"Rumble!"
The Special Train shuddered violently once more.
This time, it wasn't because of an explosion.
Its speed dropped abruptly, and the tremendous momentum sent everyone pitching forward.
The train conductor's desperate shout rang out.
"Marshal! Up ahead... up ahead is a river! There's no way through!"
Zhang Yuting steadied himself against the wall and looked outside.
One more step, and they'd be in the icy river.
At last, the Steel Behemoth had been stopped in its tracks.
Just then, a rumbling roar came from behind the distant hills.
It wasn't the sound of hooves.
It was the sound of steel treads grinding over the earth!
Soon, one Iron Turtle after another, each painted with the Rising Sun Flag, emerged from behind the hills.
Tanks!
An entire company of Type 95 Ha-Go Light Tanks!
Behind the tanks came a sea of Japanese Infantry, at least a full battalion!
"Marshal, it's the Japanese!"
The guards' faces changed dramatically. They raised their guns, and the tension instantly reached a breaking point.
Zhang Yuting's pupils suddenly contracted.
It was the tanks that had shocked him.
"This place is in the middle of nowhere. How did they get these iron beasts here?"
He murmured to himself, his gaze sweeping over a winding river in the distance.
"By water..."
He understood at once.
"Matsui, it seems the Tiger of Fengtian has become a tiger in a cage."
On the distant hillside, a Japanese officer in a crisp uniform peered through binoculars, his face brimming with the smug confidence of a man certain of victory.
He was Matsui Shigeki.
He had spent far too long planning this trap.
"Relay my orders!"
Matsui Shigeki lowered his binoculars, drew his Command Sword, and pointed it forward.
"Anyone who captures Zhang Yuting alive will be promoted three ranks and