Chapter 1: A Shot to the Head

  The drumbeat is loud and stirring, echoing endlessly on the battlefield.

  Li Zhen wore a tattered military uniform, with his sleeves rolled up, revealing muscular arms. He slightly hunched his back, holding a steel knife, calmly staring at the charging Taiping Army, like a lurking tiger waiting for its prey to take the bait.

  "Kill!"

  A loud roar came from two zhang in front of Li Zhen. A Taiping Army soldier, with a ferocious expression and eyes gleaming with malice, charged towards Li Zhen, swinging his sword down.

  Li Zhen's eyes were calm and peaceful, without a hint of panic.

  At the moment when the steel knife was about to chop him, Li Zhen's right foot stepped forward and his body slightly swayed to the right, narrowly avoiding the chopping knife. The knife light flashed by his side, revealing a chilling aura. Li Zhen let out a low growl, his body suddenly bursting forth like a fierce tiger descending a mountain, colliding with the shoulders of the Taiping Army soldiers.

  Bang!

  A dull thud was heard, and the Taiping soldier let out a miserable cry, revealing a pained expression. Due to losing his balance, the soldier stumbled backward for three consecutive steps before regaining his footing.

  "Go die."

  Li Zhen took advantage of the momentum and didn't spare anyone, stepping on the chain ring and quickly chasing after him, swinging his knife to slash.

  "Hmph!!"

  The long knife swept across the soldier's neck, cutting open his throat and bringing out a string of blood beads.

  A warm, crimson blood splashed out, sprinkling Li Zhen's face. Li Zhen stretched out his hand and wiped his face, the bloody stains spreading across his face, making him look even more terrifying. Li Zhen didn't even glance at the dead soldier, because he couldn't stop now. If he didn't kill the Taiping Army, the Taiping Army would kill him.

  To survive, Li Zhen could only continue to slaughter.

  Li Zhen killed the Taiping Army soldier, paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and continued to kill towards the position of the main general of the Taiping Army. To make achievements, it is natural to find the largest leader to start with.

  His steel knife stained with blood, Li Zhen continuously darted back and forth within the Taiping Army, quickly beheading eighteen soldiers.

  At this moment, Li Zhen was covered in blood and had become a bloody man.

  A distance of one zhang around him was empty, no one dared to approach Li Zhen. His gaze swept over the Taiping Army soldiers, all of whom were trembling with fear, wanting to make a move but afraid of being killed by Li Zhen.

  Li Zhen's mouth curled up in a cold smile, the Taiping Army in front of him was too weak.

  In fact, Li Zhen's soul is not a person of this era. He was a special sniper in the Huaxia Country Falcon Special Forces, who received an order from the organization to assassinate the leader of a terrorist base. Due to incorrect intelligence, his whereabouts were leaked and he was pursued and killed. Li Zhen fled all the way, but was forced into a desperate situation, and finally died together with the enemy.

  Li Zhenwakes up and finds himself as a hundred-man commander in the Qing dynasty's Jiangbei Dajiang camp.

  From memory, it is now June of the third year of Xianfeng.

  In early February, the Taiping Army entered Nanjing and renamed it Tianjing, making it the capital. Later, the Taiping Army generals Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang led troops to occupy Yangzhou, starting their northern expedition. The Xianfeng Emperor was terrified and appointed Qi Shan, the governor of Henan, as a special minister to build the Jiangbei Grand Camp north of Yangzhou to besiege the Taiping Army.

  Qishan hastened to boost military morale and ordered General Wu Xigong to lead 6,000 Qing troops in attacking the Taiping Army.

  Li Zhen followed the army into battle and appeared on the battlefield.

  "Get the dog, I'm here to kill you." The Taiping Army soldiers surrounded Li Zhen, but didn't dare to make a move. This situation annoyed one of the Taiping Army generals. He was tall and sturdy, with a collapsed nose bridge, sunken eye sockets, greedy and ferocious eyes, and a hideous face that revealed sharp white teeth, as if he wanted to swallow Li Zhen alive.

  Li Zhenlang sneered twice, but a hint of unusual color flashed in his eyes.

  A small contribution can also be made.

  Li Zhen charged forward with his bloody steel knife, and the surrounding Taiping soldiers retreated in a hurry, revealing their fearful expressions. The deputy general saw this and became even more enraged. He swung his knife to meet Li Zhen, and when they were only one zhang apart, he chopped down with his knife.

  Li Zhen's face showed no fear, and he swung his sword to meet them head-on.

  Clang!!

  The weapons collided, producing a loud crash.

  Li Zhen's body remained motionless, unaffected by the impact, as if the previous collision was just a gentle breeze. However, Pian Jiang was forced to retreat five steps, his arm numb, his tiger mouth cracked, and his palm covered in thick, fresh blood. A look of shock flashed across Pian Jiang's eyes, and he suddenly turned around and ran away, refusing to engage with Li Zhen again.

  Li Zhen let out a cold laugh and with a low shout, he exerted all his strength and threw the steel knife out.

  "Hmph!!"

  The long knife transformed into a stream of light and instantly shot into the back of the general, piercing his heart.

  A loud cry rang out, and he fell to the ground, unable to get up.

  Li Zhen rushed up with big strides, arrived at the side of the deputy general, and with a "pa" sound, pulled out the steel knife inserted in his back. He then quickly swung his knife to behead the deputy general, and tied the head to his waist. This was the proof of his military merit, he couldn't lose it. Li Zhen killed the Taiping Army's deputy general, his ferocity was renowned, and made the surrounding soldiers dare not make any rash moves.

  "The Qing dynasty has been overthrown, kill!"

  Suddenly, the distant shouts of Taiping Army soldiers came from afar.

  Li Zhenzheng was about to charge forward, but he heard the sound and saw that the Qing soldiers were all retreating with all their might. Li Zhen sighed in his heart, he had originally wanted to kill into the Taiping Army and behead the enemy general, but he did not expect that the 6,000-strong Qing army would not be able to withstand a single blow, and was actually defeated by the Taiping Army with extremely low combat effectiveness. Now that the Qing army is retreating, no one is holding them back, and Li Zhen is also unable to hold on alone.

  Withdraw!

  Withdraw at once!

  Seeing the Taiping Army soldiers around him stirring, Li Zhen decisively chose to retreat. Li Zhen had already killed a Taiping Army general and had some achievements, so retreating would also be meritorious. His feet moved swiftly, and in the blink of an eye he shook off the Taiping Army troops following behind him and caught up with the fleeing Qing army.

  Before long, they caught up with Wu Qigong, the fleeing commander-in-chief.

  This man has a handsome and elegant face, with a good appearance, but he is an idiot who doesn't know how to deploy troops. Wu Qigong fled under the protection of his soldiers, accompanied by more than a dozen bodyguards. These bodyguards were all holding bird guns that could be used for long-range shooting, but none of them thought of using their weapons to kill the enemy as they were busy fleeing.

  Li Zhen looked at the bird gun in the guard's hand and a smile appeared on his face.

  With the bird gun, there is an opportunity to snipe and kill the main general of the Taiping Army.

  Sniping at the enemy is an old trade, and it's also Li Zhen's specialty. In fact, since Li Zhen came to this era, he had always wanted to get a gun for himself, but his official position was too lowly, so he couldn't get any firearms. Even in his heart, Li Zhen wanted to build a regular army, but there was no opportunity, so Li Zhen had to make achievements, climb up the ranks, and realize his own goals.

  Li Zhen's brain turned quickly, and he swiftly approached Wu Qigong's bodyguard, then loudly shouted: "General, I can turn the situation around."

  "What's your solution?" Wu Qigong roared.

  He didn't care whether Li Zhenxing was okay or not, and directly treated a dead horse as if it were alive.

  Li Zhen saw Wu Qigong's inquiry and knew there was a play, immediately stretched out his hand to point at the bird gun on the guard's body, and replied loudly: "General, I need a bird gun to shoot and kill enemy generals."

  "Wu Qigong shouted: 'Good, I'll let you go this time.'"

  At this moment, Wu Qigong handed a bird gun to Li Zhen from his bodyguard beside him.

  Li Zhen took it over and quickly checked the situation of the bird gun. This bird gun was not an early flintlock, but a improved version of percussion cap gun, which had already been loaded with ammunition, and as long as the trigger was pulled, it would strike the flint to ignite and shoot out the bullet. Li Zhen held the 1.5-meter-long bird gun and ran backwards while searching for the location of the Taiping Army's commander-in-chief.

  Wu Qigong also retreated, but he was sizing up Li Zhen's situation.

  Suddenly, Li Zhen's eyes lit up.

  Among the Taiping soldiers, a middle-aged man wearing golden armor and helmet, riding a white horse, was chasing and killing the Qing army with great fanfare. He was the main general of the Taiping Army.

  Li Zhen ran forward for a distance and opened up a gap with the Taiping Army who were chasing behind.

  With enough buffering, Li Zhen turned around and stopped, holding up the bird gun in his hand.

  At this moment, the shouting on the battlefield disappeared, and the Taiping Army soldiers who were charging also disappeared from Li Zhen's line of sight, leaving only the round head of the Taiping Army general. Li Zhen held the bird gun's gunstock with his left hand, grasped the gun handle with his right hand, leaned the gun butt against his armpit, slightly lowered his head to stare at the front, and placed his index finger on the trigger.

  Bang!!

  After taking aim, Li Zhen's finger applied force and pulled the trigger.

  A puff of white smoke rose, and the bullet flew out into the air.

  "Pffft!"

  With no deviation, the bullet hit the Taiping Army general's head.

  Upon closer inspection, a peanut-sized blood hole appeared right in the center of his forehead. Bright red blood flowed out from his forehead, terrifying and frightening. At this moment, the Taiping Army general's face still had an invincible expression, but when he opened his mouth, he couldn't make any sound, his body swayed twice, and he fell off the warhorse to the ground.