The battle between Pu Zixuan and the infant monster took place in western Zhejiang, ten days later, on June 16, in the early morning of July 19, 186, on another Jiangsu front, Su Sanniang, alias Feng Yuliang, was standing proudly on the wall of the Taiping Gate of Tianjing City, disguised as a man, and together with 3,000 "holy soldiers", facing the main attack force of the Hunan army led by Zeng Guofan outside the wall. Under the full moon and lights, its figure is as heroic and upright as when it was in the adversity of Kunlun Mountain.

Before, Su Sanniang heard the news of Hong Xiuquan's death, and knew that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was in danger, so she walked quickly from Xianjian Hall, and arrived at Tianjing, the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Jiangsu Province, as early as six days before Pu Zixuan and his party arrived in Changhua County.

At this time, the "emperor" of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had been replaced by Hong Tianguifu, who was only 14 years old, and all military and political affairs were in the hands of Li Xiucheng, the loyal king. Because Li Xiucheng had seen "Feng Yuliang" when he fought Anqing with Shi Da, and Tianjing was the time to use materials, Su Sanniang won the trust of Li Xiucheng and the young king without much effort, and led the people to defend Tianjing in the name of "Sand King", and he had resisted to the death for more than half a month.

Although the final siege battle of this war has not yet begun, its entire course has lasted for more than two years since March 1862, when Zeng Guoquan's troops left Anqing in the east.

From 1862 to May 1863, Su Sanniang was expanding her territory in the southwest with Shi Dakai, and then encountered the strong intervention of the demon king Xiqu and defeated the Dadu River. In the main battlefield of Jiangsu, Hong Xiuquan and a cadre of soldiers were also difficult to support alone, and the territory under their control was constantly encroached upon by the Qing army.

In May 1862, after the Hunan army captured Dangtu, Wuhu, Banqiao, Moling Pass, Dasheng Pass, and Sanxia River, and approached Yuhuatai, Tianjing was already under the direct threat of the Hunan army.

On 11 July, the southwestern barrier of Ningguo Mansion in Anhui Province was breached. Yang Fuqing and Hong Renji returned to Tianjing from southern Anhui and attacked the Hunan army at night and were defeated.

After more than a year, although Hong Xiuquan ordered Li Xiucheng to counterattack and occupy several cities in an attempt to share the pressure of Tianjing, due to the shortage of food and the increase of the Hunan army, Li Xiucheng had to lead his troops to return to Jingqinwang from Jiuhuanzhou to the south in June 1863, and 100,000 people died of starvation along the way. At this time, Shi Dakai was tried in the Chengdu public court and made a generous statement, which made the presiding judge Chongshi and reasoned and speechless, and then calmly died.

In September, Zeng Guoquan's troops captured the Shangqiao Bridge in the southeast of Tianjing City and the Jiangdong Bridge in the southwest of the city, and in November, they successively captured the Shangmen, Gaoqiaomen, Shuangqiaomen, Qiqiao Urn, Moling Pass and Zhonghe Bridge in the southeast of the city, and the Taiping army lost all the key points in the southwest of the Purple Mountain. At this time, Su Sanniang had already encountered a nightmare on Fengzhou Island to seize her memory, and she was unable to return to help.

In February 186, the Hunan army captured Tianbao City on the top of the Purple Mountain. In March, after the Quanbu of Zeng Guo besieged Tianjing, he attacked the city with a ladder and was defeated by the defenders of the Heavenly Kingdom.

In May, when Su Sanniang fought Qin Yong with Xianjiantang in Guangxi, Hong Xiuquan had a premonition that the general trend had gone, and he built the "Moon City" in Tianjing City, which was the last resistance after the city was broken.

At this time, the siege of the city of Zeng Quanxiang army only 70,000 people, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom defenders still have 140,000 "holy soldiers", the loyal king Li Xiucheng urged Hong Xiuquan to abandon the city, Hong Xiuquan scolded it, further adopted the strategy of all the soldiers, preaching that God will come to save the kingdom of heaven, and united the military spirit, so that the Hunan army repeatedly tried to siege the city but returned in vain.

Just when the soldiers and civilians in the city saw a glimmer of survival, on June 1, Hong Xiuquan, the founder of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the spiritual leader of 14 years, suddenly died of illness at the age of 50.

After that, although the Tianjing City had gathered almost all of the remaining regular troops of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of 30,000 and hundreds of thousands of militiamen, it was deeply awakened that the leader of the so-called Son of God was originally only a mortal, and in an instant, the worship of God that had been used for many years of cohesion collapsed, and the morale fell to the bottom, and the number of troops capable of fighting was only three or four thousand, so he had to keep it secret.

In the early morning of 19 July, mines were placed in the tunnels dug in advance on the east side of the Taiping Gate to bombard the city wall, and the city wall collapsed before dawn, and the two armies began a hand-to-hand fight.

This two-year war was known as the "Battle of Tianjing".

……

"Praise God as the Father of Heaven, Jesus as the Savior, and Holy God as the Holy Spirit. The truth is the same as the way of the world, which can save people's souls and enjoy infinite blessings. The wise are enthusiastic, and the blessing is followed, the fool awakens, the path to heaven is open, the heavenly father is blessed, the vast and boundless, the prince is not spared, and the mortal world is resigned, and the soul is repentant, and the soul is ascended to heaven......"

The holy soldiers who can fight, while reciting the last "Holy Father's Praise Sutra", guard the last line of defense of life with swords and guns, so that even if the Hunan army can go up to the city wall, it will be difficult to take a step beyond the thunder pool.

The first batch of 400 Hunan troops were all annihilated, and half of the 3,000 vanguard were killed...... The battle continued until midnight, and although the sky had not yet dawned, it was already possible to see the smoke billowing all around, and the corpses and bones all over the ground were desolate, and it was a completely hellish scene on earth.

Just when the two sides were fighting to the death, suddenly, everyone on the city wall couldn't believe their eyes - in the sky, a huge three-eyed strange bird suddenly flew in, with a wingspan of more than a zhang, and its whole body was covered with bright yellow and green feathers, with four tails slightly open, and the bird's beak was like a vulture, making a terrible roar, and under that bright figure, it seemed that the stars, moons, mountains and rivers also changed color in this call.

The strange bird flew to the tower of the Taiping Gate and attacked the holy soldiers who were already extremely difficult, using their beaks, wings, and claws at the same time, but it was just a swift sweep, and more than ten of the holy soldiers were pushed off the city wall.

The strange bird stopped and picked up a holy soldier and flew into the sky, biting its body into two parts, swallowing the part of its chest, and waiting for the other two to fall naturally.

As if it had found that it had not preyed on the person it wanted to eat, it circled in the sky and turned back, scurrying towards the city wall again—this time, it targeted Su Sanniang more precisely.

"Sand King be careful!" In a desperate situation, a group of holy soldiers came over and shot at the strange bird, only to see that the bullet hit the strange bird "properly", but it could not cause any damage to it.

In an instant, the holy soldier had been overturned, Su Sanniang saw that the strange bird was fierce, and launched the power of purification to dodge sideways, and the strange bird fluttered into the air and flew into the sky.

When the Hunan army saw the strange birds, it seemed that they were only keen on attacking the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and although they did not know what they were doing, they were also inspired to boost their morale, as if the sword in their hands had become fierce with the strange birds.

If the enemy is killed in battle, the soldiers of the Heavenly Kingdom will also die with dignity, but the sudden appearance of this invincible monster made their psychological defense line collapse in an instant, and some people were suddenly frightened: "This ...... What kind of monster is this? ”

Li Xiucheng, the commander of the Heavenly Kingdom, also witnessed this scene in the city tower at this time, rushed to Su Sanniang's side, and shouted: "King Sha, don't let this strange bird hurt the life of my holy soldier, let's kill it together!" ”

As soon as the words fell, the strange bird flew again, Li Xiucheng lifted the knife and flew to the head of the strange bird, although he was already a dragon among people, and he had the courage of ten thousand people, but in front of the demon beast on this full moon night, no matter how strong a mortal was, he was just as weak as an ant, and the knife slashed at the head of the strange bird with a muffled sound, Li Xiucheng had been caught by the strange bird with a knife, and he was going to be taken to the sky.

At the last moment, Su Sanniang jumped up and grabbed one of the claws of the strange bird, shouted with a full purification power, threw the strange bird to the ground, and then rushed to the head of the strange bird, and struggled to open the beak of the strange bird with both hands to rescue Li Xiucheng.

Thinking that when she was in Sichuan, Su Sanniang wanted to knock the burly magician to the ground, but it was already difficult to climb to the sky, and now she can fall over such a giant bird, and the improvement of its purification power in Guangxi can be seen.

Suddenly, the soldiers on both sides of the city wall had unconsciously retreated, leaving an open area in the chaos of the battle.

Li Xiucheng had already put his life on the line, and he was not too excited about escaping death, but he was shocked to Su Sanniang: "Why do you have such divine power?" ”

As soon as the words fell, the strange bird got up again and pounced on Su Sanniang.

Su Sanniang quickly fell to the ground to dodge, and the strange bird swept backwards after fluttering into the air. Su Sanniang didn't get up either, and seized this rare opportunity to shout: "Heavenly Hunter-"

Life is just an overnight moment, Su Sanniang can't take care of much, materialized a bow and arrow in front of everyone, and leaned back to shoot at the tail of the strange bird.

The strange bird was hit by an arrow in the tail, his body shook a little, and he immediately circled back, Su Sanniang jumped up with a carp, and after a large rotation of his body, he shot another arrow at the head of the strange bird.

In a very short time

Inside, the strange bird moved quickly, but Su Sanniang was even more exaggerated, completed two arrows, and made a difficult getting up and spinning action during the process, as if a god descended to earth, shooting the strange bird's head through!

A monster that made many holy soldiers and strong Li Xiucheng unable to hurt him in the slightest, was killed by Su Sanniang alone!

The situation on the city wall was replaced by the fear of the Hunan army, and the morale of the holy soldiers was greatly boosted, and the killing force was like divine help.

Li Xiucheng was overjoyed and surprised: "Sand King, who are you sacred?" If it is possessed by the Heavenly Father, can we help our army solve the predicament of Tianjing? ”

Su Sanniang shook her head and said: "King Zhong, I'm sorry, I'm not possessed by Heavenly Father, this kind of power you may never have heard of, it's called the power of purification, but it can only be used to deal with this kind of monsters and demons, but I don't dare to use it on mortals, if I attack mortals, it will disappear soon, and I will be killed by the rebels." But if the loyal king needs it, I am willing to fight to the death to get the head of the Zeng demon! ”

Li Xiucheng looked at the enemy troops all over the mountains under the wall, and couldn't judge the location of Zeng Guofan at all, and sighed: "There's no need, not to mention that we can't locate Zeng Demon Head at all." However, if you talk about protecting Your Majesty's transfer, after encountering some pursuers along the way, and killing them, even if your strength disappears, it doesn't hurt. Why don't you let me stand up to it here, King Sha, you quickly return to the Heavenly King's Mansion, take a thousand elite soldiers and good generals, and protect Your Majesty to break out of the encirclement, okay? ”

At this time, the holy soldiers who can insist on fighting on the city wall are all loyal and righteous, and when they heard this, someone stood up and shouted: "No, King Zhong, the kingdom of heaven needs you, please escort Your Majesty with the King of Sha, we will garrison here, if the Qing Demon breaks the city, we will fight with them in the streets, and we will definitely buy enough time for you to evacuate!" ”

The person who came was just an ordinary holy soldier, Li Xiucheng couldn't call out his name, but his words had already moved him, and sighed: "I think that the righteous king Shi Dakai suffered a catastrophe in the Dadu River, and he was still willing to exchange the life of one person for the safety of thousands of soldiers, I was named 'Eternal Loyalty' by His Majesty the King of Heaven, how could I see you die in battle, and I became a deserter?" Let me imitate the righteous king, and exchange my head for your peace, and for the righteousness of both loyalty and righteousness in the world! ”

The holy soldier immediately resisted and said, "Loyal to the king, you must not!" Today's scene is different from the past, and now the demon head is aiming to completely wipe out my heavenly kingdom, and the two sides only have a life-and-death dispute, and there is no room for compromise at all! The only way to do this now is to rely on King Zhong to leave with your majesty, because only King Zhong can help my kingdom of heaven to revive again! ”

At this time, the sky has been slightly bright, the moon has not yet set, and half a round of red sun has been revealed on the top of the mountain in the east.

If the strange bird attacked alone, it might just come at my heart, but if such a pattern appeared on a full moon night, I am afraid it can only be attributed to the fact that the Hunan army has begun to use demonic power!

Thinking of this, Su Sanniang persuaded Li Xiucheng to say: "King Zhong, the demon and evil theory, I can't explain it thoroughly for a while, but please believe me, it is certainly not a coincidence that the Qing demon chose to attack Tianjing when the demon power was the strongest on the full moon night, just as I encountered a monstrous flood in the Dadu River with King Yi last year, which has also been confirmed to be done by demon power." If the destruction of the capital is a foregone conclusion today, if there is any further hesitation, there will be more and stronger monsters breaking into the city, and at that time, all of us, including Your Majesty, including the people in the city, will be slaughtered! Please do not hesitate to go with me to the Heavenly King's Mansion to escort His Majesty! ”

If it weren't for the strange bird and Su Sanniang's divine power that he saw with his own eyes, Li Xiucheng categorically refused to accept it, but Su Sanniang's words had already analyzed the stakes clearly, although Li Xiucheng was unwilling, but reason told him that there was no other way at this time, so he nodded with difficulty.

Before leaving, Li Xiucheng hugged the unknown saint soldier tightly, with tears in his eyes, and said softly: "Brother, please!" ”

On June 16, the third year of Tongzhi, and on July 19, 186, Tianjing, the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, was captured by the Hunan army, announcing the failure of the 14-year-long Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement. Li Xiucheng, the loyal king, led more than 1,000 holy soldiers, and the young king Hong Tianguifu disguised himself as a Hunan army to rush out of the gap in Taipingmen and break through in the direction of Xiaolingwei. The defenders in the city and the Hunan army entering the city engaged in street battles, most of them were killed in battle, and one self-immolated.

As for the rest of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, they are still fighting to the death against the Qing army in the Jiangnan area, which is a later story.