Slaying the Qing: My Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

The battle between the Taiping Army and the Xiang Army in Yuezhou Prefecture ended in a crushing defeat for the Xiang Army.

In this battle, the Xiang Army's navy, cavalry, and infantry all suffered heavy losses. Furthermore, with the loss of Yuezhou Prefecture, the gateway to Hunan Province was now wide open.

Once the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has made preparations, it can advance along the Xiang River and march straight into the heart of Hunan Province.

More importantly, after the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom took control of Yuezhou Prefecture, it effectively opened a breach in the Xiang Army's tight defenses.

Originally, the Tartars, officials at all levels, and landlords and gentry deceived the common people with false propaganda, making them mistakenly believe that the Taiping Army was extremely vicious and regarded the Taiping Army as a monstrous flood.

Through such deception, the common people were lured into joining the Xiang Army to fight the Taiping Army in order to defend their homeland and their families.

Their blood and lives paved the way for some people's advancement and ensured the stability of the Manchu rule.

But it's different now.

Once the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom controlled Yuezhou Prefecture, it was inevitable that it would implement reforms there. These reforms would include distributing land to landless and land-poor peasants, confiscating the property of landlords, and undertaking various infrastructure projects.

All of these can bring tangible benefits to the people.

At the same time, it also allows the people to see the real Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and expose the lies of the Tartars and the Xiang Army.

This will surely make more people in Hunan Province realize the ugly faces of the Tartars and the high-ranking officials of the Hunan Army.

Will they continue to support the Xiang Army then? Will they continue to serve the Tartars?

The image of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the minds of the people of Hunan Province will undergo a dramatic change.

It was only a matter of time before the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom took over the entire Hunan province.

After the defeat in this battle, the Xiang Army did not give up easily, but continued to gather a large force and build a defensive line in the northern part of Changsha Prefecture.

Furthermore, the Hunan Army was further expanding its scale.

In addition to the main force of the Hunan Army, many other local militias were also incorporated into the Hunan Army system.

For example, the Chu Army, founded by Zuo Zhongtang, also experienced tremendous growth.

The organization has now expanded to more than 20,000 people.

It would take the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom a considerable amount of time to completely defeat the Xiang Army.

However, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom needed time to implement its various reforms. Furthermore, other powerful enemies facing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were also fast approaching.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had to focus its main efforts on other enemies.

Tianjing City, late October 1857.

"Your Majesty, according to the reliable intelligence we have obtained, the allied forces of the British and the Gauls have arrived at Hong Kong Island. After resting and resupplying there, they are expected to head north soon, heading straight for Songjiang Prefecture," Intelligence Minister Zhou Yufeng reported.

"The British and the Gauls have finally arrived. The Heavenly Kingdom previously captured Songjiang Prefecture and took advantage of the situation to seize the British and Gauls' concessions, arresting their diplomats and staff. They will absolutely not let this go."

This time, the allied forces of the British and the Gauls are undoubtedly heading towards the Kingdom of Heaven.

The war between the Heavenly Kingdom and the foreigners is imminent!

Hong Tian addressed the crowd.

This war was of paramount importance to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

In this battle, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom absolutely could not afford to lose.

Otherwise, the rapid development momentum that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has just managed to establish will inevitably be interrupted.

It is highly likely that the many enemies of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will unite and launch an even more ferocious attack on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

This made it even more difficult for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to grow stronger and achieve its predetermined goals.

Only if the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom wins this battle will it have more time to develop.

Foreigners, too, dared not openly interfere in the war between the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Manchus.

Even if the foreigners wouldn't willingly accept the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom defeating the Manchus and overthrowing their rule, they wouldn't dare to intervene directly. At most, they would engage in some underhanded maneuvers.

"Your Majesty, the Imperial Guard is in Yuezhou Prefecture. Deploying just one infantry division there will be enough to deal with the threat from the Xiang Army. The other infantry division can be transferred back to Tianjing to deal with the threat from the foreigners," General Chen Yucheng suggested.

"Yes, Your Majesty. There are two armies of the Xiang Army in Yuezhou Prefecture. In addition, there is an infantry division of the Imperial Guard, which makes more than 40,000 men. Even if the Xiang Army launches another attack, we can withstand it."

Moreover, the 1st and 7th Armies of the Western Expeditionary Army have been reorganized into the 1st and 7th Infantry Divisions of the Western Expeditionary Army. In terms of weaponry and equipment, they will soon be fully equipped.

Their combat capabilities have also been largely established.

We now have sufficient troops to deal with the attacks from the Xiang Army and other Tartar forces.

"This was said by Shi Dakai, Minister of Military Affairs and Commander of the Western Expeditionary Army."

Hong Tian nodded.

The Guards Corps currently has three infantry divisions that are combat-ready.

The 1st and 2nd Infantry Divisions were stationed in Yuezhou Prefecture, where they had just defeated the Xiang Army. The 3rd Infantry Division was stationed in Henan Province, where they were dealing with the Qing Army.

In addition, the Guards Corps also has the 4th Infantry Division, which is still being formed and trained and has not yet achieved combat capability.

Meanwhile, the 2nd Infantry Division of the Eastern Expeditionary Army had already achieved combat readiness. The 1st and 3rd Armies of the Eastern Expeditionary Army were also mainly deployed in the southern Jiangsu region.

According to the plan, the Imperial Guard Corps will deploy an infantry division, which, together with the 2nd Infantry Division of the Eastern Expeditionary Corps, will be the main force to deal with the foreign devils.

After defeating the foreigners, the Eastern Expeditionary Army will launch a new offensive.

Zhejiang Province, which was nearby, was the most prosperous of the southern provinces currently controlled by the Manchus. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom could not sit idly by and watch the Manchus continue to control it.

"Alright, let the 1st Infantry Division of the Imperial Guards return to Tianjing City for rest and reorganization to deal with the threat from the foreign devils. In addition, on the Imperial Guards side, the 4th Infantry Division should accelerate its formation and training. Furthermore, the Imperial Guards should begin forming the 5th Infantry Division."

The Eastern Expeditionary Army and the Southern Expeditionary Army will each be expanded by two more corps.

Hong Tianxia issued the order.

As the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's controlled territory continued to expand, it needed not only more troops to defend the areas, but also to reorganize more elite troops to deal with the Manchu counterattacks.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's current army size is still too small and insufficient.

Only after expanding their armies were the various units able to have sufficient strength to deal with threats and challenges from all sides.

The military does not oppose expanding the army.

Even though Shi Dakai's Western Expeditionary Army did not expand further, this was because the Western Expeditionary Army was already the largest in scale.

The current Western Expeditionary Army consists of two infantry divisions and six corps. Even if the other corps are expanded again, they will not be able to compare with the Western Expeditionary Army.

The Imperial Guard Corps will expand to five infantry divisions. The Northern Expeditionary Corps, after incorporating the Nian Rebellion, already has one infantry division and four corps.

After this expansion, both the Eastern Expeditionary Army and the Southern Expeditionary Army also consisted of one infantry division and four corps.

This undoubtedly greatly enhanced the overall strength of the Taiping Army.

Especially once these troops have been fully reorganized, equipped with new muskets and artillery, and reorganized into standard infantry divisions, the Taiping Army's combat effectiveness will be greatly enhanced.

"Gentlemen, starting next year, the production capacity of the arsenal will be further expanded. It is expected that more troops will be able to be re-equipped. The initial plan is that next year, two armies of the Western Expeditionary Army will be reorganized into standard infantry divisions. One army each of the Northern Expeditionary Army, Eastern Expeditionary Army, and Southern Expeditionary Army will be reorganized into standard infantry divisions."

If the arsenal has surplus production capacity, we can equip more troops as needed.

Hong Tian continued.

According to the plan, the main force of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will be gradually re-equipped with new firearms and cannons to replace the old firearms, cannons and cold weapons.

However, the insufficient production capacity of the arsenal has slowed down the progress of the equipment replacement.

With the accelerated mining of iron and copper mines in Daye, the mining progress of copper mines in Tonglin has also been improved. After the shortage of raw materials was resolved, the production capacity of the arsenal has been continuously increasing.

In particular, as the scale of the arsenal continues to expand, this will inevitably further increase the arsenal's production capacity.

It is estimated that in another two years, all the Taiping Army troops should have completed their re-equipment.