After the Taiping Army suffered a setback on the Western Front, they retreated to defend Huangzhou with all their strength, instead of continuing to increase troops to retaliate as usual.
Maybe they have expanded too fast in the past six months and need to digest the newly occupied areas.
The new territory will definitely bring about new problems of profit distribution. Doesn't it mean that whoever conquers it will get it? Then wouldn't the Heavenly King and the Eastern King who are nesting in Tianjing City have to be emptied out?
Each prince of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom wanted to allocate his own territory in these new occupied areas. Only with the territory can he raise more troops. With more troops, his position can be more stable.
Although Hong Xiuquan had secretly discussed with Northern King Wei Changhui, Yi King Shi Dakai and Yan King Qin Rigang to deal with Yang Xiuqing together, this did not affect the competition between them.
Maybe when they digest these occupied areas, internal conflicts will break out.
Compared with the peaceful Taiping Army in the south, the Taiping Northern Expedition Army led by Lin Fengxiang was much more active.
Lin Fengxiang first occupied Luanzhou after the year, and then raided Shanhaiguan after plundering Luanzhou.
Originally, a strong pass like Shanhaiguan was difficult to conquer.
But as mentioned before, the troops in Luanzhou and Shanhaiguan were basically deployed to defend the capital.
Therefore, Shanhaiguan was empty of troops. The Taiping Army had its own way of dealing with such a fortified city. Lin Fengxiang adopted a two-pronged approach, first sending spies to sneak into Shanhaiguan City.
On February 3, when Lin Fengxiang led an army to suddenly attack Shanhaiguan City, a small number of Qing troops in the city went up to defend the enemy in chaos.
The spies who had sneaked into the city took the opportunity to create chaos in the city, and Lin Fengxiang sent a death squad to blow open the city gate with explosives, thus taking Shanhaiguan City in one fell swoop.
After entering Shanhaiguan, the exit strategy formulated by Lin Fengxiang and others was equivalent to completing the first step.
However, it is cold outside the pass and it is not suitable for the army to dispatch at this time.
Therefore, Lin Fengxiang, Li Kaifang, and Ji Wenyuan agreed to stay in Shanhaiguan to resist the Qing attack.
After all, Shanhaiguan is a majestic pass, known as the first pass in the world. It should be very easy for Lin Fengxiang to lead an army of tens of thousands to hold it.
Lin Fengxiang simply had people block the west gate that had been blown open before with rocks.
Seng Gelinqin led the army to pursue them all the way, and attacked Shanhaiguan for several days. At the cost of thousands of Qing casualties, Shanhaiguan was not captured in the end.
Seeing that he could not take the enemy for a long time, Seng Gelinqin was also very anxious, but he was still rational and did not blindly attack Shanhaiguan. Instead, he sent someone to bypass Shanhaiguan and send a letter directly to General Yinglong of Shengjing.
He asked Yinglong to send the Eight Banners soldiers from Shengjing to intercept the bandits.
Yinglong was originally a general in Heilongjiang and was just transferred to a general in Shengjing. He has no talent or virtue.
When he was in Heilongjiang, the Russians continued to invade and occupy China's territory, but he turned a blind eye and only knew that he was hiding in Qiqihar in the south and enjoying himself.
Seng Gelinqin's plan was good. He invited General Shengjing to attack the bandits from both front and back, and blocked Lin Fengxiang in Shanhaiguan.
It was not until March that Yinglong slowly led his five thousand Eight Banners to the east of Shanhaiguan.
The sudden appearance of these Eight Banners soldiers really made Lin Fengxiang nervous for a while, but when he saw that there were only more than 5,000 people on the other side, he felt relieved.
When the Taiping Army conquered Nanjing in the Eastern Expedition, they also fought against the Eight Banners Army. However, at that time, a few hundred Taiping Army could chase thousands of Eight Banners Army.
Therefore, Lin Fengxiang looked down upon these Eight Banners troops from the bottom of his heart. In fact, he still underestimated these Eight Banners troops outside the Pass. These Eight Banners were not comparable to the pampered Eight Banners in Nanjing city.
Lin Fengxiang's troops numbered 60,000 to 70,000, which was more than enough even for a two-way defense. So the three parties remained in a stalemate until April.
When Dong Shuheng returned from Japan, it began to warm up in the north.
The time Lin Fengxiang had been waiting for finally came. He left five thousand troops to guard the west side of Guancheng.
Then, the 60,000-strong army was gathered and fought out from the east gate, heading straight towards the Eight Banners Army in Shengjing.
Yinglong was frightened by the overwhelming Taiping army. However, his soldiers were not as timid as he was.
In fact, most of the Shengjing Eight Banners also had infantry and even artillery.
According to the consistent tactics of the Qing army, the Eight Banners soldiers on Yinglong's side fired first. The Eight Banners soldiers still used the red cannons handed down from the early Qing Dynasty. Although they were a bit bulkier, they were indeed quite powerful.
"Boom, boom, boom..." The huge iron ball crashed forward among the Taiping Army crowd, ruthlessly carving a bloody path until its kinetic energy disappeared or it was blocked by something solid.
The Eight Banners in Shengjing, outside the customs, were still in a bitter cold place. Unlike those Eight Banners soldiers in the big cities in the south of the Yangtze River, they were infected by the colorful world of the city and contracted various diseases, especially the problem of smoking.
They had already lost their spirit and lost their original combat effectiveness.
Lin Fengxiang also had a look of surprise on his face. This group of Eight Banners soldiers fought very resolutely, not wavering at all because of the disparity in strength.
"Prime Minister Lin, this battle is not easy to fight. The casualties among our brothers will be heavy." Ji Wenyuan, a cautious man, frowned and reminded.
"Wen Yuan, don't worry. Although the opponent is brave, there are only 5,000 people. If we work hard, we will definitely defeat the opponent." Lin Fengxiang said.
Lin Fengxiang is not worried about failure. Although many of the 60,000 to 70,000 people he has are refugees who were later recruited or young men who were kidnapped from the prefectures and counties they passed through. However, they have been training rigorously during this period, and many new recruits are attacking cities and territories.
It has also experienced actual combat testing.
"Xiucai, let me, Old Li, lead a charge to knock out the opponent's artillery array." Li Kaifang said. Li Kaifang still has the same temperament. He will charge into the array if he disagrees, and he doesn't think about the injuries on his body that are just fine and haven't been healed yet.
Lisuo, it’s time to go up again.
"Forget it, you don't need to rush. We'll just cover them all the way. This is called crushing with strength, do you understand?"
Yinglong could not restrain his impulse to escape. Although the artillery here could kill dozens of people every time, the advance of the Taiping Army in the dark did not slow down at all.
Those cannonballs were like pebbles thrown into the water. Although they caused a little ripple, they did not affect the speed of the water flow at all.
After the Taiping Army entered the shooting range, the musketeers in the army quickly formed a team and prepared to shoot at the Eight Banners soldiers. The Eight Banners soldiers also took out their bows and arrows to fight back.
There is not much difference in the range of the two sides. Here the muskets are firing, and the other sword and shield soldiers are outflanking from both sides, intending to surround the five thousand and eight flags.
"General, let his soldiers go up and charge. Directly penetrate the musketeers from the middle and hit the central army attacking the bandits. When the bandits are disorganized, the people who are outflanking the two wings will definitely go back to support." A deputy said.
Dutong suggested.
There are five deputy commanders of the army under General Shengjing, and one deputy commander in charge. They each have their own jurisdiction. This time, Deputy Commander Yinglongguang came out with three people. In addition, there are also three people under the command of General Shengjing.
If more than half of the Eight Banners soldiers were killed here, then Shengjing would most likely be lost.
Shengjing was the place of Longxing in the Qing Dynasty, where the capital was located, and its status was no less than that of the capital city.
As long as the bandits attack outside Shengjing City, even if they fail to capture Shengjing, just disturbing the imperial mausoleum outside the city is enough to make Yinglong irrecoverable.
"No, it's too risky." Yinglong said.
"The bandit attack is fierce, and our army's top priority is to retreat unscathed." Yinglong continued.
"General, we can't retreat. The bandit's offensive is so fierce. If we retreat, the whole army may collapse." A deputy general advised him.
"Don't disturb the morale of our army. Our army has cavalry to cover its retreat. The bandits will not dare to let go of the pursuit. Otherwise, when they release their formation, our cavalry will be able to cover up and kill them." Yinglong said.
In fact, he wanted to escape back with these soldiers, but he just said it in a high-sounding way.
Yinglong's idea was that he had few soldiers, so even if he retreated, there was nothing wrong with him, as long as he ran back to defend Shengjing.
From Shanhaiguan to Shengjing, one has to pass through the long and narrow Liaoxi Corridor, which is a dangerous place to defend. All he has to do is slowly hold off the bandits and let Seng Gelinqin from behind come over and eliminate them.
But Yinglong didn't think about it, would Lin Fengxiang allow him to retreat with peace of mind?
On the battlefield, the situation changes rapidly, and retreating is not an easy task. Sometimes retreating is more difficult than attacking.
The deputy commander still wanted to give advice, but he didn't want bandits to invade his area.
General Shengjing of the Manchu Qing Dynasty had great power. In order to prevent anyone from becoming powerful, these generals were usually rotated every one or two years.
But those vice-captains, assistant leaders, etc. are all native-born local Eight Banners, and their families, land, and wealth are all in Shengjing and surrounding areas.
"The first level of officialdom kills people." Yinglong insisted on retreating, but no one else could persuade him. The deputy commander who had been persuading him was asked to stay and break up the rear.
This person was put in small shoes after offending his superior.
As soon as the Qing army retreated, the morale of the Taiping Army was very high. This is how an army composed of refugees is good at fighting against the wind, because the soldiers composed of refugees are inexperienced and blindly follow the slogans shouted by the officers.
This makes them fearless of death once they win a favorable battle, but can easily lose morale when faced with adversity.
Now that the Qing army was retreating, the generals at all levels in the Taiping Army seized the opportunity and shouted loudly: "The Qing army has been defeated! The Qing army has been defeated!"
The team of tens of thousands of people suddenly burst out with an indomitable momentum.
The originally tired pace accelerated a bit, and the panic caused by the casualties of his comrades around him disappeared.
The rising momentum of the Taiping Army also affected the Eight Banners Army. They didn't understand why their superiors asked them to retreat, even though there were many people on the opposite side.
In the eyes of many soldiers, the rebels on the opposite side were just idiots. There had been uprisings in Liaodong, but the imperial army was suppressed as soon as they arrived.
The elders all say that "the Eight Banners are invincible." Now that we have five thousand soldiers and horses, and red cannons to help us, why are we still running? If we run away, the cannons will be lost to others.
Military orders cannot be violated, and the Eight Banners soldiers could only retreat slowly under the command of their officers, maintaining their formation at first.
But as the Taiping Army got closer and closer, their momentum gradually caused the Eight Banners Army to panic.
The deputy commander who was left behind was full of resentment. How could he have the heart to resist desperately?
After resisting for a while, they were defeated. The commander-in-chief ran very fast. Most of them Liaodong generals still had some experience in riding and shooting, so they would definitely be able to use them to run away.
Because he was afraid of being killed by Yinglong in front of the formation, the deputy commander turned directly to the path and ran towards his territory.
In this way, no one would report the news to Yinglong's army.