yangtze.

For example, the fort located at Wusongkou was previously destroyed by the British.

Once the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom occupies Zhonghai, it can be completely rebuilt. Furthermore, by using reinforced concrete, its defensive capabilities can be further enhanced, transforming it into a coastal fortress.

If a large number of fortress cannons are also attached.

No matter how powerful the fleets of the British and the Gauls were, they could never hope to enter the Yangtze River.

Once the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has built a powerful navy, it will be able to compete with the British and the Gauls at sea.

Perhaps, they could truly keep the enemy at bay and defeat the British and the Gauls at sea.

However, it will undoubtedly take a long time to achieve this goal.

Fortunately, Hong Tian is still very young and has enough time to wait.

That day is certainly not too far away.

Although the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had broken ties with the Japanese, it did not immediately send troops to attack Songjiang Prefecture.

Instead, the 1st Infantry Division of the Guards Corps was ordered to rest and reorganize before crossing the Yangtze River and heading to the Jiangbei region to fight.

The armies of the British and the Gauls would not arrive in the Far East for at least another ten months.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom still had enough time to make preparations.

For example, it would be perfectly feasible to launch an attack on Songjiang Prefecture or even Zhonghai County once the 2nd Infantry Division of the Imperial Guard Corps or the 2nd Infantry Division of the Eastern Expeditionary Corps had reached combat readiness.

Before that, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom needed to break through the Qing army's Jiangbei camp, eliminate the threat to the north of Nanjing, and further expand into the northern Jiangsu region.

At the same time, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom also needed to achieve victories on the battlefields of Anhui, Jiangxi, and Hubei provinces.

After winning in these places, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would have plenty of time to deal with the British and the Gauls.

"Yu Cheng, the situation in Jiangnan has stabilized for the time being. The 2nd Infantry Division of the Imperial Guard Legion is about to achieve combat readiness. The 3rd Infantry Division of the Imperial Guard Legion has also begun to be formed. The 2nd Army of the Eastern Expeditionary Legion has begun to be reorganized into the 2nd Infantry Division. The safety of the entire Jiangnan region of Tianjing City has been guaranteed."

However, the war situation in the Jiangbei region, as well as in Anhui, Jiangxi, and Hubei provinces, has not fundamentally changed.

The Tartars still held the upper hand.

Now we have offended the British Empire and the Gauls, and perhaps in ten months we will have to fight a war with them.

Therefore, before we proceed, we must first defeat the Tartars and severely damage them.

This prevented the Tartars from interfering while we were fighting the British and the Gauls, leaving us vulnerable to attacks from both sides.

Hong Tian said.

"Your Majesty, please rest assured, the Imperial Guard is ready for battle. We will always be the sharpest blade in Your Majesty's hands, ready to wipe out all enemies!" General Chen Yucheng said with great confidence.

The Royal Guard has already demonstrated its strength on the battlefield, which has given its soldiers even more confidence.

"Very good! Then, the Kingdom of Heaven's counterattack officially begins."

The 1st Infantry Division of the Imperial Guard crossed the river and headed north of the Yangtze to assist the Northern Expeditionary Army in defeating the Tartars and breaking through their Jiangbei camp!

Next month, once the 2nd Infantry Division of the Imperial Guard Corps reaches combat readiness, it will proceed to Jiangxi Province to assist the Southern Expeditionary Corps in defeating the Hunan and Jiangxi armies and capturing northern Jiangxi Province, including the area of ​​Nanchangfu.

Afterwards, the 1st Infantry Division of the Imperial Guard Corps entered Anhui Province to fight. Meanwhile, the 2nd Infantry Division of the Imperial Guard Corps entered Hubei Province, decisively defeating the Tartars in both battles!

Hong Tian gave the order.

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

Subsequently, the 1st Infantry Division of the Guards Corps began crossing the river to fight in the area north of the river.

Meanwhile, the 2nd Guards Infantry Division further intensified its training in preparation for the upcoming operations.

At the same time, Hong Tian also informed the generals at the front lines of the counterattack plan via telegram.

The Northern Expeditionary Army, the Southern Expeditionary Army, and the Western Expeditionary Army also learned of Hong Tian's plan.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's large-scale counterattack is about to begin.

Through a series of major battles, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will be defeated, thus completely eliminating the threat posed by the Manchus.

After this battle, it will not be so easy for the Manchus to pose a threat to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom again.