Chapter 21: Breaking Free from Shackles

  "Die!"

  Gu Zhenhua's war horse galloped to the front of Gao Yigong like lightning, and with one slash of his knife, he chopped down. Gao Yigong also instinctively felt something was wrong and hastily drew his sword to block it.

  Two weapons collided, and Gao Yigong only felt his arms go numb, almost unable to grasp the hilt of his sword. Suddenly, a chill ran down his spine. On the battlefield, it ultimately came down to a contest of strength and reaction speed - everything else was just empty talk. As the saying goes, "one strong move can defeat ten clever ones." Since he couldn't match his opponent's strength, Gao Yigong felt a sense of unease in his heart.

  Gu Zhenhua, on the other hand, was furious and struck with deadly precision, his blades flashing like a whirlwind as he hacked at Gao Yigong. The general was forced to retreat repeatedly, unable to attend to Sun Cheng and Lu Yong anymore.

  At this time, Xue Biao also rushed over: "Big brother, second brother, you quickly retreat to the team."

  Sun Cheng also noticed the large horse-drawn carriage team brought by Gu Zhenhua, and Lu Yong was also shocked. Originally, Gu Zhenhua only brought eight people to stare at Zhu Chunchen, how did he now not only have several hundred more soldiers, but also so many carriages? What kind of trick is this old fourth playing?

  The two of them were in a fog, but at least one thing was certain, that was Gu Zhenhua's strength had increased again, which was absolutely a good thing at this time. Hurriedly following Xue Biao's words, he retreated to the team, and at this time, the remaining dozen or so guards were also rescued, everyone was injured, some of them were seriously injured, and as for others, they had already died in battle.

  It was they who used their lives to hold back the Great Righteous Army, and thus gained precious time. As a former soldier in the army, nothing could be more solid than the friendship forged in blood. The entrustment of life, the exchange of life and death, Gu Zhenhua also became more and more integrated with this era.

  Just as these people were safely rescued, Xue Biao shouted in a loud voice: "Fourth brother, retreat quickly!"

  Gu Zhenhua immediately knew that the firing squad was ready. Earlier, the two groups had mixed together and couldn't open fire. Now that their own people had been rescued, it was time to let these Taiping Heavenly Kingdom soldiers taste the flavor of being executed by firing squad!

  Gu Zhenhua slashed Gao Yigong several times and turned to run. Gao Yigong was not one to suffer losses, he hastily urged his war horse to pursue, the other Dashun army also rushed up together, killing towards the carriage team.

  "Run for it, but leave your head behind!" shouted Gao Yidai.

  Gu Zhenhua didn't care, desperately whipping the war horse, finally arriving at the front of the convoy. At this time, Xie Bin, who was in charge of the firearms, had already made preparations, driving away the horse-drawn carriage and sealing off the street, with thirty firearms arranged in a row, ready to fire.

  Gu Zhenhua's war horse rushed over, they opened up a gap, and after Gu Zhenhua passed by, they immediately closed it again. Thirty firelocks took aim at the charging rebel soldiers.

  "Thanks, Sergeant! Alright!"

  "Alright!" Xie Bin replied solemnly to Gu Zhenhua. Ever since Gu Zhenhua suggested using the five-segment strike, Xie Bin had been thinking about it.

  Gu Zhenhua's thinking is very good, they only have more than 300 people, but they have more than 3,000 guns. To kill the city smoothly, they must play the fire power advantage. Especially in the narrow city, the distance between the two sides is often only a few dozen steps, and there is not enough firepower density, which is to give people food.

  Xie Bin thought for a moment, and then decided that three rounds of fire power were not enough, and five rounds might not be sufficient either. He simply equipped each group of soldiers with ten muskets, except for the musket bearer who held one in his hand, all the others were placed on the vehicle, with three people responsible for loading ammunition, and another person responsible for bringing back the fired muskets, while delivering the loaded muskets to the shooting soldiers, thus ensuring a dense firepower.

  After a simple test, it is indeed very effective. After this division of labor, the burden on the gunner is greatly reduced, and the work in charge is more single-minded, so the error rate is also smaller.

  Xie Bin was very confident in this brand new tactic, of course, he wanted to prove its power and show his skills on the battlefield.

  The Da Shun army is getting closer and closer, Xie Bin's eyes are wide open, and he shouted loudly: "Release!"

  Muzzle flashes flickered, accompanied by the deafening sound, and the lead bullets shot out. The Great Sequential Army forty steps away instantly fell like cut wheat, a large piece of them falling down. Gao Yigong also did not expect that the other side would have so many fire guns, and was startled.

  However, after a round of gunfire was over, he became fearless. Based on the experience of fighting against the Ming army, the Ming army could only fire one shot and then threw away their guns, switching to close combat with cold weapons.

  The two sides were now within forty paces of each other, and even if he went to load his musket again, it would be too late. Therefore, Gao Yi urged on his warhorse with a clear conscience and charged forward fiercely.

  But just at this moment, the second round of gunfire rang out, and another dozen soldiers in front of Gao Yigong fell down. Some of those who were not dead let out heart-wrenching wails, pitiful to the extreme, while Gao Yigong was also exposed under the muzzle of the gun.

  The second round of shooting ended, the fuse on the gunner's side was still sizzling, and the loader handed over the newly loaded gun to the shooter, who immediately handed over the fired gun to the cart for cleaning and reloading.

  In the blink of an eye, the third round of shooting arrived, and scorching bullets flew towards the Dashun Army. This scared Gao Yigong to death, he had never seen such a terrifying rate of fire before, even three-shot bursts couldn't keep up!

  He couldn't help but cry out in pain, and could only throw himself off the war horse, rolling onto the ground. The stupid war horse became the best target, being shot five or six times, and fell to the ground with a thud.

  Three consecutive rounds of shooting had already killed dozens of Dashun Army soldiers, and the enemy in front was becoming increasingly sparse. Xie Bin was greatly encouraged, and these firearms also found their confidence, especially their trust in firearms.

  In the past, due to the crude manufacture of firearms, not only could they not harm the enemy, but they would also explode and injure themselves, causing the soldiers and generals of the Ming Dynasty to deeply distrust firearms. However, everything before their eyes overturned their understanding, the Great Shun Army fell to the ground, corpses were scattered everywhere, blood flowed freely, and continuous painful wails were heard.

  The invincible Dashun Army was defeated at their hands, and the key to victory was the fire lance in their hands. These soldiers all involuntarily grasped these iron things tightly!

  Xie Bin couldn't help but admire Gu Zhenhua even more, if it wasn't for Gu Zhenhua insisting on transporting the firearms from Wang Gongchang, they wouldn't have achieved their current victory.

  The soldiers who had found their confidence were even more spirited. On the other hand, the Dashun Army suffered an unprecedented blow, and Li Yan, who was commanding with Gao Ying, was shocked to find that they had already killed their way into the capital city, only to encounter such a formidable opponent, which was truly unexpected.

  "Hurry, save General Gao!"

  Li Yan gave the order without hesitation, victory was in sight, losing a great general would be a heavy blow. The soldiers of Dashun Army rushed up frantically.

  Facing these dishes delivered to the door, no matter who would not be polite, Xie Bin commanded the soldiers, shooting at them frantically, lead bullets like raindrops, beating past.

  Row after row of soldiers were shot down, but these men were also extremely brave and fierce. They charged forward, trampling over the bodies of their comrades. Finally, Gao Yigong managed to crawl out from under the pile of dead bodies. Several soldiers carried him as they fled wildly, and just to save Gao Yigong, forty or fifty soldiers lost their lives. The corpses lay scattered all over the ground.

  The entire Da Shun Army at Chaoyang Gate had only a few hundred men, and such sacrifices had seriously affected the morale of the army. The surviving soldiers were also frightened. The enemy was like devils, they retreated in disarray, looking very pathetic.

  "Ten steps forward!"

  The gunner heard the command and stepped out with a steady pace, quickly advancing forward. Behind them, the loader and carriage followed closely.

  "Stop."

  "Ready, aim, fire!"

  The firecrackers went off, like a burst of beans, and the soldiers near the city gate fell down again. The musketeers' guns never stopped, one shot after another, shattering the confidence of the Dashun Army.

  At this time, Sun Cheng and Lu Yong, who had just treated their wounds, were also shocked. They also had a lot of Lu Mi guns, but they never thought that the fire gun could be played like this, and after playing like this, the power was so shocking. Both people sincerely gave Gu Zhenhua a big thumbs up.

  At last, with the help of sharp gunfire, Chaoyangmen fell under Gu Zhenhua's control.

  "Gunmen cover, vehicles exit the city!"

  Gu Zhenhua gave the order, and the coachman swung his whip, fiercely lashing the oxen. The carriage wheels rolled over the bodies of the Dashun Army, rushing out of the city gate.

  One carriage, then another, Gu Zhenhua was directing, he had no idea that a pair of clear eyes were quietly staring at him through the gap in the car curtains.