Attack the Rivers and the Mountains

"Attack the rivers and the mountains". For the Taiping Army, this simple expression implied the conquest of the entire realm—all of China. The Taiping Army had pushed north from Pingnan, divided into land and maritime route forces, and had now reached the city of Yongan. When the Taiping forces, having escaped by the skin of their teeth, headed north in the direction of Yongan, they passed through Tengxian. Many of the locals from Tengxian joined their army, and among them was that kind man whom Yang had remembered from Jintian earlier. The Taiping Army claimed to be one hundred thousand strong, but in fact it was estimated that only half that number made the trek to Yongan, and many of them were actually noncombatants. The Taiping Army had pushed north from Pingnan, divided into land and maritime route forces, and had now reached the city of Yongan.