Li Xiucheng thinks the plan is pointless. He said so out loud, to his superiors… and lost. So of course, it’s him tasked with leading it out the gate. He is, after all, the Loyal King. And so 6,000 soldiers cross the river in the dark through the only path still open to them, every one of them clad in the uniform of a dead enemy. Nobody stops them. Nobody even looks twice. 150 miles southeast there's a city that has no idea they’re coming for it, and it’s not even the city they’re really after.

Time Period Covered:
1859 – 1860 CE

Major Historical Figures:
Taiping Heavenly Kingdom:
Hong Xiuquan, the Heavenly King [1814–1864]
Hong Rengan, the Shield King, Gan Wang [1822–1864]
Li Xiucheng, the Loyal King, Zhong Wang [1823–1864]
Chen Yucheng, the Brave King, Ying Wang [1837–1862]
Li Shixian, later the Attending King, Shi Wang [1834–1865]
Shi Dakai, the Wing King [1831–1863]

Qing Empire:
The Xianfeng Emperor [1831–1861, r. 1850–1861]
Zeng Guofan, founder and commander of the Hunan Army [1811–1872]
He Chun, Manchu general, commander of the Great Southern Camp [d. 1860]
Zhang Guoliang, general of the Great Southern Camp [1810–1860]
Dexing'e, commander of the northern camp

Major Works Cited:
Michael, Franz, and Chung-li Chang, The Taiping Rebellion: History and Documents
Platt, Stephen R., Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West, and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War
Spence, Jonathan D., God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan

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