"When I first saw him, I felt that he was definitely not an ordinary rebel officer, although he was dressed like the four rebel soldiers who followed him, but he had an unconcealed heroic spirit and a defiant leadership temperament. In my more than 10 years in the military, I have met many governors and generals of various countries, but none of them have the temperament that is characteristic of this man. When Liszt wrote his "Memoirs in China" many years later, he wrote this impression of his first meeting with the King of the West, although he did not know at the time that the person in front of him was the famous leader of the long-haired rebel bandits, the King of the West.

Outside the low stone wall of the church, the five cavalry of the Taiping Army strangled their horses together, and they were opposite dozens of foreign soldiers hiding behind the low stone wall, and dozens of black muskets were aimed at the five cavalrymen, but there was no panic on the faces of these five cavalrymen.

A big man with an ugly face raised the horsewhip in his hand and said: "Look at these foreign devil soldiers, so many people have come to deal with us, it seems that the courage of foreigners is only like this." The four cavalrymen behind him laughed together, and they actually laughed in the face of dozens of elite mercenary soldiers.

Behind the gate of the low stone wall, Liszt and Barrett stood side by side, like the other mercenaries, they couldn't understand Chinese, and they didn't know what the five rebel cavalrymen were laughing at, but Liszt felt a thick provocation and disdain, he believed that the other soldiers also felt it, and those impulsive Sikh soldiers stood up one after another, drew their scimitars at their waists and made a loud noise, seeing their big grinding disc and head shaking, and the curled beards that kept shaking under their nostrils, Liszt knew that the last thing these Sikh soldiers could tolerate was the provocation of the enemy.

Liszt immediately said to Barret: "Let those Sikhs steady, don't look at the only five rebel cavalry in front of you, but as soon as we shoot, thousands of rebels behind them will rush over and tear us apart." ”

Barritt nodded over to stop the grumpy Sikh soldiers. After the Sikh soldiers had said something to Barrett, Barit hurried back to Liszt.

At this moment, the rebel man at the head of the army opened his throat and shouted, "Let your officers come out and speak!" ”

His voice was so loud that it startled Barrit, and he rubbed his ears and said to Liszt: "Sergeant, those Sikh soldiers say that they can silence the enemy without muskets, but with swords. ”

Liszt snorted contemptuously and said, "These hillbillies don't even know who their enemies are, so it's no wonder that they can only fight behind our Red Shirts." Barrett, I think we need an interpreter, these rebels are provoking us. But you can see what they want to say to us. Before the interpreter comes, you'd better let the Sikhs restrain themselves and don't mess things up. ”

Barry nodded and said, "Sergeant Haode." Immediately after saying that, he called a herald and told him to return to the church to find an interpreter. Let the queen go over and crush the Sikh soldiers.

A moment later, a man in his forties came out of the church. He was dressed in a robe and a riding coat. He wore a small round hat on his head, dragged long braids, and trotted out with the herald trotting out with the corners of his robe, and a pair of eyes on the bridge of his nose, like a teacher.

I saw that this teacher came to Liszt's side and gave up slightly, and Liszt recognized this person as Li Shanlan, a scholar from the Mohai Library in London. He also nodded politely and said: "Sir, I want to know what these rebels are doing, you know that Lieutenant Harold authorized me to find out the other party's intentions here, I hope you can accurately translate their words." I don't want to cause unnecessary casualties on both sides because of communication problems. ”

Li Shanlan took out a square towel and wiped the sweat from her forehead and said, "Please rest assured, sir, I will translate truthfully." After speaking, he took a few steps forward and said loudly: "General on horseback outside, may I ask what you are doing here?" ”

The big man laughed on the horse and said, "We are the soldiers and horses of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, who are you?" ”

Li Shanlan replied loudly: "The next is the teacher surnamed Li of the Mohai Library, and his double name is Shanlan, do you want to borrow the way to pass the army?" ”

As soon as the big man heard Li Shanlan's name, he turned over and dismounted in surprise, walked up a few steps and said, "It turns out that you are Li Shanlan, you have really admired the name for a long time." He clasped his fists as he walked, so that the foreign soldiers on both sides of the gate were very nervous for a while when they saw him approaching, and the muzzles of their guns were aimed at him, but this person walked to the wooden fence gate as if he didn't see it, and said with a smile: "Zai Nai is a small leader of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and I often hear our King Xi mention your great name, saying that you are the most learned scholar in China." ”

Li Shanlan wiped the sweat from his forehead again, he didn't expect that the person in front of him was so bold, and in such a tense atmosphere, he could still talk and laugh, Li Shanlan smiled bitterly: "Thanks to love, I don't dare to be the most knowledgeable." ”

Liszt listened to the two of them talking non-stop, and hurriedly asked, "Mr. Li, what did he say?" ”

Li Shanlan came back to her senses and translated the conversation just now, Li Szt was a little surprised, but since the rebel officer in front of him respected Li Shanlan, things would be much easier, and at that moment Li Szt urged Li Shanlan to ask the rebel officer's intentions.

Li Shanlan asked again, and the rebel officer looked at the rank badge on Liszt's shoulder and arm, and said with a faint smile: "Can a sergeant take care of things?" ”

After listening to the translation, Liszt was slightly taken aback, this seemingly rude man could understand the rank armband of the British Empire? But he still said with great restraint: "Our lieutenant has authorized me to be responsible for contacting your army, please explain your intentions." ”

The big man smiled and said, "It seems that the British missionaries have not returned to the church yet, so I will repeat the words of our king of the west." Our Taiping army can guarantee that the church will not be attacked, but only if the armed personnel in the church must withdraw to the city, otherwise our army will definitely take action to ensure that the safety of our soldiers is not threatened. It's noon, and you have half an hour to think about it, and when the time comes, if you don't evacuate, we'll attack and clear the church of the armed men. Sergeant, you're running out of time, so you'd better make your decision quickly. ”

After listening to the translation, both Liszt and Barrett were speechless, when had the Red Shirts been subjected to such a naked threat of force? Sergeant Liszt, who had the dignity of a Red Shirt, immediately shouted angrily: "This is impossible, our soldiers of the British Empire will never accept such a humiliating threat!" ”

The big man furrowed his eyebrows and said strangely: "You are soldiers of the British Empire?" Aren't you the mercenaries hired by the Manchu demons in the city? As far as I know, mercenaries don't take into account their own national interests, in fact, you mercenaries don't need to be notified in advance, if it weren't for our King of the West not wanting to damage the church, according to my temper, I would have killed you directly, anyway, you don't represent Britain, France, or the United States, you are just a group of robbers who fight for money, and even if you die in battle, you will not be recognized by your own country. ”

Liszt and Barrett looked at each other, they were indeed mercenaries hired by the Shanghai Yamen, and Lord Wenhan had also explained before leaving that they were only fighting for money, not representing the interests of the government, he couldn't imagine that the rebel officer in front of him was so clear-minded, and now he didn't have the strong backing of the British Empire behind him, they could only be regarded as a group of mercenaries who could not be recognized by the government.

Liszt said with a blushing face: "Please wait, we will report to the lieutenant immediately." ”

The big man smiled and said, "No need, I just sent an ultimatum to Zuihou, no need to wait for your lieutenant's reply, remember, you only have half an hour, that is, an hour you said." ”

Liszt was very annoyed, he wanted to teach the shameful rebel officer in front of him a lesson, he immediately pulled Barrett and whispered: "Go and let those Sikh soldiers teach this bastard a lesson, it's better to fight with bare hands, let him know how good we are." ”

Barrett immediately arranged it, and Liszt looked at the big man and said coldly: "You are also an officer, and my soldiers want to duel with you one-on-one, if you have a knightly demeanor, accept this challenge, otherwise you are an arrogant coward!" At this time, there was still chivalry in the social interaction of foreigners, and there was also a duel between people, which was a very gentlemanly approach in the eyes of the British, but in the eyes of the Chinese, it was a good man who was not an enemy in order to save face.

After hearing this, the big man did not laugh angrily, pointed at Liszt and said, "Who is dueling with me?" You? ”

At this time, Barrett came over with three strong Sikh soldiers: "These five soldiers want to duel you because you have insulted their fighting spirit!" You can choose any one of them to fight with you one-on-one! ”

The big man Haha smiled and said, "It's a waste of time to one-on-one, you let these three Indian Ah San go together!" ”

Li Shanlan didn't know how to translate Indian Ah San, so she could only say that the three of them would go together. These Sikh people are martial and can't bear to be looked down upon, and after hearing this, where can they bear it? The three of them roared together, opened the wooden gate and rushed out.

The big man shot very quickly, and he was also very fierce, he did not use the fancy and useless skills of the Manchu soldiers, but fiercely stepped forward and kicked the first person in the lower abdomen, this person immediately fell to his knees in pain, followed by a fist that grabbed another Sikh soldier, an over-the-shoulder fall threw him to the ground, followed by an arm twist, twisted the soldier's arm, zuihou When a Sikh soldier was still stunned, he had been hugged by the big man by the neck, and his knees were on his stomach, For a moment, he only felt a sharp pain in his stomach, and he knelt on the ground and vomited loudly.

Only one looked, three strong Sikh soldiers were put to the ground, everyone could see that if this big man had a sword in his hand, these three people would have turned into corpses, and Liszt could see that his martial arts were not used for duels, but concise killing techniques.

While the foreign soldiers were still stunned, the big man had already turned over and said, "Sergeant, you still have fifty minutes left, I hope you can exit the church, otherwise we will definitely attack!" After speaking, under the eyes of a group of foreign soldiers, the five horsemen went away like the wind, and Liszt and the others were stunned and speechless for a long time. (To be continued.) )