The Taiping Army fought a bloody battle in Xunyang City
Bai Juyi, a famous poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote in Pipa Trip: "I was bidding a guest farewell, at night on the Xunyang River, where maple-leaves and full-grown rushes rustled in the autumn. I, the host, had dismounted, my guest had boarded his boat, and we raised our cups and wished to drink-but, alas, there was no music. For all we had drunk we felt no joy and were parting from each other, when the river widened mysteriously toward the full moon. " Described the scene that he and his friends had a headache in Xunyang River and didn't get drunk. Then Bai Juyi rode a boat with his friends to meet the "female confidant" who was playing pipa on the river, and told each other their hearts, but they couldn't help feeling sad. "this Jiujiang official. My blue sleeve was wet" and the confidante also hid their faces and wept. "we are both unhappy -- to the sky's end, we meet. We understand. What does acquaintance matter?."
However, Bai Juyi was just "wet in the blue" and shed tears at the head of Xunyang River, and he still lived happily. More than 1 years later, in Xunyang City, all the soldiers of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were not just "blue and wet", but blood stained Xunjiang River. The Lord was cut open by the Xiang army, and more than 17, elite soldiers were killed in battle, which was tragic.
Xunyang, today's Jiujiang, is located in the north of Jiangxi Province, known as "the mouth of the Three Rivers and the thoroughfare of seven provinces", which has a very important strategic position. It is one of the three major towns of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, connecting Wuchang, Hubei Province, and Anqing, which is the second line of defense against Tianjing. In October 1853, Wei Jun, Shi Xiangzhen and Kai Wing Lam led the Western Expedition Army to capture Jiujiang, and built fortifications to make it a strong fortress. In January 1855, Kai Wing Lam fought back, defeated the main force of the Xiang Army's land division at the gates of Jiujiang, and almost attacked Taqibu; Soon, Taqibu died of vomiting blood because of repeated attacks on Jiujiang.
In December p>1856, Wei Jun became the eyesore of Hong Xiuquan and Chen Yucheng because of his brother Wei Changhui. They stopped reinforcing Wuchang, and Wei Jun was trapped in internal and external affairs, so he had to withdraw from Wuchang. In this way, the main force of Xiang army was able to gather at the gates of Jiujiang again and began a year-and-a-half offensive and defensive war in Jiujiang, which spread to eastern Hubei, northern Jiangxi, southern Anhui, northern Anhui and southern Henan.
During Wei Jun's imprisonment in Wuchang, Kai Wing Lam had anticipated that the next target of Xiang Army was Jiujiang, so he took the time to consolidate the city defense and strengthen the defense of Jiujiang, and at the same time, he also expanded the Xiaochikou fortress in Jiangbei. The two were horns and coordinated defense. At the beginning of January, 1857, Hu Linyi, Yang Zaifu, Li Xubin and other two divisions of Xiang Army arrived at the gates of Jiujiang, with a total of more than 2, people, with a huge momentum. At this point, the expert Li Xubin, with the victorious division, directly attacked from the east, west and south, while Yang Zaifu's navy attacked the north, and at the same time launched a fierce attack on Jiujiang.
Xiang soldiers are not afraid of death because of their generous salaries. They fill trenches with thatch and pull out stakes. Under the cover of artillery fire, crawl forward and set up a ladder to prepare for the siege. What about Kai Wing Lam? Gun holes have already been dug in the city wall, allowing soldiers to volley when the Xiang army enters the line of sight, killing the Xiang army without armored defense. For Xiang who climbed the stairs, Kai Wing Lam was also welcome. Taiping rebels poured down with boiling water, and Xiang screamed and fell.
it is doomed to fail to storm Jiujiang, because the Xiang army lacks flowering cannons necessary for siege, and the caliber of the 5 guns ordered by Ye Mingchen from Europe and America is too small to exert its power.
For this reason, Li Xubin, a fierce general, played a "long trench tactic" and adopted a siege method to cut off the internal and external ties of Jiujiang and starve the defenders. To achieve this goal, Li Xubin then attacked Xiaochikou on the other side of Jiujiang, but Chen Yucheng suddenly entered Hubei, and eastern Hubei was in a hurry. Hu Linyi cut some troops from Jiujiang City to help the west, so Xiang could only take the defensive.
at this time, the Xiang army in Jiangxi province was assisting the west, and there were only more than 5, Xiang troops in Jiujiang city, so it was very stressful to help defend nearby counties. It stands to reason that it should be no problem for the Taiping Army to break the dilemma, but the fact is just the opposite. Why what? After Shi Dakai went out to work alone, he stationed in Anqing, wooing Jiangxi military forces and expanding the power of Wing Temple. King Wing not only refused Kai Wing Lam's "blood writing for help", but also called on the military forces in Hukou, Pengze and Leping to come to Anqing. In this way, although the Xiang army aided the West, the war situation in Jiangxi did not change, and the situation was even more severe because of the division of Shi Dakai.
Chen Yucheng galloped in the east of Hubei, but there were many recruits in his department, and he had to retreat to the west of Anhui. In this way, the main force of Xiang returned to Jiangxi again and continued to attack Xiaochikou. In October 1857, Li Xubin concentrated more than 3 guns to attack Xiaochikou violently, and Yang Zaifu's navy fired guns from the south to help. Xiaochikou's fortifications were all destroyed, and the Taiping Army crossed the river and returned to Jiujiang, and the fortress fell. After winning Xiaochikou, Li Xubin and Yang Zaifu's next goal is to attack Hukou and Meijiazhou, the fortresses in the east of Jiujiang, remove Kai Wing Lam's wings and completely isolate Jiujiang. It's not easy to attack the mouth of the lake. The garrison commander Huang Wenjin didn't build it.
After three days of continuous fighting, the fierce general Luo Shengfa was killed, and Yang Zaifu's navy division was stopped by iron chains. Taiping rebels fired artillery from Shi Zhongshan, and Xiang ships suffered heavy losses. Peng Yulin, who broke out from the inner lake, almost died in the Yangtze River. At this point, Chen Yucheng short radius in northern Anhui, scored in southern Henan, to attract the Qing army reinforcements to the north, but to no avail. In this way, the two sides fought a tug-of-war at the mouth of the lake. Unfortunately, Huang Wenjin neglected to guard against Shi Zhongshan's posterior approach, was successfully attacked by Li Xubin, and Hukou fortress fell.
after taking the hukou, the land division and navy division of Xiang army once again gathered at the gate of Jiujiang, and surrounded the city that had no external supplies. Without food supplies, Kai Wing Lam ordered the soldiers to plant wheat and vegetables in the defensive gap to alleviate the food shortage, wait for reinforcements, and continue to fight with Xiang. Considering the heavy casualties, Li Xubin decided to adopt the tactics of "attacking the city by burrowing", digging tunnels, blasting under the city roots, and then going into the inner city for hand-to-hand combat.
on may 8, 1858, Li Xubin first carried out blasting, blasting more than 1 feet of the city wall, and Xiang troops swarmed in and rushed to kill from the gap.
Kai Wing Lam, undaunted by the danger, ordered his soldiers to throw powder kegs and cupping, burning more than 2 people in Xiang army, and took advantage of the situation to plug the gap. On the 18th, Li Xubin has dug three tunnels and bought explosives. 19, Li Xubin in the east, west and south three blasting at the same time, blow up the wall more than hundred zhangs, xiang again into the gap. Because of the gap is too big, Kai Wing Lam has been unable to stop, so we have to rate the defenders and xiang hand-to-hand combat, street fighting, using the fortifications in the city to kill xiang.
street fighting is fierce and cruel. At this time, the Taiping Army had been out of food for three months, and it was difficult to take up arms by eating wild vegetables every day, but it still insisted on fighting and refused to surrender. Because, in Pengze, Li Xubin promised that the defenders would not kill if they surrendered, but all of them were killed, leaving none. To this end, Kai Wing Lam can only fight to the death, and as a result, more than 17, elites were all killed, and he was also cut open by Li Xubin. Lin Qirong was good at keeping it, and Hu Linyi was moved by it. "The thief of Jiujiang, who has a laparotomy, has no rice for three days, and he can sit still. The soldier is not as good as a thief, and his reason is difficult to understand."
Japanese Bai Lang 'an Tian Chao said, "After Suiyang, there are Si people", and he was praised as the famous Zhang Xun in the Tang Dynasty. What about Li Xubin? Jiujiang won at the gates, famous all over the world, and was awarded the title of Zhejiang envoy and governor by Xianfeng, which is a winner. However, six months later, he was no longer lucky in the battle of three rivers; Killed by Chen Yucheng and Li Xiucheng, all 6, Xiang veterans were killed.