Chapter Fifty-Seven: Joining Hands Against the Enemy

  "Hahaha." Li Yan couldn't help but burst into laughter upon hearing Gu Zhenhua's words: "Gu Zhenhua, I won't say anything else, but your guts are indeed admirable. There are tens of thousands of troops behind me, do you still have the ability to kill me? Then come on!"

  Li Yan said with a wave of his hand, and the guards behind him rushed up, forming a posture that was ready to fight to the death with Gu Zhenhua.

  "General Li, your temper is going to be the death of you. I don't dare kill you, but this title can."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Li Yan, you can be considered a knowledgeable person in the Da Shun Army. I'll ask you, who is your true opponent in this battle?"

  Li Yan furrowed his brow and said coldly, "Gu Zhenhua, no need to play tricks or try to delay time. I will take care of you right now!"

  Gu Zhenhua couldn't help but burst out laughing loudly: "Li Yan, how come you still haven't woken up? Ben Jun and you are opponents, the enemy of an enemy is a friend. Logically speaking, I should be closely cooperating with Wu Sangui, but why did Ben Jun part ways with Wu Sangui instead? Can't you figure it out?"

  "Hum, you're a two-faced and treacherous person, who knows what kind of scheme you're plotting." Li Yan said with his mouth, but his mind was also racing.

  Gu Zhenhua is indeed a special guy, from the capital city, with only a few hundred people by his side, after making a turn at Shanhai Pass, he had several thousand people behind him. This ability to bewitch people's hearts is much more formidable than Li Yan's. Facing such a person, he must be extra cautious.

  "General Li, I'll get straight to the point. Wu Sangui has surrendered to the Qing and been enfeoffed as Prince Pingxi. This time, the Qing have mobilized a massive army, with Regent Dorgon leading the troops in person. Everyone from 70-year-olds to 10-year-olds, Manchu, Mongol, and Han bannermen, all marched out together, totaling over 100,000..."

  "What did you say?" Li Yan's eyes widened as he listened to these words, and he couldn't help but say: "If you want to save your life, there is no need to fabricate such lies to deceive General Ben. The Manchu army would not easily enter the pass, it's simply ridiculous."

  Gu Zhenhua sighed at once, Li Zicheng was not wronged in his defeat, and now he is still muddled, it's no wonder he was beaten to the point of being defeated.

  "Li Yan, I had warned you earlier by releasing the surrendered soldiers and then shooting arrows to remind you. I did this because we are all Han people, and fighting among ourselves is a family matter that doesn't allow outsiders to intervene. But Li Zicheng was so obstinate and failed to see the threat of the Qing dynasty, truly a waste of his heroic reputation!"

  Gu Zhenhua said with a heavy heart: "Do you think it was the Dashun Army that destroyed the Ming Dynasty? For so many years, the Manchu and you have been taking turns to weaken the Ming, the Dashun Army has subsided, and the Manchu will enter the pass to plunder. When you make trouble, they are watching from outside the pass. They cooperate with each other intimately, slowly draining the vitality of the Ming Dynasty..."

  "Shut up!" Li Yan said in a flustered tone: "Gu Zhenhua, do you think our Dashun Army is a traitor and wants to collude with the Manchu?"

  "This lord didn't say you're traitors, but I'm saying you're idiots! How did the Qing dynasty understand the situation of the Ming dynasty so clearly? Do you know how many Jin merchants traveling around are doing business for the Qing, and how much material they've sent outside the pass?"

  These few words suddenly left Li Yan speechless. In fact, Li Yan had also vaguely sensed the threat of Manchu, but they had been busy running around in the past few years and had no time to think about these things. After finally growing up and successfully taking down the capital city, the Dashun Army quickly expanded and became arrogant.

  At the mere thought of neglecting the threat of Manchu, a chill rose from the soles of Li Yan's feet, and he became even more terrified.

  At this moment, the city gate suddenly became chaotic, countless civilians were in a state of panic and disorder, frantically running out, and someone loudly exclaimed: "The Tartars have come!"

  "The Tartars are coming!"

  Just as the common people were running wildly, a large number of white flags appeared faintly under the city gate and rushed over quickly. The fleeing civilians were constantly cut down and then trampled by war horses into minced meat pulp.

  As expected, it's a barbarian!

  A desperate cry, a deep stab of pain struck Li Yan, and for an instant he was like one struck by lightning, almost falling off his warhorse. Just as Gu Zhenhua had said, they had underestimated the threat of the Manchu Qing, an absolutely gigantic mistake.

  "Li Yan, didn't you say so yourself, are you willing or not to let us pass?"

  "Don't let him go!" Li Yan gritted his teeth and said: "Li Mou is not afraid of the Qing dynasty, nor am I afraid of you. If Gu Zhenhua has the ability, he can break through my military formation and escape with his life. Otherwise, he will have no way out but to die."

  Just as they were speaking, the Qing army had already surged out of the city gate, with more and more people coming out. The soldiers brought by Gu Zhenhua were stuck between the Qing and Dashun armies, unable to advance or retreat.

  In front of a wolf and behind a tiger, it's simply an inextricable dead knot. Li Xu, Yue Po Xu, Guo Yun Long, and others are all at a loss for what to do.

  "What's the point of chatting with Li Yan, just charge over!" Although Li Xu's injuries were far from healed, he also gripped his waist knife tightly, ready to fight to the death.

  Li Jibo's forehead also sweated, but he was still calm: "You all don't try to be heroes, everything depends on how Gu Zhenhua arranges!"

  "Dad, can Master Jue help?"

  "I don't know." Li Jibai said in a low voice: "But this kid must have more skills than you guys!"

  They were worried, and Gu Zhenhua was no exception. He didn't expect the Qing army to arrive so quickly. Li Yan was not an ordinary person, and it would be extremely difficult to break through his obstruction.

  Desperate situation!

  This is the situation in front of Gu Zhenhua.

  Pine!

  Perhaps it can bring out some people, but this is completely different from Gu Zhenhua's plan to retreat wholeheartedly. Moreover, all the troops were consumed, and he would not be able to quickly reorganize his army to confront the Qing dynasty!

  Gu Zhenhua's mind was racing, and suddenly he burst out laughing loudly on horseback: "Li Yan, Gu certain is a great husband, standing tall. If I were to fight you, the Qing army would take advantage of the opportunity to kill us, and the fishermen would benefit from our struggle. The fall of the Ming dynasty at your hands would be a national disaster, but its fall at the hands of the Qing would be a heavenly calamity. Gu certain would rather die than let this beautiful land fall into the hands of the Qing."

  Here is the translation:

  At this point, Gu Zhenhua rushed to Li Yan and cupped his hands: "General Li, I will now lead my brothers to fight to the death with the Qing army, just to buy you some time. If I die in battle, please tell the world that I did not fight for the Great Shun, but for the sake of the people! If there are still men of honor in China, they should take up arms and drive out the Tartars, defend our mountains and rivers with their hot blood!"

  Gu Zhenhua finished speaking and turned around to ride his horse back to his own formation.

  "Brothers, a man has only one death. It may be heavier than Mount Tai or lighter than a feather. I, Gu Xing, am willing to fight the Tartars to the end today. Who among you brothers is willing to die with me?"

  Gu Zhenhua's loud voice carried far and wide, and Li Yan also heard it clearly. His heart was extremely disturbed. From Gu Zhenhua's style, this person is astute, brave, and righteous, especially when it comes to understanding the world, he is simply a wise and farsighted strategist.

  But what puzzles Li Yan the most is which side this guy is actually on, not the Qing Dynasty, nor the Ming Dynasty, could he really be loyal to the Ming Dynasty? But how can such a person be so foolishly loyal and filial?

  Just as Li Yan was lost in thought, a red horse suddenly ran to his side, with a woman in red riding on it, looking spirited and staring in the direction of Gu Zhenhua, nodding constantly.

  "What a loyal and brave hero! This is what a true hero looks like!"

  "Master, Lord Gu just said something very well. The enemy of an enemy is a friend. Now our number one enemy is the Qing, why can't we unite with Gu Zhenhua to resist the Qing together?"

  "Girl, Gu Zhenhua is a deep and cunning guy. Dealing with him is too risky, let alone cooperating with him hastily. How can we explain to the Marquis if things go wrong? Gu Zhenhua has hurt many high-ranking officials!"

  "Hmph, so narrow-minded! Are men's hearts even smaller than women's? In an emergency, we must take drastic measures. The Eight Banners of the Qing dynasty are not to be underestimated; joining forces to fight them may not necessarily lead to victory. We can't just stand by and watch as Gu Zhenhua dies in battle; next, it will be our turn to die."

  Li Yan's face turned red upon hearing Hong Niangzi's words. His own wife was praising another man, which was a huge blow to any man's self-esteem. Of course, Li Yan also knew that Hong Niangzi didn't mean anything by it, but the more he thought about it, the more it irritated his nerves. Wasn't he comparable to Gu Zhenhua in terms of heroic spirit?

  Li Yan gritted his teeth and bowed to Hong Niangzi: "Niang's words are right, I'll go invite Gu Zhenhua now and join forces to fight the enemy!"

  Li Yan finished speaking and hastily led his men to chase after Gu Zhenhua. At this time, Gu Zhenhua's entire army was forming a battle array, with all the horse-drawn carriages blocking one side of the Manchu army, soldiers grasping swords and bows, and archers and gunners making preparations for battle, the entire army was shrouded in an atmosphere of fighting to the death.

  "Brothers, the great land of China has never lacked heroic figures. In ancient times, Han Su's envoy to the Xiongnu, with majestic mountains and rivers, spent 19 years herding sheep in the northern sea, drinking snow and swallowing felt. In the Southern Song Dynasty, General Yue resisted the Jin army and swept away the wolf smoke. Now that the Tartars have invaded, it is time for heroes to show their true colors. Even if we die in battle, our names will be remembered in history, and our fame will last forever!"

  Gu Zhenhua was enthusiastically boosting morale, Li Yan's war horse had arrived at the front, he let out a breath and bowed his head to Gu Zhenhua.

  "Lord Gu is unmatched in loyalty and bravery, Li has seen it with his own eyes and deeply admires him. He hopes to join forces with Lord Gu to resist the Qing, but doesn't know if you are willing to agree?"

  Gu Zhenhua was taken aback for a moment, staring at Li Yan and saying: "General Li, can you trust Gu?"

  "Unbelievable!" Li Yan spat out these three words with great force.

  Gu Zhenhua suddenly burst out laughing and nodded, saying: "Alright, today we don't fight for the Great Ming or the Great Shun, but only for Huaxia. We have already experienced the poison of the Mongols once, and we can't let this tragedy happen again!"

  "For China!"

  "For China!"

  "For China!"

  Thousands of people shouted together, shaking the sky and earth, with a heroic spirit soaring into the heavens!

  Li Yan looked at these soldiers and couldn't help but nod, indeed they were all loyal and brave warriors. He immediately returned to the military formation, Gu Zhenhua led the soldiers, closely following. Li Jibao, who had been watching from the carriage, couldn't help but wipe away the cold sweat on his forehead.

  "You little scamp, you acted so convincingly, I almost got moved to tears."

  "Old Li, stop talking nonsense, it's so into the play, I'm easy?"

  Gu Zhenhua's majestic and awe-inspiring aura charged towards the Da Shun army, his pair of bright eyes had already landed on him.