Slaying the Qing: My Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

The great battle between the Manchus and the Taiping Army in Henan Province ultimately ended in a crushing defeat for the Manchus.

The Tartar army suffered heavy losses in Henan Province.

The troops in Guide Town and Nanyang Town were almost decimated.

In order to resist the Taiping Army's attack, the Tartars had no choice but to transfer troops from Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces to reinforce them.

Even so, Guide Prefecture, Chenzhou Prefecture, Runing Prefecture, and Guangzhou Prefecture in Henan Province fell into the hands of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

These prefectures combined cover almost a third of Henan Province.

After occupying these prefectures, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was fully capable of appointing a governor of Henan Province to manage these prefectures.

The plan is to wait until the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom launches further attacks on other prefectures in Henan Province before taking over the entire province.

"Your Majesty, our campaign in Henan Province can now be temporarily suspended. Although we could have occupied even more territory if we had continued our offensive, the Heavenly Kingdom has already broken ties with the foreigners, and war with them is imminent. Furthermore, the Heavenly Kingdom still has many territories to conquer."

Therefore, the Heavenly Kingdom should stop while it's ahead and halt its attack on the Tartars.

"Once we have defeated the foreigners and consolidated our control over the territories we now occupy, we will launch a major offensive against the Manchus."

Hong Jen-gan, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea, suggested this.

Hong Tian nodded repeatedly, indicating his agreement.

Hong Tian was very clear that taking too big a step could backfire.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom appeared powerful, but it was like oil being poured on a raging fire.

But the foundation is still too shallow.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom needed to implement the land redistribution plan throughout the occupied territories to solidify its foundation.

This allowed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to devote more resources to other battlefields.

"Okay, let's do it this way for now!" Hong Tian knew very well that the British and the Gauls would arrive in the Far East in two or three months.

This time, the primary target of the British and the Gauls is probably not the Tartars, but the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had to ensure victory in its war against the foreigners.

"Your Majesty, what is our next plan for attacking Hunan Province?" asked Shi Dakai, the Minister of Military Affairs.

Shi Dakai had been planning an attack on Hunan Province.

In the past few months, the Hunan Army has been conducting intensive training.

With the support of numerous landlords, wealthy merchants, and the Qing government, the Xiang Army's strength expanded rapidly, like a snowball rolling downhill.

Currently, the total size of the Hunan Army has exceeded 100,000.

These troops were deployed in Hubei and Hunan provinces to fight against the Taiping Army.

Hunan Province, in particular, was the stronghold of the Hunan Army.

Before Shi Dakai, he had been leading the Taiping Army in battles against the Qing army. However, the Xiang Army had become the main adversary of the Taiping Army.

"The offensive plan against Hunan Province cannot be stopped. Even if we need time to recuperate and deal with the foreign devils' attacks, we cannot sit idly by and watch the Hunan Army continue to grow stronger."

In particular, we cannot stand idly by and watch Zeng Bohan and his ilk continue to deceive the people of Hunan Province and allow them to continue to serve as dogs for the Tartars!

Hong Tian said.

At present, the vast majority of people in Hunan Province are hostile to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

With the tireless propaganda efforts of the Manchu court, government offices at all levels, and landlords and gentry, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was seen as a monstrous threat by ordinary people in Hunan Province.

They feared that if the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom attacked, they would be robbed of all their property. In reality, most of the people didn't own much property at all. What they truly feared was that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would, as the Qing government officials and landlords had claimed, commit mass murders and humiliate their wives and daughters.

Therefore, they were willing to join the Xiang Army and fight desperately against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

In reality, these simple and honest people were completely deceived by Zeng Bohan, the Tartars, and those landlords and rich peasants.

Zeng Bohan wanted to use the lives of these people to realize his ambition of becoming a high-ranking official. The Tartars, on the other hand, naturally wanted to use these people to preserve their country and further maintain their rule.

As for the landlords and wealthy landowners, they were terrified by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's policy of forcibly confiscating land and property, fearing that their land and property would be seized once the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom attacked. Therefore, they spared no effort in deceiving the people. At the same time, they also contributed money and manpower to help the Xiang Army grow stronger.

If the Xiang Army is allowed to continue developing in this way, it will inevitably become a major enemy of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the future.

If the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom wanted to take over Hunan Province in the future, it might have to pay an even greater price.

"Zeng Bohan is indeed quite capable. After becoming the Governor-General of Huguang, he has managed Hunan Province like an ironclad fortress. If we allow them to continue deceiving the people and grow stronger, they will inevitably pose a great threat to us."

"In that case, let's create an opening in the Hunan Army's controlled area. At the same time, we can let the people of Hunan Province know that our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is not what the Tartars and those traitors and lackeys have portrayed it!"

Hong Tian said.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's top leaders all expressed their support.

Although the Xiang Army was very strong, it had become the most powerful of the many local warlords under the Manchus.

However, in the eyes of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's high-ranking officials, the Xiang Army was still no match for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's attack on the Xiang Army should have been a sure thing.

"If everyone agrees, then the army will proceed with the planned offensive into Hunan Province. The objective is to capture Yuezhou Prefecture and create an opening in Hunan Province. At the same time, we should strive to severely damage the Hunan Army!" Hong Tian ordered.

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

Military Minister Shi Dakai quickly made arrangements.

The attack on Hunan Province was carried out by two infantry divisions of the Imperial Guard Corps, namely the 1st and 2nd Infantry Divisions of the Imperial Guard Corps.

The 1st Infantry Division of the Guards Corps is currently stationed in Wuchang Prefecture. The 2nd Infantry Division of the Guards Corps is deployed in Jiujiang Prefecture, Jiangxi Province.

The 3rd and 4th Armies of the Western Expeditionary Army will also be deployed to the battle.

In this battle, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom deployed a total of approximately 60,000 troops.

Although the total strength of the Hunan Army had exceeded 100,000, they still stationed a considerable number of troops in Hubei Province.

The Hubei Army suffered heavy losses in previous wars, and Zeng Bohan, after becoming the Governor-General of Huguang, also intended to suppress the Hubei Army. As a result, the Hubei Army is now almost completely swallowed up by the Xiang Army.

Hong Tian decided that General Chen Yucheng, the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard Corps, would be in charge of this battle.

General Chen Yucheng is young, only twenty years old this year, but he is definitely a veteran of countless battles.

Furthermore, the main force in this battle was originally the Imperial Guard.

General Chen Yucheng was the perfect person to command the operation.

After Hong Tian issued the order, the Taiping Army quickly sprang into action.

The 1st Infantry Division of the Imperial Guard Corps rushed from the vicinity of Daye to Puqi. The 3rd Corps of the Western Expeditionary Army also rushed to the front line.

Meanwhile, the 2nd Infantry Division of the Imperial Guard Corps rushed from Jiujiang Prefecture to the western part of Nanchang Prefecture, preparing to attack Yuezhou Prefecture from this direction.

The 4th Army of the Western Expeditionary Corps will then advance south from Tongcheng to assist the 2nd Infantry Division of the Imperial Guard Corps.

With large numbers of troops and war materials being mobilized, a major war was imminent.

In this battle, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom aimed to break through the Hunan Army's stronghold in Hunan Province and seize the opportunity to inflict a heavy blow on the Hunan Army.

Once this goal is achieved, it will undoubtedly be a huge blow to the Hunan Army.

In the short term, the Xiang Army will find it difficult to pose a threat to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom could now focus its main efforts on internal reorganization and dealing with the threat from foreign powers.

After the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom defeated the foreign invaders and completed its period of recuperation, more importantly, a series of newly formed troops had achieved combat readiness.

That will be the time for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to engage in a large-scale decisive battle with the Manchus.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will sweep across the entire eastern land with even greater power.

The Taiping Army's frantic mobilization naturally attracted the attention of the Xiang Army.

In late August 1857, Zeng Bohan, the leader of the Xiang Army and the Governor-General of Huguang, summoned a group of high-ranking members of the Xiang Army to discuss countermeasures.

However, every high-ranking member of the Hunan Army present had an extremely solemn expression.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of today is not what it used to be.

These high-ranking officers of the Hunan Army were well aware of the strength of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.