Chapter Thirty-Three Layout

  "Brother, when you get to King Yan's place, don't say it was me who killed you, I'm just letting you suffer less!"

  Zhou Kun muttered to himself as he inserted his waist knife into the neck of a Da Shun army soldier, and suddenly fresh blood gushed out, his eyes rolled back, and he lost his life.

  The soldiers were all sweeping the battlefield and collecting supplies. For those seriously injured soldiers, they didn't show any courtesy and directly gave them a shot to end their suffering.

  Gu Zhenhua had no objection to this. Being in this era, one must understand the rules of this era. What really moved Gu Zhenhua's heart were those war horses! After taking control of the situation, Gu Zhenhua immediately ordered his soldiers to gather the war horses, inspect their injuries, and select all the usable ones, showing more care than they did for people.

  "Master, look at this war horse, it even has a brand on its butt!" Gaohongtu led over a tall war horse and said with a smile to Gu Zhenhua.

  Gu Zhenhua followed the direction of his finger and took a look, and indeed on the war horse's buttocks there was a burn mark the size of a walnut, with a very regular shape, seemingly man-made.

  "General Gao, aren't these war horses military horses?"

  "That's right, and it's the imperial army's warhorse." Gaohongtu said with a smile: "I remember that in the 13th year of Chongzhen, Mongolia had already been occupied by the Qing dynasty, and the court was extremely short of warhorses. A batch of horses was specially purchased from the Western Regions, with as many as two or three thousand horses. In order to prevent embezzlement, a special mark was burned on the buttocks of each warhorse. Because this batch of warhorses was strong and tall, many people were eager to get them at that time, but they didn't expect that they would fall into the hands of the Li Zicheng."

  After hearing Gao Hongtu's introduction, Gu Zhenhua couldn't help but sigh and lament that the war horses that had changed hands repeatedly were also a microcosm of the chaotic world! However, since the war horses have fallen into their own hands, they have found their true masters!

  Gu Zhenhua gently stroked the warhorse's mane, silently reciting: Sooner or later you will gallop across the battlefield, sweep away the barbarian cavalry, and restore the divine power of the Chinese iron knights!

  "General Gao, quickly select some horses and pick out the best warhorses. The rest will be used as pack horses to transport supplies!"

  "Don't worry, sir, I've already had the brothers take care of it!"

  Over a thousand cavalrymen and over a thousand war horses, in the battle, more than three hundred were killed or injured by explosions, some escaped, and more than seven hundred fell into Gu Zhenhua's hands!

  Looking at these war horses, Gu Zhenhua couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva. He wasn't fantasizing about thousands of troops and horses just yet; that was for later. For now, the most pressing matter was to keep safe the supplies they had managed to scrounge up from the capital.

  This time, Li Yan's pursuit made Gu Zhenhua aware of his weakness, even a fatal flaw. Although many supplies were obtained from the capital, the spare transport capacity was severely insufficient, especially the large carts carrying gold, silver and firearms. If they didn't run continuously for a day, those horses would absolutely die of exhaustion. It can be said that Gu Zhenhua carried a huge burden and couldn't run fast at all.

  But now there is no such problem, with more than 700 horses added, whether it's transporting supplies or troop movements, everything has the most reliable guarantee. From another perspective, Li Yan's raid was a timely rain, helping Gu Zhenhua solve his biggest weakness.

  "My lord, all have been cleared out. The war horses are quite mixed, and there are also several dozen mules. However, there are still over 200 fine war horses, enough for the brothers to ride!"

  "Good, great, four legs are stronger than two." Gu Zhenhua was clear in his mind that after defeating Li Yan, Li Zicheng would definitely take revenge. Facing the mighty Dashun Army, they had to run away, and their war horses were their lifeline!

  The battlefield cleanup is almost done, and apart from the war horses, they also captured 300 high-quality bows. This made Gu Zhenhua extremely happy. It's worth noting that in the Ming dynasty, manufacturing a single high-quality bow required not only expensive materials like wood, buffalo horn, tendon, silk, etc., but also an astonishingly long time of up to one year! Far exceeding that of firearms.

  But that doesn't mean the bow and arrow are useless. On the contrary, the bow and arrow have better accuracy than fire guns and a faster reaction speed. In a short period of time, they absolutely cannot be abandoned.

  Of course, Gu Zhenhua wouldn't go to great lengths to manufacture them, so it's best to seize them. After a flurry of activity, the soldiers all exchanged their bird guns for cannons. One man rode a horse with two or three more tied behind him, carrying bows and arrows and fire lances, looking every inch the local tyrant, each one grinning from ear to ear, unable to help chuckling foolishly.

  Tang Zhanxiong also chose a black horse, and galloped proudly in a circle before arriving in front of Gu Zhenhua, laughing loudly as he said: "Fighting with the Duke is exhilarating, if we do it a few more times, that would be a huge fortune!"

  "Don't dream on." Gu Zhenhua didn't get confused because of the victory in front of him, but calmly said: "Li Yan only brought a thousand people, if he brings ten thousand people over, how do you think we should fight?"

  Tang Zhanxiong was suddenly tongue-tied, scratched his head, and suddenly laughed: "Such a difficult thing is still left to Master Jue to think about, I'll just obey orders!"

  "Since we're following orders, let's immediately gather our brothers and bring the goods back to Little Wang Village. We need to plan our next move."

  "Yes sir!" Tang Zhanxiong hastily said: "Sir, since we're leaving, should we take out these bandits?"

  Gu Zhenhua looked at the five or six hundred prisoners of war on the scene, and a complex expression flashed in his eyes. He urged his war horse forward to stand before these soldiers.

  "Gentlemen of the Great Shun Army, at present we are serving different masters and cannot avoid facing each other in battle. However, deep down we all share the same blood and will not engage in a fight to the death. When you return to the Emperor's side, please remind him that the true enemy is the Eastern Barbarian Tatars beyond the Pass, and tell him to be more cautious!"

  Li Zicheng, Li Zicheng, I can only help you this much!

  Gu Zhenhua muttered to himself, then turned his horse's head and led his soldiers back to Xiao Wang Zhuang like a whirlwind. By this time, someone had already spread the news of victory back, and He Zhonghou, Sun Cheng, Lu Yong, Xie Bin and others were all standing at the entrance of the village, including the Crown Prince and Kou Gui, all looking up with anticipation.

  At last a sudden sound of horse hooves came, and Gu Zhenhua and his men arrived in front of everyone like a whirlwind.

  "Fourth brother, you're really something! Over 200 men, annihilated a thousand cavalry, and suffered less than ten casualties. Brother is convinced!" Sun Cheng said with a smile, his pale face also showing a hint of red glow due to the great victory.

  "Everyone, we've won, but trouble has also arrived. We need to determine our next course of action as soon as possible."

  Lu Yong also said: "That's right, the Dashun Army has suffered a loss and will not let it go easily. They will definitely mobilize their troops. If they come with 10,000 to 20,000 men, we won't be able to cope no matter what."

  Everyone felt the urgency of the situation and gathered at the Land Temple to discuss countermeasures. Xu Fang was the only civil officer who followed Gu Zhenhua out of the city, thinking more thoroughly than others, and it was precisely because of this that he was also struggling hard.

  "My lord, I've summarized the situation and there are five major problems before us: the wounded, the families, our wealth, the prince, and our escape route. They are all interconnected yet contradictory. If we want to protect the prince, we must abandon the baggage; if we try to take care of everything else, the prince will be in danger. And if we hesitate, the bandits will arrive and kill us. It's truly a difficult situation!"

  Gu Zhenhua smiled slightly: "Mr. Xu is right, but I'm afraid I'm a bit greedy and want to have everything."

  "Does Master have any wonderful plan?" Xu Fang couldn't help but ask.

  "That's all, just dividing the troops!" Gu Zhenhua said with a smile: "Our ultimate goal is to go south. I plan to divide the people and horses into four parts. The first route will be led by Mr. Xu, you and Luan Hu together, taking thirty people, escorting family members, as well as Ge Jiangshi and others going south. The second route is in charge of He Liu Shu, with not many people, twenty people, bringing land deeds, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, from the Grand Canal to the south. After arriving in the south, quickly turn these things into silver, and make preparations for everyone to settle down!"

  "Zhenhua, this land deed is a big deal, I'm afraid it won't work out!"

  "Sixth Uncle, if you can't do it, others won't be able to either. I'll get Tang Zhanxiong to follow you, and guarantee everything will be fine."

  He Zhonghou nodded in agreement as soon as he heard it. Gu Zhenhua looked at Sun Cheng and Lu Yong, then said: "Two brothers, you are injured and cannot go south for the time being. I will leave 200 soldiers with you. Third brother Xue Biao and Xie Bin will follow you and hide in the mountains between Beijing and the Great Wall to wait for an opportunity. Finally, I will take 100 soldiers to escort Prince Mu south."

  Sun Cheng sighed as soon as he heard this: "Fourth brother, it's all because of me that I'm holding you back. Don't leave any soldiers for us, how many more people can stop the tens of thousands of troops of the bandit king? You just focus on going south, if the crown prince ascends to the throne, you will be a meritorious official who saved the emperor, and everyone will be happy together. My brothers will hide in the village to recover from their injuries, and as soon as they are better, they will come find you."

  Lu Yong also hastily said: "That's right, big brother is reasonable, with fewer people, it's easier for us to hide, whether we brothers can meet again depends on the will of heaven."

  Two people were all for Gu Zhenhua's consideration, and Gu Zhenhua was also very moved. However, his layout was clearly not just that. Gu Zhenhua suddenly stood up, pulling Sun Cheng and Lu Yong to the back yard of Tudi Temple.

  "Two brothers, I have some heart-to-heart words to share with you. In my opinion, Li Zicheng's luck won't last long, and the Qing dynasty will surely enter the pass. I'm keeping both of you here, but in fact, there are even bigger things that I need to get rid of you for."

  Sun Cheng and Lu Yong's faces turned serious: "Fourth brother, just say it, we'll listen to your arrangement!"