The Hunan army conquered Nanjing, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom perished, but there was still a Taiping army fighting, that is, the "Lai family generals", who crisscrossed the hinterland of the Central Plains and once changed the military and political pattern of the late Qing Dynasty, which had a great impact.
In 1851, the Jintian Uprising broke out, and most of the soldiers joined the army with their families or clans, and formed a relatively independent fighting force. Among them, Wei Changhui's "Wei Jiajun" and Shi Dakai's "Shijia Army" had the greatest influence. "Lai Family General", with Hong Xiuquan's wife Lai Lianying's family as the main body, has many famous generals, and is fully equipped with civil and military skills. However, in the era of Yang Xiuqing, the king of the East, the "Lai family generals" had little influence, and after the fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, they ushered in the "highlight moment". Lai Hanying, Hong Xiuquan's brother-in-law, Lai Lianying's younger brother. In June 1853, the Taiping Army marched westward, and Hu Yihuang and Lai Hanying took command to conquer the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. After a month of expedition, Lai Hanying conquered Anqing, and Hu Yihuang stayed behind to guard the fortress. Lai Hanying continued his westward expedition and fought against Jiang Zhongyuan in Nanchang for 93 days, defeating Luo Zenan and Li Xubin for reinforcements. At the same time as attacking Nanchang, Lai Hanying divided his troops to attack the prefectures and counties near Poyang Lake, seized the grain stored in the Qing Dynasty, and transported it to Tianjing to ensure the supply of the capital. The Taiping army was small in number and could not encircle Nanchang, Shi Dakai's brother Shi Xiangzhen did not listen to the dispatch, and Lai Hanying failed to break through the city. The Qing army continued to reinforce, but the Taiping army was at a disadvantage, so Yang Xiuqing ordered the withdrawal of troops, and Lai Hanying returned to Tianjing to engage in civilian work. At the beginning of 1854, the Northern Expedition was in an emergency, and Yang Xiuqing decided to withdraw the Yangzhou defenders. At this time, Lai Hanying went out again, attacked the Jiangbei camp, and rescued Zeng Lichang's troops. After the Battle of Yangzhou, Lai Hanying did not go to the battlefield much. There are two theories about Lai Hanying's ending. One of the most popular, after the fall of Tianjing, Lai Hanying broke through and returned to his hometown to live in seclusion, living 96 years old. He died of illness in 1909, and if he lived a few more years, he could see the fall of the Qing Dynasty. Second, Lai Hanying offended Yang Xiuqing, Yang Xiuqing performed "Heavenly Father Descends to Earth", Hong Xiuquan had no way to protect his brother-in-law, Lai Hanying fled to Anqing and committed suicide by throwing himself into the water. According to the self-report of Zhongwang Li Xiucheng, the second possibility is relatively large. If Lai Hanying can survive the Tianjing Incident, he will definitely show his skills on the stage of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but Li Xiucheng did not mention Lai Hanying's situation after the Tianjing Incident.
Lai Lianying, Hong Xiuquan's wife, is nominally ranked second, because Hong Xiuquan also has a "heavenly wife" who has never met and lives in the heavenly court, a figure who does not exist. Lai Lianying can not only teach her husband and children at home, but also go into battle to kill the enemy. In the early days of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Lai Lianying was responsible for training female soldiers to protect the safety of the Heavenly Palace. During the Tianjing Rebellion, Wei Changhui led his troops to attack Tian'an Mansion, and these female soldiers suddenly came out of the city and fought with the army of the Northern King. Most of the female soldiers guarding the Tianwang Mansion are Hakka women from Liangguang, who are engaged in production and labor on weekdays and have great strength. Wei Changhui is not a large number, and these female soldiers are particularly capable of fighting. The army of the Northern King fought for a long time, but could not break through the city. Lai Lianying resisted stubbornly, and Shi Dakai's "Jingjing Division" came to Tianjing again. Wei Changhui was desperate and was executed by Hong Xiuquan, and his head was given to Shi Dakai. In 1864, the Hunan army conquered Nanjing, and Li Xiucheng covered the breakthrough of the young king Hong Tianguifu. Lai Lianying led female soldiers to fight in the streets, and then committed suicide by throwing herself into the water. Lai Wenhong, a fierce general of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, a younger brother of Lai Hanying, one of the "three pillars" in southern Anhui, has infinite power. In the early days of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Lai Wenhong followed Wei Jun to fight, and when he encountered the battle, he assisted the commander to conquer Wuchang twice and shocked the two lakes. After the Tianjing incident, Wei Jun was isolated, but Lai Wenhong did not abandon the coach. After they retreated from Wuchang, they moved to southern Anhui and Jiangxi, defeating Liu Changyou, a famous general of the Hunan army. In 1858, Yang Fuqing broke away from Shi Dakai and returned to Tianjing from Fujian. Hong Xiuquan was a counterweight to Wei Jun and sent Yang Fuqing to southern Anhui. Yang Fuqing wanted to get the territory, and provoked Wei Jun many times, even if Wei Jun helped him lift the siege of Dongliu, he failed to ease the relationship. Wei Jun didn't want to provoke a war, so he went to Li Xiucheng. Chen Yucheng and Yang Fuqing blocked the Yangtze River and openly sent troops to intercept it, and the two sides were fighting in Hezhou. Wei Jun couldn't tolerate it, and after returning to Chizhou, he surrendered to Hu Linyi and sent Lai Wenhong to fight Wuhu. On the way, Lai Wenhong, Gu Longxian, Liu Guanfang, and Huang Wenjin "woke up" and turned back to attack Chizhou. Yang Fuqing led his troops to assist, and Wei Jun abandoned the city. Since then, the southern Anhui base has been divided by the Huang, Yang, Lai, and Gu families. Southern Anhui is barren, and Lai Wenhong is Wei Jun's old department, and his position in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is very embarrassing, even if they have made great achievements.
The second time did not destroy the Jiangnan camp and besieged the camp of the Hunan army in Qimen, the southern Anhui army fought hard, but it did not get any benefits. After Li Xiucheng destroyed the camp in the south of the Yangtze River, he led his troops to the east to conquer Jiangsu and Zhejiang and seize this piece of plastered land. However, the Southern Anhui Army did not have a share, and the "Fuchao Army" that broke away from Shi Dakai and went north could share the cake. Lai Wenhong has no food, it is difficult for the soldiers to supply, and he has to fight with the Hunan army, and the pressure can be imagined. In this way, the discipline of the southern Anhui army was very poor, and Li Xiucheng said that they had led the Taiping army. In 1864, Tianjing fell, and the Southern Anhui Army welcomed Hong Tiangui Fulai to Huzhou. At this time, Huzhou's troops were repaired by Huang Wenjin, Yang Fuqing, and Lai Wenhong. The Hunan army, the Huai army, and the foreign gun team attacked Huzhou, and Huang Wenjin covered the young king to go to Hubei. Yang Fuqing and Lai Wenhong stayed behind to attract the attention of the Qing army. Huang Wenjin left, and the Taiping army was even fewer in number. Yang Fuqing failed in the battle, broke out of the siege, and went to Liangguang to hibernate. Lai Wenhong defended the city to the death, started a street battle with the Qing army, killed more than a dozen Qing soldiers alone, and died in battle. Lai Jiu, a fierce general of the Taiping Army, led troops to participate in the Jintian Uprising with Huang Wenjin. As a distant branch of the Lai clan, Lai Jiu's status is not high, but his combat effectiveness is very strong. Killing all the way from Bobai, Lai Jiu broke through the blockade of the Qing army, killed the leader of the Yulin regimental training, and when he came to Jintian, his headquarters reached thousands of people. In 1862, Lai Jiu participated in the Eastern Expedition to Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and was subordinate to Lu Shunde's department, and was an important general of Li Shixian's army. During the period of defending Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Lai Jiu fought with foreign guns many times, and killed hundreds of British and French troops in the Battle of Wujiang and the Battle of Jiading, which was deeply appreciated by Li Shixian. In 1864, after the fall of Tianjing, Li Shixian moved to Jiangxi, Fujian, and Guangdong, and conquered Zhangzhou, and Lai Jiudu followed. Wang Haiyang saw death and did not save him, Li Shixian was defeated in Zhangzhou, and almost all the army was wiped out. Li Shixian fled to the mountains and forests to hide, and after the Qing army was far away, Li Shimin went out day and night and defected to Wang Haiyang. originally thought that Wang Haiyang would support Li Shixian, the nominal boss. Who knows, Wang Haiyang stabbed Li Shixian to death on the grounds of "subduing demons", and executed Li Shixian's personal soldiers. Lai Jiu did not follow Li Shixian, and after he broke through from Zhangzhou, the captives went north to join Lai Wenguang and continued to resist the Qing Dynasty. In 1867, in the Battle of Jiaodong, Lai Jiu took the lead bravely and covered Lai Wenguang's breakthrough. Liu Mingchuan's department prepared foreign guns and fired a volley at Lai Jiu, killing him. Lai Wenguang, the excellent coach of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, had a much greater influence on the Qing Dynasty than Shi Dakai. At first, Lai Wenguang was engaged in civilian work, and only after the Tianjing Incident did he participate in military operations and was subordinate to King Chen Yucheng.
In 1861, Anqing fell, Lai Wenguang led the cavalry to defend Huangzhou, and suggested that Chen Yucheng seize Jingzhou and Xiangyang and make a comeback. Chen Yucheng did not listen to the advice, went to Luzhou, and sent Lai Wenguang to the northwest to recruit troops. After Chen Yucheng's death, Lai Wenguang and Chen Decai continued to fight in Guanzhong and Hanzhong, recruiting 200,000 troops, and the momentum was greatly boosted. In 1864, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom fell, and Lai Wenguang and Chen Decai were defeated in Hubei. Chen Decai committed suicide by taking poison, and Lai Wenguang broke through. Lai Wenguang went to Jianghuai and united with Zhang Zongyu and Ren Huabang's "Twist Army" to form the New Twist Army, also known as the New Taiping Army, fighting under the banner of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In 1865, Lai Wenguang, Zhang Zongyu, and Ren Huabang set up an ambush in the high-rise village, killing the famous Qing Dynasty general Monk Greenqin, and more than 8,000 people were killed in the Eight Banners, and their vitality was greatly damaged. Monk Gelinqin was defeated, the Qing Dynasty nobles were unavailable, Cixi could only reuse the Hunan army of Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang Huai's army, and the Han power was able to extend to the Central Plains, changing the military and political pattern of the late Qing Dynasty. Zeng Guofan supervised the division and adopted river defense tactics, Lai Wenguang did not wait for the Hunan army to complete the construction of fortifications, and broke through directly from the north of Kaifeng and entered Hubei. The Hunan army's river defense tactics went bankrupt and wasted a lot of food and wages, and Cixi was very annoyed, so she asked Li Hongzhang to replace Zeng Guofan and take on the heavy task of suppressing thieves. Li Hongzhang supervised the division, the power of the Huai army rose sharply, the Hunan army was hit hard, and the contradictions intensified. In 1867, Lai Wenguang and Ren Huabang lured the enemy deeper, first killed 4,000 elite soldiers of the Huai Army, and then killed Zhang Shushan, a famous general of the Huai Army. Next, the two sides faced off in the Yin Long River, and they both fought in three ways. The Huai army suffered another heavy defeat, and Liu Mingchuan was surrounded in the formation and had given up resistance. At this time, Bao Chao, a famous general of the Hunan army, led 18,000 "Thunder Army" to rush from behind, Liu Mingchuan was resurrected again, and the two sides continued to fight. The "Thunder Army" is a new force, Lai Wenguang suffered from the enemy on his back and failed in the battle, but the "Thunder Army" is not small, and more than 20 generals died on the battlefield. In the battle of Yinlong River, Liu Mingchuan was annoyed that Bao Chao was deliberately late and wanted to trap the Huai army. Li Hongzhang favored his own people and sent Bao Chao to the imperial court. Cixi also knew the situation, but in order to "worship Huai and suppress Hunan", she ordered the dismissal of the "Thunder Army". Bao Chao was very angry, resigned and went home, and the court did not keep him.
In order to protect himself and avoid being suspicious of the imperial court, Zeng Guofan did not help Bao Chao intercede. In this way, the vitality of the Hunan army was greatly damaged, and the Huai army rose and replaced it. Lai Wenguang was defeated in this battle, but his influence was not lost in the battle of high-rise villages. The New Taiping Army was able to fight, and Lai Wenguang commanded with exquisite art, but he had no choice but to have no fixed base and was dragged down by the Huai Army. In 1868, Lai Wenguang was defeated in Yangzhou and captured by the Huai army. The Qing Dynasty admired him as a man, so they persuaded him to surrender, but Lai Wenguang did not agree and was executed by Ling Chi. Lai Hanying, Lai Lianying, Lai Wenhong, Lai.
9. Lai Wenguang is a masterpiece of a generation. Among them, Lai Wenguang had the greatest influence, and after the fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, he continued to fight and won several large-scale battles, which can be called handsome.