During the Taiping Rebellion, the fall of Tianjing (Nanjing) became a major crisis for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In order to save this situation, Li Xiucheng led an army of 300,000 to move forward and try to save Tianjing, which was besieged by the Qing army. However, his plan ultimately ended in failure and was defeated by a 30,000-strong Hunan army led by Zeng Guoquan. The failure of this campaign involved many reasons, including internal contradictions, the quality of the army, and strategic mistakes.
First of all, there were serious internal contradictions in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. There were clear power struggles and factional antagonisms within the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom leadership. In this campaign to rescue Tianjing, some generals in the army led by Li Xiucheng were dissatisfied with the concept and leadership of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and internal disunity and differences in beliefs became important factors affecting the morale of the army. The Hunan army was relatively more united in this regard, and its leadership was more consistent, which made them more tenacious on the battlefield.
Secondly, the difference in the quality of the army and the level of the commander-in-chief was also one of the reasons for the defeat. The Taiping Tian** team is huge, but there are obvious problems in organization and discipline. In contrast, although the Hunan army led by Zeng Guoquan was smaller, it had an advantage in military quality and commandery. The Hunan army gave full play to their excellent training and high combat quality, and effectively coped with the offensive of the Taiping Tian ** team.
In addition, differences in strategy and tactics were also one of the reasons for the defeat. The Taipingtian ** Brigade had obvious shortcomings in its strategic deployment and failed to effectively deal with the flexible mobility of the Hunan army. Zeng Guoquan was good at using the terrain and adopted clever tactics, which made it difficult for the Taiping Tian** team to deal with. At the same time, the Hunan army adopted flexible tactics and skillfully used factors such as geography and weather to increase the difficulties of the Taiping Heavenly Army.
Finally, external factors also affected the development of the war situation. The encirclement and suppression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom by the Qing Dynasty also played a certain role, and the Taiping Heavenly ** team faced many blows from the Qing army in the process of rescuing Tianjing, which exacerbated their difficulties.
In February, the dynamic incentive plan In general, Li Xiucheng led 300,000 troops, and the battle to rescue Tianjing ended in failure, due to the contradictions within the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the quality of the army, strategy and tactics and other levels. The defeat of this battle also laid a deeper foreshadowing for the fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and became a bloody and painful page in Chinese history.