To defend Jinmen, the most important thing is to control the nineteen rivers flowing through Jinmen and prevent the enemy from flowing upstream.
Therefore, after a few days, these paths were blocked and occupied by barricades.
Both Yin Xiu and Chen Tianyou believed that this was the best they could do with limited time and resources. In order to build these barricades, even the Jade Tower was demolished.
Of course, this was with the consent of the owner of Qingyu Building. When they left Jinmen, they had taken away everything they could, leaving only an empty building.
It's just that such a tall jade tower can only be used to build a barricade after being demolished, and it does make people feel a certain sense of unevenness.
Yin Xiu stood on the tower and looked down, feeling that everything in Jinmen was in full view.
The hard-working laborers, the anxious people, and the soldiers gearing up, everyone is waiting for the heavy rain to come.
Once the war started, those barricades and even the ancient tower under his feet would be destroyed by artillery fire in an instant.
Ma Xiaoyu climbed onto the tower and said softly to him: "Chen Tianyou asked me to inform you that the Eight-Power Allied Forces will start attacking tomorrow."
"It's time."
Yin Xiu naturally hugged her to his side.
Ma Xiaoyu just smiled and pressed on gently, "I never thought that one day we Taoist priests who conquer demons would actually participate in the war."
"It's all the same, they're all about destroying demons."
Yin Xiu said softly: "When this battle is over, I..."
Before he finished speaking, Ma Xiaoyu gently sealed his lips with her fingers.
"We'll talk about it after the fight. In fact, it's all the same. Whatever you say is whatever you say, and I'll listen to it."
"When did you become such a good person?"
Yin Xiu gently took her hand off and held it in his hand.
"Then who do you think I am?"
She didn't wait for Yin Xiu to answer, and looked at the white clouds in the distance with her clear eyes, "I used to think that it was easy to treat everything as a passing cloud, but gradually I realized that this is not an easy thing, or rather People shouldn’t think like this.”
"Do you already have such a profound understanding of life?"
"Are you laughing at me?"
There was only a smile in Ma Xiaoyu's eyes, "This is not an insight, just a self-righteous understanding."
"Isn't that good?"
Yin Xiu held Ma Xiaoyu's face and slowly leaned her head towards it.
Ma Xiaoyu closed her eyes and opened her lips slightly.
I don't know how long it took until Yin Xiu heard the footsteps from the bottom of the steps and let her go.
Ma Xiaoyu tidied up a few stray strands of hair and just pushed them behind her ears when someone came up from the steps.
The visitors were Qingniang and several maids whom she had met at Tianxialou before.
"See the leader!"
Qing Niang secretly glanced at Ma Xiaoyu, comparing herself with her in her mind, and then followed the others to bend her knees and salute Yin Xiu.
"You're welcome, sister."
After Yin Xiu nodded, he asked her what happened with his eyes.
Qing Niang couldn't help but tremble in her heart when she saw his eyes that were heated because of Ma Xiaoyu. After taking a few deep breaths, she said to Yin Xiu: "Master, I brought a few sisters to sew all night, and gave it to you." I sent you a new set of clothes.”
"New clothes?"
Yin Xiu smiled and said: "Thank you sisters, but I can't get used to wearing long robes and common clothes."
"Qingniang knows."
She blinked, her long eyelashes trembling.
"We know that the leader likes to wear trendy clothes, so we didn't make plain robes."
She clapped her hands, and several people brought the new clothes up.
A duffel shirt, deerskin gloves, a calfskin jacket, reinforced front and back, polished leather boots, and a pair of straight, close-fitting but not restrictive trousers.
Even several armed straps for assembling weapons were made, which looked very neat and neat.
"You did it?"
Even Ma Xiaoyu was a little surprised.
"Yes, we did."
Qingniang glanced at Ma Xiaoyu intentionally or unintentionally, "I think Miss Ma is here to concentrate on practicing martial arts and not to do the gadgets for us daughters."
Ma Xiaoyu looked back at her, pursed her lips and nodded.
Qingniang looked at Yin Xiu again and said enthusiastically: "Please allow me to change the leader's clothes."
"Okay..."
Yin Xiu suddenly sensed something was wrong and changed her words: "I'm so sorry, I have to do this myself."
"That's right."
Ma Xiaoyu also said with a cold face: "He has hands, he doesn't need your help."
"But he is the leader, how can a dignified leader do it himself?" Qingniang retorted.
"Really?"
Ma Xiaoyu glanced at Yin Xiu, "Is this contrary to your philosophy?"
Yin Xiu could only nod and said: "Yes, I'll do it myself. Thank you for your hard work."
In this way, Qingniang could only leave the clothes with a little regret, bowed again and left.
"So, are you satisfied now?" Yin Xiu asked with a smile.
"Is it because of your behavior just now, or because of this clothes?"
Ma Xiaoyu took out her coat and took the coat that Yin Xiu had changed into.
"They exceeded my expectations."
"Are you talking about this outfit?"
Ma Xiaoyu nodded, "I originally thought they would be older, but I didn't expect them to be very fashionable."
"People change."
When the two of them were about to say something more, someone else walked up the steps.
It seems that the war is approaching, and there are many people coming today, enough to make Yin Xiu give up on being affectionate with Ma Xiaoyu for a while.
It was Chen Tianyou who came up with an officer.
"Master, Master Ye, the commander-in-chief of Gyeonggi Province, sent an adult over."
After Chen Tianyou's introduction, the officer came up, clasped his fists, and said straight to the point: "Master Ye, please go to the mansion to discuss military affairs."
Yin Xiu thought that it was probably about time. He just wanted to confirm something with Ye Tianpei, so he nodded and said, "Excuse me, sir, we will go there right away."
Chen Tianyou asked from the side: "Shall I ask Master Qi to accompany you?"
In order not to make others pay too much attention to this name, Chen Tianyou and others called Ren Qi Qi Ye instead of calling him by his surname.
"No need."
Yin Xiu waved her hand and refused, "This trip is very simple. It's just to confirm some details. Let him watch here and take care of anything."
After saying that, he gave Ma Xiaoyu a look and told her to stay here with peace of mind.
After Ma Xiaoyu nodded to express his understanding, Yin Xiucai followed the officer down the tower, mounted a fast horse, and went to the "General Military Mansion" temporarily established in Jinmen. As soon as Yin Xiu entered the mansion, she found that many more people had come out this time, probably all officers under Ye Tianpei.
These people already knew Yin Xiu's identity, so although they did not get up to greet him, they still paid him attention.
Ye Tianpei directly called Yin Xiu to the long table. On the table in front of him was a topographic map of Jinmen.
Ye Tianpei slapped a letter on the table, "Johnson, the commander-in-chief of the Eight-Power Allied Forces, sent me a letter."
"War letter?"
Yin Xiu didn't take it over first and took it apart to look at it.
"Look, it doesn't matter."
Ye Tianpei snorted coldly: "That bastard thinks he has a strong army and can defeat us."
"Oh?"
Yin Xiu just said calmly: "It's normal for him to feel this way. After all, he does have a strong army, with 45,000 soldiers and dozens of cannons."
"That's not all."
Ye Tianpei added: "The news I just received is that they have also mobilized a Sikh cavalry of 3,000 people. They are tall and powerful."
After other countries have declined, the Sikh cavalry is almost the best cavalry in the entire Pan-Asia. They are not afraid of death, resolute and brave, and can charge under artillery fire. Even the foreign cavalry dare not bother with them when they see them. .
"It doesn't matter, more than one or two thousand people are just like that. Although they are cavalry, when we turn to street fighting, things will be different. Those cavalry can play a limited role in street fighting."
< br>
"It's different." Ye Tianpei said suddenly.
"What's different?"
Ye Tianpei did not answer Yin Xiu's words, but first collected the drawings on the table, crumpled them into a ball, and threw them to the ground.
Yin Xiu frowned, sensing that things had changed.
Around them, the officers seemed to have already known that this change would happen, so they just sat as before and did not speak.
"Mr. Yin, things have changed." Ye Tianpei said.
"Of course I know there have been changes."
Yin Xiu bent down, picked up the ball of drawings, and put it into his pocket.
Then he looked up and stared into Ye Tianpei's eyes, "Why?"
Ye Tianpei took out another letter from his pocket, put it on the table, and motioned to Yin Xiu to read it by himself.
Yin Xiu took the letter. There was only one big character written in cinnabar in block letters: Retreat.
He immediately realized the difference and unique weight of this letter, and also understood why Ye Tianpei suddenly regretted it at this moment, because there was a greater force forcing him to make this change.
Yin Xiu would not ask innocently who gave the order. He just asked Ye Tianpei: "Do you want to return to Yujing?"
Ye Tianpei said honestly: "If you don't go to Yujing, go directly to the west."
Yin Xiu suddenly felt that things had reached a very troublesome stage. Didn't the imperial court even put up the symbolic resistance that it had prepared?
They originally sent the Gyeonggi General Army here, even though they knew they couldn't win, but they wanted to show their attitude.
And now, is the imperial court planning to give up even this superficial thing? Escape directly to the west and ask the emperor to hunt in the west. Will this happen again?
Ye Tianpei could see the disappointment on Yin Xiu's face.
"Next, I will lead the troops to the north according to the original plan to prevent possible unrest on the grassland."
"I think you are actually going to be the flanker of Emperor Xishou?" Yin Xiu said directly.
"Anyway is fine."
Ye Tianpei breathed a sigh of relief: "Anyway, I have saved 50,000 brothers from hell and done my best."
"What about the millions of people from Yujing to Tianjin? You opened the door with your own hands and told them to face the disaster of war."
There was no shame on Ye Tianpei's face, and the desperate feeling of powerlessness still lingered on him.
"Mr. Yin, you said this when you first came to meet me. I wonder if you still remember it?
You said that you don't expect those soldiers to be the best soldiers, nor do you even regard them as the best soldiers. You want them to be the second best soldiers. After firing three shots, they have fulfilled their obligations.
Because you know that everyone has their own limits. If you can't do it, you can't do it.
It's a pity that I am also such a person. I am just a very ordinary person. I will not leave my name in history and become a great man or general.
When others mention me, they just brush it off, and that is the most positive evaluation of my life. This is enough, and it is also my limit.
For this reason, I must admit that I was ready to die from the time I led the troops to Jinmen.
Although you may not believe it, I am not very afraid of death, because soldiers will eventually die on the battlefield.
But after receiving the order to retreat, I felt the joy of grabbing a vine when I was about to drown in the swamp and survived.
We will survive, even if we fail, even run away, and leave safely with fifty thousand soldiers, which is the limit of my ability.
As for the millions of people from Jinmen to Yujing, they are beyond my ability and I cannot save them. ”
Ye Tianpei admitted his failure and incompetence so frankly that it made people unable to blame him for running away, and instead gave rise to a feeling of sympathy for him.
"We will move our troops back to the court soon. I respect you as a hero, so I specially inform you to take care of you."
Ye Tianpei patted Yin Xiu on the shoulder, turned around and was about to pack his things and leave.
"Wait a minute, Commander-in-Chief."
Yin Xiu suddenly stopped him, "You informed me specifically to ask me to run away too?"
Ye Tianpei looked at Yin Xiu and said calmly: "Whether you want to die here or run away is up to you. I just don't want you to die in an unknown way."
"No."
Yin Xiu shook his head, "I mean, you informed me to come here because of other things."
"Well, what else is going on?"
Ye Tianpei was puzzled. He felt that he had nothing to do with Yin Xiu anymore.
"Of course there is."
Yin Xiu looked determined, "Of course it is to make the commander-in-chief and all the generals here become heroes."
"Be a hero?"
Ye Tianpei felt a sense of determination from Yin Xiu's expression, but he didn't understand what it meant for the moment.
"I mean, Lord General, you will become a hero in Tianjin, a national hero who died here but stopped the foreigners."
As soon as he finished speaking, Yin Xiu raised his hand and shot five bloody arrows, killing an officer next to him.
"You!"
Ye Tianpei was stunned and finally realized what Yin Xiu was trying to do.
"You want to..."
"That's right."
Yin Xiu pulled out the fallen officer's knife from his waist. The cold light was dazzling, as cold as his eyes, heart and lungs.
"I have decided that since you are not willing to die for the people of Jinmen, then I can only help you and give you a good reputation.
As for the hardest stuff, I'll just give you a hand. ”
"Escort!"
As the officers shouted, groups of soldiers came through the door.
Dozens of Ouchi masters fell from various places on the roof and pounced on Yin Xiu.
When Yin Xiu saw this scene, she just smiled. (End of chapter)