Encrypted Code

Fengtian, Ulan Frontline Command.

The atmosphere was so oppressive it was hard to breathe.

With his hands clasped behind his back, Zhang Xueliang paced before the enormous sand table, his handsome face etched with anxiety.

"How's it going?!"

He stopped abruptly and roared toward the communications section.

"Have you gotten through to Xue Ming yet?!"

A communications soldier hurried to his feet, saluted, and answered nervously, "Reporting, Commander, we still... still can't reach the Eighth Brigade's radio station."

"Useless!"

Zhang Xueliang kicked over a chair beside him. "What the hell is going on?! An entire brigade! A reinforced Armored Brigade! Just vanished into thin air?!"

He had been waiting here for a full day and night.

Ever since that bastard Zhang Xueming had taken the Eighth Brigade deep into enemy territory alone, chasing White Bear Army forces as they charged into the heart of Ulan, all contact had been lost.

"Commander, don't worry."

Chief of Staff Yang Yuting came over at an unhurried pace, holding a cup of hot tea. He looked perfectly calm.

"You know Xue Ming. That kid's a mad dog. Once he gets into a fight, he forgets everything else."

He pointed to the map. "The Eighth Brigade's been outfitted with the latest tanks, and they're far more mobile than the White Bear Army. They're probably caught up in the chase. It's perfectly normal for them not to have had time to set up their radio."

"Normal?"

Zhang Xueliang snatched the teacup from Yang Yuting's hand and smashed it to the floor.

"How the hell is this normal?!"

His eyes bloodshot, he pointed at Yang Yuting's nose and cursed, "They're deep in enemy territory! Hundreds of kilometers in! Surrounded by White Bear Army territory! What if they get trapped and wiped out?!"

"Old Yang, I'm telling you, he's my own little brother!"

"If anything happens to him, Marshal will skin me alive! And forget Ulan—do you think Marshal might declare full-scale war on White Bear Country?!"

Yang Yuting looked at the furious Zhang Xueliang and sighed. He said nothing more.

He knew Zhang Xueliang was telling the truth.

The old Marshal of the Zhang family was fiercely protective of his own.

If he learned that his son had fallen in Ulan, the consequences would be unthinkable.

Zhang Xueliang's outburst made the atmosphere in the entire command center even heavier.

Just then, a communications soldier suddenly pulled off his headphones and leaped to his feet, thrilled.

"We're through! It's an encrypted transmission from the Eighth Brigade!"

"Quick!"

Zhang Xueliang rushed over in a single stride and practically grabbed the soldier by the collar. "Break the code, damn it! What did he say? Are they surrounded? Do they need reinforcements?!"

His heart was in his throat.

An encrypted message at a time like this had to be an urgent call for help!

"Quick! Send word to Marshal! Tell him Xue Ming's surrounded in Kulun! Have him send reinforcements immediately!"

Zhang Xueliang was already issuing orders.

"Guard Regiment! Get to the border at once! Colonel Wang! Take your men and—"

"Commander! Wait!"

Yang Yuting grabbed Zhang Xueliang by the shoulder, his grip astonishingly strong.

"Look at this first!"

He took the thin sheet of telegram paper from the code clerk and thrust it right in front of Zhang Xueliang.

Zhang Xueliang took one look and froze.

Everyone in the command center craned their necks, eager to see what it said.

Yang Yuting cleared his throat and read the message aloud in an exceedingly strange tone.

"The message reads as follows."

"Our unit engaged the main force of the White Bear Far East Armored Army outside Kulun City."

"After a day of fierce fighting, our Armored Battalion dealt the enemy a crushing blow, destroying more than three hundred enemy armored vehicles and one hundred and twenty-seven tanks."

"The enemy army has collapsed across the entire front."

"Our unit pursued them eighty kilometers and annihilated their remaining forces at Xingxing Gorge."

"Kulun has fallen. The gateway to Ulan Province stands wide open."

"Send follow-up forces to occupy the area at once, lest others steal the credit."

"Also, ammunition and fuel supplies are critically low. Send replacements immediately."

"Feng Army Eighth Brigade, Zhang Xueming."

When Yang Yuting finished reading, the command center fell so silent that everyone could hear each other's heartbeats.

Everyone stared with their mouths agape at the sheet of telegram paper in Yang Yuting's hand as if it were some kind of monster.

Dealt a crushing blow to the main force of the White Bear Armored Army?

Annihilated its remaining forces?

They'd even taken Kulun?

And... and he was telling them to send troops so no one else could steal the credit?

Zhang Xueliang blinked, then blinked again. He snatched the telegram and read it carefully, word by word, three times.

Then he looked up at Yang Yuting, his lips trembling.

"Am I... am I dreaming?"

Fengtian, Marshal's Mansion.

Zhang Yuting paced back and forth in the living room, his steps making the Persian Carpet creak beneath his feet.

The cigar in his hand had burned down to its end. It singed him, making him flinch, and he tossed the stub straight into an antique vase beside his feet.

"Damn it!"

His roar startled Fifth Concubine so badly that the sunflower seeds in her hand spilled onto the floor.

"Those bastards at the Middle East Railway still haven't replied? What the hell is Wu Tiancheng doing? Tell him if he can't settle the negotiations, I'll lead the troops there and negotiate myself!"

Zhang Yuting kicked over the chair beside him. The entire Marshal's Mansion was steeped in a terrifying gloom.

Everyone knew the Marshal's real concern wasn't the Middle East Railway.

The railway was a nuisance, but it wasn't enough to make him lose his temper like this.

What truly had him in knots was his youngest son, Zhang Xueming, who had gone deep into enemy territory alone and had yet to send word.