"When I saw him at first, I felt that he was definitely not an ordinary rebel officer. Although his clothes were similar to the four rebel soldiers who followed him, his unconcealed heroism and his leader temperament that despises everything. During my more than ten years of my military service, I have seen many governors and generals from various countries, but they do not have the temperament unique to this person." When Liszt wrote his "Memoirs in China" many years later, he wrote about his impression of the first time when he saw the Western King. Although he did not know that the person in front of him was the famous long-haired rebel bandit leader of the Western King.

Outside the low stone wall of the church, five cavalry and Taiping cavalry gathered their horses together. Opposite them were dozens of foreign soldiers hiding behind the low stone wall. Dozens of black muskets pointed at the five cavalry, but there was no panic on the faces of the five cavalry.

An ugly man in the lead raised his horse whip in his hand and laughed: "Look at these foreign soldiers, so many people are here to deal with us, it seems that the courage of foreigners is nothing more than that." The four cavalrymen behind him burst into laughter, and they actually laughed at dozens of martyrs soldiers...

Behind the gate of the low stone wall, Liszt and Barrit stood side by side. Like other mercenaries, they did not understand Chinese and did not know what the five rebel cavalry were laughing at. But Liszt felt a strong provocation and disdain. He believed that the other soldiers also felt that the impulsive Sikh soldiers stood up one after another, pulled out the scimitar from their waists and clattered loudly. Seeing their big millstones shaking constantly and their beards shaking constantly under their nostrils, Liszt knew that what these Sikh soldiers could not tolerate the most was the enemy's provocation.

Lister immediately said to Barrit, "Let the Sikhs stabilize, even if there are only five rebel cavalry in front of us, as soon as we fire, thousands of rebels behind them will rush over and tear us apart."

Barryt nodded and went to drink the irritable Sikh soldiers. After the Sikh soldiers said something to Barrit, Barrit quickly returned to Liszt.

At this moment, the head rebel man shouted again, "Let your officers come out and speak!"

His loud voice shocked Barrit, and he rubbed his ears and said to Lister: "Sergeant, the Sikh soldiers said they would not use muskets, but only swords and swords to shut up the enemy."

Liszt snorted contemptuously and said, "These rural blokes don't even know who their enemies are. No wonder they can only fight behind our Redshirts. Barrit, I think we need a translator. Although these rebels are provoking us, you can see what they want to say to us. Before the translator comes, you'd better let the Sikhs restrain themselves first and don't mess up the matter."

Barryt nodded and said, "Okay Sergeant." After that, he immediately called a messenger and asked him to return to the church to find the translator. Then he went over and suppressed the Sikh soldiers.

A moment later, a man in his forties came out of the church. He was wearing a long robe and jacket. He wore a small round hat on his head, dragged his long braids, and trotted out with the messenger on the corner of his robe. He also had his eyes on his nose, like a teacher.

The teacher came to Liszt and bowed slightly. Liszt recognized the man as Li Shanlan, a scholar at the London Huimohai Library. He nodded politely and said, "Sir, I want to know what these rebels are doing. You know that Lieutenant Harold authorized me to figure out the other party's purpose here. I hope you can accurately translate their words. I don't want to cause unnecessary casualties on both sides due to communication issues."

Li Shanlan took out a square scarf and wiped the sweat from her forehead and said, "Sir, don't worry, I will interpret the truth." After saying that, he took a few steps forward and said loudly, "General riding a horse outside, what are you doing here?"

The big man laughed immediately and said, "We are the soldiers of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, who are you?"

Li Shanlan replied loudly: "I am the teacher from Mohai Library, whose surname is Li, and his two names are Shanlan. Do you want to use the army to pass by?"

When the man heard Li Shanlan's name, he turned over and dismounted. He walked forward a few steps and laughed, "So you are Li Shanlan. You have been revered for a long time." He walked and clasped his fists as a tribute, and let the foreign soldiers on both sides of the gate see him approaching. He was very nervous for a moment and pointed the gun at him unanimously. However, the man seemed to have not seen it, and walked to the wooden fence gate and said with a smile: "I am a small leader of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. I often hear our Western King mention your name and say that you are the most knowledgeable scholar in China."

Li Shanlan wiped the sweat from his forehead again. He didn't expect that the man in front of him was so brave. In such a tense atmosphere, he could still talk and laugh. Li Shanlan smiled bitterly: "I dare not be the most knowledgeable word thanks to my love."

When Liszt heard the two of them talking nonstop, he asked quickly: "Mr. Li, what did he say?"

Li Shanlan came to her senses and translated the conversation just now. Liszt was a little surprised, but since the rebel officer in front of her respected Li Shanlan, the matter would be much easier. Liszt urged Li Shanlan to ask about the purpose of the rebel officer.

Li Shanlan asked again, and the rebel officer looked at the rank badge on Liszt's shoulder and arm, and smiled faintly and said, "Can a sergeant say that he is in charge?"

After listening to the translation, Liszt was slightly surprised. This seemingly rude man could understand the armband of the British Empire? But he still said restraintly: "Our lieutenant authorized me to contact your army. Please explain your purpose."

The big man smiled and said, "It seems that the British missionaries Luo Weilin and Maidus and others have not returned to the church yet, so I will repeat the words of our Western King. Our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom army can guarantee that we will not attack the church, but the premise is that the armed personnel in the church must withdraw to the city, otherwise our army will definitely take action to ensure that the safety of my soldiers is not threatened. It is noon now, and you have half an hour to consider. Once the time comes, if you do not evacuate, we will launch an attack and clear out the armed personnel in the church. Sergeant, you don't have much time, so it's better to make a decision quickly."

After listening to the translation, neither Lister nor Barrit could speak. When did the Redshirts suffer such a naked force threat? Sergeant Lister, who had the dignity of the Redshirts, immediately shouted angrily: "This is impossible. Our soldiers of the British Empire will never accept such a humiliating threat!"

The man frowned and said strangely: "Are you soldiers of the British Empire? Are you not the mercenaries hired by the Qing demons in the city? As far as I know, mercenaries do not take into account their own national interests. In fact, you don't need to be informed in advance. If we, the Western King, did not want to damage the church, and according to my temper, you would directly destroy you. Anyway, you do not represent Britain, France, or the United States. You are just a group of robbers fighting for money. Even if you die in battle, you will not be recognized by your own country."

Liszt and Barrit looked at each other. They were indeed mercenaries employed by the Shanghai Yamen. Before leaving, Lord Wenhan also told me that they were fighting for money only, which did not represent the interests of zhèngfu. He could not have imagined that the rebel officer in front of him was so clear-headed. Now he did not have the strong backing of the British Empire, and they could only be regarded as a group of mercenaries who were not recognized by zhèngfu.

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

The big man smiled and said, "No need, I just sent an ultimatum. Don't wait for your lieutenant to reply. Remember, you only have half an hour, which is the hour you said."

Liszt was very angry. He wanted to teach the shameful rebel officer in front of him a lesson. He immediately pulled Barrit to whisper: "Go and let those Sikh soldiers teach this bastard a lesson. It's best to fight with bare hands to let him know how powerful we are."

Barritt immediately arranged for it. Lister looked at the man and said coldly: "You are also an officer. My soldiers want to fight with you one-on-one. If you have a knightly style, accept this challenge, otherwise you will be an arrogant and arrogant coward!" At this time, there is still a knight god in the social interaction of foreigners, and there is also a duel between people. In the eyes of the British, this is a very gentleman approach, but in the eyes of the Chinese, this is a way for heroes to defeat others in order to save face.

After hearing this, the big man laughed instead of anger, pointed at Liszt and said, "Who is the duel with me? Are you?"

At this time, Barrit came over with three strong Sikh soldiers: "These five soldiers all want to duel with you because you insulted their fighting spirit! You can choose any one to fight with you one-on-one bare hands!"

The big man laughed and said, "A waste of time one on one, let these three Indians go together!"

Li Shanlan didn't know how to translate the Indian San, so she could only say that three people would join together. These Sikh people were martial and could not tolerate being looked down upon. After hearing this, how could they bear it? The three of them roared together, opened the wooden gate and rushed out.

The big man took action very quickly and was very fierce. He did not use the fancy and useless skills of the Qing soldiers, but rushed forward and kicked the first person's lower abdomen. The man immediately kneeled down to the ground with pain. He then held the fist of another Sikh soldier, and fell over his shoulder to the ground. Then he twisted his arm and broke the soldier's arm. When the last Sikh soldier was still stunned, he was already hugged by the big man and his knees pressed against his stomach. For a moment, he felt the severe pain in his stomach, and he knelt on the ground and vomited loudly.

With only one encounter, three strong Sikh soldiers were knocked to the ground. Anyone could see that if the man had a sword in his hand, these three people would have turned into corpses. Liszt could see that his martial arts were not fighting techniques for duels, but concise killing techniques.

While the foreign soldiers were still stunned, the man had already turned over and said with a horse and laughed: "Sergeant, you still have fifty minutes left. I hope you can withdraw from the church, otherwise we will definitely attack!" After saying that, under the gaze of the foreign soldiers, the five cavalry left like the wind. Liszt and others were all stunned and could not speak for a long time. (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!