We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

"The general will go where he wishes!"

Wang Sanchun was the first to jump up, his beard curly and his halberd raised:

"I will be the vanguard, the first to set foot on the pirates' beachhead, and chop off their heads and kick them like Cuju!"

"The last general invites you to fight!"

Xue Wei stood up almost at the same time. Although his voice was not as loud as Wang Sanchun's, it was full of determination:

"The men of Shanhaiguan, under my command, are willing to crush the enemy lines for Your Highness!"

"The last general invites you to fight!"

"The general will go where he wishes!"

The voices requesting battle rose one after another in the tent. The generals who had been arguing and divided just now suddenly began to request battle in unprecedented unison.

All the Fengtian Army generals had fought their way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Li Che's words completely ignited the bravery in their bones.

Wang Sanchun saw Xue Wei also rushing to challenge, raised his eyebrows, and said in a rough voice:

"Hey! Xue Laonian, you were just yelling about taking a detour, taking a detour, worried that the brothers would fill the trench, and now you're competing with me for the vanguard position?"

"What, have you figured it out? You're not afraid of death anymore?"

Xue Wei's face darkened, and he glared back without giving in: "General Wang, I am not afraid of fighting!"

"We previously opposed a forceful attack because we feared that misguided command would lead to unnecessary casualties among our men."

"Now that Your Highness has made the decision, how dare I, Xue, fall behind? When it comes to soldiers' devotion to their country, how can the warriors of Shanhaiguan be inferior to those under your command, General Wang?"

Seeing that the two generals were about to start arguing with each other again, the atmosphere was getting tense, and Li Che spoke to suppress the dispute between the two:

"Okay, stop talking!"

Then his eyes swept over the generals and finally fell on the calm Yang Xuan.

"Yang Xuan, listen to my orders!"

The heroic female general stepped forward and said, "I am here!"

"I order you to command the First Brigade of the Chaoyang Army and assemble the troops immediately."

"Also, one thousand of the most skilled musket-wielding warriors from the Southwestern Military Region's Firearms Corps will be assigned to you for command."

"Also mobilize the King's personal guards, a total of 7,000 men, to form the first landing camp."

Li Che's order was clear and cold: "You are the commander of the beach landing and have full responsibility for the landing operations!"

Yang Xuan's eyes flashed, and he clasped his fists and shouted solemnly: "I will obey your orders and will not let you down!"

The appointment came as a surprise to some.

Although Yang Xuan is a female general, she has many military achievements and is indeed a suitable candidate.

Although Wang Sanchun and Xue Wei were unwilling, they knew that military orders were as heavy as mountains and dared not argue anymore.

The next moment, Li Che's gaze turned to the two of them: "Wang Sanchun, Xue Wei!"

"I'm here!" The two men straightened their backs immediately.

"You two will each lead the main force of your division. The warships will wait in the rear. Once our army has breached the gap and landed, the landing ships will return to pick up your division."

"You two must follow up immediately and expand the victory. Make sure you secure the beachhead before the Japanese reinforcements launch a massive counterattack!"

"If the two of you delay and the first to reach the camp are attacked from both sides, you will be subject to military law!"

Wang and Xue both responded solemnly: "I obey your command!"

Li Che looked around the tent and suddenly raised his voice: "Order the navy to mobilize all oar boats and small boats and gather all ships in the waters in front of Xiaguan."

"I will personally lead my soldiers and sail with the first-board camp to the enemy shore!"

When these words were spoken, everyone in the tent was shocked.

Your Highness hasn't insisted on going into battle in person for several years. Now that we are just fighting the Japanese invaders, why is he falling back into his old habits?

"Your Highness, no!" Wang Sanchun shouted anxiously, "I'm here with you, so why are you so worried that you have to go by yourself?"

Yang Xuan also advised: "A son of a wealthy family should not sit in the hall. Your Highness is the leader of the army, how can you brave the arrows and stones in person?!"

"Your Highness, think twice!" Xue Wei was also anxious. "The Japanese arrows are blind. The beach is extremely dangerous."

"If there is any mistake, the whole army will be shaken and the situation will be in danger!"

The generals knelt down to dissuade him: "Your Highness, please take command of the central army!"

Li Che raised his hand to stop everyone from admonishing him.

"The king has made up his mind, no need to persuade him!"

He glanced at the generals and said word by word:

"Once the battle begins, all ships, including the one I'm on, must move forward and not a single step backward!"

"Those who advance or retreat alone will be killed!"

"Those who shrink back will be killed!"

"Anyone who shakes the morale of the army will be executed!"

"The Royal Guard Battalion will form a supervisory team to accompany us. Our goal is only one: sail to the other side with all our might, land, and kill the enemy!"

The three words "behead" were like three heavy hammers, hitting everyone's heart.

All the generals understood that His Highness had become ruthless and the matter could not be changed.

All the generals could only respond in unison: "I obey your command!"

The military order was as heavy as a mountain. The generals did not dare to delay and left the tent one after another, rushing back to their headquarters to prepare for the upcoming bloody battle.

Only Li Che and the old minister Wen Zaiyin, who had been standing silently by the side, were left in the big tent.

Li Che rubbed his brows, the resolute look on his face faded, revealing a hint of helplessness.

He walked to the sand table, tapping it unconsciously with his fingers, and suddenly said:

"Wenqing, do you remember when I first intended to form an engineering corps dedicated to building bridges and roads and overcoming obstacles?"

"You were the first one to come out and complain about 'insufficient funds' and 'excessive waste', holding up the account book and trying to stop the construction."

Upon hearing this, Wen Zaiyin smiled bitterly on his wrinkled face and bowed, saying:

"Your Highness, it's not that I'm stubborn and deliberately obstructing you, it's really..."

"What you said about the engineering army back then... was too unbelievable. Cutting through mountains? Building bridges over rivers? This... is this something humanly possible?"

"Even a god with the power to move mountains and seas would probably only be able to do this, right?"

"I cannot imagine spending so much money to build an army... an army of 'miracle work' that seems to be able to do anything."

Li Che looked at the genuine confusion and embarrassment on the old minister's face, and couldn't help but roll his eyes and muttered in a low voice:

"I'm so ignorant. How come the engineering troops of later generations couldn't do this..."

He quickly calmed down and turned his gaze back to the narrow and dangerous beach.

However, what was in front of them was a strait, not a river, and the engineering troops had no way to build a bridge across it.

I'm afraid we have to fight this tough battle.

Three days later, at night, on the coast.

Seven thousand soldiers formed several square formations and began to board the ship.

The beach landing battle begins!