Shi Dakai left Tianjing (now Nanjing) on 1857, with a rate of 654.38+more than 10,000 people. Shi Dakai's departure was caused by the infighting in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but his loyalty to China never changed. In his letter to Hong Xiuquan, he said, "Although I have traveled to the west, I am still working hard for China. Between Goudechuan, Yunnan, Guizhou and Hunan, the glory of the celestial dynasty and the grass of peace will flourish. " (unofficial history Taiping Heavenly Kingdom) He said in the Notice of Shi Dakai's Departure: "Use is self-encouragement, and then show the truth, while rewarding the disciples of God and rewarding the Lord." All the documents of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom show that his expedition to the west was a forbearing move to take care of the overall situation and avoid war. He chose Sichuan as the base area, because he envied the richness of Sichuan, and because the governor of Sichuan was weak, he could take advantage of its disadvantages. But in the process of his March, the situation has also changed a lot. 1859, Shi Dakai failed to attack Baoqing, Hunan, and had to return to Guangxi. 1860, the Qing dynasty appointed Zeng Guopan as the governor of the two rivers, and used the Xiang army and the Huai army to fight against the Taiping Army. 1862, Shi Dakai retired and entered Sichuan with 65,438+10,000 main troops (so-called 200,000). At this time, the Governor of Sichuan was replaced by Luo, the deputy commander of Xiang, and the situation was unfavorable to Shi Dakai. In April of that year, Shi Dakai failed to attack Zhongzhou, Fengdu, Fuzhou (now Fuling) and the Eight Immortals, and failed to cross the river. From May to August, crossing the river in Xufu (now Yibin), Hejiang and Jiangjin failed again. 1863 1 month, Shi Dakai fought the Qing army in Hengjiang, Xufu, and was stubbornly resisted by Liu Yuezhao, an expert of Xiang Army. In addition, Shi Dakai's subordinate Guo Jiyi and other four generals were sent by the Qing army, and more than 30 camps in Shuanglong Town were set on fire, resulting in more than 40,000 casualties in Shi Dakai, and he had to return to Yunnan. In April, Shi Dakai led 40,000 people to finally cross the river from Milangba (now a wise man), occupied Xichang in May, went north through Mianning, and entered Zidadi (now Asbestos Anshun Field) in May 14. Wandering here for three days, I finally made a big mistake and ruined the life of the Western Expedition Army. ?
The first question raised here is: Since Shi Dakai has occupied Mianning, why not take the road of Asbestos-Hanyuan-Yingjing-Ya 'an to attack Chengdu, but take the road of Anshunchang-Luding instead? Where does he want to go?
To explore Shi Dakai's mental journey, we must read Shi Dakai's self-report. Although Shi Dakai was a valiant soldier of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, in the past, he fought in coordination and never experienced a crisis of going deep alone. 1859 after the failure of attacking Baoqing, the army returned to Guangxi, and its morale has been shaken. "Everyone has his own homesickness, which can't be controlled." The following year, some officers and men returned to Tianjing, and some even turned to the Qing Dynasty. Shi Dakai himself had planned to "live in seclusion in the mountains", but because the Qing court "offered a reward everywhere and had nowhere to hide", he had to make a desperate attempt to enter Sichuan again. After many battles with Lu Bingbing's troops, Shi Dakai has realized that the Sichuan Army is not what it used to be. Especially in the fierce Battle of Hengjiang, Shi Dakai lost more than 40,000 people, and most of them were veteran cadres and old men. Most of the recruits are hungry and lack training and combat effectiveness. Xichang and Mianning were lucky enough to be captured in May 1863, but in fact they became exhausted teachers and lost their original spirit. At this time, Chengdu, which is close at hand, seems to be a dream to him. The reason why I fell into Anshun Chang is probably the idea of "seclusion in the mountains". ?
After Shi Dakai captured Mianning, he sent toast Wang Yingyuan and Lingling toast Tian Ba with a large sum of money to ask for permission. This accidental or temporary phenomenon brought some comfort to the tired Shi Dakai. A battle-hardened soldier is likely to have a war-weariness in sudden comfort. Shi Dakai showed his intention to give up attacking Chengdu when he entered Anshunchang. He is about to choose a place to retire, and this hesitation has plunged him into disaster. ?
However, the local saying is that after Shi Dakai arrived in Anshunchang on May 1863, Princess Yi gave birth to a son that night and was overjoyed. "She rewarded her with an order and rested for three days." When Commander-in-Chief Zhu passed Anshun Field in the Long March, the local people told him this story and advised him to leave as soon as possible. Zhu De said in memory-?
I asked people in this area, and they all said that Shi Dakai was destroyed here when he entered Sichuan. Because he was born a prince, he could not move forward. I put on a big banquet and played drums for a few days. As a result, when the pursuers came, "Rollo" opposed him again and they were all wiped out. (Wen Bin "From Xichang Bazi to Anshun Chang")
Although this legend is full of sympathy and regret, it is not reliable. Shi Dakai is good at strategizing, and he knows that war is changeable. Never delay the military plane because of the birth of a prince. Later, I saw that at the last minute, Shi Dakai personally waved his wife and concubines to hold their youngest son, and they sank into the river. We can see that he is not a person who is deeply in love, and he will not ruin the future of the Taiping Army because of a yellow-mouthed child. ?
Another way of saying this can be found in Xue Fucheng's "The Escape of Shi Dakai", which says that Shi Dakai arrived in Anshunchang that day, "making him disembark from the boat and cross quickly. More than ten thousand people crossed the river. At the end of the meeting, he suddenly sent an order to evacuate to the south bank, saying, "I have marched cautiously all my life and never crossed the middle of this division." If the officers and men die, this is a dangerous road. Better cross the river tomorrow. " ?
However, this view has been refuted by modern military scientists on the grounds that the vanguard of 65,438+10,000 people is not a small number and can fight against the Qing army alone. Why do you want to withdraw it? Since we have time to withdraw 100000 people, why not spend this time crossing 10000 people again? Besides, it is impossible for Shi Dakai to build so many boats at once, and there is no boatman of 1600 in Anshun Field where only a few hundred people live (this is the lowest number of boatmen that 1000 people have crossed). Please note that only fishing boats can navigate the Changhe River in Anshun. ?
The truth is that on the night of May 14, the Dadu River suddenly rose, and Song Lin, which was injected into the Dadu River from Anshun Field, also rose, so Shi Dakai could not cross the river. Moreover, at this time, Shi Dakai may have given up the plan to attack Chengdu. He hopes to wait until the pine forest water recedes, go to Luding area, and find a place where he can settle down (in the form of gathering whistling mountains, of course). ?
Who knows, just as Shi Dakai was waiting for the water to recede, Sichuan Governor Luo had already bribed Tusi Wang Yingyuan and Ling Chengen, "rewarding him with a large sum of money and promising him an official position." At this time, crossing the Songlin River to find a way out has become an illusion. In order to break through, Shi Dakai chose the worst way to cross the Dadu River. ?
However, why did the so-called invincible Shi Dakai be wiped out in the Dadu River? This is the second question. ?
1988, go to Kangding to give a lecture. Because the Erlang Mountain Highway was impassable, I had to turn south from Ya 'an, cross Mud Mountain, and take a detour from Hanyuan-Shimian-Huding to Kangding, just passing through Anshun Field. According to my observation, Shi Dakai's defeat was entirely determined by the terrain. Anshun Chang is in the west of Dadu River (all historical records are recorded as "South Bank", which is wrong. It turns out that the Dadu River has a steep bend in asbestos, and the Dadu River in Anshun Field has a north-south flow direction, so Anshun Field is in Hexi and Mud Mountain is in Hedong), which is an alluvial fan caused by Songlin River and has a low terrain. Hedong is a steep cliff bank, 20-30 meters higher than Dadu River. Just when the Dadu River was flooded, the Tang Yougeng Department of Chongqing Town had occupied the east coast, commanding operations, and guns were fired in unison, which was really insurmountable. Anshun Chang was originally within the range of the Qing army, and the disadvantage was even more obvious because of boating and climbing rocks. The so-called "death" in the art of war probably refers to places like Anshun Field. ?
Of course, when Shi Dakai was desperate, he still showed the heroic spirit of "cross the rubicon". On May 17, Shi Dakai selected thousands of elite men and rowed across the Dadu River separately. He encouraged the soldiers: "If you fight, you will die; if you fall, you will die. It is better to fight! " But under the gun shooting of Tang Yougeng, all the death squads were killed. ?
On May 2 1 day, Shi Dakai led 500 men to cross the Dadu River again, and the "sound across the bank shook the valley", but the Qing army hit the ship with gunpowder, causing an explosion. "The thief who robbed the ferry didn't survive." On June 3, Dakai beheaded 17 more than 200 people crossing the river and ordered them to cross the river. "All were bombarded by loyalists on the other side, and countless thieves were killed. At the same time, the current was so fast that all the people who boarded the raft sank. . "On June 9th, Shi Dakai made the last crossing. Except for five boats and rafts that were lost in the flood, all the others were" informed that they were sunk ". (see "Luo Zuo Draft")?
When cornered, Shi Dakai still had a glimmer of hope for the toast. On June 5th, Shi Dakai sent a book to Wang Yingyuan on the other side of the river, promising two good horses and a thousand taels of platinum, and asked to make way, but Wang Yingyuan had bought it for Luo, and it was not allowed. On June 9th, Shi Dakai failed to force the Dadu River for the last time. Wang Yingyuan took advantage of the situation to fight out the Songlin River, and another Tusi army (Ling Chengen) came down from Maanshan and fell to the ground. Shi Dakai led the remnants to the old crow vortex, and the Western Expedition Army of Taiping Army also entered the last moment. ?
When Shi Dakai first arrived in Jida, there were about 40,000 people. After more than 20 days of hard work, more than 10000 people died, leaving more than 10000 people. Zida is also barren. "Even if you fight and keep it, you are poor, lose your certificate and die." (Lai Bingquan's Documentary Monument to Wang Shida on the Wings of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom) However, Shi Dakai still retains the true colors of a revolutionary hero at this time. He "bought off" injured brothers and people who joined the army soon, leaving them to fend for themselves (so far there are thousands of Taiping Miao descendants in Shimian, Ganluo and Yuexi counties). The remaining 6,000 people are determined to live and die with Shi Dakai. Because the Qing army carried out the policy of "strengthening the wall and clearing the field", Shi Dakai never got any supplies, and the situation became more and more serious. Shi Dakai had to order his wives and concubines to sink into the river with their children in their arms, and other wounded and sick people followed suit and died. It's really tragic ...?
When Shi Dakai ran out of ammunition and food, there was nothing he could do. At this time, a peasant rebel leader, a traditional hero, finally made a decision that was extremely wrong in military politics and extremely glorious in human nature. He wrote a letter to Sichuan Governor Luo, asking him to commit suicide to save the army. This letter is written very seriously?
..... A gentleman can't serve his country and love his life? If death can be a safe army, why cherish death? If you can tell the Lord according to the book, be generous, considerate and original, spare the soldiers of our army, and forgive the disaster of being killed, then you will commit suicide by yourself, and the whole army will vote to ensure safety ... (This book is attached with a chronicle of Tang Yougeng)?
However, the Qing army was fierce. After cheating the prisoners, they were sent to Chengdu to "die in that year", with more than 6,000 remnants of the army, who were also killed by the Qing army in Dashubao (Luo would say that 4,000 of them were "given tickets to dismiss officials" and only 2,000 people were killed, which is incredible, because there are no descendants of those who gave tickets so far). This bloody lesson is worth pondering for future generations forever. ?
"Annual death", commonly known as "thousand pieces", is the most cruel criminal law. On June 25, the day of punishment, Zeng Shihe and five others died together. Zeng Shihe is "weak, powerless and miserable." Shi Dakai stopped him and said, "Why can't you endure this moment?" Shi Dakai himself "was tied to the execution ground from then on, and everyone was proud of Zhan Ran without any hesitation. He was executed in the middle of the year until he died silent. What a strange man! " (Zhou Xun's "Shu Hai Congtan") What a strong will it takes! Even Sichuan Governor Luo couldn't help admiring: "The arrogance of the owl can be seen in the brow, not an ordinary thief!" (See "Luo Zuo Draft")