The Sikh cavalry were proud of their bravery and they embraced death, whether it was their own death or the death of their in the most intense battlefields, when shells fell on themselves or their companions, they never hesitated or wavered for a moment, but just charged forward, wielding their scimitars and spears. In the last battle, it was this Sikh cavalry that defeated the Kyushu cavalry, known as the strongest in Pan-Asia, and opened the road to Yujing. This time, they still took the lead. When another round of artillery fire collapsed the city tower and opened the city gate, they had already lined up in several rows and rushed in, shouting and greeting, urging the horses under them to rush forward. No one came to stop them, and no bullets were fired at the cavalry. They easily passed through the city gate and entered Tianjin, an ancient city famous overseas. Realizing that they would soon be able to pass through unimpeded, the cavalrymen became more and more excited and urged their horses to enter the main road. Their target was the Daotai Mansion in the center of the city, the former power center of Tianjin. Yelling and shouting, this wild and unruly cavalry marched through the streets, moving freely until they hit the first barricade. It couldn't really be called a "fortress". It was just a pile of wood and bricks piled together to form a wall-like thing that blocked the originally wide street. If you look closely, you can see some wheels and handlebars of wooden carts on the barricade. This was the work of Yin Xiu. In his words, as long as anything that can be moved is moved out and piled together to block the street, a barricade will be completed.
Although crude and messy, the barricade was enough to make the Sikh cavalry slow down and treat it with caution. The cavalrymen reined in their restless horses; the sounds of hooves and the horses' breathing intertwined together. Until a gun barrel stretched out from the window of a building along the street and shattered everything. boom! Gunshots rang out one after another. Amid the screams of men and horses, the cavalrymen fell to the ground wailing, and the horses fell into the blood. A brutal battle begins, calling on the last remaining heroes of this generation to shed their last drop of blood. There were sounds of gunfire and shouts of killing everywhere. The Sikh cavalry who were searching in several directions were ambushed and suffered heavy casualties. It was not until the rare cavalry retreated from the streets and returned to the city walls to reorganize that the infantry of the Eight-Nation Alliance finally entered the city. The forward movement was blocked, but it did not affect their actions. As the Eight-Nation Alliance deployed their search formations under the command of their officers and marched in separate columns, the barricades in front of them became just slopes of earth to be climbed rather than fortresses. Ren Qi stood on the crumbling jade tower, watching the fighting right before his eyes. The government troops under Ye Tianpei, the general of the capital, were responsible for maintaining the front line. They were the first to bear the brunt of the battle against the Eight-Nation Alliance. The Jiuzhou Society and various martial artists were interspersed among them, using their bravery to assist and relieve the pressure on the government troops. The orderliness of the government troops and the passion and bravery of the martial artists were combined together in a peculiar way at this time. However, Ren Qi understood that this was not enough. According to Yin Xiu's estimation, the first three barricades at the front would probably be captured and destroyed by the Eight-Nation Alliance in an instant. They are the lambs that were torn apart by wolves at the outermost edge when the wolves appeared on the grassland. Yin Xiu only wanted them to delay a little and test the strength of the Eight-Nation Alliance. As for them, all they had to do was to escape when they could not resist, and flee to the barricades at the back to reorganize their formation and wait for the next bloody battle. Ren Qi stared at the battle line. Amidst the smoke and flames, blood slowly flowed over the first barricade and soon reached the second barricade, leaving corpses all over the ground. There were flickering flames on the streets and smoke was still lingering in the air. It seemed that even the strongest wind could not blow away the haze. The fighting was even more bloody and cruel in the houses on both sides of the barricade.
Soldiers armed with spears and short swords fought against the Eight-Nation Alliance. Weapons symbolizing martial arts collided with bayonets made by large industrial machines, wrestling and entangled. Seeing that most of the second barricade had been lost, Nie Huo couldn't help feeling anxious. "Seven, Master Qi, when will you call us, the White Lotus Sect, to join the battle? I think the pressure at the front is already very great. If we don't join the battle now, something unexpected might happen." Shi Tiebing also frowned, "I see that my brothers have suffered a lot of losses. Why don't you let me take the servants and go forward to kill him!" "No hurries?" Ren Qi glanced at them and said, "We have only reached the second barricade. According to the plan, we must remain in place until they break through the third barricade, so as to avoid being discovered by the enemy." There was another reason that Ren Qi did not mention, which was that the people in the first three barricades were responsible for consuming the enemy's firepower and ammunition as much as possible, so as to tire the Eight-Nation Alliance out and make it costly to move forward, thereby wearing down their physical strength and will. Ren Qi's tone was firm, not allowing for any questioning or rebuttal, nor giving anyone any room for negotiation. So no matter how anxious everyone was, they could only endure and wait for the opportunity to fight. On the other side, Ye Tianpei was also sitting in the general's mansion, listening to his subordinates reporting the latest news. "Sir, as of now, not counting the civilian warriors, we have lost nearly three hundred brothers, and the Xiandeng camp has suffered heavy losses." Ye Tianpei's face was as cold as an emotionless stone. He nodded and said, "Pass the order down, let the Xiandeng Battalion retreat, and the Weiwu Battalion take over. The Zhengqi and Suzheng Battalions should prepare and take up the vacancies one after another." The few names he mentioned in this short sentence determined the life and death of thousands of people. However, the battlefield is so cruel that everyone is involved in death. The only difference is whether they die earlier or later. The orders they issued in the general's mansion, if they were a little late, would not have much impact on the situation, because it takes time for the other party to issue orders, but it would cause the deaths of many people who had a chance of survival. Ye Tianpei crossed his hands and suddenly said to the soldier, "Pour some wine over here." The soldier knew that Ye Tianpei never drank alcohol when he was in the army, even during training, he would not drink a drop of alcohol. However, today he asked for wine, which was unusual for him. I guess it was because he was too nervous. So the soldier quickly brought the wine jug and poured him a full cup. Ye Tianpei took the wine glass, sniffed it and put it down again, "I don't want yellow wine, I want double-distilled wine, shochu, or white wine, all are fine." "Yes." Fortunately, there are a few bottles of double-distilled liquor sent from Lingnan in the general's mansion. This wine is not a rare item. It is everywhere in the streets of Lingnan. It burns the tongue and is spicy in the mouth, but it is the favorite of Cantonese people. The soldier poured Ye Tianpei a full glass, which he drank in one gulp and put back on the table. "Pass the order down, fill the dock with kerosene and set it on fire, and don't let the foreigners land." "set fire?" The soldier hesitated, "Sir, if this happens, I'm afraid you will..." "There is no future."
Ye Tianpei's eyes flashed with determination, "Today, right here, we must do everything we can and just do it." "Yes!" The soldier immediately went out to pass the message. Ye Tianpei said no more, but just picked up the wine glass and poured himself another glass of tongue-burning double-distilled liquor. "Seventh Master, the third barricade can no longer hold!" Shi Tiebing was a man who knew some military tactics. He could see that the soldiers on the front line had suffered heavy casualties due to successive losses, and their morale had been severely damaged. The foreigners seemed to be fighting more and more fiercely and had reached their peak state. The enemy is strong and we are weak. As the situation changes, we can only maintain the front line by investing more troops. He saw it clearly and became extremely anxious. However, Ren Qi was still as cold as ice and was completely unmoved. "The third barricade has been taken!" Qin Lang came quickly to report that he was responsible for acting as a messenger and front-line commander in this battle. One could also hear his anxiety and irrepressible desire to fight from his tone. "Wait until they break through the fourth barricade." Ren Qi suddenly said. "The fourth barricade?" Shi Tiebing was surprised, but Nie Huo couldn't help it. "Many of our brothers have died. We have the ability to lend a helping hand, but we just watch them bleed and get injured. What are we waiting for? Ren Qi!" Ren Qi glanced at him and said, "Originally, we agreed to fight back after reaching the third barricade, but the firepower of the Eight-Nation Alliance is far stronger than we imagined. They are physically tall and strong, and they are not inferior to us even in hand-to-hand combat. In this case, three barricades are not enough to consume them. Even if this fourth barricade still doesn't work, I will ask to stay put and wait for the opportunity to fight." "You can wait, but I can't!" Nie Huo waved his hand and called upon his brothers, and was about to dispatch the White Lotus Sect members to help. "If you go up there, you'll just be beaten into a hornet's nest," Ren Qi warned. "When did the White Lotus not charge into the face of artillery fire?" Nie Huo retorted: "Even if the bullets are raining down like a torrential rain, the White Lotus Sect will still charge forward. With the blessing of the Mother of No Life, we are not afraid of death." "However, your death is meaningless and will hinder the entire plan." "Don't talk about plans or not." Nie Huo's eyes widened. "In the beginning, we were just an alliance. If your plan was good, we would of course listen to it. But now, I feel that the plan has deviated. I'm sorry, but we have to make our own decisions before our brothers bleed to death." "you dare?" Ren Qi showed his murderous intent, "I don't care what the government troops think, but here, everyone must obey my orders. If I don't give the order, not even a horse can escape from me." "Ren Qi, what if I say so, I dare?"
Nie Huo and the White Lotus Sect members behind him were filled with indignation. "It's simple. I'll just kill you all." Qin Lang and Shi Tiebing were horrified and wanted to dissuade Ren Qi, but they were so shocked by the murderous aura in him that they were speechless for a while. Nie Huo sneered: "You want to attack us?" "As long as you don't obey my orders, I will kill you at any time." Ren Qi said coldly: "I have done this kind of thing many times before, I don't mind doing it again and killing a few more people." As soon as he finished speaking, Nie Huo and others drew their weapons. Even though they knew that Ren Qi was the best master in the world, they were not going to back down just to save face. Just then, Chen Tianyou arrived. He was also the one stationed in the rear, leading most of the Kyushu Association's musketeers, waiting for the order to enter the battlefield. Seeing that the two sides were on the verge of a fight, he quickly said, "Now is not the time to fight among ourselves! If we fight here, won't it be an advantage for the foreigners?" "But what's the difference between us and the cheap foreigners now?" Nie Huo looked at Ren Qi: "Give me a reason not to rescue now." Ren Qi looked at him viciously, then suddenly pulled out a sword and pointed it at the ground. "I, Ren Qi, swear here that even if I lose the battle, I will die in Tianjin. I will never flee in panic like before and become a stray dog." Nie Huo was stunned, "But you didn't tell me the reason for this arrangement." His tone had softened, and it was obvious that he was convinced and calmed to some extent by Ren Qi's oath. "I can't tell you why. It's a hunch." Ren Qi took back his sword and said, "We have to wait until the morale and fighting power of the Eight-Nation Alliance drops from its peak before we attack. That's why I say that three barricades are not enough. They have to keep fighting." "How long will the battle last?" "When the blood has run dry." Ren Qi stared at everyone coldly, making people feel cold, “Everyone standing here is destined to bleed cleanly. You don't need to feel sad or upset about the death of your friends or relatives, because it will soon be your turn, too. " Nie Huo signaled everyone to put away their weapons and just wait patiently. Seeing that the situation had eased, Chen Tianyou was anxious and wanted to ask Ren Qi to issue orders. However, he knew very well that he had no idea how to command troops to fight a war, and Ren Qi was the one who was on the edge of a knife. He could only rely on him and trust him. Ren Qi continued to fold his hands, just staring into the distance, as if waiting for something. Finally, the Eight-Nation Alliance broke through four barricades within two hours, causing the houses along the way to catch fire and collapse. The soldiers who had originally blocked them were basically all killed or wounded, and gradually only some newcomers were left to fight with them.
At this moment, Ren Qi saw that the Eight-Nation Alliance's previously tightly-knit formation finally had some gaps. With the appearance of wounded people and the consumption of ammunition, some people began to become disconnected, causing chaos in the team's marching speed and spacing. The movement of the entire team was no longer as neat and clear as before. Under the gaze of everyone, Ren Qi raised his hand and finally issued an order. "Shi Tiebing, Nie Huo!" "we are at!" "Shi Tiebing, take your servants and move forward from the left, using the houses and alleys as cover, get close to the Eight-Nation Alliance and cut off the communication between their various units. Nie Huo, you lead the White Lotus Sect to attack from the front and force the vanguard of the Eight-Nation Alliance back to the fourth barricade." "Yes!" (End of this chapter)