Unable to contact them

Shanhai Pass, the Eastern Route Army's temporary command headquarters.

The atmosphere was so oppressive it felt like water could be wrung from it.

On the map, the red arrows representing the Feng Army should have been advancing with unstoppable force, driving straight into the Inside of the Passes.

But now, several blue arrows representing the Shou Army had burst out from unexpected positions, slicing the red offensive into scattered fragments.

The battle situation had taken a sharp turn.

At the beginning of the war, everyone had thought this would be an easy, one-sided victory.

Who could have imagined that reality would slap them across the face so resoundingly?

Internal corruption, incompetent commanders, elite troops that usually boasted to the heavens and beyond—once they reached the battlefield, they fell apart completely.

On top of that, there was their old adversary, Cao Kun, who refused to fight them head-on and instead kept using underhanded tactics like flanking and infiltration.

The most fatal blow came from behind.

The Zhang Jinghui force stationed at Jiumen Pass had surrendered to the Shou Army without firing a single shot!

That surrender had completely exposed the Eastern Route Army's flank to the enemy.

Their defeat had become inevitable.

Fengtian, the Marshal's Mansion.

Zhang Yuting's eyes were bloodshot as he slammed a fist onto the table, making the teacups buzz.

"Transmit my orders!"

"Withdraw along the entire line! Fall back to the Outside of the Passes! Preserve our effective strength!"

The order was rapidly relayed to the front lines by telegraph. Inside the Eastern Route Army's command headquarters, the already chaotic situation exploded into utter turmoil.

"Commander! Guo Songling's Third Brigade has been surrounded by two brigades of the Shou Army! They won't hold out much longer!"

"Commander! Our route of retreat... our route of retreat may be cut off!"

"We can't get through! The telephone line to the Eighth Brigade has been severed!"

Zhang Xueliang snatched the operator's headphones and roared into the mouthpiece.

"Connect me to Zhang Xueming! Connect me to the Eighth Brigade! Quickly!"

"Reporting to you, Commander... the line was blown apart by artillery fire. We... we've lost contact with the Eighth Brigade!"

The communications soldier's voice trembled.

Zhang Xueliang's mind buzzed.

The Old Fang position was one he had personally assigned to his younger brother.

He had thought it was a relatively safe rear position, where the Eighth Brigade, made up of recruits, could get used to the rhythm of battle.

Who could have known that it had now become a deadly knot along the entire Eastern Route Army's retreat route!

"Damn it!"

Zhang Xueliang hurled the headphones to the ground and drew the pistol at his waist.

"Guards Company! Move out with me!"

"Commander! Where are you going?" His adjutant, Tan Hai, grabbed his arm and clung to it with all his strength.

"To Old Fang! I'm going to save my brother!" Zhang Xueliang's eyes had reddened as he struggled to shake Tan Hai off.

"No! Absolutely not!"

Tan Hai was so frantic he was nearly in tears. As a civil-service adjutant, he had nowhere near Zhang Xueliang's strength and could only drag him back by hanging on with his entire body weight.

"You're the Eastern Route Army's Commander-in-Chief! If you leave, what will happen to these hundreds of thousands of brothers? The entire Eastern Route Army will be finished!"

"Let go!"

"Commander! The Second Young Master has Heaven's protection! But you can't gamble the fate of the entire Eastern Route Army! If you leave, how will we answer to the Marshal...?"

Tan Hai's roar made Zhang Xueliang's movements freeze for a moment.

That's right.

He was the Commander.

He couldn't leave.

Zhang Xueliang dejectedly loosened his grip on the pistol. His body swayed, and several staff officers caught him.

He looked at the three characters "Old Fang" on the map, and a wave of twisting pain seized his heart.

Old Fang, the Third Regiment's position of the Eighth Brigade.

Artillery fire had practically plowed over the entire hill.

Across the scorched earth, shell craters and wreckage were scattered everywhere.

Chu Shixin had an already-extinguished cigarette butt clenched between his teeth. He leaned against the trench and panted heavily.

Seven whole days.

Their regiment had stubbornly withstood wave after wave of fierce attacks from two Shou Army divisions.

Before the position, layer upon layer of enemy corpses had piled up.

But they were nearing their limit as well.

"Damn it, have these Shou Army bastards gone insane? Why are they hell-bent on dying here with us?" one company commander spat out a mouthful of blood-flecked saliva.

"Let them come. One comes, and I kill one. Two come, and I kill a pair!"

Chu Shixin wiped the black grime from his face, but his eyes turned toward the brigade headquarters in the rear.

The Brigade Commander should have reached a decision by now.

At that moment, however, the atmosphere inside the Shou Army's command headquarters was completely different.

"Commander-in-Chief, victory is within reach!" a staff officer said excitedly, pointing at the map. "The Feng Army has already collapsed along the entire line. All we have to do is..."

Cao Kun waved his hand, cutting him off.

He pointed at a spot on the map.

"Old Fang still hasn't fallen?"

"Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief, the men defending it are Zhang Yuting's second son, Zhang Xueming's Eighth Brigade. That boy is a bit uncanny, like a stone in a latrine—stinking and hard. We've gnawed at it for seven days and suffered considerable losses."

"Zhang Xueming?" Cao Kun narrowed his eyes.

He had heard something about this Second Young Master of the Zhang family.

But in his view, he was nothing more than a brash young man.

The overall situation had already been decided. There was no need to waste time on a tiny Eighth Brigade.

"Transmit my order." Cao Kun's voice sank. "Leave two brigades to continue surrounding Old Fang and prevent them from breaking out. All remaining forces will pursue them along the entire line. We must annihilate the Feng Army's main force inside the Passes!"

"Yes!"

The order soon reached Zhang Xueming's ears.

He lowered his binoculars, the corner of his mouth curling into a cold arc.

They were coming.

The opportunity had arrived.

He spread out the map and spoke to Chu Shixin and several other regimental commanders beside him.

"Cao Kun has advanced eastward with his main force, leaving only two brigades behind to guard the house."

"They really look down on us."