Chapter Fourteen Developed

  Li Guo was Li Zicheng's nephew, a hot figure in the Dashun Army. His uncle ascended to the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, and he was about to take down the capital city, changing the dynasty, so he worked extra hard.

  He led the army to launch a fierce attack on Fucheng Gate, personally braving arrows and stones, charging into the front line. Coincidentally, someone secretly opened the Xibian Gate at this time, and Li Guo led his troops to pour into the outer city, joining forces with the Dashun Army that had already broken in, attacking Xuanwu Gate.

  The defending army was caught off guard, and Li Zicheng broke into the inner city from Xuanwu Gate, killing and chopping his way through, unstoppable. Li Zicheng had a nickname "One Tiger", and at this moment he was like a fierce tiger coming down from the mountain, single-mindedly wanting to rush into the Forbidden City, capture Chongzhen, and seize the first merit of destroying the Ming dynasty.

  But just as Li Guo charged forward, a team of carriages suddenly appeared in front of him, with dozens of horse-drawn vehicles and a large number of Ming soldiers guarding them. Li Guo immediately galloped forward, and the Dashun army's soldiers, like little tigers, let out strange cries and followed suit.

  These Ming soldiers were also shocked, but they quickly formed a formation and fought to the death. The two sides clashed in close combat, with people constantly falling down, and blood stained the streets red.

  Li Guoyong was brave and powerful, with a large knife in his hand he knocked down two soldiers, rushed to the front of a horse cart, used the tip of the knife to lift it up, and uncovered the cover on the cart, revealing what was inside.

  "Fire!"

  Li Guo couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, seeing that the carriage was neatly stacked with dozens of black fire guns. In these years of fighting against the Ming army, Li Guo knew very well the ferocity of firearms, and it just so happened that this was what the Dashun Army lacked most.

  A huge chunk of fat meat was placed in front of him, Li Guo was overjoyed and loudly shouted: "Brothers, kill the Ming army, seize the military supplies!"

  Li Guo shouted as he led the charge, cutting down Ming soldiers left and right. The bodies piled up at his feet, growing higher and higher. Li Guo was covered in blood, looking like a little demon crawling out of hell. The Ming soldiers were terrified, retreating in disarray. He couldn't help but let out a wild cry: "Those who aren't afraid to die, come on over! Old Man Li will send you to see King Yan!"

  Just as Li Kui was about to go mad, a sudden sound of horseshoes came from the small alley beside him. A big green horse rushed over like lightning, and the knight on the horse held an iron spear tightly in his hand and stabbed it at Li Kui's chest.

  This spear thrust was swift and fierce, like a giant python, and it stabbed over in the blink of an eye. Li Guo was also a veteran of many battles, and he felt something was off, so he hastily used his large knife to parry outward. However, when the hilt of his knife collided with the spearhead, he felt an unparalleled force, and he couldn't withstand it; the spear tip continued forward, its momentum not decreasing in the slightest.

  "Not good!" Li Guo's mind went blank for a moment, he was also a brave general in the army, but his opponent was actually much stronger than him, was this still human?!

  Li Guo couldn't think much, he could only desperately turn around to avoid the fatal position. In a flash of lightning, the sharp gun tip swept across Li Guo's left chest and extended all the way to his shoulder, leaving a gash over half a foot long in front of him, with blood splashing everywhere, skin torn and flesh exposed, Li Guo was in so much pain that he almost fell off his horse.

  The one who attacked Li Guo was Gu Zhenhua. When he heard that there were military supplies here, he immediately became interested. Firearms are the trump card against the Manchu Eight Banners. However, in order to mass-produce them, they need craftsmen, raw materials, and a base!

  It's clear that Gu Zhenhua doesn't have the ability yet, if he could get his hands on some firearms in the capital, it would be a dream come true. Therefore, Gu Zhenhua decided to take drastic action and seize these horse-drawn carriages for himself.

  However, he was also very clear about his own abilities. He had skilled fighting skills and excellent physical fitness. If he were to fight anyone on the ground, he wouldn't be afraid. But once on horseback, he became a complete rookie, far from being able to contend with those bloodthirsty generals.

  Gu Zhenhua wanted to finish the job in one move, suddenly striking out and stabbing his opponent to death. However, Li Guo was no pushover, first using his knife to deflect the blow, causing the gun to lose its accuracy, then desperately turning around, dodging the fatal spot, but he also suffered severe injuries, with the wound on his shoulder rendering his left arm unable to exert any force, leaving him with only one hand holding a large knife.

  Gu Zhenhua was merciless, wielding his large spear and stabbing fiercely at Li Guo. Li Guo didn't dare to parry, only dodging and evading, but the more he moved, the faster the wound bled, and half of his body was stained red.

  At this time, the soldiers of the Da Shun Army also noticed the situation and rushed up, waving their swords and guns to block Gu Zhenhua. For these small fries, Gu Zhenhua didn't care at all, swinging his large gun and piercing a soldier's chest.

  He exerted himself with both arms, lifted up the soldier, and with a flick of his wrist, threw him down like a sandbag, knocking down several other soldiers. At this time, Xue Biao and others also rushed up to kill, Gu Zhenhua rode his horse horizontally, charging straight ahead, and the Dashun army was torn apart, leaving behind a field of corpses in an instant.

  He overturned the last big Shun army in front of him, and the bloody smell stimulated him. Gu Zhenhua only felt that all the blood in his body was boiling up, with endless strength, urgently needing to vent. When he looked around again, the remaining Daxun army had already protected Li Guo's escape. Gu Zhenhua wanted to ride a horse to chase, but still barely controlled the impulse. He had more important things to do.

  The Da Shun army was defeated, and the remaining Ming army barely escaped with their lives. They were especially grateful to Gu Zhenhua's sudden rescue troops. Two men rushed to Gu Zhenhua's horse and bowed deeply.

  "This general, thank you for saving my life. I am Xu Fang, a Langzhong in the Ministry of War's Arsenal Department. This is Gao Hongtu, a Youji from the Capital Garrison. We were ordered to transport military supplies to Xuanwu Gate when bandits suddenly broke in and killed their way in."

  Gu Zhenhua listened to Xu Fang's introduction, hastily dismounted his war horse, and smiled: "Xu Langzhong, I am not a general, I was originally from the Chengguo Gongfu, and these brothers are also guards of the mansion."

  As soon as Xu Fang heard this, he was somewhat taken aback. As a fifth-grade official, he didn't want to show respect to a mere servant, it would be embarrassing for him. But Gao Hongtu didn't care about that, and hastily said: "No matter what your identity is, you are my lifesaver, please accept my bow!"

  Gao Hongtu was about to kneel on one leg, but Gu Zhenhua quickly held her back and said with a smile: "General, don't talk about these mundane rituals. The rebel army may come and kill us at any time. Let's think of a solution as soon as possible."

  "What can we do?" Xu Fang also reacted at this time, and he said with a bitter smile: "What else can we do now? The outer city and the inner city have been broken through, and there is no one to command. How can we do anything?"

  Gu Zhenhua smiled slightly: "Xu Langzhong, I hear you're preparing to surrender to the Emperor of Chu and enjoy wealth and glory?"

  "Hum! Absolutely impossible. I've only read poetry and books about loyalty to the emperor, now that the Ming dynasty has fallen, I can only follow it with my death, so as not to betray the emperor's kindness!"

  Xu Fang was about to draw his sword and kill himself, when Gu Zhenhua grabbed his hand and hastily said: "Sir is a loyal minister of the great Ming dynasty, I admire you. There's something here that I'd like you to take a look at."

  Gu Zhenhua said, then took out the will from his bosom. Xu Fang saw it and immediately knelt down to the ground, his eyes filled with tears, crying: "Your subordinate did not know that you had entrusted him with the responsibility of protecting the orphan, please forgive me."

  "Xu Langzhong, under orders to escort the Crown Prince in a breakout from the capital, urgently needs manpower and weapons. Hand over all these military supplies you're carrying."

  "Understood, I will definitely follow the superior's orders."

  While talking, Gao Hongtu and Xu Fang sorted out these vehicles, a total of thirty large carts, loaded with 1,200 fire guns, as well as a large amount of gunpowder and bullets. They originally brought 500 soldiers, but more than 200 were killed, and more than 100 scattered, leaving only over 100 people, but these people are truly loyal to the Ming Dynasty, which is also a helping force.

  "Xu Langzhong, how's the quality of these fire lances? Please don't tell me they're shoddy goods?"

  "Rest assured, these are all bird guns made during the Jiajing era to fight against the Japanese pirates, extremely fine workmanship, and there are only 3,000 of them in the capital."

  "Three thousand?" Gu Zhenhua hastily asked: "There's only over a thousand here, where are the rest?"

  "We were only allowed to move 1,200 guns from the arsenal at Wang Gong Factory."

  As soon as Gu Zhenhua heard this, his eyes lit up instantly. With the current production capacity, 3,000 high-quality firelocks could not be produced overnight. If he could get them all in his hands, it would be a stroke of luck, and he would become a rich man overnight. Three thousand arquebusiers, plus auxiliary forces, could at least form an army of tens of thousands of people. In an instant, Gu Zhenhua's eyes flashed with visions of thousands of soldiers and horses.

  "Xu Langzhong, the situation is already chaotic, don't expect any orders anymore. Let's quickly move the firearms away and prevent them from falling into enemy hands!"

  Xu Fang nodded, but Gao Hongtu hastily said: "It's not good, absolutely not! If we move the cannons, it will definitely delay us. What if bandits come and kill us? Where can we escape?"

  Gao Hongtu's words also reminded Gu Zhenhua that he couldn't just see the benefits and forget about the dangers. However, Gu Zhenhua couldn't bear to let go of this fat meat, and his eyebrows immediately furrowed.