When the soldiers saw the raging fire in the General Military Mansion and hurriedly ran to rescue them from everywhere, the door of the General Military Mansion was still closed, as if everything was as usual.
Apart from the crackling and exploding sounds of flames burning wood, there was only a sharp knife with half of its bright blade exposed through the door panel, indicating the ferocity of the battle inside.
"Commander, can we get in?" a soldier asked.
"Nonsense! Of course we're going in! When will you idiots understand that it's better to be late than not?"
The commander took a deep breath, raised his legs, put his hand on the knife at his waist, and held his breath.
After a pause, he took another step back and said to a soldier: "Come here!"
The soldier only felt his scalp numb, but the knife in the commander's hand was no joke, so he could only rub his hands, take two steps back, and bend his knees to prepare for a sprint.
"Wait!"
The commander stretched out his hand to signal him not to move yet, took a deep breath, and shouted: "My subordinates are too late to save you! How dare the thief hurt my lord!"
When the soldiers heard this, they became bold and kicked towards the wooden door.
At this moment, the door was suddenly opened from the inside.
The soldier used too much force and stepped into the air, tripped on the threshold, rolled several times on the ground, and finally stopped after he was thrown to pieces.
"What the fuck..."
He looked up and saw Ye Tianpei, the commander-in-chief of Gyeonggi Province, standing in front of him. Then he swallowed the remaining half of his sentence and stood up quickly.
"My lord! This subordinate arrived too late to save me. I deserve death!"
The commander burst into tears, threw himself at Ye Tianpei's feet, grabbed his robe and cried bitterly.
"Does your sin deserve death? Then go die now."
Ye Tianpei kicked him away.
The commander didn't think this was funny. After being embarrassed for a while, the commander finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Ye Tianpei really didn't seem to care about him.
"Sir, the troops have been packed up. We will leave as soon as you give the order."
"Leave, leave where?" Ye Tianpei asked him.
The commander hesitated and said: "My subordinates think that we are leaving Jinmen now."
"Leave Jinmen? Are you tampering with military orders? Do you know that this is a capital crime and will be punished by military law!"
"Subordinates deserve to die!"
Ye Tianpei sneered, "You really deserve to die."
The commander never thought that Ye Tianpei could change his face faster than turning the page in a book. He immediately hit his head on the ground and did not dare to lift it up again. He was just wondering why he said he would leave last night and changed his mind again in the morning.
So he could only confess repeatedly and beg Ye Tianpei to let him go.
Fortunately, Ye Tianpei was too lazy to argue with him and just issued an order: "Send the order and prepare the entire army to face the Eight-Nation Allied Forces tomorrow."
This shout made all the soldiers present stunned.
The commander knelt on the ground, wondering whether Ye Tianpei had taken the wrong medicine and how he had changed his order. He was thinking of reminding him whether he had given the wrong order.
However, he took a sneak peek and saw that behind Ye Tianpei, the two deputy commander-in-chief and a marching supervisor. These three people in the army, who were only under the command of the Gyeonggi commander-in-chief, did not show anything strange. He immediately understood. Ye Tianpei did not give the wrong order.
The military order to stay and resist the foreigners was issued by the four of them after they knew about it and discussed it.
As for why the original retreat turned into a battle, he didn't want to understand it, and he didn't allow people of his level to think about it.
There was only one thing he could do right now.
The commander immediately jumped up from the ground like a spring and said loudly: "Have you heard everything? The commander-in-chief's order is to defend Jinmen and fight the foreigners to the end!"
As he spoke, he raised his fist again: "Fight to the end! Fight to the end!"
“Fight to the end!”
“Fight to the end!”
The soldiers couldn't help but be aroused with enthusiasm. When everyone was excited, only Ye Tianpei and the three lieutenants behind him looked normal, as if the matter in front of them had nothing to do with them.
It is common for people to die in the army. The General Military Mansion was burned down and all the officers there died. It was not a big deal. It was just a matter of moving the office to another place and recruiting a group of new officers.
Everything is going on in an orderly manner, and everyone is waiting for the war to come.
Even the Eight-Nation Allied Forces had a rare moment of peace at this time.
Jackson, the commander of the Eight-Power Allied Forces, stood in front of the table and drew circles on the drawing paper with a pen. Each circle he drew represented that they had captured an outpost to attack Tianjin.
Adjutant Vincent stood aside and informed Jackson of the progress of the past few days.
"They did abandon the outer area, or they did not dare to fight. Anyway, except for the losses in the first two days, our vanguard only had sporadic battles with enemy scouts during the rest of the time, and there was no organized resistance at all.
This shows that they dare not go out of the city and fight us in the wild. ”
"It's better to say that they don't dare to fight at all." Another officer laughed.
"It doesn't matter whether they dare to fight or not, or how they want to fight."
Jackson didn't take it seriously, "Our plan won't change anyway, and nothing can stop us from seizing Tianjin."
Saying this, he took out another pocket watch, put it in his hand and rubbed it.
"Last time, my teacher only led a few thousand people to defeat this empire and it was impossible to hold its head high.
Now that I have brought tens of thousands of people here, am I not going to achieve even greater achievements? Just like a navigator discovering a new continent or an adventurer entering an ancient empire in the rainforest, I will also discover the pile of gold that belongs to me. ”
"General, this is the honor you deserve." Someone said.
"I know."
Jackson said firmly: "This is also your honor. At the end of this journey, we will leave behind a legend that will last for thousands of years."
The officers nodded, and they all felt that they had entered the forbidden palace of Yujing, drinking and resting beside the golden throne.
……
After a night of tossing and turning finally passed.
In the early morning, under the urging of drums and trumpets, the grassroots officers either trotted or galloped through the camp to collect and organize their troops.
Suddenly, the camp was filled with languages from all countries.
This trip took half an hour, and the soldiers in company units were neatly arranged into a long march.
From here to Jinmen, there is only less than twenty miles, and in the middle, there are outpost camps every five miles for support, making it as easy as going for an outing or picnic.
Jackson rode up to the high ground, escorted by a group of guards, and inspected the team. With his wave of his hand, uniform slogans spread from the front and back of the Chinese army.
"March!"
"March!"
"March!!"
The team marched forward in an orderly manner. One by one, the cavalry team began to search forward and dispersed. The Eight-Nation Allied Forces began this journey that was destined to leave legendary deeds.
……
On the other side, Liu Banxian and Ren Qi were walking together. They were reviewing the team, but it was better to say they were just taking a walk to relieve their tension.
"Brother Master, I feel like my palms are sweating."
Ren Qi didn't take it seriously, "It's normal to sweat. You will sweat when the weather is hot."
"But no matter how hot it is, my palms won't sweat." "That's just because it's too hot here."
Ren Qi glanced at him, "According to the plan, you don't have to go to the front line, right?"
"That's what it says."
Liu Banxian sighed, "But as long as you are in Jinmen, where is the front line? A little in front, a little behind, what's the difference?"
"How about I send a boat to take you somewhere else for safety? It's still too late."
"Who do you think I am?"
Liu Banxian said angrily: "Why do you say that I am also a descendant of the Wolong Liu family, a Feng Shui family, and you tell me to run away from the battlefield?
Killing foreigners is what I dream of! ”
"Then don't stay behind."
Ren Qi gestured: "Shall I lend you a sword?"
Liu Banxian shook his head, "If you don't mind, I think I prefer to use a gun."
"Whatever you want."
Ren Qi added: "Anyway, I can't find the strength to protect you right now. You just have to be careful."
"Uncle, when I was walking around the world, you and Brother Yin didn't know where you were!"
As he said this, he suddenly remembered that Yin Xiu had not appeared yet.
"By the way, where is Brother Yin? Why is there no one there?"
Ren Qi just said coldly: "You are not afraid of these Jiuzhou Guild people, are you still afraid that he will run away?"
"Why am I afraid that he will run away?"
Liu Banxian muttered: "Even if he wants to run away, he has to take Miss Ma with him. If Miss Ma doesn't run away, what can I do to run away?"
"That's okay."
Ren Qi looked at the tower, "He will appear when he should appear anyway. Just look after yourself and don't die here. The world needs you."
"The world needs you too, Brother Gao Shou."
"Are you kidding?"
Ren Qi glanced at him and said, "No matter what others think, I am just the one causing trouble. If there is one less person like me, the world will only be better."
"That was someone else."
Liu Banxian opened the fan with a snap, "In our eyes, Brother Gao Shou, you are really a very reliable person, enough for us to trust and rely on."
"You think I'm a nanny?"
Ren Qi snorted coldly: "I'm not that powerful. Don't expect me to save you in the midst of the chaos."
Liu Banxian was very serious, "I will take care of myself, but I hope you can also cherish your life."
"Got it."
Ren Qi waved his hand, obviously unable to bear Liu Banxian's kindness.
At this moment, the sound of gongs sounded closely on the tower, conveying a sense of tension and urgency.
Then several cavalrymen broke into the city and shouted: "The foreigners are coming, the foreigners are coming, five miles outside the city!"
Ren Qi immediately looked at the tower and asked loudly: "Have you seen their movements?"
The soldiers on the tower pressed their bodies against the wall, stretched their heads beyond the parapet, stretched their necks, and squinted their eyes to look outside.
After staring hard for a while, they saw a line of smoke appearing on the other side of the horizon.
First there was a touch, and then a yellow carpet rolled over here, rolling up yellow sand.
"A group of cavalry is coming here!"
The soldier took another look, and then added: "There are about four hundred riders coming here."
"More than that."
Ren Qi shook his head and said: "It's more than that, let's take a look."
"Yes!"
So the soldiers leaned out more, and finally saw the soldiers following the cavalry, who had begun to slowly transform from a marching column into a combat square.
The officers rode horses and circulated from queue to queue, using commands and footsteps to control the speed and direction of their march, coordinating the front lines and actions of these tens of thousands of troops.
The soldiers reported the situation to the people below the tower.
So someone asked Ren Qidao: "Master Qi, do we really want to give up the city tower to the foreigners? You know, if there is no city tower to block it, those cavalry will pose a great threat to us."
Ren Qi felt the vague uneasiness and restlessness in the crowd. He just said coldly: "Just follow the plan. Since we have decided to let them in, we only need to use the original tactics. Changes on the battlefield are A taboo for military strategists.”
He took another look at the seemingly insurmountable city tower in front of him. Even if they held on to the ancient city wall in front of him, could they really rely on it to stop the Eight-Nation Allied Forces?
Soon, thunder sounded in the distance to answer Ren Qi's question.
Like bolides streaking across the sky, cannonballs hit the tower one after another. Before anyone could tell them to retreat, the soldiers who were watching from the tower were shattered to pieces one by one and fell from the wall.
Some more shells fell into the city, and for a moment there was shaking, fire and smoke everywhere.
Many people have been panicked and at a loss.
Ren Qi called over several key members of the Kyushu Association and motioned them to take the people away and proceed as planned.
Then he looked at Liu Banxian and said, "It's almost done. You can go to the back."
"Yeah."
Liu Banxian nodded heavily, "Brother Gao Shang, I've done a fortune telling for you. You don't seem to be short-lived. You won't die here. Be careful!"
Ren Qi smiled, "But I heard from Yin Xiu that your predictions are always inaccurate."
"You are not allowed to say such things at this time!"
Liu Banxian was angry as he ran, "Brother Yin never forgot to say bad things about me, uncle!"
Ren Qi ignored the increasingly fierce artillery fire around him, just turned his back to the city gate and watched Liu Banxian leave.
The originally solid and thick city wall and gate tower had been completely destroyed, and a big hole was broken in the city gate. Even the huge stone walls left from an unknown era had cracks and seemed to be about to collapse at any time.
"Master Qi! We have to withdraw!" someone shouted.
"Well, I understand."
Ren Qi glanced over there again, and after confirming that Liu Banxian had completely disappeared from his sight, he took the people away in a hurry.
At this moment, a desperate exclamation came from the crowd who had been back.
I saw a cannonball bouncing on the ground several times, carrying fire, and hitting Ren Qi and his party at an extremely fast speed.
Everyone had foreseen the cruel sight of Ren Qi and his party being smashed into pieces, and they couldn't help but scream.
Ren Qi also heard the roar of the god of death and still didn't look back.
"You say I live a long life? Is it really true that good people don't live long and cause trouble for thousands of years?"
He turned around and drew his sword, and the cannonball was cut neatly on both sides in mid-air and hit the ground. (End of chapter)