General Jackson, the commander-in-chief of the Eight-Nation Alliance, was listening to the battle report and felt the beginning, they were unstoppable and broke through four barricades at once. When Jackson thought he could have dinner at the Governor's Mansion before dark, something unexpected happened. The military strength of the Tang people suddenly increased by more than double. The White Lotus Sect, dressed in white, appeared out of nowhere and fought side by side with the imperial army, whom they had always regarded as enemies. This posed a great threat to the Eight-Nation Alliance. And in the houses, dwellings, and alleys on both sides, a few soldiers would suddenly appear when no one was prepared, sneak into the ranks of the coalition forces to fight in close combat, and disrupt their formation. Under the attack from both sides, the offensive of the Eight-Nation Alliance was hindered and temporarily stagnated, and more casualties began to occur than before. He felt quite strange and felt that this was no longer a relaxing and enjoyable journey, but a real war, no easier than the wars they had fought in Europe and West Asia. "General." A man covered in a cloak approached and said, "General, if you give an order, the Xiweier family is willing to serve you and attack the front." "Thank you, Lord Sivir, for your kindness." General Jackson stroked the golden stubble on his beard, "But I always know that a good knife should be used in the right place, and now is not the time for you to launch special operations.
Let's wait until night, and please believe that our soldiers are a group of proud and brave people, and they will not be stopped by this." "Of course I believe it." Count Sivir, who was covered in a cloak, stepped aside and said, "I wish you all the best." "Thank you." Jackson waved his hand for the herald to come forward and then gave him a series of orders. When the messenger heard the order, he first widened his eyes in surprise, then smiled in understanding and left. Although they were on the edge of the war, they were always far away from the terrible fighting and in a safe position. Nie Huo and Shi Tiebing, who stabbed the Eight-Nation Alliance like a dagger, were really trapped in hell. After crossing the fourth barricade, the Eight-Nation Alliance's formation and ammunition were breached and were insufficient to withstand the White Lotus' massive charge. Although they were knocked down in rows by bullets, the fanatical soldiers of the White Lotus soon rushed into the ranks of the Eight-Nation Alliance one after another and engaged in bloody close combat. Shi Tiebing led his men to climb walls and climb roofs, holding his ebony spear in one hand and a red tasseled sword at arm length in the other. They fought and grappled among the crowd, causing a bloody storm wherever they went. The two sides cooperated very well. With this wave of assistance, the government troops reorganized their formation, restored morale and order, and made a comeback. The front-line commanders of the Eight-Nation Alliance were waving their sabers and shooting with their pistols, and by this time they had realized that the situation was not good. The balance of the war may still be on their side in the overall situation, but in small local battles, it has definitely tipped towards the enemy. But for those little people at the front, this imbalance often means a catastrophic disaster that is enough to destroy them. Ren Qi stood on the Jade Tower, watching the situation, and had the same feeling. That is, this is a victory in a small situation, and the overall situation has not changed for the time being. Others could not see it, but said excitedly: "Seventh Master, I think if we don't enter the battlefield at this rate, when the Eight-Nation Alliance retreats, it will not be our turn to show our power." Ren Qi didn't answer, he just felt that it wasn't that simple because this was just the beginning.
After a while, Chen Tianyou pointed to the front and said, "The Eight-Nation Alliance has begun to retreat!" "Really, they are retreating from the barricades!" It was visible to the naked eye that the soldiers of the Eight-Nation Alliance were covering each other and retreating in turns under the command of the frontline non-commissioned officers. Although it is in order, it is indeed moving backwards. However, Nie Huo, Shi Tiebing and others did not intend to let them go, but instead pursued them and kept close to the Eight-Nation Alliance. "Don't chase the desperate enemy." Chen Tianyou shouted. Ren Qi also saw the recklessness of this behavior, but this is how the battlefield is, order and strict enforcement of orders are only ideal conditions. Chaos and loss of control are the norm. Under normal circumstances, it takes at least twenty minutes for an order to be issued from here to reach the front line, and during these twenty minutes, things may change. No matter how capable a general is, he cannot correct and regulate his subordinates' behavior immediately. All he can do is try his best to make them act according to the original plan. Therefore, when he saw the soldiers under Nie Huo and others chasing forward, there was no change on his face. He knew that if the Eight-Nation Alliance could not form any effective counterattack, they could probably advance for a while. If the Eight-Nation Alliance organized a counterattack, Nie Huo and his men would suffer and naturally retreat, which would be the same as the original arrangement. However, a thunderous sound tore apart all the sounds of fighting on the battlefield. The Eight-Nation Alliance set up cannons on the streets! When Nie Huo and Shi Tiebing noticed the appearance of the cannon and began to call on everyone to retreat, shells were whistling into the crowd and the house. Blood mist, clouds of blood mist appeared on the streets of Tianjin. Nie Huo's eyes widened when he saw a brother on a horse being smashed into a meat paste by a cannonball. His eyes almost cracked with anger. The falling shells shattered the houses, creating strong winds and brick and tile fragments that could knock down a group of people in the blink of an eye, causing the soldiers who were originally charging in the front to almost suffer a devastating disaster. "Withdraw! Quickly withdraw!" Nie Huo called on everyone to retreat. His eardrums were vibrating with the sound of thunder and his cloak was almost torn apart by the strong wind. Entire areas of houses were knocked down, and barricades were easily torn apart like brittle paper by artillery shells. After only two or three rounds of bombardment, the original pursuit formation was completely shattered, and everyone could only flee to avoid the wrath of the artillery. Under the cover of artillery fire, the Eight-Nation Alliance reorganized its formation and began to advance again. The Sikh cavalry who had been repelled before held their breath, rushed to the front again, and began to chase and kill those who were fleeing nearby. Without the obstruction of barricades, the streets of Tianjin became their best racecourse. They rushed forward faster than the other, reaping the lives of soldiers with the scimitars in their hands. Nie Huo watched everyone die under the blades of the Sikh cavalry, and couldn't help but think of what Ren Qi had said before. "It doesn't matter if you die early or late." He drew his weapon and began to call on the White Lotus brothers around him to gather and form a battle line. Qin Lang was a messenger. He used his Qinggong skills to walk through the gunfire and came to Nie Huo. He said to him, "King Nie, it's time to retreat. Don't delay the opportunity to retreat."
"Time to retreat?" Nie Huo smiled slightly, "Many times in the past we had the opportunity to leave Tianjin intact, but we didn't do so. Now that the battle has come to this point, how can we retreat?" "I mean retreat to the rear and regroup." Qin Lang was almost shouting, because the sound of gunfire was drowning out all other sounds. "That opportunity has been missed." Nie Huo said seriously: "Even if we only run towards our own line, I'm afraid half of us will be killed by those Sikh cavalry. There is no point in having such a defeated army return to the front line, except to cause trouble. Moreover, the barricades can no longer stop the cavalry. Only by reorganizing the rear and gathering troops can we have a chance to withstand their offensive." "Even if it's only half, King Nie, the life of every White Lotus brother is very precious." Qin Lang advised. "Precisely because they are so precious, we have to use all of their lives here to block the enemy's edge and find a chance for our colleagues to escape and win." Nie Huo and the White Lotus Sect had made up their minds, and Qin Lang didn't know what to say for a moment. "Go back by yourself, Brother Qin." Nie Huokang said in a tragic tone: "The White Lotus Sect is now destined to become part of the dust of history, and no one can save the Holy White Lotus Sect. Rather than letting us gradually decline and disappear, and finally become just a mention in the mouths of others, it is better for us to die here and become heroes of Tianjin. But whether we become heroes or not, whether our death has meaning or not, is not up to us, because we are already dead." He grabbed Qin Lang's shoulders and said solemnly, "Go back and tell Ren Qi how others will evaluate our White Lotus Sect in the future. Is it a meaningful feat or a stupid sacrifice for us to die here and hold back the cavalry of the Eight-Nation Alliance? Whether the reputation is positive or not does not depend on us, but on him. We left everything to him.” After saying that, Nie Huojian stepped out, grabbed the fallen flag in his hand, and shouted the same slogan written on the flag. "My mother has no life, my hometown is empty!" "My mother has no life, my hometown is empty!" The White Lotus members around responded in unison. After seeing this scene, Qin Lang knew that any more words he said would be an insult to the White Lotus patriots, so he just clasped his fists solemnly and ran towards his own line without looking back. The cavalrymen who were chasing the deserters had also discovered the movements of the White Lotus. At this time, they coordinated with extremely high discipline and tactics, forming a wall, almost knee to knee, horse heads to horse heads, and attacked the White Lotus Sect in unison. The sound of horses' hooves on the ground was even more terrifying than guns and cannons. A black wave was sweeping towards them. Around Nie Huo, everyone was ready to die. However, there was always someone who was afraid. A boy who looked to be just in his early teens started to tremble with his hands. "Are you afraid?!" Nie Huo asked him. "No, I'm not afraid..."
"If you're not afraid, why did I see you crying?" The boy couldn't answer. After holding it in for a long time, he could only admit, "I don't want to die so early." "If you don't want to die early, you shouldn't have joined the White Lotus." The young man hesitated for a moment, and finally choked up and said, "My father and my uncle were both members of the White Lotus Sect. They have all died martyrs. So I should also die here with everyone else. It is only right that I do so." "Nothing is ever right, especially when it comes to death." Nie Huo stared at the boy, "Just answer me, do you want to leave?" The boy couldn't stop crying, but still shook his head, "I won't leave." "If you want to leave, I will help you leave. The Holy White Lotus Sect never makes things difficult for its own people, and never harms its own people. If you want to leave, just leave openly. No one will stab you in the back." Although the boy tried to act heroically, his trembling and tears could not deceive anyone and could not be stopped, even though he had dug his nails deep into his palms. "I don't want foreigners to look down on me!" the boy shouted hoarsely. "Good! You have backbone! The most important thing for us as human beings is not to let others look down on us." Nie's eyes turned red. He took off the headband and tied the boy's knife and hands tightly together. "I'm here to help you and make you a real man. There is not a single coward in our White Lotus Sect from top to bottom. Even if you lose your head and bleed, you still have brothers and sisters to accompany you!" The cavalry had already crashed into the crowd, raising a cloud of blood mist. The sound of breaking bones, the interweaving screams and roars, and the sound of metal colliding shook everyone's soul. Nie Huo held the flag in one hand and the knife in the other, and led the White Lotus Sect to collide with the Sikh cavalry. They let the knives of the West Asian cavalry fly up and down, and they never retreated a single step. They just fought and died. Ren Qi took in everything from the Jade Tower with an expressionless face. He issued orders to Chen Tianyou, who was already in tears. "That's about it. Tell the musketeers to go to the square and wait. Remember, no matter what, wait until the enemy is within fifty paces before firing in unison. Before the enemy enters that distance, no matter how you are attacked, you are not allowed to retaliate without authorization, do you understand?" "Leader!" Chen Tianyou couldn't wait any longer, so he jumped on his horse and galloped back to command his musketeers. Yan Feng had been standing aside for a long time. He was a patient man and also someone who vaguely knew Ren Qi's style of doing things and his battle plan. So he just asked, "When is our turn?" Ren Qi glanced at him and did not answer him, but gave another order. "Take some people with you, install explosives in the Jade Tower, and blow it up." "Blow it up?" Yan Feng was a little surprised. "That's right. Just blow this place up. The cleaner the better."
Ren Qi started to go downstairs while talking, "There is no point in staying here, just put the explosives where it is easy to ignite, that's all. Don't be stingy, we still have a lot of explosives that we won't need." Yan Feng was very puzzled, but since this was Ren Qi's order, he obeyed and began to direct everyone to move explosives into the Jade Tower. Ren Qi walked down from the fifth floor. The artillery fire was approaching, destroying the houses one by one. Smoke and dust rose up, gradually covering the sun. At this time, Ren Qi suddenly felt a little cold, even though it was a hot summer day. He placed his hand on the sword, and the hilt made a faint sound and vibration. (End of this chapter)