Slaying the Qing: My Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

February 18, 1858, Lunar New Year.

But for officials in Zhejiang Province, this year-end is anything but easy!

In just a few days, Jiaxing Prefecture and Huzhou Prefecture had fallen. The western part of Hangcheng Prefecture had also been captured by the Taiping Army. The Taiping Army was already not far from Hangcheng.

If the frontline army fails to withstand the Taiping army's attack again, the Taiping army will soon be able to march directly to Hangzhou.

General Ruichang of Hangzhou was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

"Lord Zheng, how is the situation at the front? Can we still hold off the Taiping Rebellion's attack?" Ruichang asked.

"General, the generals have done their utmost. But the gap between our troops and the Taiping rebels' fighting strength is too great. The Taiping rebels have more troops equipped with modern firearms, while our troops are mainly equipped with cold weapons."

Whether in open field battles or siege warfare, we are no match for the Taiping rebels.

Zhejiang Provincial Governor Zheng Kuishi looked helpless.

The disparity in strength between the two sides was so great that no matter how hard the Qing army in Zhejiang Province tried, they were simply unable to withstand the Taiping army's attack.

"General, the Taiping rebels have launched attacks on us from multiple directions. Yanzhou Prefecture and Quzhou Prefecture have also been attacked by the Taiping rebels. We have no choice but to disperse our forces to resist their attacks."

When faced with the elite troops of the Taiping Rebellion, we were even more powerless to resist.

If this continues, I'm afraid the Taiping rebels will soon reach Hangzhou.

Zheng Kuishi reminded him.

"Hangzhou is a large city. Can we rely on the city walls to resist the Taiping Rebellion's attack?" Ruichang asked.

Zheng Kuishi shook his head: "General, the Taiping Rebellion's cannons are extremely powerful. Every time they attack a city, they use explosives to blow up the city walls. Even if Hangzhou's city walls are high and sturdy, they probably still can't withstand the Taiping Rebellion's gunpowder."

Ruichang's face was full of disappointment upon hearing this answer.

"General, have the Governor-General and the General of Fuzhou agreed to send reinforcements to us?" asked Yan Ruishu, the Governor of Zhejiang Province.

"The Governor-General said he would do his best to reinforce us. But Fujian Province only has tens of thousands of troops. The number of troops they can send to reinforce us is probably very limited."

As for the General of Fuzhou, his Eight Banners troops are not even as good as my own, so there's no point in counting on them.

Ruichang looked disdainful.

"General, what should we do if Hangzhou falls?" Yan Ruishu asked.

As local officials, we have a responsibility to protect our territory.

Once the Taiping army attacks, they should naturally live and die with Hangzhou.

But he had finally become a high-ranking official and accumulated a great deal of wealth. It would be such a pity to die now.

Ruichang's eyes lit up.

As the garrison minister, it was even more impossible for him to share the fate of Hangzhou.

"I have decided to personally go to Fuzhou to seek assistance from Governor-General Qingrui of Fujian and Zhejiang and General Dongchun of Fuzhou. The defense of Hangzhou will be entrusted to the Governor and the Admiral," Ruichang said.

Yan Ruishu and Zheng Kuishi were dumbfounded. They never expected that Ruichang would try to slip away and escape first, just as the Taiping Army was about to attack.

"General, I am a civil official, not a military officer. The matter of fighting should be handled by Lord Zheng. I also need to rush to Fuzhou to report the situation in Zhejiang Province to the Governor-General."

Furthermore, General, the Taiping rebels have launched a fierce attack on Quzhou Prefecture from Jiangxi Province. They are almost at the gates of Quzhou. Clearly, the Taiping rebels are trying to sever our connection with Fujian Province!

Therefore, I suggest we travel to Fuzhou by sea. This would be safer and faster!

Yan Ruishu suggested.

Taking the sea route has two advantages. Although Yan Ruishu didn't say it explicitly, Ruichang understood.

Traveling by boat is naturally not as bumpy as traveling by horse-drawn carriage. At the same time, seagoing vessels can carry more people and their accumulated wealth.

This suggestion perfectly suited Ruichang's wishes.

Ruichang immediately adopted this suggestion and agreed to let Yan Ruishu accompany him to Fuzhou.

This made Zheng Kuishi feel extremely frustrated and dissatisfied.

Ruichang and Zheng Kuishi escaped, leaving him behind to fight the Taiping Army head-on. Where in the world is there such an easy thing as a free lunch?

But a higher-ranking official can have absolute power, and since Ruichang had already issued such an order, Zheng Kuishi could not disobey it.

Otherwise, he would probably become a scapegoat.

In that case, all the blame will be placed on him.

By the end of February, the main force of the Taiping army had already reached Hangzhou.

The 2nd Infantry Division of the Eastern Expeditionary Army, the 4th Infantry Division of the Imperial Guards Army, and the 3rd and 4th Armies of the Eastern Expeditionary Army, totaling nearly 60,000 troops, arrayed themselves outside Hangzhou.

Although Zhejiang Provincial Commander Zheng Kuishi had also gathered tens of thousands of Green Standard Army soldiers and tens of thousands of Eight Banner soldiers in Hangzhou, attempting to defend the city.

But they had absolutely no chance of winning against the formidable Taiping army.

In particular, Mancheng, outside Hangzhou, was the first to be attacked by the Taiping Army.

The 2nd Infantry Division of the Eastern Expeditionary Army hit dozens of cannons and launched a fierce bombardment of the city.

With their powerful firepower, they directly bombarded and collapsed the entire city wall.

The tens of thousands of Eight Banner soldiers who held out here only put up a slight resistance before choosing to surrender.

These Eight Banner soldiers had long since lost their fighting ability.

Especially after General Ruichang of Hangzhou had already fled, other generals at all levels also fled one after another.

The lower-ranking Eight Banner soldiers weren't fools, so naturally they wouldn't stubbornly resist.

After the Taiping army captured Manchuria, all the Manchus there were arrested and dealt with in a unified manner.

Although Hangzhou was a large city, it still could not withstand the powerful artillery fire of the Taiping Army.

The Green Standard Army soldiers stationed inside the city also had little combat capability.

As a result, after the city fell, a large number of Green Standard Army soldiers from Zhejiang Province surrendered to the Taiping Army.

These Green Standard Army soldiers weren't fools either.

They had already learned about the policies of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom through various channels.

After they surrendered, the Taiping army wouldn't massacre them; at most, they would be forced to do hard labor for a few years. After enduring those years, they would be able to start a new life.

In particular, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would distribute land to the poor, and these Green Standard Army soldiers were also among the poor.

When the time comes, once we're allocated land, becoming a farmer wouldn't be bad.

With the army lacking fighting spirit, it was simply impossible to defend Hangzhou.

When Hangzhou fell, Zheng Kuishi, the governor of Zhejiang Province, escaped the city under the protection of his personal guards and fled to Fujian Province by sea.

With both Hangzhou General Ruichang and Zhejiang Governor Yan Ruishu having fled beforehand, he naturally wouldn't hold out here any longer.

The Taiping Army's southern expeditionary force's attack on Quzhou Prefecture was also very successful.

The Qing army Green Standard Army stationed here was utterly ineffective and collapsed almost immediately upon contact.

Many state governments surrendered without a second thought.

As a result, in just half a month, the Southern Expeditionary Army not only captured Quzhou Prefecture, but also entered Chuzhou Prefecture.

The main force of the Southern Expeditionary Army, the 1st Infantry Division, even stormed into Wenzhou Prefecture.

It can be said that all the prefectures in the northern, western and southern parts of Zhejiang Province were simply unable to resist the Taiping Army's attacks.

This led to the fact that Qingrui, the Governor-General of Fujian and Zhejiang, and Dongchun, the General of Fuzhou, had originally planned to send troops north to reinforce Zhejiang Province.

However, the Zhejiang army collapsed too quickly. At the same time, the formidable fighting power displayed by the Taiping army also caused great concern for Qingrui and Dongchun.

They were afraid that if they failed to rescue Zhejiang Province, they would end up getting themselves involved.

Therefore, they simply abandoned the rescue of Zhejiang Province and instead dispatched troops to defend western and northern Fujian Province, relying on the mountainous terrain.

Faced with such isolation and helplessness, did the Qing army in Zhejiang Province have any other choice but to surrender to the Taiping army?

Apart from a very small number of pedantic and corrupt scholars who continued to resist, most of the army and officials surrendered.

It took only two months from the time the Taiping Army launched its attack on Zhejiang Province to the time it completely occupied all the prefectures and counties of Zhejiang.

The entire Zhejiang province was now completely under the control of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

The fact that such a wealthy province was under the control of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would undoubtedly greatly enhance the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's strength.