In the rumbling sound of cannons and machine guns, Zhengyangmen City, which was in the snowy night, began to burn, like a huge torch. At this time, Lieutenant General Wang Menghui, the commander of the Beijing garrison, who had just given the order to retreat, watched the fire getting bigger and bigger, even if he tried his best to restrain it, his unwillingness and resentment were also evident. The Renaissance Army had never retreated like this, let alone fought like this, and if it weren't for Yang Rui's order repeated three times in a row, he wouldn't have let the Americans go like this.

Wang Menghui was resentful on the city wall, and he had long known that the army was divided into several kinds of residents in the city who were fighting with foreign soldiers on the tower of Zhengyangmen, and as soon as the residents of the inner city heard the sound of cannons at Zhengyangmen, they invariably picked up the wooden guns used for training during the Sino-Japanese War and went out, and spontaneously organized a team according to the past, issued orders, went out of the alleys, and went to the streets. Quietly, some troops gathered at various key points inside and outside the city, while others went to the place where the incident occurred, Qipan Street in front of Daming Gate, Hubu Street and Pishi Street on the left and right sides of Tianjie. There are more than 50,000 households in the inner city, and there are one or two adult men in each household, and even if they have been divided, these militias cannot stand in those places of Daming Gate alone, and the nearby alleys and alleys and even the nearby courtyards are full of militiamen.

As for the outer city, these old Beijingers who lived in Beijing before the founding of the People's Republic of China, heard that the Janissaries and foreign soldiers were fighting each other, and the memories of the Xianfeng period and the Gengzi period immediately came to their hearts, they did not want Japan to be defeated by the revival army, and they did not want Russia to be driven far to the west now, and the fear of foreign soldiers accumulated over the decades made them panic when they first heard the news, and the number of people leaving the city increased dramatically during the period when the city gate was not closed. These people who think they are lucky to get out of town. Before dark, they saw the train full of foreign soldiers on the railroad and speeding towards the capital, and they immediately patted their chests and breathed a few sighs of relief, glad that they were running fast.

And those fart people who are not clever with their hands and feet. You can only close the door and pray to God and Buddha, hoping to avoid this catastrophe. It was only when it was dark that they heard that the militia in the inner city had been mobilized, and they went out of the house to assemble at the designated place under the assembly number of the head of the household and the head of A. These people were still a little apprehensive at first, but when they got together and became courageous, and then saw the dazzling fire on the tower of Zhengyangmen City, they turned all their previous hatred into hatred for all kinds of foreign soldiers.

The capital of more than 700,000 people. Within an hour or two, more than 100,000 people were mobilized, and the entire city suddenly changed color and turned into a barracks. This change was not too surprising to the ministers and military attaches of various countries who had experienced the Boxers. But the soldiers were all standing in silent rows in the streets and alleys, and they were completely subordinate to the orders of the superior officers, if the crippled soldiers were officers, and calmly waited for orders.

The ignorant, riotous, and unorganized boxers have never worried the white superiors, but now these silent, resolutely obedient militias are the worries of all Caucasians. They don't charge undisguised at machine guns and cannons. Once they are launched. That would engulf the entire embassy district, the whole of Beijing, and even the whole of white people in China.

"Maybe we should do something!" On the southeast side of the embassy area is the German Embassy, and from the afternoon the Counselor of the Embassy, Mr. Xin Ci, was extremely excited, as if acting, the accidental incident in the afternoon actually made such a big noise, which made him ecstatic, but the incident happened too suddenly, and he did not think about how to sow discord at all.

"It's good to live in China. Britain and France lacked labor, and they hoped that the Chinese would go. Ambassador Rutte knows very well what Xin Ci has done in the past year. Every time the NSA quietly asked him to pick up someone, he was extremely ashamed, and felt that the whole German face had been disgraced by the person next to him.

"Nope! Your Excellency, the United States has declared war on us, and we need a Chinese fleet and submarines -- they are ultimately unwilling to fight with us, and they have deliberately leaked information to sabotage the submarine deal. If they can stand on our side, then their army can attack Indochina, India and other places, which will greatly reduce our burden in Europe. Xin Ci fantasized.

"Yang would never do that!" Rütte's beard only trembled, and after the failure of the right hook of the General Staff, he firmly believed that Germany could not defeat the Entente, and the best result was peace talks, but the unwilling military, as well as reckless men like Xin Ci, who were bent on figuring out guò schemes, made Germany have more and more allies, and the allies of the Entente became fewer and fewer. China was not an Ottoman, and Germany did not put as much effort into the revival as it did with the Ottomans. Germany had abandoned the Risorgimento twice, especially the last time, and if it had not been for a miracle, China would have not only suffered a tragic defeat, but would have lost all of Manchuria.

Under such 'friendship', it is really a fool's dream to hope that China can join the allies. Rutte's hope was that China would remain neutral throughout the war, even as their merchant ships and weapons helped the Allies.

"In the name of the Ambassador, I forbid you to use unethical stratagems in this matter!" Lu Te no longer looked at the burning tower, but turned to stare at Xin Ci, who was rolling his eyes beside him, and said very sternly.

Also staring at the ambassador for a while, Xin Ci insisted: "But this is our best chance!" ”

"It's just that Yang wants to show his strength, he won't leave a drop of blood for Germany!" Rutte said loudly. "What we have to do is to keep him from intervening in the war in Europe and remaining neutral."

"Okay, then let's watch the show." Very helpless and dissatisfied, Xin Ci finally nodded.

Although Rutte formally warned Xin Ci not to mess around at this time, when Minister Fu Lide, the leader of the legation, called him and asked him to send troops to guard the west side of the embassy area, he still immediately sent troops, according to the agreement of the legation after Gengzi, this is what Germany should do.

The expatriates in the embassy district have all been organized, and some old firearms have been turned out of the warehouses and distributed everywhere; Wireless telegraphy is the busiest, and although the Chinese have not closed the cable telegraph office on East Chang'an Avenue, who dares to take the risk? At this time, Beijing is no longer the beautiful and tidy city, but has become a dark beast full of all kinds of darkness and cruelty, and it may not take half an hour for the revival army to storm the embassy district and kill all God's chosen people.

"Your Excellency, is your country really going to war with other countries?" Ministers from all over the world are shrunk into the embassy area. Only the British, who were peacemakers, accompanied by the Japanese ambassador Kishigero Bihara, went to the Prime Minister's Office.

"Our country is only conducting defensive exercises now, and it has no intention of attacking other countries. Mr. Minister. Don't you know that they are only holding wooden guns for training? "It's been a day, and after the Americans don't agree to the minimum requirements, things go sour.

"Then when will your country's exercises end?" Ma Mule made a helpless expression, and was very unhappy in his heart, why did this drill start after Zhengyangmen was burned, it was clearly to suppress people with power; and Yang Rui, who was nowhere to be seen from afternoon to night. I really don't know what this Far Eastern wolf is up to.

"It's over when it's over." Xie Jintai said peacefully, "Mr. Minister, you are safe. Don't worry. Please restrain the soldiers of all countries, once the confrontation is misfired, the consequences are unpredictable, and the militia is not close to the embassy area now. As for Zhengyangmen. That's not part of the embassy district. ”

"It's very, very dangerous...... Mamuller really can't find the words to describe Chinese move. He did not want Asia to be in a mess because of the dispute between China and the United States, which at this time was the largest source of troops and labor for Great Britain and France, and if something happened here that forced China to turn to the Allies, even the United States, which had already entered the war, would not be able to make up for these losses in a short time. "Your Excellency, the governments of the Entente countries are willing to make appropriate concessions in the negotiations for the abrogation of the Old Covenant, for example, the concessions of Italy and Belgium may be returned to your country in advance. However, this requires the incident to be handled peacefully. ”

The British's promise only made Xie Jintai smile. Belgium, the lost dog, and Italy, a small country that had no interests in the East, were cut under the deception of the British, and I really don't know what the British Foreign Office promised them. With a sneer in his heart, Xie Jintai said: "Mr. Ma Mueller, I regret to inform you that the previous negotiations between us and the cabinet were considered inappropriate after deliberation, so they were temporarily suspended, and the next negotiation time will be notified separately." ”

"What!?" Mamuller was taken aback, the negotiations with the Chinese were strategic negotiations to give up privileges in China and retain most of the interests in China, Europe was now extremely short of labor, and the morale of the army was very low, if China declared war on Germany and Austria like the United States, then victory in this war was only a matter of time. According to domestic sources, what the Americans are doing now is just declaring war, how many soldiers to send? When will it be dispatched? Congress, the president, and the Joint Military Council are still arguing, and it is very likely that the Americans will not have a single division to land on the European continent until next year.

"Mr. Minister, when the Prime Minister learned of the Zhengyangmen incident, he thought that even the city towers outside the embassy area would not be returned, and the conditions promised by your countries in the negotiations would definitely change after the war. China hopes to live in peace with all countries in the world, exchange ideas through reasonable free trade, and prosper the world economy together, but some countries have always had a very deep prejudice against China, and some countries have ambitions about China's territory. ”

Xie Jintai sighed at this point and said, "Japan hopes to maintain the order of the world for the sake of peace and justice, just like Japan. However, there are still people who look at us in the old way, thinking that our country is a barbaric country, and that only the intervention of the army can bring us to its knees, but how many troops can these countries interfere with?? Originally, an apology could have solved the matter, but it had to be shot and fired, which was for fear that the world would not be chaotic! ”

Nagging and bitter talking, Xie Jintai said that Ma Mule was dizzy, and now the Chinese soldiers are gathered under the Zhengyangmen Tower, and the northeast of the city tower is the American military camp, if the two sides misfire, then the matter will be difficult. Fortunately, the American Minister Reinsch is sensible, he suppressed the hundreds of American Marines in the barracks, but will the Chinese follow the rules? If something happens here, and the situation finally loses control, the result will be ......

"Your Excellency, where is the Prime Minister of your country?" Mamuller asked.

"He's visiting Master Zhang Taiyan in the hospital now." Xie Zhangtai said, "Things will be resolved after all, please rest assured!" ”

Xie Jintai inadvertently shook his head slightly when he said that Yang Rui had made such a big deal, there were reasons for Zhang Taiyan, the reason for the Americans, and the reason why Yang Rui ordered to seize the city tower by force. This is because the General Staff Department had previously conducted a reserve exercise in the capital -- as soon as the guns of Zhengyangmen were fired and the fire flashed, the residents of the inner city spontaneously mobilized, and as soon as the inner city was mobilized, the outer city also moved, and these troops had already seized important places inside and outside the city in accordance with the plan of the General Staff Department in advance. At this time, they were all waiting for Yang Rui's order, if they really started fighting, not to mention the city tower, even the US Embassy and even the entire eastern suburbs would be erased from the map. Will he really take a risk?

Under the bright electric lights of the Tai Hospital, Zhang Taiyan was already asleep after anesthesia, and after he threw the handkerchief on the face of the American, he immediately ate the butt of the other party's gun, and the blood flowed on the spot and he collapsed to the ground. At this time, the Arrow Tower Janissaries, who had already seen this qiē, immediately stepped forward to protect, although this move caused a greater conflict, but at least Zhang Taiyan, who fell to the ground, was snatched out and sent down the city wall. Zhang Taiyan was nearly fifty years old at this time, and his mandible was fractured with a rifle butt, and when he didn't see him, Yang Rui thought that he was only slightly injured by a scuffle, and when he arrived at the hospital, he knew that he was so seriously injured.

"Prime Minister, although Uncle Mei is seriously injured, he will be fine in a few months, so don't worry too much." In order to reduce the pain, Zhang Taiyan was under anesthesia at this time, and his wife Tang Guoli looked at Yang Rui with a sad brow, for fear that he would make something happen for her husband, so she had to speak out to be relieved.

"Hey......" Yang Rui sighed. He hated his thinking for being too cold at this time! In the past, he was proud of this, but now looking at Zhang Taiyan, who was still full of pain even though he was anesthetized, his face was still full of pain, and he felt that this coldness was his biggest shortcoming. Emotions, human lives, popularity, morale, ideals, slogans, events, wars, ...... all seemed to him to be only a factor in some kind of calculation or plan, and anything could be discarded in order to achieve the highest goal.

Today's matter, even if Zhang Taiyan died, he would not use force against the Americans because of this, and his plan needed shipping revenue, which was miraculously skyrocketing. If China and the United States go to war, even if all merchant ships fly the Japanese flag, the shipping income will be cheaper for the Japanese -- the financial personnel of the shipping company are composed of both China and Japan, and the accounts are divided monthly; China's war against the United States is tantamount to a war with the entire Entente powers, and once the financial personnel of the shipping company are expelled, the unsupervised accounts can only be left to the Japanese, and the sky does not know how much of it will be lost.

"Take good care of him, I'll leave." Yang Rui smiled bitterly, he felt that he did not have a trace of humanity and emotion at this time, and his words were dry like a machine lacking lubricating oil. (To be continued......)

PS: I'm sick, forgive me, it's been a rough few days.