Chapter Thirty-Two: A Resounding Victory

Gu Zhenhua had fewer than three hundred men in total, and they were divided into three groups. Fifty men were ambushed on the slopes on each side of the valley, tasked with pushing massive boulders down to crush the Great Shun army once the battle began.

Tang Zhanxiong led another fifty men to block the Great Shun army’s retreat, while Gu Zhenhua himself commanded the remaining one hundred and fifty to hold the valley exit.

Landmines had already been planted on both sides of the valley exit. The moment the Great Shun army reached that spot, they would be detonated to wipe them all out at once.

Everything was prepared; they were simply waiting for Li Yan to step into this meticulously constructed trap.

"My Lord, there is a sound on the ground—cavalry is approaching!" Tang Zhanxiong said, his voice brimming with excitement.

In an instant, Gu Zhenhua’s heart leapt to his throat. This battle could only end in victory; failure meant losing everything.

"Brothers, all who fight bravely shall be rewarded with a hundred acres of fertile land. For those who sacrifice their lives, an additional thousand acres will be granted to provide for their families."

As the saying goes, heavy rewards make for brave men. Gu Zhenhua’s words steeled everyone’s resolve. Just then, Li Yan led his massive cavalry force, snaking forward as they finally entered the valley. The canyon was long; the vanguard had already approached the exit, while the rear had only just passed the middle of the valley.

At that moment, the Great Shun soldiers at the very front were stunned to see a stone wall, over five feet high, blocking their path.

The soldiers were bewildered, but since those behind them kept pushing forward, they had no choice but to bite the bullet and advance.

When they were still a hundred paces from the exit, dozens of dark gun barrels suddenly poked out from behind the stone wall, aimed directly at them. The slow-matches on the musketeers' necks were still flickering and glowing.

"Oh no!"

The lead cavalrymen sensed something was wrong, but it was too late. Gunfire erupted, and over a dozen riders fell from their horses. Yet, the men behind them continued to surge forward like a tide, forced to trample over the corpses of their comrades to keep charging.

Bang, bang, bang...

The gunfire grew increasingly rapid. Lead balls hailed down like ice, causing the Great Shun army to collapse in heaps. Layer upon layer fell; in an instant, forty or fifty corpses piled up at the exit, some already crushed into a dark red pulp.

From the moment the first shot rang out, Li Yan sensed disaster. He asked anxiously, "What is going on? Where is that gunfire coming from?"

Someone replied breathlessly, "Commander, it’s the valley exit! There is an ambush there!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yan’s expression turned grim. From the familiar sound of the muskets, he guessed it was the very group he had been hunting. Only they knew how to utilize firearms in such a way.

"Full retreat!"

After temporarily breaking contact, Li Yan said coldly, "Archers forward, suppress their muskets! Everyone else, charge!"

At Li Yan’s command, two dozen tall, long-armed soldiers stepped out from the ranks. They were the Great Shun army’s master archers, capable of hitting targets over 120 paces away.

Bows were drawn to their limits, arrows released, tracing graceful arcs as they flew toward Gu Zhenhua’s men.

"Ah!"

A soldier cried out in pain as an arrow grazed his neck, blood flowing instantly. However, most of the arrows were blocked by the breastwork, leaving the soldiers unharmed.

"Aim! Fire!"

Gu Zhenhua disregarded the wounded and gave the order. Over fifty muskets were leveled at the archers. A volley of scattered gunfire rang out, and four or five archers shrieked as they fell to the ground.

Lead balls shattered chests and pulverized arms and legs, leaving mangled flesh. It was clear these men were beyond saving; with current medical standards, large wounds were certain to become infected, and infection was ninety-nine percent fatal. These master archers had effectively been sentenced to death.

Li Yan’s heart felt as if it had been pricked by needles. The Great Shun army didn't have many master archers to begin with; they could not afford such losses.

"Damn it! How can their muskets reach that far?"

Li Yan roared in anger. Of course, he did not know that the highest-quality Lumichong muskets had a range exceeding 150 paces, far surpassing the limits of bows and arrows. The refined weapons Gu Zhenhua had obtained from Zhu Chunchen were exactly these kinds of high-end pieces.

"Quick, have the archers fall back!" Li Yan hurriedly ordered.

"Commander, what should we do? Should we retreat from the valley first and attack from a different route?"

"No! We cannot give them time to escape!" Li Yan said decisively. "Full assault! Concentrate all forces for a frontal assault. I don't believe their muskets have an endless supply of ammunition."

Li Yan was desperate now. The Great Shun cavalry gathered, becoming increasingly dense. Li Yan squinted; this group of enemies was becoming more and more terrifying. They had to be annihilated, no matter the cost.

*Neigh!*

Warhorses whinnied as the cavalry spurred them toward the valley exit, charging forward with reckless abandon.

"Fire!"

Gunshots echoed, and the cavalry fell from their mounts as if struck by lightning. But those behind them didn't care; they braved the hail of bullets and rushed forward.

Row after row, the Great Shun cavalry surged like a tide, pressing in relentlessly, giving no one a moment to breathe. Trampling over the bodies of their companions, they drew closer and closer to the exit.

*Bang!*

A scream rang out. Gu Zhenhua looked over to see one soldier’s musket had burst. The man’s hands were a bloody mess, his chest and face covered in gore. Although the muskets Gu Zhenhua had produced were considered superior, they still could not entirely eliminate the risk of barrel explosions.

Seeing the miserable state of their comrade, the other musketeers turned pale, biting their lips tightly. Their hearts were trembling, and their legs were shaking.

Hundreds of warhorses thundered across the ground like a roaring beast, surging toward the valley exit. The massive, flowing crowd moved with lightning speed, seemingly unstoppable by a mere breastwork.

The pre-loaded muskets were empty. Every soldier’s eyes were filled with terror. Gu Zhenhua, however, was the opposite; a faint, triumphant smile appeared on his face.

This was the moment he had been waiting for! The Great Shun cavalry was now clustered near the exit—the perfect time to deliver a fatal blow. It was unrealistic to blow up a multi-kilometer valley with three thousand jin of gunpowder, so Gu Zhenhua had concentrated all the explosives near the exit.

No matter how fast the Great Shun cavalry was, they were no faster than the flickering, dancing slow-matches.

"Get down!"

At Gu Zhenhua’s command, the soldiers instinctively threw themselves to the ground.

Just as they dropped, a thunderous, earth-shattering roar erupted. In an instant, the entire ground trembled.

The cavalry on the ground were like a leaf in the ocean; the storm had arrived, mercilessly tossing them into the sky before slamming them back down.

Bones shattered, tendons snapped, and flesh flew!

The violent explosions followed one after another, deafening everyone. But the true lethality was not the direct blast, but the rain of flying rocks.

Gu Zhenhua had worried the gunpowder might not be powerful enough, so he had put great effort into the placement, embedding half the explosives deep into the two-to-three-meter cliff walls. Once detonated, it would shatter the mountain into rock shards to be used as shrapnel. Even the explosives on the ground were covered with a layer of stones.

As expected, the detonation multiplied the destructive power. Stones flew everywhere—some as large as basins, others as small as eggs—pelting the Great Shun army like hail.

There was nowhere to hide in the valley. Smoke filled the air, fire flashed, and everyone ran about like headless flies. Countless soldiers were maimed or killed, and even the warhorses were not spared. Cries of agony echoed through the valley, turning it into a living hell.

By now, the soldiers ambushed on the slopes were eager to join the fray. With all their might, they rolled down thousands of pounds of boulders. The thunderous force crushed through the crowd. Neither man nor horse could withstand it; they were living flesh and blood. A trail of mangled remains was left behind, and it was impossible to tell how many had been crushed.

Lamentations filled the wilderness, and blood and flesh rained down. Even Li Yan was not spared; a stone struck him squarely on the forehead, raising a bump the size of a duck egg.

Ignoring the pain, Li Yan looked around. Everywhere he turned, he saw corpses and wailing soldiers. In the explosions, at least two hundred men had been killed or crushed. Even the survivors were all wounded, with broken limbs everywhere. In all his years of fighting, Li Yan had never seen such a miserable situation. He slammed his fist against a rock on the ground, blood streaming from his knuckles.

"Commander, we must leave, or everything will be lost!" his personal guard shouted.

"I am not reconciled to this!" Li Yan cried out in agony.

"Commander, as long as the green hills remain, there will be no shortage of firewood. We must return to report to King Chuang, mobilize the main army, and return to annihilate them to avenge our fallen brothers."

"You are right." Li Yan regained his composure. "I cannot die here; I cannot let them off so easily!"

"Charge! Charge out of the valley!"

The remnants of the Great Shun army protected Li Yan. They dared not attack the center, so they fought their way back the way they came.

By then, Tang Zhanxiong had already sealed the entrance, narrowing the path—which could originally accommodate five or six horses abreast—down to the width of a single person. Tang Zhanxiong and his musketeers blocked the exit.

"Come on! I’ll kill as many as you send!"

Indeed, the Great Shun army charged desperately, but as the muskets fired in the narrow space, there was nowhere to dodge. The bodies of the Great Shun soldiers piled up layer by layer. Two of Li Yan’s personal guards were killed, and he himself was nearly struck and knocked from his horse. It seemed as though the entire force was about to be wiped out.

Just then, the sound of hoofbeats echoed from afar. The lead rider was clad in fire-red, mounted on a large red horse, charging toward the valley exit like a bolt of lightning.

Tang Zhanxiong hurriedly swung his blade, but upon meeting the rider, he was stunned—it was a woman! Before he could process his shock, a tremendous force struck him, causing his arm to go numb.

"What a formidable woman!"

The woman ignored Tang Zhanxiong entirely. After charging through, she reached Li Yan’s side and grabbed him.

"Husband, mount up!"

Li Yan was pulled onto the horse. Turning back, the woman rode off like a red bolt of lightning, followed closely by her female guards, and vanished into the distance.

Gu Zhenhua led his men into the valley just in time to catch a glimpse of the red-clad female rider. A name flashed through his mind: Hong Niangzi!

She was truly a heroic woman of exceptional spirit. Gu Zhenhua couldn't help but admire her, though he felt a pang of regret—how could such a remarkable woman end up with Li Yan?

Just as Gu Zhenhua shook his head with a sigh, Gao Hongtu ran over, brimming with excitement. "My Lord, we’ve struck it rich! Look at all these warhorses scattered across the mountains and plains!"