Slaying the Qing: My Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

"Great Banner Master, the Taiping army outside the city demands that we open the city gates and surrender immediately. Otherwise, they will attack the city!"

"Great Banner Master, the Taiping Army has deployed a lot of artillery."

"Great Banner Master, what should we do? If we really fight the Taiping Army, we are no match for them!"

In the Nian Rebellion, each army under a single banner only numbered two to three thousand men.

Wan Feng, under the guise of being a confidant of Han Laowan, simultaneously controlled several major banner leaders, which enabled him to lead tens of thousands of Nian Army soldiers to garrison Fuyang.

After the Taiping army set up their battle formation, Wan Feng and several other banner leaders were clearly frightened.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Before Wan Feng could make a choice, the roaring sound had already begun.

"The Taiping army has opened fire!"

"Quickly, send someone to inform the chief commander that we are under attack by the Taiping Army. Also, immediately gather manpower to resist the Taiping Army's attack and defend Fuyang!" Wan Feng issued the order.

Fuyang was the capital of Yingzhou Prefecture. The Nian Army had finally managed to occupy a prefecture, so they were naturally unwilling to give it up so easily.

"Yes, Great Banner Master!" The other Nian Army leaders, no matter how unwilling they were, had no choice but to obey the order.

However, these Nian soldiers were ultimately not elite troops.

Among them are many elderly, weak, sick, and disabled people.

True elites are few and far between.

The consequences of facing an attack from the Taiping Army's elite troops are self-evident.

Especially with a force like the Imperial Guard, the Nian Rebellion's rabble was even less able to withstand them.

Although the 3rd Infantry Division of the Imperial Guards was a newly formed and combat-ready unit, it was by no means comparable to the Nian Rebellion Army.

Under the intense firepower of the Imperial Guard, the Nian soldiers on the city wall were completely suppressed and could not even lift their heads.

Meanwhile, the soldiers of the Imperial Guard launched an attack under the cover of their own firepower.

Everything proceeded as planned in tactical training: first, use the firepower of mortars and heavy machine guns to suppress the city walls.

Then they used engineers to blow up the city walls with a large amount of gunpowder.

Afterwards, they stormed into the city and wiped out the remaining enemy forces.

The Nian Rebellion's fighting capacity was already very poor, and they were completely unable to withstand the tactics of the Imperial Guards.

From the start of the attack by the 3rd Infantry Division of the Guards Corps to the fall of Fuyang, only half an hour had passed.

Subsequently, a large number of soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division of the Guards Corps stormed into the city.

The soldiers of the 8th Army of the Western Expeditionary Force also captured Fuyang City.

The Nian Army stationed in Fuyang was completely powerless to resist.

Many Nian soldiers, having lost all fighting spirit, even surrendered directly to the Taiping Army.

So much so that the operation by the 3rd Guards Infantry Division was more like an exercise.

Or, to put it another way, it's about practicing the weapons, equipment, and tactics at hand.

After capturing Fuyang, the 3rd Infantry Division of the Imperial Guard Corps and the 8th Army of the Western Expeditionary Corps did not stop, but continued to launch an offensive westward.

At this moment, Han Laowan, the chief commander of the Nian Army's Blue Banner, also learned that Fuyang had been attacked by the Taiping Army.

Han Laowan knew very well that with his meager rabble, he was no match for the Taiping Army.

Therefore, Han Laowan sent people to the Tartars for help.

At the same time, they also sent people to seek help from the Nian Rebellion's Black Flag and Red Flag forces, saying that if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold. If the Taiping Army dares to attack the Blue Flag forces so recklessly today, they will dare to attack them tomorrow.

Even the Nian Rebellion leader Zhang Lexing and Baiqi's side, Han Laowan also sent people to ask for help.

With the Taiping army's strength overwhelming, Han Laowan had no choice but to try various methods.

However, in the end, only the Tartars were willing to lend a helping hand to Han Laowan.

Sheng Bao, the deputy commander-in-chief assisting the military affairs of Henan Province on the Tartar side, ordered Dai Wenying, the general of Guide Town, and Qiu Lian'en, the general of Nanyang Town, to each lead 15,000 troops to reinforce Han Laowan.

As for the Nian Rebellion itself, the leader of the alliance and chief of the Yellow Banner, Zhang Lexing, and the chief of the White Banner, Gong Deshu, turned a blind eye to Han Laowan's plea for help.

However, Su Tianfu, the chief of the Black Flag, and Hou Shiwei, the chief of the Red Flag, did not want Han Laowan to be eliminated by the Taiping Army in this way.

But the other two armies of the Taiping Army's Western Expeditionary Corps were keeping an eye on them.

If they dare to make any move, they will inevitably be attacked by the Taiping Army.

Even though they had more men, this included the old, weak, and disabled. If they were truly elite troops, they were no match for the Taiping Army.

Therefore, Su Tianfu and Hou Shiwei had no choice but to remain inactive.

As for Han Laowan, he could only hope for the best.

On August 11, an infantry regiment of the 3rd Infantry Division of the Taiping Army's Imperial Guard Corps, together with the 8th Army of the Western Expeditionary Corps, launched a fierce attack on Shenqiu Town, the stronghold of the Nian Army's Blue Banner Army.

Han Laowan led 20,000 Nian soldiers to meet the enemy.

As a result, the Nian Army's Blue Banner troops suffered heavy casualties.

Han Laowan led his remaining troops of over a thousand men to retreat to Shenqiu in Chenzhou Prefecture, Henan Province.

At this moment, Dai Wenying, the Qing army's general of Guide Town, had already arrived with his troops.

The Imperial Guard and the Western Expeditionary Army did not immediately launch an attack into Henan Province. Instead, they informed the Tianjing City authorities of the news via wireless telegraph.

Hong Tian was very dissatisfied with the fact that the Nian Army's Blue Banner troops were colluding with the Tartars.

At the same time, they were extremely wary of the Qing army's intention to recruit the Nian Rebellion.

No matter how strong the Nian Rebellion was, if they defected to the Qing army, they would inevitably pose a significant threat to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Fortunately, among the Nian rebels who had surrendered to the Qing army at this time, only the Blue Banner troops were still there. The other Nian rebels had either clearly accepted the reorganization of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom or were still wavering.

Hong Tian and other high-ranking officials of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom discussed the matter and concluded that it was especially important at this time to demonstrate the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's strength to the Nian Rebellion. This would serve as a significant deterrent to the various leaders of the Nian Rebellion.

Next, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's governance of northern Anhui will be even smoother.

Otherwise, if these local bullies deliberately cause trouble and create problems, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's governance of northern Anhui would likely face many difficulties.

Subsequently, Hong Tian issued the order.

Since the Tartars took the initiative to provoke the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Therefore, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom naturally had to teach the Tartars a lesson.

The 3rd Infantry Division of the Imperial Guard Corps and the 8th Army of the Western Expeditionary Corps crossed the border and invaded Henan Province.

At the same time, Zhang Lexing, the leader of the Nian Rebellion and the chief of the Yellow Banner, and Gong Deshu, the chief of the White Banner, also received orders.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom demanded that they cooperate in the battle and invade Guide Prefecture.

Since Zhang Lexing and Gong Deshu had already decided to join the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, they naturally wouldn't refuse.

Or rather, they were hoping for an opportunity to make a contribution.

So the two led tens of thousands of Nian soldiers into Guide Prefecture.

The Qing army troops in Guide Town have all been transferred to the southern part of Chenzhou Prefecture to fight against the Taiping Army.

As a result, Guide Prefecture had no decent power left.

The Nian Rebellion army moved through Guide Prefecture as if it were uninhabited.

The governor of Henan Province, Ying Gui, and the deputy commander-in-chief, Sheng Bao, had no choice but to hastily mobilize the troops of Cai Lu, the general of Hebei Town, to go south and provide reinforcements.

Meanwhile, the 3rd Infantry Division of the Taiping Army's Imperial Guard Corps and the 8th Army of the Western Expeditionary Corps engaged in fierce fighting with the main force of 15,000 Qing troops led by Dai Wenying, the General of Guide Town, in the southern part of Chenzhou Prefecture.

After a major battle, the Qing army suffered a crushing defeat and heavy losses.

If Dai Wenying hadn't sensed the danger and fled beforehand, she might have been captured by the Taiping Army.

After this battle, the 8th Army of the Taiping Army's Western Expeditionary Force continued its advance towards Huaining, the capital of Chenzhou Prefecture.

Meanwhile, the 3rd Infantry Division of the Imperial Guards marched south into Runing Prefecture to confront the Qing army of 15,000 men led by Qiu Lian'en, the Qing general of Nanyang Town.

Although the two sides had similar troop strength, their combat capabilities were worlds apart.

Even though the Qing army was constantly improving its firearms equipment.

However, the muskets or matchlock guns manufactured by the Qing army themselves were too outdated.

The flintlock muskets imported from the West were not only few in number, but also outdated in performance.

As a result, the Qing army was no match for the Taiping army in battle.

In the fierce battle, the Qing army was defeated and forced to retreat.

Not only did they lose a large number of troops, but they also lost a lot of territory.

It can be said that the Tartars completely lost out in this battle, failing to achieve their goal.

Not only did they fail to win over the Nian Rebellion, they also suffered heavy losses.