Slaying the Qing: My Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

"Prime Minister, rest assured, by the time the foreign army arrives in the Far East, it will be the end of the year. On the Eastern Expeditionary Army side, the combat effectiveness of the 2nd Infantry Division will be further enhanced. On the Guards Army side, the 3rd Infantry Division has also fully achieved combat readiness. Furthermore, the 4th Infantry Division has already been formed."

The other corps also had one or two infantry divisions that had been formed and trained, and had achieved combat capability.

We are able to assemble tens of thousands of elite troops in the southern Jiangsu region.

For foreigners to transport these supplies from Europe to the Far East would not only take a considerable amount of time, but also make it impossible to transport a large number of troops.

Therefore, just as His Majesty the Heavenly King asserted, the foreigners would only have mobilized a few thousand people at most the first time.

Even after suffering heavy losses, they continued to send reinforcements from Europe, but at most, they could only mobilize tens of thousands of troops.

And that would be at least a year from now.

By then, the Heavenly Kingdom will undoubtedly have assembled a larger and more powerful army.

We can absolutely defeat the foreigners!

Minister of Military Affairs Shi Dakai was also very confident about the upcoming war with the foreigners.

This put Prime Minister Hong Jen-kan and the other cabinet ministers at ease.

Since the military is confident in defeating the foreigners, there is naturally nothing to fear.

No matter how cruel or cunning foreigners may be.

But if the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom can defeat the foreigners in future wars, then the foreigners will have no choice but to back down.

What foreigners cannot obtain on the battlefield, they cannot obtain at the negotiating table.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was not a Manchu; they wouldn't do something so shameful. Despite having already defeated the foreigners on the battlefield, they still had to grovel before them, ceding land and paying reparations—they were utterly incompetent and cowardly.

"Gentlemen, war between the Heavenly Kingdom and the foreigners is inevitable. But I believe that the Heavenly Kingdom will surely win this war. So, there is no need for you to worry at all," Hong Tian said to the crowd.

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

Everyone is equally confident about the upcoming battle.

However, although Hong Tian was full of confidence in the upcoming war, the necessary preparations were also essential.

Hong Tian ordered the Taiping Army to build fortifications along the Yangtze River to defend against attacks from foreign warships.

The forts located at Wusongkou, in particular, need to be rebuilt or upgraded.

During the First Opium War, British warships bombarded this area. Even though the Qing army fought valiantly, they were ultimately no match for the British due to the vast disparity in strength.

This time, Hong Tian plans to upgrade the entire Wusongkou Fort into a fortress. This includes not only installing more cannons but also strengthening its defenses.

The Tartar's fort was nothing more than an open-air fort with virtually no protection.

With cannons placed in the open, if they were bombarded by the enemy, the artillerymen would suffer heavy casualties. At the same time, the cannons would also be destroyed.

On the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's side, they used reinforced concrete to build fortresses. Then, they installed cannons inside the fortresses.

Inside the fortress, you can add wood and other materials to slow down the shockwaves from enemy artillery fire. Outside, you can add steel, stone, and other materials.

Such protective capabilities were virtually invincible against the artillery fire of this era.

Even if the British and Gauls' warships gathered at Wusongkou, they would not be able to destroy the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's coastal defense fortress.

In contrast, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's fortified cannons could be hidden inside strong fortresses and launch a fierce attack on the British and Gauls' warships.

In this era, the British and Gauls had already begun building ironclad warships.

However, the mainstay of the navy remained sailing battleships.

These sailing warships were almost all made of wood.

In addition, warships carry a large number of items that are prone to fire, such as sails.

Once ignited, the warship could easily be burned.

In addition, the fortress cannons that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom planned to equip were more powerful and had a longer range.

This would undoubtedly pose a huge threat to the warships of the British and the Gauls.

As long as we can blockade the warships of the British and Gauls in the Yangtze River, preventing them from going upstream.

Therefore, in order to defeat the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the British and the Gauls had no choice but to obediently allow their infantry to land.

Even now, the British Empire's army and the Gallo-British army can be considered world-class armies.

However, the British and the Gauls were still no match for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's army.

With equal numbers of troops, the Heavenly Kingdom's army could easily defeat the British and the Gauls.

In terms of military strength, neither the British nor the Gauls could possibly have an advantage.

Considering these factors, how could the British and the Gauls possibly defeat the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the ensuing war?

After Hong Tian issued the order to build a coastal fortress, a large number of engineers and materials were transported to the Yangtze River basin.

In addition to the forts at Wusongkou, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom also planned to build several more fortresses along the Yangtze River.

For example, the fortress located in Jiangyin, etc.

These fortresses ensured control over the Yangtze River waterway.

This not only concerns the security of the core areas under the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's rule, but also promotes economic development.

In addition to building fortresses, the Taiping army's various units also intensified their training.

In particular, the units that have undergone reorganization need to further enhance their training.

Once the British and the Gallic peoples attacked, the other Taiping troops, mainly equipped with old-fashioned firearms or cold weapons, would obviously be no match for the foreign devils.

Sending these troops to the battlefield would be tantamount to sending them to their deaths.

Only troops that have been reorganized and equipped with new firearms can be the main force in fighting against the foreign devils.

If possible, Hong Tian and other high-ranking officials of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would naturally hope to quickly re-equip and reorganize all the troops.

However, the problem is that the current production capacity of the arsenal is severely insufficient.

Even though the arsenal has started operating on a three-shift system, due to a shortage of raw materials, it will take at least a month and a half for the arsenal to produce enough equipment to meet the needs of an infantry division.

Several infantry divisions are currently awaiting reorganization of their weapons and equipment.

To ensure the speed of reorganization of each legion, Hong Tian had no choice but to have the arsenal provide each legion with one or two battalions of equipment every month, so that each legion could be equipped with some new firearms and start training first, and then gradually replace them.

This situation is not expected to improve until at least next year.

If we encounter some trouble or things don't go smoothly, it might delay things for even longer.

In addition, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's shipyards have finally completed their initial construction and are ready to begin building warships.

The workers at the shipyard were recruited by Hong Tianxia from all over the country.

There are both traditional shipbuilding workers and shipbuilding workers recruited from shipyards in coastal areas through various channels.

For example, there are many shipyards in China that are run by foreigners.

After the Taiping army occupied Zhonghai, the workers from these shipyards were also forcibly brought to Tianjing City.

In addition, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom also employed some foreign technical personnel.

Although the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was in a tense relationship with foreigners, this did not prevent those foreign technicians from accepting the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's employment and working for them.

For these foreigners, there is no conflict. Their primary concern remains their own interests, which is the most important point.

It was through the efforts of various channels that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's shipyard was able to complete its construction and prepare for the commencement of warship construction.

Lai Hanying, the original naval commander of the Taiping Army, has been appointed as the Minister of the Navy by Hong Tian.

Although the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's navy at that time did not have a single decent warship, at most some small inland river warships that sailed in the Yangtze River waterway.

Furthermore, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's navy couldn't even defeat the Xiang Army's navy.

But this does not prevent Hong Tian, ​​as the Heavenly King, from having the ambition to build a powerful navy.