Chapter 525: The End of Heaven

[PS: This chapter is what was promised before. Congratulations to the book friend "Jiyinghu" who was promoted to the head of Jiageng, Jiageng who was late, apologies, thanks! ! ! 】

The night is as cool as water.

The autumn wind blows, bringing a chill even more.

At this time, the camp of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom West Route Army was full of flames, almost like daytime.

The flames shot up into the sky, igniting the night sky in the wilderness. The boundless silent wilderness, because of the clusters of fire, seemed to wake up in advance at this moment.

When the Shanhai City army attacked, most of the soldiers of the West Route Army had already fallen asleep soundly after a day's journey. Except for the patrolling soldiers, it was simply an undefended camp.

Somehow, even God is helping Shanhai City. The bright moonlight and the bright starlight complement each other, illuminating the entire camp as if it were daytime, clearly visible.

Perhaps, this is the manifestation of luck, and then in the dark, it affects the movement of the sun, moon and stars. Since defeating Chi You's army, Ouyang Shuo's luck has been fully formed in the southwest region, and no one can beat him.

As the saying goes, the son of luck must be protected by the sky.

Taking advantage of the bright night, the army of Shanhai City, like wolves and tigers, set off a heinous killing in the camp.

At the same time, the two major cavalry divisions following the West Route Army finally completed their "false bait" mission, came out in full force, and rushed towards the West Route Army camp at full speed.

Facing the flanking attacks of the front and rear armies, the defeat of the West Route Army was only a matter of time.

Looking at the chaotic camp, Shi Dakai felt a feeling of despair for the first time.

Heaven perishes!

The iron-blooded man looked up to the sky and sighed, after all, he didn't want to give up, and tried his best to organize an army, trying to break out. As long as they break out of the siege in the direction of Tianjing City smoothly, there is still a glimmer of life.

Unfortunately, all this is doomed to be in vain.

The Shanhai City army, with Bai Qi and Han Xin sitting in command, once a surprise attack is launched, how can it leave any respite for the Taiping Army. Every front of the army is arranged airtight.

The various armies in Shanhai City cooperated with each other, advanced and retreated in an orderly manner, launched continuous attacks, and slaughtered the still ignorant Taiping Army efficiently and quickly.

In every direction and every corner, there are troops stationed there.

The West Route Army camp was like a cage, trapping the army and unable to get out.

The sound of killing and shouting shocked the whole field and could not be dispersed for a long time.

By the time Luo Shixin's division and Zhang Liao's division arrived, the overall situation was basically settled. Two elite cavalry divisions galloped across the camp by the light of the fire, and there was no match for them.

Zhang Liao led his troops, while killing the enemy, he was in high spirits.

It was the army in front of them that had crushed them until a few days ago.

Unexpectedly, in just a few days, the roles of both sides completely changed, and it was the Taiping Army's turn to be slaughtered.

Such a huge gap is really unbelievable.

In Zhang Liao's heart, he was not without emotion.

In comparison, the army of Shanhai City is indeed extraordinary.

It's not that the soldiers of the Taiping Army never thought about taking advantage of the darkness to escape into the wilderness.

Unfortunately, how could Han Xin allow them to do so?

On the outskirts of the camp, the two armies arranged tens of thousands of crossbowmen to guard them. Any soldier who dares to flee outside will be shot into a sieve before he goes far.

In the face of such a rain of arrows, no matter how brave a warrior is, he should stay back.

The only way to survive is to surrender.

In the sky full of flames, finally some soldiers couldn't stand it anymore and chose to surrender humiliatingly.

The soldiers knew very well that their army was the only hope for the Kingdom of Heaven.

Now that their hopes are shattered and they cannot protect themselves, even if they are lucky enough to escape, they may not be able to escape the follow-up pursuit.

This warship in the kingdom of heaven is already dilapidated, riddled with holes, and it is about to sink completely. Instead of being buried with the kingdom of heaven, it is better to take the opportunity to board a new warship.

It is with this thought that the more you go to the back, the more soldiers will surrender. The Taiping Army surrendered piece by piece like dominoes.

In the later stage, if a general came forward to stop it, he would be hacked to death by his own people immediately. Seeing such scenes, even generals who don't know how to adapt, dare not act as "people who don't know good or bad".

It wasn't until late at night that the inconspicuous hillside here gradually calmed down.

All the surrendered soldiers were confiscated and their weapons were confiscated and put under surveillance. The previous big camp turned into temporary prison cells in an instant.

In just one night, the world has changed drastically.

The night became darker and darker.

Even the stars began to dim.

The noisy wilderness regained its original silence.

Of course, as long as we get through this dark night, the dawn will not be far away.

Throughout the night, no one in the camp rested.

The army of Shanhai City wanted to guard the prisoners of war and dared not fall asleep; while the soldiers of the Taiping Army who were captives were restless and could not sleep at all.

More than 200,000 troops spent the most difficult four hours together in the long dark night.

At about six o'clock in the morning, the sun finally rose from the eastern sky again.

Accompanied by the red morning sun, the night completely dissipated.

The night is like a tide, receding at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Dawn finally came to the world again.

Until then, Bai Qi and Han Xin had time to make post-war statistics.

And this statistic has been counted until noon.

Such an efficient speed is also due to the professional staff personnel equipped in the legion.

In the end, the statistical data shocked Bai Qi.

In this battle, more than 150,000 Taiping troops from the West Route Army killed more than 40,000 people and captured more than 90,000 people. In the end, only less than 20,000 troops broke through the siege.

Among the four main generals of the West Route Army, the chief general Shi Dakai was sent away by the guards to take advantage of the chaos, the right general Li Kaifang died in battle, and the deputy general Xiao Chaogui and the left general Feng Yunshan were unfortunately captured.

Because it was fighting at night, the Shanhai City army suffered some losses, but there were no serious injuries.

After daybreak, Zhang Liao took a rest and left with his troops. Now that the West Route Army has been routed, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will be destroyed, and their assistance is no longer needed.

After all, Kunming County has just been pacified, and the army is still in the process of reorganization. Zhang Liao, as the newly appointed army commander, naturally returned as soon as possible.

Fortunately, you are all soldiers, and you are in the barracks, so naturally there is no politeness.

After exchanging pleasantries, the two parties bid farewell.

After helping each other during this period of time, the connection between Shanhai City and Lingxi City has become closer. Not only the generals, but also the soldiers began to agree with each other.

Naturally, the cavalry division led by Luo Shixin officially returned to the team. Considering the repeated battles of the Second Division, the soldiers were exhausted.

Bai Qi finally decided that Luo Shixin's division would lead his troops to escort more than 90,000 prisoners of war to Mulan Fortress. Because he was still in the territory of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, in order to prevent accidents, Bai Qi also arranged for the Fifth Division to accompany him.

Luo Shixin's order was naturally the boss's displeasure. He also thought about going to Tianjing City to experience it. Now it seems that there is no such opportunity.

It's just that the military order is hard to disobey, so Luo Shixin can only nod in response.

The remaining three divisions of the Longxiang Legion will join hands with the Baotao Legion to officially march to Tianjing City.

As a result, this battle, which lasted for more than a month, is finally about to usher in the final battle.

***********

On the afternoon of November 16th, Tianjing City.

When Shi Dakai led the remnants and fled to Tianjing City in embarrassment, the shock caused can be imagined. The news of the West Route Army's defeat was like a roaring tsunami, shaking the entire city of Tianjing to pieces.

Despair spread throughout the audience.

Panic, like a virus, spread like lightning.

A pessimistic mood instantly enveloped the sky over Tianjing City.

It is reported that when Shi Dakai, the leader of the West Route Army, entered the palace to meet the Heavenly King, he committed suicide on the spot to apologize. If it wasn't for the guards in the main hall who were one step faster, Shi Dakai might have died on the spot.

Seeing this, how could Hong Xiuquan have the heart to reprimand the general.

Especially with the defeat of the West Route Army, the original starlight of the Taiping Army has dimmed. If Shi Dakai dies again, there will be no generals available.

Moreover, Hong Xiuquan knew very well in his heart that he also had to bear part of the responsibility for the defeat of the West Route Army.

In vain, Hong Xiuquan claimed to know the kingdom of heaven like the back of his hand, but he never expected that Shanhaicheng would play a trick under his nose to deceive the world.

The humiliation involved is beyond the comprehension of outsiders.

The two monarchs and ministers spied on for a full two hours. What was discussed specifically, outsiders have no way of knowing.

I just know that once Shi Dakai left the Tianwang Palace, he didn't even return home, and went directly to the barracks again to rectify the army, pack up his luggage, and raise food and supplies.

Those with a keen sense of smell might be able to guess that the Heavenly King is about to abandon the city and run away.

Indeed, facing this big defeat, Hong Xiuquan no longer had the confidence to hold Tianjing. If this is the case, it is better for a strong man to cut off his wrist and abandon the city early.

The direction of escape is naturally Guilin County in the north.

Among the three counties of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, most of Xunzhou County, needless to say, has already fallen. Zhen'an County in the west is no longer a safe place because it is close to Kunming County in Yunnan Province.

The only option is to retreat to Guilin County.

Although it was said that Ouyang Shuo had led his troops to conquer the two passes, after all, Hong Xiuquan had managed Xunzhou County for nearly a year, and he still had a way to break through the blockade of Shanhai City's army.

Furthermore, including the nearly 20,000 remnants led by Shi Dakai, Hong Xiuquan could mobilize an army of more than 100,000, which is also a military force that cannot be underestimated.

Even if it is to forcefully attack the pass, there is still a slight chance of winning.

Shi Dakai's unusual behavior immediately caused even greater commotion in Tianjing. All of a sudden, rumors spread everywhere in the city, and it seemed that the city was going to be completely out of control.

In desperation, Hong Xiuquan had no choice but to impose a curfew and mobilize the army to implement military control.