Chapter 23: The Dragon Enters the Sea

  As the carriage sped out of the city, Gu Zhenhua's mood also relaxed a lot. Although it wasn't smooth sailing, the gains were far beyond his imagination - weapons, treasures, even the prince and the will, all were capital for starting anew! With just a little more time, he would definitely make the descendants of Wild Boar Skin look good!

  Just as Gu Zhenhua was quietly calculating, preparing to leave the city together, the soldiers at the city gate suddenly cried out in terror. Two huge carts came rushing from outside, and the Da Shun army hid behind them, constantly shooting arrows at the convoy.

  One of the charioteers was struck by an arrow and died on the spot, causing his chariot to stop. The chariots behind him were unable to halt in time and crashed into each other, sending three chariots tumbling into the moat, with all the bird guns falling into the water.

  "Not good!"

  Xie Bin, who was directing at the city gate, was shocked. A card car over one zhang wide and nearly two zhang high almost caught up with a city gate. Two of them were placed side by side, and the drawbridge was blocked. Their only way out was gone, this is not good!

  "Fire at will!"

  Clap Clap Clap...

  A dozen or so musketeers fired at the war wagon, but the lead bullets only made a few holes in the thick leather, occasionally blasting out some splinters of wood. However, for such a massive object, it was completely ineffective. The war wagon paused for a moment before continuing forward.

  Moreover, the soldiers of the Da Shun army aimed their bows and arrows at the firearms team, and the arrows flew like locusts. In an instant, three firearms team members were injured. Gu Zhenhua also noticed the situation, his temples bulging with blue veins, seeing victory in sight, yet such a situation appeared, wasn't this putting himself on death's doorstep?!

  "Fire!"

  Another burst of gunfire ripped through the leather on top of the cart, sending splinters flying everywhere. But still, nothing seemed to faze it - the cart continued to rumble steadily onto the suspension bridge, with the two large gates blocking off any path to life.

  Several soldiers saw that the fire lance was ineffective, so they charged forward with swords and knives, but were all shot dead by the Great Shun Army through the gaps with bows and arrows, and their bodies all fell into the moat.

  Seeing this scene, Gu Zhenhua and Xie Bin's faces were all covered with cold sweat. What to do, what to do, how should they do? Gu Zhenhua kept asking himself.

  "Thank you, guards! Use cannons and blast me to pieces with big guns!"

  Xie Bin's spirits lifted upon hearing this, and Gu Zhenhua had also brought out two French cannons from the Wang Gong factory. One of them had already been transported outside, while the other remained inside the city - wasn't this the perfect opportunity to use it?!

  "Sir, it will take about the time of burning an incense stick to set up the artillery."

  "Alright, I've got it!" Gu Zhenhua replied without hesitation. He rode his horse forward, charging to the city gate, waving his waist knife with one hand to block the arrows shot from outside, and pushing the city gate together with the soldiers with the other hand.

  The situation at the city gate is extremely critical, with the Dashun Army gathering in large numbers inside and outside the city, and two more carts are waiting outside, which means that Gu Zhenhua and his men are surrounded. They cannot stop the Dashun Army, they don't even have time to set up cannons, so Gu Zhenhua chooses to close the city gate first, temporarily blocking the carts outside.

  The city gate creaked with a teeth-aching sound, slowly closing in, and from behind the cart, more than a dozen soldiers rushed out, trying to force their way into the city. Gu Zhenhua's waist knife danced wildly in his hand, and he chopped down three or four people in a row.

  "Close the city gate!"

  With a loud shout from Gu Zhenhua, the massive city gate finally closed, and the soldiers hastily secured it, temporarily blocking the Da Shun army outside.

  Just as they were about to clash, Gu Zhenhua only felt a sudden pain in his shoulder and abdomen at the same time. Two feathered arrows had shot into him, and fresh blood instantly stained his cotton armor red.

  "Sir, are you okay?" Xie Bin asked in surprise.

  "It's nothing." At this time, no matter what, he had to hold on, and Gu Zhenhua also knew that these two arrows were not deep, just flesh wounds.

  At this moment, a sudden horseshoe sound came from afar, and a large flag fluttered high in the air with a huge Liu character embroidered on it.

  Gu Zhenhua instinctively felt something was wrong: "Xie Shouwei, I'll go block the Dashun Army, you hurry up and seize the time!"

  "Yes!" The situation was urgent, Xie Bin hastily summoned the soldiers, chose a good location, and made preparations to open fire. Gu Zhenhua had already urged his war horse forward, charging towards them.

  It was Liu Zongmin who had been shot from afar, and he had half of his ear shot off by Gu Zhenhua. Although it wasn't a fatal wound, the damage to his face would still make him a laughing stock even if he were to be enfeoffed as a marquis or king in the future. What made Liu Zongmin even more furious was that those three girls had also gone missing. In all his years, Liu Zongmin had never seen any girls who could move his heart like they did, and now they were lost - his anger can be imagined.

  Fuming and resentful, after Liu Zongmin ran away, the military doctor hastily bandaged his ear and led his troops to pursue and kill him. He had secretly sworn that he would definitely take down that despicable guy.

  As they approached Chaoyang Gate, Liu Zongmin saw the horse-drawn carriage from a distance and became clever this time. Gu Zhenhua's fire gun was sharp, it wasn't worth taking risks himself.

  Liu Zongmin waved his hand, and the soldiers under him surged forward like a tide. The distance between the two sides was getting closer and closer, Gu Zhenhua narrowed his eyes, staring at Liu Zongmin who was killing his way over.

  "Gunners, prepare, fire!"

  The guns fired instantly, and the soldiers rushing forward fell in a row. However, these fierce warriors didn't care at all, still charging up frantically. The gunfire rang out one after another, and the Da Shun Army continued to fall, with a distance of 40 steps becoming an insurmountable chasm, and the dense bullets forming a barrier of death.

  Liu Zongmin was furious and shouted loudly, but there was nothing he could do. At this moment, the cannons were finally loaded.

  Victory or defeat hangs in the balance! Xie Bin clenched his fists tightly.

  "Open the city gate!"

  At this time, the Great Shun army outside was constantly chopping at the city gate and could no longer hold on. The soldiers opened the city gate and rushed to one side. The Great Shun army was still in a state of shock and confusion.

  At this moment, Xie Bin suddenly waved his hand, the fuse ignited, and with a loud noise, smoke rose, and one cannon hit the city gate. The bricks and stones collapsed, and the wooden chips flew everywhere. Those Dashun soldiers who were rushing inside were blown to pieces.

  When the dust settled, Xie Bin hastily looked over and his face immediately turned white. It turned out that this cannonball was slightly higher than expected and had hit the bricks on the city gate, although it also affected the signboard carriage, but only blew away a section of it, leaving about one zhang (a unit of length) remaining, still standing like two large gates in front!

  "Not good!" Xie Bin also felt something was off and hastily shouted: "Load the medicine, fire again!"

  At this moment, feathered arrows were fired from the city wall, shooting down all the gunners. Xie Bin's shoulder and chest also took two arrows. These archers were arranged by Li Yan, who thought it was foolish to confront the firearms head-on. He quietly let the archers climb up the city wall and launch a surprise attack on Gu Zhenhua's troops, which proved effective immediately. With the gunners shot down, Gu Zhenhua could no longer think of blasting open the gate!

  The Da Shun army outside the city also recovered from the artillery fire and surged into the city. In an instant, Gu Zhenhua and others were surrounded on three sides by Liu Zongming's army, Li Yan's archers, and the soldiers outside the city. These three forces were like three giant hands that suddenly clamped down on Gu Zhenhua's neck, trying to put him to death!

  Gu Zhenhua, of course, noticed the situation and in an instant felt as if he had fallen into an icy pit, his whole body chilled to the bone. In two lifetimes, he had never encountered such a perilous situation. Gu Zhenhua's mind turned countless times, searching for every possible solution, but it seemed there was no hope; was he going to die here after all?!

  Liu Zongmin's maniacal laughter seemed to be right next to his ear, the Dashun army surged forward, and the firearms that Huo Qiang had prepared were also consumed, the firepower dwindled, and it was no longer possible to stop the Dashun army. Li Yan led the troops to kill him too. There were only a few dozen people left standing around Gu Zhenhua, while the enemy he faced had hundreds, thousands, and the number was still increasing frantically.

  Xie Bin stomped his feet and pounded his chest: "It's all because of the incompetence of these petty men, I should die!"

  Gu Zhenhua, on the other hand, was exceptionally calm and said in a low voice: "Brothers, I'm really sorry that we couldn't get everyone out safely. We can only die together here. Are you all willing?"

  "Agreed!"

  "Agreed!"

  Although they had been together for a short time, Gu Zhenhua led by example and had already gained everyone's recognition. Every single person was mustering up their spirit, preparing to fight to the death.

  At this moment, someone suddenly shouted loudly: "Master Gu! You saved me, I have nothing else to give you, this life is still yours!"

  Gu Zhenhua listened to the sound that seemed somewhat familiar, and hastily looked over, only to see three horse-drawn carriages tied together in a row, with someone standing on the middle carriage's shaft, waving a whip in his hand, lashing at the horses, and madly rushing towards the city gate.

  "Bandits, Grandfather will blow you all up!"