Slaying the Qing: My Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

The foreign-trained troops are undoubtedly strong evidence that the British and French, among other foreign devils, directly supported the Manchus and were enemies of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

In another timeline, when the Taiping Army launched its attack on Zhonghai, the foreign-trained troops were already at odds with the Taiping Army.

Even though Li Xiucheng led the Taiping Army to defeat the foreign gun corps and killed its commander, Ward.

But the foreign devils only intensified their aggression.

Based on the foreign-trained troops, they formed an even larger Ever Victorious Army to fight against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

The Ever Victorious Army was composed mainly of foreigners, who served as officers and core soldiers, supplemented by a large number of mercenaries from the Luzon Islands and Han Chinese recruited locally.

The Ever Victorious Army's strength once expanded to more than 20,000 men, becoming the main enemy of the Taiping Army in southern Jiangsu.

In terms of weaponry, the Ever Victorious Army was equipped with Western-style guns and cannons, which were far more advanced than those of the Taiping Army.

This resulted in heavy losses for the Taiping Army in its battles against the Ever Victorious Army.

It can be said that the suppression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in another time and space was largely due to the efforts of foreign devils.

But in this new time and space, everything is completely different.

The main force of the Taiping Army was equipped with firearms and artillery that were more advanced than those of the Westerners. Furthermore, the Taiping Army's military strength was far greater than that of the forces in the other timeline.

Furthermore, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom not only did not suffer heavy losses in the Tianjing Incident, but its strength became even more cohesive after the incident.

In addition, the series of reforms implemented by Hong Tian after he became the Heavenly King continuously strengthened the power of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Even foreign devils like the British and the Gallic people would never be able to help the Manchus suppress the Taiping Rebellion.

"Gentlemen, the British and the Gauls have abandoned their so-called neutrality policy and are directly interfering in the war between the Heavenly Kingdom and the Tartars. This is absolutely unacceptable to the Heavenly Kingdom!"

Since that's the case, we shouldn't delay any longer; we can't give those foreign devils any more time.

On the Eastern Expeditionary Army's side, troops were dispatched to launch a full-scale attack on Songjiang Prefecture.

"If those foreign devils dare to oppose the Heavenly Kingdom, we will wipe them out!"

Hong Tianxia issued the order.

Even though the British Empire was the dominant power in the world, the Gallic Empire was also a first-rate world power.

But Hong Tian believed that if the battlefield were in the Far East, and only on land, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would absolutely not lose to the British Empire or the Gauls.

By the end of the year, the Taiping Army will have completed nine main infantry divisions, which will amount to approximately 9 men.

Even on a global scale, this is already a formidable force.

This is also the source of Hong Tian's confidence in overthrowing the Tartars and even going so far as to confront the British and the Gauls head-on.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" General Li Xiucheng replied.

Although the foreigners were powerful, General Li Xiucheng believed that the Taiping Army, after reorganization, would be even stronger.

Even if foreigners wanted to be enemies of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, they would only be defeated by the Taiping army.

On the Eastern Expeditionary Army's side, a battle plan was quickly formulated.

Currently, the Eastern Expeditionary Army has two corps and one infantry division.

The 3rd Army is a newly formed unit that is still in training and has not yet achieved combat capability. Its weaponry mainly consists of old-fashioned muskets, artillery, and cold weapons, limiting its combat effectiveness.

The main task of the 3rd Army of the Eastern Expeditionary Corps was to ensure the security of the occupied territories.

The 1st Army of the Eastern Expeditionary Force has begun to withdraw from the battlefield in Jiangxi Province back to the southern Jiangsu region.

In Hong Tian's plan, although the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would not launch a large-scale attack on the Manchus, the nearby Zhejiang province was undoubtedly to be captured.

The Eastern Expeditionary Army was undoubtedly the main force advancing into Zhejiang Province.

Therefore, the 1st Army also needs to be recalled to prepare for the upcoming battles.

Even though the 1st Army of the Eastern Expeditionary Force was also mainly equipped with old-fashioned firearms, artillery, and cold weapons, its combat effectiveness was still relatively strong. At least, with equal numbers of troops, the Qing army was definitely no match for the 1st Army of the Eastern Expeditionary Force.

In the upcoming battles, the 1st Army of the Eastern Expeditionary Force will also play a significant role.

Once the production capacity of the arsenal is increased, the 1st Army of the Eastern Expeditionary Force will be fully re-equipped and reorganized.

The 2nd Army of the Eastern Expeditionary Army was completely re-equipped and reorganized into the 2nd Infantry Division of the Eastern Expeditionary Army.

Three months of arduous training not only enabled them to master the performance of the new muskets and artillery, but also gave them a basic grasp of the corresponding tactics.

The combat effectiveness of the entire unit has been greatly improved.

This is also why General Li Xiucheng was so eager to launch an attack on Songjiang Prefecture.

He also hoped to use this battle to test the combat effectiveness of the 2nd Infantry Division of the Eastern Expeditionary Army.

In this operation to attack Songjiang Prefecture, the 2nd Infantry Division of the Eastern Expeditionary Army was undoubtedly the main fighting force.

Furthermore, the 3rd Infantry Division of the Guards Corps, although not yet fully trained and combat-ready, can be deployed as an emergency force should the situation on the front lines change.

This meant that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was fully prepared for this battle.

On June 2, 1857, the main force of the 2nd Infantry Division of the Taiping Army's Eastern Expeditionary Army launched an attack from Suzhou Prefecture towards Songjiang Prefecture.

On that same day, the Taiping army captured Qingpu County.

After offering only a brief resistance, the Qing army withdrew to Huating County, the capital of Songjiang Prefecture.

After the Qing army suffered a major defeat on the battlefield in southern Jiangsu, the number of troops left to garrison Songjiang Prefecture was already small. In total, there were only a little over three thousand men.

The Qing generals and officials were well aware that if the Taiping army launched an attack on Songjiang Prefecture, they would have no chance of resisting them.

The only hope was the help of the British and the Gauls.

Only in this way can we possibly defend Songjiang Prefecture.

Originally, the British and the Gauls had warned the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Although the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom disagreed with abandoning its advance on Songjiang Prefecture.

However, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom made no move for the next few months.

This also relieved the Qing army generals and officials in Songjiang Prefecture.

They believed that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was being stubborn and refusing to admit their mistake.

They were clearly afraid of foreigners, but refused to admit it.

However, they were still afraid of offending the foreigners. Therefore, they dared not launch an attack on Songjiang Prefecture.

For these Qing generals and officials, holding Songjiang Prefecture would be a great achievement, especially given the fall of southern Jiangsu and the entire province.

Once the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is completely suppressed, they will be rewarded according to their merits and promoted accordingly.

However, these Qing generals and officials never expected that the Taiping army would launch an attack at this critical juncture.

"General, what should we do now? Qingpu County has fallen into the hands of the Taiping rebels. In two days at most, they will launch an attack on Huating County. Can we hold Huating County?"

Wu Xu, the prefect of Songjiang Prefecture under the Qing government, looked panicked.

"Lord Wu, I only have two or three thousand men under my command. How could I possibly withstand the Taiping Rebellion's attack? How could I possibly defend Huating County? On the southern Jiangsu battlefield, even the imperial army of 100,000 men was no match for the Taiping rebels. On the northern Jiangsu and Anhui battlefields, the imperial army also suffered losses of more than 100,000 men." The newly appointed General of Southern Jiangsu, Zhang Yuliang, looked dejected.

"What should we do?" Wu Xu panicked immediately.

"Lord Wu, let's immediately ask the foreigners for help. Haven't they formed a foreign-armed brigade? They're equipped with foreign guns and cannons, and their fighting power is formidable. Perhaps they can withstand the Taiping Rebellion's attack," Zhang Yuliang suggested.

"Foreigners? But as far as I know, the foreign gun corps only has a little over two thousand men. If a war really breaks out, can they defeat the Taiping rebels?" Wu Xu expressed his doubts.

"Lord Wu, those are foreigners. No matter how powerful the Taiping rebels are, do you think they would dare to lay a hand on foreigners? If they really kill the foreigners, that would be for the best. Then the foreigners certainly won't let the Taiping rebels off the hook."

Once the foreigners send a large army to deal with the Taiping rebels, we can use them as a tool to kill the enemy and sit back and watch them fight.

"At that time, the two of us will surely have accomplished a great feat!"

Zhang Yuliang's face was full of smiles.