The smoke from Yuhuatai was rolling and the fire spread. The broken limbs and broken arms and burnt corpses of Taiping soldiers could be seen everywhere, and a strong stench stinking emitting from the air.

The Taiping Army general Chen Jiong took the advantage of Yuhua Platform and repelled more than ten rounds of attacks by the Shanghai Army, but he suffered heavy casualties. The 20,000 Taiping Army soldiers were left, and there were only less than 2,000 people left, and everyone was injured.

After finally getting late at night, Chen Jiong finally breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that night was not conducive to the combat of Shanghai musketeers, so compared to daytime, night was more suitable for the defense of the Taiping Army.

However, what caused Chen Jiong to collapse was that although the Shanghai army did not launch a night attack, the Shanghai army would always sound the sermon drums and military music, which scared Chen Jiong and the remaining less than 2,000 Taiping soldiers hurried into the position, but they were alert for more than an hour and did not see the Shanghai army attack.

Chen Jiong and the Taiping Army had been fighting hard all day long, and they were extremely tired. They didn't even need the energy to eat, so they just wanted to sleep.

However, whenever they wanted to close their eyes and rest, the Shanghai army's attack horn sounded at the foot of the mountain, forcing them to open their eyes, be highly nervous and be alert.

Once or twice, Chen Jiong immediately understood that this was the exhausted tactic of the Shanghai Army, but he had no way to deal with it. As the defensive side, he had to cheer up and hold on.

Chen Jiong and the Taiping Army were tossed all night and didn't close their eyes. When dawn was almost dawn, many soldiers fell asleep in a drowsy manner.

Just before dawn, the Shanghai army sounded the horn of attack again.

This time the Shanghai army came. They rested overnight, recovered their physical strength, replenished their ammunition and supplies, so they launched an attack again. Taking advantage of the Taiping Army being tossed and not sleeping all night, their physical strength and energy were exhausted, and before dawn was the most sleepy time, they were ready to seize the rainy flower platform in one fell swoop.

"The enemy is coming!"

Most of the Taiping soldiers had their heads numb and drowsy. They clearly heard their ears, but their eyes couldn't open, their limbs were sore, and they had no strength. Especially those soldiers who were seriously injured could no longer wake up after sleeping.

"All up, the enemy is coming!"

Chen Jiong went everywhere to call his subordinates, but after shouting a lot, not many of them stood up. Even the soldiers who woke him up in front of him fell down and fell asleep soon.

"General, the soldiers are extremely tired. We can't hold on anymore, so let's retreat!"

At this time, the only deputy general couldn't help but come to persuade Chen Jiong.

Chen Jiong shouted so hard that he finally made some soldiers stand up, but what caught his eye was that they were missing their arms and broken legs, and their bodies were covered with bloodstains. They were not as good as the elite Taiping Army.

Chen Jiong sighed. With these thousands of disabled soldiers, they could not stop the attack of the Shanghai army like tigers and wolfs.

"If you lose Yuhuatai, Tianjing will lose its commanding heights. I can't explain to the king when I go back. Deputy General Chang, please take all the brothers who can leave. If you can't leave, stay with me."

"General, you can't. Keep the green mountains without fear of burning fire!" Deputy General Chang knew what Chen Jiong was going to do, so he hurriedly advised.

But Chen Jiong had made up his mind and could not be opposed.

At this moment, the Shanghai army fired.

Dongdongdongdongdongdong!

The rumbling cannons broke the tranquility before dawn, and sharp whistles came straight to the Yuhua Platform.

Chen Jiong shouted: "Go away quickly. After this round of cannons, you will have no chance to leave! Go back and tell the king that Yuhuatai cannot be thrown away, so send a large army to come quickly. I will set fire to the mountain and block the Shanghai army for half a day."

The shells roared and exploded in an instant. The Taiping soldiers who had no time to hide were blown away one after another.

Deputy General Chang didn't want to leave. But seeing that Chen Jiong had made up his mind, he bid farewell and hurriedly fled to Tianjing with a group of disabled soldiers.

Chen Jiong took the remaining Taiping soldiers who could not get away, collected all the explosives and tinder oil, and lit all the surrounding mountains and forests.

The fire points ignited quickly formed a prairie fire with the fierce artillery fire of the Shanghai army. In an instant, the entire Yuhuatai was filled with a sea of ​​fire, and thick smoke rolled into the sky.

Chen Jiong and other Taiping troops burned themselves in the fire and were all killed in battle, but they also used their final cruelty to block the Shanghai army's advance and prevented the Shanghai army from seizing Yuhuatai.

"You scolded the person next door, you are so cruel!" In the command center, Li Weiguo saw this scene through a telescope and couldn't help but curse. He immediately ordered the Shanghai army to retreat, quickly dig trenches, cut down trees, and block the spread of the fire towards the Shanghai army camp.

Chen Jingnan was also extremely shocked. It was not until this time that he completely gave up the idea of ​​destroying the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom recently and said to Li Wei: "What the Lord said is right. Now is indeed not the time to destroy the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!"

Li Weiguo returned to his seat with a dark face and asked, "How is Wang Degui going?"

Chen Jingnan replied: "Report to the Lord, Lord Wang attacked Jubao Gate several times yesterday, and once broke two city walls of Jubao Gate. However, you also know that Jubao Gate has four city walls, three urns, and more than twenty hidden soldiers. Unless our artillery fire collapses all the city walls, it will be difficult to take down Jubao Gate."

Li Weiguo nodded and said, "Our artillery has no commanding heights, and it is difficult for artillery shells to cross the city wall to attack the enemy in the Tibetan camp. This is also a fact. I thought that I would take the Yuhuatai earlier and with this commanding heights, our artillery shells could be shot directly into the city of Tianjing, but a pity!"

Chen Jingnan said: "After this battle, after our Shanghai soldiers fought with the Taiping Army, their combat effectiveness will be greatly improved. This is a good thing. Besides, the Yuhuatai fire blocked us for at most half a day. As long as we control the commanding heights of Yuhuatai, the Taiping Army will inevitably panic."

Chen Jingnan paused and asked again: "But the Lord really doesn't want to take down Tianjing? The court may give the Lord a governor as a reward for this!"

Li Weiguo shook his head and said, "A Yuhuatai, the Taiping Army will fight so hard. If I want to attack Tianjing, even if I break the city, I will kill one thousand enemies and lose eight hundred. How many people can I have left in my 20,000 army? In order to destroy 20,000 elite troops, I, Li Weiguo, are not that crazy."

Chen Jingnan said: "The Lord does not love his soldiers for fame and fortune. He loves soldiers like his sons. The soldiers of the three armies will be grateful when they hear this. After this battle, I believe the court will no longer suspect that the Lord is rebelling in a short period of time. Our Shanghai army can develop with peace of mind for a while. As for the position of governor of Liangjiang, it will be the Lord's position sooner or later."

Li Weiguodao: "It's still early to talk about those Eastern Expedition Army that Shi Dakai was not severely damaged, and they are always our biggest concern!"

Chen Jingnan said: "Yes, Shi Dakai is the most powerful commander of the Taiping Army. The 100,000 elite Taiping Army soldiers in the Eastern Expedition poses too much a threat to us. However, after yesterday's battle, Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing must be afraid to death. They probably will forcefully recall Shi Dakai soon."

"Yes!" Li Weiguo nodded and said, "Send additional personnel to investigate Shi Dakai's movements. The real purpose is our focus. Even if we cannot wipe out Shi Dakai's troops, we must severely damage them, otherwise I will not be able to sleep or eat."

"I understand!" Chen Jingnan immediately took the order.

In the Heavenly King's Mansion, after learning that Chen Jiong was killed and that the 20,000 elite Taiping Army troops on Yuhuatai were wiped out, Hong Xiuquan, Yang Xiuqing and others were immediately like ants on a hot pan.

"As soon as Yuhuatai is lost, there is no safe place in Tianjing City. The Shanghai army's cannons are always threatening, so it is difficult to defend the capital!"

"Yes, when we captured this place, the Qing army lost Yuhuatai and left powerless. Now that Yuhuatai is lost, Tianjing is in danger!"

"Please issue an order to recruit the King of Wings to lead his army back to help to defend the capital!"

Under the instructions of the Eastern King Yang Xiuqing, all civil and military officials submitted memorials to explain their interests and persuade Hong Xiuquan to issue another order to recruit Shi Dakai to lead his army back to aid.

Hong Xuanjiao opposed it, "Wing King led a 100,000 army to fight in the east, how could he say he would come back? You also treat marching and war as a joke. Besides, even if the Wing King returns to help now, it will take time. The far water cannot quench the near thirst. It is better to let the King of Northern Transport troops from Anqing to return to help."

Yang Xiuqing snorted coldly: "The King of Northern is a defeated general under Li Weiguo. How can he ensure that he regained Yuhuatai and defended Tianjing? Besides, the King of Wings on the Eastern Expedition has already drawn most of the elite troops on the Western Front. Now the troops on the Western Front are only barely balanced with Zeng Guofan's Hunan Army. Once the troops on the Western Front are drawn, if the Hunan Army counterattacks, will the good situation on the Western Front be gone in an instant? This is the territory we have used countless manpower, material resources and financial resources to capture. How can we ruin it? At that time, the King of Northern will not retreat to Li Weiguo, and the other side will lose Anqing, and the Qing army besieged Tianjing from all sides. Then we are really catching a turtle in a jar."

When Hong Xiuquan saw that the civil and military officials were quarreling hard, he hesitated.

Since Hong Xiuquan moved into the Heavenly King's Mansion, Yang Xiuqing built a luxurious palace for him and selected thousands of beauties to enrich the harem. Now Hong Xiuquan has lost his original enterprising aspirations and is spent all day and night among beauties. He is really afraid of losing all this.

The court meeting lasted for most of the day. First, it debated whether Shi Dakai would lead his army back to the rescue, and later it discussed whether to mobilize the troops from Tianjing to recover Yuhuatai, but it never came up with a conclusion.

Until a shell fell into Tianjing City, everyone was awakened by a bang.

"Report"

"The Shanghai army has put out the fire on the Yuhua Platform and is setting up a fort to bombard our city!"

After hearing this report, Hong Xiuquan and others were all stunned.

This is a life-threatening thing. The Shanghai army's artillery fired far and powerful. The city walls could still resist the attacks of the Shanghai army's guns and cannons. Now the Shanghai army has occupied the commanding heights and is condescending. It can hit the shells wherever they want. For example, it is not safer than ordinary people, even Hong Xiuquan's Heavenly King's Mansion.

Hong Xiuquan was panicked, Yang Xiuqing was also scared, and all the civil and military officials were frightened.
Chapter completed!