Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 216: The Fall of Tianjing
Soon, Lin Fengxiang, Li Kaifang, Hu Yihuang, Huang Wenjin and others received transfer orders and began to withdraw from the front line to Tianjing.

Hong Xiuquan was prepared to defend the city to the death, waiting for the appearance of God!
The Qing troops quickly pursued the enemy to the outside of Tianjing City and surrounded it.

The Qing army gathered heavy troops outside the city of Tianjing and began to prepare for an offensive against Tianjing.

For a time, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was in a precarious situation and on the verge of collapse!
After the Qing army gathered outside the city of Tianjing, they immediately launched an offensive against the city.

After several days of fierce attacks, by the end of April in the third year of Emperor Xianfeng's reign, the outer city wall of Tianjing was finally destroyed by heavy artillery fire from the Qing army. Senggelinqin selected elite troops to rush in through the gap in the city wall and fought a fierce battle with the Taiping Army.

Generals Hu Yihuang, Huang Wenjin, and Zhou Shengkun died in battle to defend the city, and the Taiping Army's casualties continued to soar.

Moreover, as the Qing army continued to increase its troops, the Taiping Army began to visibly fall into a disadvantage.

……

"Heavenly King, Tianjing can no longer be defended!"

"If we don't retreat now, it will be too late!"

Hong Rengan came before Hong Xiuquan and said with a sad face.

Upon hearing this, Hong Xiuquan became furious and kicked Hong Rengan to the ground. He drew the sword from his waist, and waved it while shouting.

"I don't believe it! I don't believe it!"

"You are all lying to me, all of you are lying to me!"

The rumbling sound of artillery fire could be faintly heard outside the Heavenly King's Palace, but Hong Xiuquan was still unwilling to believe that Tianjing was in danger and had reached a desperate situation.

While swinging the sword, Hong Xiuquan injured several queens and guards. Blood dripped down the sword and onto the main hall in the Heavenly King's Palace.

Seeing this, the people around scattered instantly.

Even Hong Rengan, who had fallen to the ground, rolled on the ground to avoid being hit by Hong Xiuquan's sword.

Hong Xiuquan yelled with red eyes.

"Defend the city, everyone, defend the city for me!"

"Whoever dares to flee from the battlefield will have his head cut off by me!"

"As long as we persist in defending Tianjing, Heavenly Father will surely appear to help us!"

Seeing this, Meng De'en slowly retreated behind the crowd and said.

"The king of heaven is wise, Tianjing City can no longer be defended."

"The Qing demons have already entered the outer city. Generals Hu Yihuang, Huang Wenjin, and Zhou Shengkun have all died in battle. If we don't leave now, we will never be able to leave."

Upon hearing this, Hong Xiuquan became furious and was about to draw his sword to kill this guy who was disrupting the morale of the army.

Following the voice, I saw Meng De'en hiding behind the crowd.

Seeing this scene, Hong Xiuquan almost laughed out of anger.

But he still spoke firmly.

"Everyone, go and defend the city. If the outer city is breached, we still have the inner city. If the inner city is breached, we still have the Heavenly King's Palace!"

"I believe that we can hold on until the Heavenly Father appears!"

But at this moment, Hong Rengan climbed up from the ground and pounced on Hong Xiuquan.

With a thud, Hong Rengan pressed Hong Xiuquan to the ground and then yelled.

"Come and help, remove the Heavenly King's weapons, and lead the Heavenly King to break through!"

Upon seeing this, the generals of the Heavenly Kingdom rushed forward and tried to snatch the blood-stained sword from Hong Xiuquan's hand.

Hong Xiuquan was pinned down by Hong Rengan and almost went mad, he yelled in anger.

"Traitors! They are all traitors!"

"The Kingdom of Heaven is ruined by traitors like you. I will kill you..."

"Father, help me! Father, help me!"

Lai Lianying stepped forward and slashed Hong Xiuquan's neck with a knife.

In an instant, Hong Xiuquan, who had just been roaring angrily, tilted his head and fainted.

Hong Rengan stood up from Hong Xiuquan's body, breathing heavily and looking nervous.

Meng De'en, who was standing by, came forward and asked.

"King Gan, where should we break out next?"

When Hong Rengan heard this, his expression changed. He thought for a long time and then spoke.

"Go west, along the Yangtze River, and break out in the direction of Anhui and Jiangxi."

Immediately, without waiting for anyone to ask, Hong Rengan took the initiative to explain.

"First, the Qing army is coming from the east and north, and its encirclement in the west is relatively weak, which is suitable for our army to launch a force to break out."

"Secondly, the Tang army is currently marching eastward to Jiangxi. If our army breaks out to the west, we may be able to get support from the Tang army."

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.

Now the Tang Dynasty is really the only lifeline for the Kingdom of Heaven!

Lin Fengxiang on the side spoke up.

"King Gan, if the army wants to break out, it will not work without someone to cover the rear."

"I will lead the rear guard!"

Lin Fengxiang was touched by the fact that Hong Xiuquan saved his life from Yang Xiuqing after the Changsha Incident broke out.

Therefore, he was prepared to lead the troops to cover the rear and use his own life to buy a glimmer of hope for Hong Xiuquan, as a way of repaying Hong Xiuquan's kindness.

Upon hearing this, Hong Rengan clasped his fists tightly and then spoke.

"Thank you, General!"

"If the Heavenly Kingdom can successfully break through this battle, the Heavenly King will definitely not forget the general's contribution."

Li Kaifang also said this.

"Since Brother Lin has taken the task of guarding the rear, let me take charge of clearing the way for the army."

"In this breakout, our troops will be the vanguard of the army and pave the way for the Heavenly King!"

Hong Rengan clasped his fists tightly again.

Without Hong Xiuquan's interference, the various forces of the Heavenly Kingdom quickly prepared to break out.

In order to attract the attention of the Qing army and buy time for Hong Xiuquan to break out, Lin Fengxiang led his troops to launch a counterattack against the Qing army entering the city.

After several desperate charges, the Qing army was almost driven out of the city by Lin Fengxiang's troops. In order to stop the offensive of Lin Fengxiang's troops, the Governor-General of Liangjiang, Yi Liang, ordered troops to be dispatched from outside Tianjing to besiege it.

Just as the Qing army was dispatching troops to besiege Lin Fengxiang's troops, the remaining Taiping Army, with Li Kaifang's troops as the spearhead, began to break out.

They left the city from the west of Tianjing, broke through several Qing army interception lines, and headed towards Hezhou.

Amid the chaos, the Taiping Army actually managed to break out successfully.

Upon seeing this, Yiliang and Senggelinqin became furious and ordered the Qing troops to pursue.

In order to buy time for Hong Xiuquan and others to break out, Li Kaifang, after breaking through the Qing army's blockade, took the initiative to lead his troops to cover their retreat and fought with the Qing army's pursuers.

Hong Rengan, Meng De'en and others took the unconscious Hong Xiuquan all the way westward...

……

In Tianjing City, the battle has reached its final moment.

Lin Fengxiang's troops were surrounded and faced with the endless stream of Qing troops from all directions. They were in a desperate situation.

Lin Fengxiang raised his arms and shouted for a fierce fight, fighting with the Qing army until the last moment, and finally shed his blood on the battlefield.

The Qing troops around him rushed forward like crazy and hacked Lin Fengxiang to pieces.

Li Kaifang also fought to the death, and his soldiers were forced to the bank of the Yangtze River by the Qing army.

Faced with the Qing army's siege, their troops were forced to jump into the river one after another, and the wide surface of the Yangtze River was soon covered with floating corpses.

Li Kaifang was forced into a desperate situation.

He was numb from so many injuries that he didn't feel any pain, and he looked a little dazed from losing too much blood.

There was a constant ringing in my ears, and the shouting and screaming around me had become blurred.

He looked in the direction where the Heavenly King was breaking out in the west, and then looked at the Qing troops who were constantly surrounding and killing him from all sides.

A relieved smile!
He was a poor man from the mountains of Guangxi, but he followed the king all the way from Guangxi to Jiangnan, and made those high-ranking officials tremble with fear at the mention of his name.

It is worth it to have such an experience in this life.

With a clang, Li Kaifang drew out his sword, put it on his neck and shouted.

"Fuck the Qing monsters! I'm going to be a Taiping Army soldier in my next life and kill Qing monsters!"

After he finished speaking, he raised his knife and cut his own throat, blood spurting out from his neck.

His tall body fell to the ground with a loud bang, and he soon died completely.

Inspired by Li Kaifang's heroic act of preferring death to being captured by the Qing demons, many of his followers died.

At the same time, many Taiping troops scattered in the city of Tianjing who did not have time to follow the main force to break out were still fighting to the death.

In the huge city of Tianjing, shouts of killing were heard everywhere.

But facing the main force of the Qing army, the resistance of these scattered Taiping troops was futile.

As time passed, the Taiping Army in Tianjing City was gradually wiped out by the Qing Army.

The entire city of Tianjing seemed to have been bathed in blood.

……

On the other side, Hong Xiuquan woke up slowly on a ferry.

He looked at the tarpaulin above his head in confusion and asked in a dry voice.

"This...what is this place?"

"Where did you take me?!"

Hong Rengan on the side stepped forward and said.

"In reply to the Heavenly King, we have already left Tianjing."

"Now we are turning west..."

Upon hearing this, Hong Xiuquan sat up from the bed and asked with a somewhat ferocious expression.

"I... my Tianjing, has it been lost?!"

Now Hong Xiuquan finds it hard to believe this cruel fact.

Hong Rengan nodded with a grim expression.

"In reply to the Heavenly King, Tianjing City has fallen."

Upon hearing this, Hong Xiuquan fell silent for a moment.

Suddenly, Hong Xiuquan jumped up, pulled out the sword from a guard beside him, and then swung the sword at Hong Rengan.

Seeing this, Hong Rengan quickly ducked and dodged.

Hong Xiuquan's knife grazed his scalp, taking off a few strands of his hair, and then hit a pillar with a clang.

Hong Rengan came back to his senses from his fright and looked at Hong Xiuquan with a dull look, full of confusion.

Are you going to kill me?
Do you, Hong Xiuquan, really want to kill me?
The knife was stuck in the pillar. Hong Xiuquan tried several times to pull it out but failed. Instead, he ended up sweating profusely.

He simply gave up drawing his sword and roared at the guards around him with red eyes.

"Traitor, Hong Rengan you traitor!"

"If you hadn't knocked me unconscious and abducted me from Tianjing, how could my Tianjing have fallen so easily?!"

"Come here, capture Hong Rengan, this traitor who betrayed his master and murdered his king, and is a traitor to the law."

"Pull it out and chop it!"

Upon hearing this, the guards around were all stunned.

They didn't know whether Hong Xiuquan was just speaking in anger or really wanted to kill Hong Rengan, so they didn't dare to act rashly.

Seeing this, Hong Xiuquan became even angrier.

"How dare you ignore my orders? Are you planning to rebel?!"

Hong Xiuquan roared angrily, and the guards did not dare to delay and rushed forward to take Hong Rengan down.

But before they could push the man out to be beheaded, Lai Lianying, Meng De'en and others began to plead for mercy.

"I hope the Heavenly King will calm down and forgive King Gan this time."

"Yes, my Lord, King Gan was just confused for a moment, please forgive him!"

"..."

(End of this chapter)