"Impossible! How could His Majesty come to the battlefield? "Don't say that Li Xiucheng doesn't believe it, most of them say that the soldiers don't believe it either.

"Lord Wang, the person who just shouted is Zhang Guangshuang, the commander of the first division of the Young Army, it shouldn't be like a fraud." Chen Bingwen said. Zhang Guangshuang was the first personal guard of King Zhong, and later served as a brigade commander under Chen Bingwen, and was transferred to the young army as a division commander when the Young Army was established. I still know Zhang Guangshuang and Chen Bingwen, this person is brave in battle and is a loyal and upright person, as for Li Rongfa, the former commander of the young army, who once reported that the three of them betrayed the loyal king and took refuge in the king, he didn't believe it very much.

Li Xiucheng took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: "Open the city gate, we will welcome the Heavenly King!" ”

"Lord Wang, do you want to take another look?" Mai Dongliang said anxiously. Outside, there was a strong army that defeated the British and French forces and the Qing army, and if you really guess wrong, the consequences will be unimaginable.

"This king believes in Zhang Guangshuang, he is a general who went out under this king!" King Zhong waved his hand and said firmly.

The city gate opened, and all the generals of King Zhong's family went out of the city to greet them, and the troops who followed King Zhong did not have the decadence after the defeat, but their morale was high, but they just looked at Hong Tiangui and his party with a look full of curiosity.

Li Xiucheng looked at Hong Tiangui who was gathered by everyone curiously, looking at his appearance, there was a faint resemblance between his eyebrows and the heavenly king Hong Xiuquan. In addition, he had seen Hong Tiangui two years ago, and he was vaguely him in appearance. This made Li Xiucheng no longer able to doubt.

"Minister Li Xiucheng has seen His Majesty the Heavenly King!" Li Xiucheng knelt on his knees and made a big salute.

"Loyal to the king, I didn't expect this king to meet you in this situation!" Hong Tiangui said calmly.

King Zhong stood up, his face full of shame, "The minister is incompetent, leading an army of 100,000 but unable to capture a small Shanghai city." Please punish His Majesty the Heavenly King. ”

Hong Tiangui shook his head and said, "Did King Zhong let this king speak here?" ”

King Zhong's expression changed, and he hurriedly got out of the way and let Hong Tiangui enter.

"This king wants to see the army of the loyal king, I don't know if it?" Hong Tiangui said in a deep voice.

King Zhong was puzzled, but he couldn't refuse, so he could only take Hong Tiangui into his army.

The news of the arrival of the Heavenly King shook the whole army, especially Hong Tiangui led 30,000 men to defeat the foreign army, and swept it from Shanghai City to Jinshan County on the southern coast.

For the Heavenly King, the loyal king is not understood in the army, whether it is Hong Xiuquan or Hong Tiangui, the Heavenly King is a high title for them, but it is the loyal king who is the object of their allegiance, and now the Heavenly King suddenly visited, and carried the aftermath of a great victory, which made the whole army mention his curiosity to the extreme.

Now that Hong Tiangui is inspecting the Zhongwang Army, all armies, divisions, and brigades have moved, and the whole army is full of expectations.

Inspecting the Zhongwang army was Hong Tiangui's whim, and he wanted to know the reason why Zhongwang led ten times the enemy's troops and was still beaten by people. As one of the best generals in the late Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, it was definitely not easy for Li Xiucheng to lead his troops, but he was still defeated and was defeated by the army of 3,000 foreigners and the Huai army that had just been armed.

But seeing the Taiping Army under Li Xiucheng, Hong Tiangui seemed to understand something.

There was a serious shortage of the number of troops in the whole army, not only those who were damaged in the offensive and defensive battles in Shanghai, but also those who were already vacant. This was a common problem of all the Taiping armies at this time, bluffing to frighten the enemy. The army of King Zhongwang is claimed to be 200,000, but in fact it is about 100,000 people, which also includes logistics and baggage troops, and the actual combat strength is about 70,000, and the loss of more than 30,000 in Shanghai City, and the Huai army fought for another day in Songjiang Prefecture, and the actual combat strength is only about 30,000 people, which is more limited than Hong Tiangui's national defense army. Moreover, there are more officers than soldiers in the remaining army, and there are only twenty soldiers under the command of Mai Dongliang, and all of them are officers, so it is really debatable how much combat effectiveness such a unit has.

Li Xiucheng was also a little embarrassed, he didn't expect Hong Tiangui's inspection to be so detailed, and some problems in the Zhongwang army even he didn't find himself.

"Your Majesty the Heavenly King, this is also a matter of no choice, the reason why there are only officers left in the whole army is to prepare for expansion, as long as we are given time, we can rebuild an army of 100,000 people." Mai Dongliang, who accompanied Hong Tiangui, said in a deep voice.

"Where can there be a qualified army without qualified officers? An army of 100,000? This king thinks it's a rabble of 100,000! Hong Tiangui asked the young commander and found that he had just joined the army for less than three months, and he was forcibly conscripted, and he was only a farmer in a heavy land before, what kind of soldiers could such an officer bring?

Hong Tiangui was a little disappointed, the most powerful army of the Loyal King of Heaven turned out to be such a good, and with such an army, the Loyal King and others actually maintained the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom until 2 years later, I have to say that it is not that the Taiping Army is too strong, but that the Manchu Army is too.

Everyone was speechless, and King Chung and his men all had ugly looks on their faces.

"King Zhong, this king once ordered you to return to Tianjing City, and this order is still valid, do you want to go back?" Hong Tiangui returned to Li Xiucheng's handsome tent and asked calmly.

Li Xiucheng's face changed, and the half-ring became cloudy.

"Your Majesty, has Shanghai City been captured by you?" Li Xiucheng answered the question, with an inexplicable look in his eyes.

Hong Tiangui nodded and said, "It is true that we have picked up a bargain, but this king has already decided to give up Shanghai City!" ”

"Your Majesty, Shanghai City can't give up! It is currently the most prosperous city in China, and as long as we master the city of Shanghai, we will inevitably have a wide range of financial resources, and the finances of the Kingdom of Heaven can also be greatly improved. King Chung said in a deep voice.

"Keep the city of Shanghai? Ridiculous, what do we use to keep the city of Shanghai? With the 100,000 troops that you are now in complete possession of? Hong Tiangui sneered ruthlessly.

King Zhong's face was silent, and he said in embarrassment: "Your Majesty, as long as Your Majesty needs it, the minister can defend Shanghai City to the death." ”

Hong Tiangui looked at him calmly and said lightly: "Does King Zhong mean that he would rather defend Shanghai City than go back to Tianjing to assist this king?" ”

"The minister doesn't dare, the minister just thinks that he shouldn't leave at this moment!" King Zhong clenched his fists, and his arrogant head had to be lowered under Hong Tiangui's cold eyes.

"Shouldn't you leave? It is said that King Zhong is the mainstay of the kingdom of heaven, but now it seems that he is a short-sighted person, even if this Shanghai city is defended by you, it is just a dead city, what use does this king want? Hong Tiangui sneered.

King Zhong's face changed, no one can say clearly how much wealth there is in Shanghai, especially those wealthy businessmen in Jiangnan who have migrated in the past two years, which one does not have thousands of hectares of fertile land, and each rich oil, as long as he masters Shanghai, at least one-third of Jiangnan is mastered, and its strategic significance is extremely heavy.