Chapter 66: Pyramid of Skulls

Brave warriors of the Great Qing, charge!

The moment he saw both sides plunge into brutal hand-to-hand combat, Helohui's face lit up with joy. They might not excel in firearms duels, but the Qing soldiers had never feared close-quarters combat.

The cowardly Han Chinese were simply no match for them. More and more Qing soldiers swarmed forward, and as blades met, the two sides plunged into a bloody battle. It reached the point of desperate, life-or-death struggles, and the tenacity of the An Army exceeded all imagination.

A soldier was run through the ribs, but instead of retreating, he fiercely swung the saber in his hand and slashed the neck of a Qing soldier. The two tumbled to the ground and perished together.

They hacked with sabers, struck with fists and feet, and even bit with their teeth, wrestling and killing in a chaotic melee. Every single one of them seemed to have transformed into a wild beast, eyes blazing with a ferocious red, using every possible means to annihilate the enemy before them.

Gu Zhenhua personally oversaw the battle, and he held deep respect for these brave soldiers. To be able to train such warriors meant that Zhou Yuji truly lived up to his legendary reputation.

Yet Gu Zhenhua also perceived the flaw: these men were still limited to individual combat. Relying on skilled martial arts, each soldier fought the Qing troops one-on-one without close coordination or a unified force. For now, they were merely making do with momentum, but when the time came to recruit new troops, he must retrain them thoroughly and truly forge a powerful, disciplined military force.

As the battle dragged on, the Qing soldiers surpassed the An Army in physical stamina, equipment, and combat experience. Gradually, more and more An Army soldiers fell, and the entire battle line was pushed to the verge of collapse.

Gu Zhenhua shook his head, putting aside thoughts of military reform. The most pressing task was to survive the immediate crisis.

Suddenly, a Niru Janggin leading several elite armored troops and cavalrymen formed an arrow formation. They successively hacked down five or six An Army soldiers, ripped a breach through the battle array, and advanced rapidly.

Gu Zhenhua happened to witness this scene. Pointing his long saber forward, he roared, "Kill!"

He personally led his bodyguards into the charge. The Qing soldiers had practically grown up amidst the fires of war; their experience and discipline surpassed those of the An Army. Around the Janggin, two cavalrymen whirled their heavy shields, creating an impenetrable barrier that deflected every thrust of the lances.

The Janggin charged forward with unbridled aggression, cutting down two or three more soldiers in succession. At that moment, Gu Zhenhua arrived. Seizing the opportunity, he brought his saber down in a fierce slash toward the cavalryman on the left. In a panic, the cavalryman could only raise his shield to parry.

The force behind Gu Zhenhua's strike was astonishing. With a single blow, the shield shattered into two pieces, and the cavalryman was cut down. The previously airtight arrow formation finally developed a weakness. Gu Zhenhua swung his saber once more, aiming straight for the Janggin's neck.

The fellow was no pushover and hastily raised his weapon to parry. The blades collided, forcing him back two steps. Instead of retreating, Gu Zhenhua pressed forward with yet another ferocious slash.

Terror drained the color from the Janggin's face. He had never encountered such a formidable Ming soldier before and scrambled to dodge in his panic. Unfortunately, a nearby lance-bearer seized the moment, lunging forward with a fierce thrust that pierced straight through the Janggin's thigh.

Blood gushed forth, and the Janggin let out a scream of agony as he crashed to the ground. Gu Zhenhua closed the distance in a single stride, and with a swift sweep of his blade, the man's head went flying.

Having slain the officer, Gu Zhenhua did not pause, charging onward against the remaining Qing soldiers. Seeing his unmatched valor, the surrounding Qing troops were struck with terror and involuntarily stepped back.

Gu Zhenhua showed no mercy, wielding his battle saber to cut down three heavily armored elite soldiers in a row, driving the Qing forces back step by step.

"An Army, kill!"

Witnessing Gu Zhenhua's prowess, the soldiers' morale surged. Filling their lungs, they roared in unison alongside him.

"Kill!"
"Kill!"
"Kill!"

The rhythmic battle cries echoed across the field, serving as a tremendous encouragement to the troops, reminding every man that he was not alone—that countless brothers stood shoulder-to-shoulder with him, shedding blood in a shared fight!

Humans are social animals, and with the coordinated roars, everyone's panic dramatically subsided, stabilizing the battle line once more.

Just at that moment, Xie Bin and Zhou Yingjie had re-formed their musketeers, who charged back into the fray. They opened fire from both flanks of the formation, unleashing a dense volley of scorching leaden balls.

By then, the Qing army as a whole resembled a spearhead, with their most elite forces locked in close combat with Gu Zhenhua. Their flanks were precisely their weakest points; most of those soldiers wore no armor at all, or at best flimsy leather jerkins, making them entirely incapable of withstanding lead bullets.

Executing a triple-rank firing sequence, they mowed down over two hundred soldiers within moments, leaving their bodies mangled and limbs flying. At this juncture, the elite marksmen previously handpicked by Xie Bin surged through the gaps in the formation, leveling their blackened gun barrels at the Qing troops. Since the distance was a mere ten to twenty paces, their accuracy was staggering. Manchu elite armored and cavalry troopers fell continuously, while officers of the Bashi rank suffered even heavier casualties.

With the musketeers joining the fray, Gu Zhenhua's position grew increasingly secure. The Qing forces were forced into a substantial retreat, and the pendulum of battle swung back toward Gu Zhenhua.

Yet the Qing troops were clearly unwilling to concede. Their archers drew their bows en masse, taking aim at the hated musketeers. Musketeer after musketeer fell to the ground, their bodies bristling with arrows.

"Shield-bearers, provide cover!"

Gu Zhenhua issued the order without delay. The blade-and-shield infantry rushed forward, forming a defensive line and using their shields to shelter the musketeers. The musketeers, in turn, seized every gap to fire upon the enemy.

These musketeers had learned their lesson: being struck by a lead ball, regardless of where, usually meant death, and even if they survived temporarily, wounded soldiers posed an even greater burden. Consequently, they abandoned precision aiming, merely popping up to fire before ducking swiftly behind the shields, causing their casualty rate to plummet rapidly.

Meanwhile, the exposed Qing archers suffered dearly. Roughly ten archers were traded for every three musketeers lost. Such an exchange ratio was utterly brutal, especially considering that training a single elite archer cost several times more than training a musketeer.

How deep were the Manchu coffers that they could sustain such consumption? Bandits remained bandits, no matter how disciplined or fearless of death they were. Deep in their hearts, a scale tipped: they weighed whether the plunder was truly worth the cost. Once they realized the input and output were utterly disproportionate, their resolve began to falter.

Much like a wolf pack on the grassland, always targeting the weakest prey, the Qing casualties mounted into piles of corpses, and at last, they began to rout.

"An Army, advance!"

Gu Zhenhua keenly perceived the shift in the enemy and decisively issued the command. Li Xu and Guo Long led the cavalry charging out from both flanks, while Sun Cheng and Lu Yong pressed forward with the infantry.

Across the boundless plains, the soldiers of the An Army surged forward like a rising tide, every man holding his weapon aloft with soaring morale. By contrast, the Qing soldiers presented a miserable sight; their elite forces had suffered catastrophic losses, and the remnants retreated in disarray.

Commanding from the rear, Helohui's expression shifted wildly. He could never have imagined how a ragtag force could possess such combat power, actually defeating the brave warriors of the Great Qing in a field battle—an occurrence almost unheard of even during the height of the Great Ming dynasty!

Regardless of how it came to pass, however, he had lost this battle.

"Where is Wu Sangui?"

Helohui intended to retreat, but when he whipped his horse around, he found Wu Sangui nowhere in sight. Rage flooded his chest.

"Master, the Prince of Pingxi was just engaging the cavalry on our flanks, but in the blink of an eye, he vanished!"

"Hmph! I won't let him off. Fall back!"

Reluctantly, Helohui issued the order to retreat. But just as he jerked his horse's head around to flee, a troop of cavalry suddenly charged from the side. A single arrow struck Helohui's mount squarely in the leg, sending the warhorse crashing to the earth and throwing Helohui heavily to the ground, nearly knocking the wind out of him permanently.

The archer was none other than Hou Sanhuai. Ecstatic at the sight of Helohui crashing down, he hurriedly led his men forward, clashing instantly with Helohui's bodyguards.

As they tangled, Yue Polu led a cavalry detachment that had just broken through the Guanning Army's interception line and slammed into the fray. Spotting such a fat fish, Yue Polu was overjoyed. He cut down two Qing soldiers in quick succession and, with his subordinates, completely surrounded Helohui.

Simultaneously, Guo Long led his men in a fierce pursuit of Wu Sangui. The arch-traitor had never imagined he would be reduced to such straits and could only flee head-down. Yet after galloping less than five li, a broad river suddenly blocked his path. When he looked back once more, he saw the An Army closing in from all directions...

The battle finally drew to a close. The soldiers were still mopping up scattered cavalrymen—some from the Manchus, others from the Guanning Army. As the sun set, the brilliant crimson of the evening glow failed to outshine the bloodshed of the battlefield, and the victors gathered together.

Li Jibo hurried over accompanied by Xia Shouli. Xia Shouli was the very fellow known as "Big Shrimp" from the horse ranch. Despite his unremarkable appearance, he had managed horse warehouses for years, possessed formidable arithmetic skills, and was exceptionally competent in handling affairs.

"Lord Gu, according to my rough calculations, we have slain over eleven hundred Qing soldiers and more than eight hundred men from the Guanning Army, alongside over three hundred captives. This is undoubtedly a rare and monumental victory! Truly a cause for celebration!"

Gu Zhenhua felt little joy; instead, he furrowed his brows and asked, "What are our casualties?"

The color drained from Xia Shouli's face as well. "My Lord, one hundred and eighty musketeers were killed in action, two hundred and forty infantrymen died, and over a hundred were wounded. Furthermore, about three hundred cavalrymen lost their lives engaging Wu Sangui."

A rough estimate placed the An Army's casualties close to a thousand. Gu Zhenhua felt his heart bleed; this was his founding core force, and this single battle had slashed their combat strength by at least thirty percent.

At the same time, Gu Zhenhua felt a secret sense of relief. Had they failed to hold the line, a defeat would have rendered all his toil entirely for naught. At that thought, Gu Zhenhua's teeth ground together with a sharp crunch.

"Hear my command! Sever the heads of every single Qing soldier—the Guanning Army is no exception. Build them into two pyramids of severed heads! Inscribe upon the base of the first: 'The Fate of Tartar Invaders,' and upon the second: 'A Warning to Traitors of the State!'"

Hearing the mention of enemy skull pyramids, everyone present was startled—such grim spectacles existed only within the pages of historical records!

Li Jibo could not help but speak up. "Would that not invite heavenly retribution?"

"Mr. Li, our nation faces peril and destruction. Without such measures, we cannot showcase the unyielding iron spine of the An Army in defending our homeland. These skull pyramids must be built!"