General Jackson frowned and covered Lieutenant Colonel Sargent's head with a piece of cloth."You only brought back a head?" The translator was speechless, and Sargent's adjutant carefully explained: "There are too many barbarians, and they are so numerous that we will probably die if we stay there any longer. So we can only bring back Lieutenant Colonel Sargent's head in a hurry." Jackson repeated, "I'm asking, why did you only bring back a head? Where are the heads of the murderers? They are worse than those brown bastards in the rain forest. They should be executed without even a trial." "With all due respect, General." Earl Sivir stepped forward and said, "It is a sheer waste of time to reason with the barbarians. What we should do now is to launch a counterattack immediately and capture Tianjin before dark." "I agree, Lord Sivir." Jackson turned around and gave orders to everyone in a cold and ruthless tone. "Everyone, march to the square!" As the rumbling sound of artillery got closer, all the soldiers in Tianjin gathered in the square. Ye Tianpei has begun to abandon the barricades and gather his soldiers.

The commander under his command was worried, "General, the square is not safe. If we abandon these barricades and fight the foreigners, the battle will become more difficult." “Isn’t it hard enough now?” Ye Tianpei glanced at him and said, "Now standing guard at the barricade is just waiting to be blown up by the cannons. It would be a shameful death. Instead of asking them to remove the soldiers like nails, why don't we concentrate our current forces and make a breakthrough first?" "But……" This commander was one of the few people who was willing to serve his country and die in Tianjin, but he still had no confidence in this heroic tactic. "But our soldiers are not a bunch of warriors. They start sweating when they hear the sound of artillery fire, and their legs go weak when they see the enemy's guns pointed at them. If the enemy puts on their bayonets and charges at us, they will scatter in an instant. Can such soldiers really withstand the frontal attack of the foreigners? There is no shelter for them to hide in the square. " His concerns are not without reason, and it is these concerns that reveal that he is an experienced and observant person. Ye Tianpei unexpectedly put his hand on the junior officer's shoulder, an action he had never done before, which made the commander feel uneasy. However, Ye Tianpei was not angry, but asked him: "Who do you think will run away first on the battlefield, officers or soldiers?" The commander obviously hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "It's the officers. Because the soldiers are all numb and stupid people who only follow orders. Due to the extreme bloodshed and fatigue on the battlefield, they had already lost most of their mental faculties. They only knew that they were fighting, but had no idea of ​​the course of the battle, and didn't know whether they were winning or losing, because everyone just wanted to survive. The ones who really see the situation clearly are us commanders and generals who stand high and see far." "Yes." Ye Tianpei smiled and said, "So as long as I don't retreat, no one else will retreat. If I don't run away, there won't be so many people running away." "But." The commander lowered his head, stared at Ye Tianpei, and whispered, "Who are you?" Ye Tianpei's smile seemed to freeze for a moment, but to outsiders there was no change at all. He pulled his hand back and just smiled, "Does it matter?"

The commander hesitated and shook his head. "It's not important, but it's very important to guard Jinmen and protect the millions of people behind us from disaster." "Don't worry about who I am, but I want you to know that our goal is the same, which is to defend Tianjin. You can trust me on this point." "Of course I can trust you." The commander also had a smile on his face, "Because if a person is not trying to resist the Eight-Nation Alliance, he would not pretend to be the General of Jingji at this point in time. The General of Jingji is the most dazzling light in Tianjin, with thousands of eyes staring at him, and the foreigners' guns and cannons are also aimed at him. This is the most dangerous identity. If you are not careful, you will be crushed to pieces." "Don't worry, I will stand until the last moment." Upon hearing this, the commander bowed and clasped his hands together, saying, "I will be at your service here." Ye Tianpei did not make any unnecessary movements, but said in a deep voice: "Pass the order down, assemble the troops, deploy them in the left, center and right three-army configuration, and advance to the square. No one is allowed to act without my order." "Subordinates take orders!" …… These few miles were very fast for the Eight-Nation Alliance, and they were also the most unobstructed miles of the day. In fact, the square was not as open as the commander said. There were barriers scattered across the square, only reaching the chest level of a person. This was enough to accommodate dozens of people in a row for shooting. Between each barrier was a passage for several people to walk out side by side. Everyone is ready. The first thing that came into their sight was a group of infantrymen in red shirts, holding guns in their hands, advancing in neat formations like a wall. "These people are Ingria's soldiers." Ren Qi explained to the puzzled people. Qin Lang was still confused. "I can only distinguish them by the color of their clothes. Excuse me, foreigners all look exactly the same to me." "It doesn't matter. Just make sure you don't mistake friend for foe. After all, the Japanese are among them." "Please rest assured, Master Qi." Qin Lang made a gesture with his hands as if he was about to stick his head to the ground. "Those carrot-headed people are not even as tall as the guns. I'm afraid if I don't lower my head, I won't be able to see them." His words made everyone laugh, slightly easing the tense atmosphere. As the drumbeats and trumpets of the Eight-Nation Alliance sounded, the Eight-Nation Alliance changed from marching formation to combat formation according to the original plan and began to press towards the square. "Do you remember what I said before?" Ren Qi asked Chen Tianyou. Chen Tianyou nodded, "I will never forget this even if I die. Don't worry, no gun will be fired until they get within fifty steps." As he spoke, he waved his hand, directing the leaders to stand at their respective positions and command the people belonging to them. At this time, the musketeers who had been hidden before had already stood in the front, lined up close to the temporary breastworks. They crouched down, hiding behind the breastwork, without revealing themselves. Ren Qi, like the other chiefs, was still riding a horse. It's just that he was a little further back than the others, farther away from the guns.

As everyone moved forward according to their positions, a gray-haired old man approached Ren Qi. "Brother Ren, do you still remember me?" Ren Qi said bluntly: "I'm sorry, I don't remember." "It's ok." The old man hesitated for a second before finally whispering, "You killed my son." Ren Qi's eyes widened and he was speechless for a moment. "It doesn't matter, it was a long time ago," the old man said. "But he is your son." "But you're my brother now, aren't you?" The old man patted his shoulder and said, "In fact, most people here have a grudge against you. We came to Tianjin just to kill you. So out of ten people, seven are your enemies, and the other two are hoping to become famous by relying on you." "What about the other one?" Ren Qi asked. "There is another one, who treats you as a brother just like me. Brothers should not kill each other, right?" The old man suddenly sighed, "I don't know if this war came at the right time. If it had come a few days later, I would have died under your sword by now. Now I am afraid I will die, because the foreigners are much stronger than us, but it seems to be an honor to fight side by side with you at the last moment. " Ren Qi was silent for a long time, and finally said frankly: "If I were you, I wouldn't care what you did, but I would definitely take revenge." "So we are not you." The old man shook the reins and drove the horse forward. "Just treat this as some of the old man's last whispers before he died. It's just nonsense." Ren Qi nodded, "I will return it to you when we reach the underworld." "Come on!" The old man waved his hand, "For people like you, there's not even enough meat for everyone, so what are you going to give back?" He gradually walked away, and one heroic man after another followed him, passing by Ren Qi one after another. Some nodded to Ren Qi, some clasped their fists, and some just walked by with cold faces. Most of them are well-known in the martial arts world, either as the leader of a sect or as lone knights, but even more are unknown people who have not yet made a name for themselves. However, Ren Qi knew that none of these people were cowards. All the heroes of this generation in Kyushu will shed their blood here. As the artillery of the Eight-Nation Alliance roared, the dense marching drum beats seemed like a death warrant, calling on the Eight-Nation Alliance to move forward in a unified rhythm. Ren Qi rode on his horse, watching the shells fall into the square and into his own ranks. Every shell toppled buildings, tore down parapets, and instantly claimed the lives of many men. Like the god of death's scythe or an ox cart plowing the fields, bloody furrows appeared in the square. Rows of people fell down, and the people behind them took a step forward to complete the queue. However, everyone remained motionless, just standing there like trees, allowing the wind and rain to hit them.

At one hundred and fifty steps, following an order from the Allied camp, the Eight-Nation Alliance lined up and fired the first volley at Ren Qi's side. It was like the crackling sound of frying beans, and also like thunder. The first to fall were the leaders on horseback. They were shot and fell off their horses one by one. Then the soldiers below were shot and fell as well. The people in the back row immediately filled in. After a round of gunfire, the Eight-Nation Alliance continued to move forward at the urging of drum beats. When they had marched a hundred steps, the second round of volleys began. Ren Qi could already feel a few bullets flying close to his ears, making unwilling whistling sounds. After the third volley, the coalition forces' gun formation was actually no longer in order. They shot while moving, and both their accuracy and discipline in shooting had declined a lot and were no longer as terrifying as before. Everyone continued to endure casualties in silence, waiting for the opportunity to counterattack. This is extremely unbearable and painful. When Ren Qi saw Qin Lang being shot through the chest by a musket and falling off his horse, although the veins in his hands swelled up instantly, he still suppressed his anger and just waited for the Eight-Nation Alliance to continue moving forward. Seventy steps, the artillery had stopped temporarily in order not to accidentally injure friendly forces. Ren Qi raised his hand slightly, and Chen Tianyou on the other side also looked at him nervously, and raised his hand with him, just waiting for the order to come. This moment seemed as long as a century. Although bullets kept flying past and landing at Ren Qi's feet, his hand remained motionless. Sixty steps away, an officer of the Eight-Nation Alliance saw Ren Qi's face through the smoke and recognized him as their enemy, the murderer of Sargent, so he began to call on the soldiers around him to aim their guns at him. Fifty steps later, blood spurted out of Ren Qi's face as a bullet grazed his cheekbone. As Ren Qi's iron-clad hand fell, Chen Tianyou immediately shouted. "Fire!" "Fire!!" "Fire!!!" The musketeers came out from behind the breastwork and from behind their brothers who were blocking the way in front of them, raising their guns and aiming at the Eight-Nation Alliance. The Eight-Nation Alliance were obviously stunned for a moment, and their minds went blank for a moment. As Chen Tianyou roared again, flames and smoke spewed out from the black muzzles of thousands of muskets. With a clean and neat round of volleys, nearly eight hundred coalition soldiers fell in an instant. Ren Qi's eyes were almost bleeding. He suddenly drew out his sword and shouted an order in his usually hoarse and gloomy voice that shook the entire Tianjin. "kill!" "kill!!" In the square, there was a killing clamor. Everyone picked up the weapons at hand and rushed towards the coalition forces.

The Allied officers maintained their remaining sanity and commanded the soldiers to fight back, continuously shooting at the brave men, causing row after row of men to fall on the way to the charge. However, they soon discovered that this huge wave of anger was overflowing the embankment and pouring down on their heads. What awaits them is complete annihilation. Jackson's eyes were about to curl up, and he quickly ordered everyone to retreat. At this moment, Ren Qi took out a bow from somewhere. This is a weapon that is out of date. Even the strongest warriors in the court now take pride in being proficient in using muskets. However, Ren Qi just took an arrow from the side and set it on fire with an expressionless face. As Ren Qi pulled the bowstring, a crackling sound was transmitted from his muscles along his arms to the bow, as if it was going to tear the bow apart. boom! Ren Qi released the bowstring, and the rocket flew across the sky, over everyone's heads, and landed in the jade tower in the distance. This was shooting from over three hundred paces, and the sound drowned out any sound of musketry. After the flames disappeared in the Jade Tower, a pillar of fire shot up into the sky. As the Jade Tower collapsed and ignited the nearby streets and houses, General Jackson was horrified to find that the retreat route of the Eight-Nation Alliance had been completely covered and blocked by flames. They have nowhere to retreat! (End of this chapter)