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

The night was as dark as ink, and the mixed smell of blood and gunpowder solidified in the streets of the imperial capital, making people sick.

The team led by Li Che grew like a snowball, with scattered military heroes and private soldiers joining in.

However, the rebels' encirclement and suppression efforts are also increasing at an alarming rate.

At first, there was only a sporadic entanglement of infantry.

Gradually, a phalanx of infantry wearing heavy armor and holding huge shields and long spears appeared.

Then, the heart-pounding sound of horse hooves thundered from the end of the street.

The figures of the heavily armored cavalry flickered, and in the light of the fire, they glowed with a cold, hard metallic luster.

This means that all the rebels' most elite forces have joined the encirclement and suppression.

"Shield bearers, step forward! Spears in formation! Resist the cavalry's charge!" Zhu Chun's voice was like a bell.

Although his hair is stained with blood, his instincts from years of battle still allow him to make the most correct judgments quickly.

The old general stood on his horse with his sword drawn, blocking the way.

Before he finished speaking, the iron hooves came like thunder.

The cavalry, both men and horses wearing heavy armor, launched a charge, causing the streets to tremble.

"Crossbowmen, fire in unison!" Huo Duanxiao shouted sternly.

The Jinyiwei crossbowmen rushed forward desperately, the mechanism made a sound, and arrows rained down.

However, despite the constant clanging sounds, most of the crossbow arrows hit the heavy iron armor and were helplessly bounced off.

Only a very small number of them managed to penetrate the gaps in the armor, causing some limited damage, but they were completely unable to stop the advance of this torrent of steel.

"Get out of the way!" a night watchman's shout cut through the noise.

Dozens of night watchmen emerged from the shadows of the eaves on both sides like ghosts.

He held several clay pots in his hands, with fuses hissing and burning, and threw them accurately into the cavalry formation.

Boom, boom, boom——

There were several deafening explosions and the clay pot exploded.

It was not the sound of ordinary gunpowder. The phosphorus powder and other chemicals mixed in the pottery jar burst out with dazzling white light, and a large amount of thick and choking white smoke spread out.

The war horses had never seen such a sound before, and they screamed in fear and stood up, their formation was in chaos, and they collided and trampled on each other.

"It's a phosphorus fire pot!" Li Che recognized it as a special firearm made secretly by the Night Watch workshop. "Okay! Now's the time!"

Without further ado, Zhu Chun roared, "Gun formation forward! Finish off the fallen enemy!"

The spearmen summoned their remaining courage and charged forward to kill the cavalry in the chaos.

However, this short-lived victory was like a drop in the bucket, as more heavily armored infantry poured out from the alleys in all directions.

Swords and spears were like a forest, trapping their exhausted army in this narrow block, and the speed of their breakout suddenly slowed down.

"Your Highness, this cannot go on!"

Ren Kuan stumbled closer. The wound on his left arm was completely soaked in blood, and his face was pale.

"Brothers have suffered heavy casualties, and the crossbows are almost out of arrows!"

Li Che looked around and frowned slightly.

The thousands of troops that had gathered together had now suffered heavy casualties, and everyone was injured.

Although the Jinyiwei and the secret guards were all very skilled, the continuous bloody battles and being outnumbered had pushed their physical and mental strength to the limit.

The retainers and private soldiers of various military heroes lacked discipline and tacit understanding, and often fought on their own, resulting in particularly heavy casualties.

"We must rush out and get to the spacious main road!" Li Che ordered calmly, "The main road is less likely to be completely blocked, and it will be more conducive to our defensive formation. It's better than being slowly consumed to death in these alleys."

Ren Kuan frowned and wiped the blood off his face: "Your Highness, the main road must be heavily blocked by troops. I am afraid I have walked into a trap..."

"Staying here will result in death!" Li Che said.

"Feng Gong, take your men to clear out the archers and ambushes on the rooftops on both sides!

"Uncle Zhu, please lead the elite troops to clear the way!"

"Zhengze, the right wing is up to you!"

"Ren Kuan, you are injured. Take your men to protect the wounded in the central army!"

Everyone followed orders.

Li Lin always protected Li Che's flank, carrying Emperor Qing's body firmly behind him.

He was covered in wounds after the bloody battle, but his eyes remained firm.

"Sixth Brother! This won't work!" Li Lin panted, his voice trembling with exhaustion. "There's no way they can kill all of us, and the more we fight, the fewer of us there are!"

Li Che knew it very well, but he had no Fengtian troops except the Night Watch, otherwise why would he suffer this humiliation?

At this moment, a huge roar came from the front.

Zhu Chun's troops used the few remaining gunpowder cans to finally blow up the obstacles set up by debris and vehicles at the street intersection.

The wide main road is right in front of you!

"Get out!" Li Che shouted with all his might.

The hope in the desperate situation made the remaining soldiers burst out with extraordinary strength and rush towards the street intersection.

However, when they rushed out of the narrow alley and stepped onto the main road.

An air of despair spread.

On the main road, torches were like a forest, and swords and guns reflected the cold light, illuminating the cold faces.

The black mass of rebel troops was arrayed in an orderly formation like a forest, so densely packed that there were probably no less than tens of thousands of them.

It was obvious that the rebels had been waiting here for a long time and had laid a tight net.

The most despairing thing was that at the front of the array, there were more than ten heavy crossbows used to defend the city!

The crossbow arrow, as thick as a child's arm, was aimed at them as they had just rushed out of the alley.

"Stop! Form a defensive formation!" Zhu Chun's pupils suddenly shrank and he roared in horror.

But the warning was too late.

collapse!collapse!collapse!

The teeth-grinding sound of the crossbow string bursting drowned out all the noise.

The crossbow arrows turned into life-threatening black shadows, whistling towards them!

puff-

The wooden shield was torn and pierced like paper, followed by the flesh and blood behind the shield.

A crossbow arrow even instantly strung together three soldiers standing close to each other, and the remaining force nailed them into the wall behind them, which was still shaking violently.

"Spread out! Find cover! Quick!"

Li Che's eyes were bloodshot and he reminded him sternly.

The survivors rushed to the sides of the street in panic, using stone lions and porches as cover.

But the rebel infantry phalanx took the opportunity to advance steadily, with long spears sticking out like a forest, suppressing them in a small area and making them unable to move.

Arrows were shot down from behind the windows of the tall buildings on both sides from time to time.

"Your Highness! We're surrounded!" Huo Duanxiao leaned against a stone pillar, breathing rapidly. "There are heavy troops in front and behind, crossbow carts blocking the road, and hidden crossbows on high ground on both sides!"

Li Che hid behind a broken wall and quickly scanned the battlefield.

Desperate situation! This is truly a desperate situation!

There were heavy troops blocking the way in front with crossbow carts, and the pursuit blocking the retreat in the back, and there were continuous cold arrows from the heights on both sides...

"Your Highness," Feng Gong appeared beside him silently like a shadow, his voice frighteningly calm, "We still have two hundred secret guards left. We are willing to fight our way through for Your Highness and attack the crossbow chariot position."

"Even if we can't completely destroy them, we can at least disrupt their formation. Your Highness, please take this opportunity to lead the main force to break through!"

Li Che refused without hesitation: "That's suicide! I will never agree to it!"

Feng Gong wanted to persuade them again when a chaotic commotion suddenly came from behind the rebels in the distance.

Immediately afterwards, visible commotion began to appear in the rebels' well-organized rear formation!

"What's going on?!" Li Che looked over in surprise.

Behind the rebels, there were flickering flames and scattered figures.

A large crowd of people in mixed clothing poured out from the side alleys.

Some of those people were wearing tattered black clothes, some were wearing hemp clothes of yamen runners, and some were even dressed like civilians.

The weapons they held were also varied—iron bars, chains, swords, sticks, kitchen knives…

They had no formation at all, but with their desperate bravery and huge numbers, they caught the rebels off guard and even affected the crossbow positions.