When Chen Ke rushed back to Huaiyuan county town with the Fourth Regiment, Hua Xiongmao hurried over to welcome him. Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen weren't scared into the city by Hua Xiongmao; before they had to retreat into Huaiyuan county town, the two also fought a battle.

The winner of this battle was undoubtedly the two regiments commanded by Hua Xiongmao. Before the battle started, Hua Xiongmao had learned that the Beiyang Army had been greatly weakened. Even though he only had two regiments with more than eight thousand people under his command, facing nearly twelve thousand Beiyang troops, Hua Xiongmao was still full of confidence.

"The Beiyang Army doesn't know how to fight!" This was already the consensus of the high-level cadres of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. The People's Party's exercise object could only be its own troops. In the exercises, fire coordination, front-line movement, flanking attacks, surprise attacks, bayonet fighting. After repeating these tactics, the troops faced a large number of problems after each exercise. As the principal of the military academy, Chen Ke taught the basic tactical concepts and the reasons for adopting these tactics to the troops. From top to bottom, the troops felt confused; if one had to say, it was learning a lot but understanding little.

Before engaging Beiyang, the troops involuntarily looked up to Beiyang. They felt that if people like themselves who just learned to fight still had to face these complex problems, old troops like the Beiyang Army probably solved the problems long ago. Once they really engaged, the troops discovered that compared to themselves, the Beiyang Army was a group of "fledglings" who only knew superficial skills through and through. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army lured the enemy casually, and Beiyang foolishly drilled into the trap. The communication, reconnaissance, including marching and fighting adopted by Beiyang revealed a strong "silly air." The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army was far from meeting Chairman Chen Ke's requirements, but even so, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army's mobile warfare was more than enough to deal with the Beiyang Army.

In frontal combat, the confident Hua Xiongmao adopted the extremely ordinary frontal combat tactics taught in the military academy. Digging works according to the terrain, arranging firepower in echelons; Hua Xiongmao commanded the troops to prepare for battle calmly. In the past, Hua Xiongmao had Chen Ke above him and the Military Commission as colleagues. Although Division Political Commissar He Zudao didn't steal credit, he pressed on Hua Xiongmao in the organizational system. The various military commanders below also grew up rapidly, and Hua Xiongmao consciously felt the presence of his position becoming thinner and thinner. Now Chen Ke and He Zudao were both in the Fourth Regiment. Hua Xiongmao directly commanded two regiments in combat as a division commander for the first time; this was his time to display his skills.

Although quite a few people thought Hua Xiongmao maintained the status of the number one person in the army by seniority, these people didn't figure out that being able to maintain the status of the number one person in the army by seniority in a situation without actual military merit itself explained Hua Xiongmao's extraordinariness.

The battle started with a very ordinary situation; the artillery of both sides fired first. The base area had experience in large-scale manufacturing of iron farm tools, and entrenching shovels were also researched and produced. Simple foxholes had been dug many times, which was nothing remarkable for the troops. However, the experience of being bombarded frontally by cannons was the first time for most soldiers of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. Shells came and exploded violently on the position. Huge vibrations were transmitted to every soldier, and every soldier's face changed nervously. They hugged their guns, shrinking tightly inside the foxholes. When training these civil engineering works before, everyone had absolutely no concept of digging foxholes. After experiencing shelling, quite a few soldiers were suddenly enlightened about the design concept of foxholes amidst fear. No matter how many times the troop cadres lectured, it couldn't compare to experiencing it personally once for educational value.

Learning that tens of thousands of bandit troops were approaching Huaiyuan County, Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen originally felt this was a good opportunity to accomplish the whole task at one stroke. They couldn't care about cutting firewood anymore and immediately mobilized all troops to prepare for an attack.

The one responsible for the attack was not the Beiyang Army but Wang Shizhen's troops. Duan Qirui's Third Town had experienced a series of battles, and the one chasing the Fourth Regiment was also the Beiyang Army elite. Wang Shizhen wasn't a petty person; Duan Qirui only had less than five thousand people left, so it was really inappropriate to let Duan Qirui fight this battle again. Wang Shizhen commanded his troops to enter the battle. Wang Shizhen's troops were the 13th Mixed Brigade, plus some Green Standard Army soldiers, totaling about six thousand people. Unlike the Beiyang Army, this troop didn't have any combat experience. Being able to be brought to Huaiyuan County by Wang Shizhen completely proved Wang Shizhen's outstanding command ability.

Once the artillery battle started, these New Army soldiers originally felt it was very fresh, stretching their necks to look one by one. As a result, not long after the Beiyang Army fired, shells whistled over from the opposite chaotic party position immediately. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army shivered in the artillery position, but at least they had a place to hide. The New Army had no such concept at all. They were deployed on several offensive positions; when shells exploded beside them, this bunch was scared bad.

The first round of shelling by both sides counted as a demonstration battle, proving to both enemy and us simultaneously, "We have cannons!" Next, the artillerymen began to adjust firing data, starting to shoot at targets considered valuable under the guidance of artillery observers. From this time on, the Beiyang Army began to suffer losses. Duan Qirui, who graduated from the Artillery Department of the Tianjin Military Academy with "optimal" grades, personally commanded the Beiyang artillery. Beiyang had always valued artillery among the various New Armies. Most of the fired shells hit the position of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army.

A considerable part of the artillerymen in the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army came from the Anhui New Army, and the others were trained by the base area itself. Really exchanging fire with Beiyang, even if they didn't fall to the disadvantage, they couldn't show obvious advantages either. However, the advantage of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army lay in being able to fully utilize all technical means. After two artillery observation balloons rose slowly into the sky in the sight of the Beiyang Army, the advantage of the artillery battle quickly turned to the side of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army.

Standing high, seeing far. Not to mention that professional personnel were configured inside the artillery observation balloons. Looking down from above, trenches and communication trenches on the position of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army wound and interlaced. While the position on the Beiyang Army side didn't change much. Large numbers of troops hiding behind natural terrain were simply seen at a glance. Under effective guidance, shells were fired fiercely in the direction of the enemy's large troops. The observers saw very clearly that when shells exploded in the enemy ranks, bloody flowers were raised among the ant-like crowd; the blown-away mud and human bodies were components of the flowers. And the ant colony that originally looked reasonably regulated scattered instantly, losing order completely.

"Artillery Third Company continue shooting." Flag signals transmitted messages to the position below, "That is the enemy's troop assembly area."

The greatest role of shelling at the current stage was actually destroying the enemy's offensive organization; this point had long been taught in the military academy of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. The best situation was undoubtedly inflicting heavy damage on the starting position of the enemy troops.

Even as steady as Wang Shizhen, seeing his troops scattered and fleeing by shells, his face became extremely ugly. Originally Wang Shizhen thought that even if the People's Party opposite were fierce bandits and had certain combat power, they couldn't possibly play any special tricks. The People's Party indeed didn't play any tricks; the People's Party just displayed the level a formally militarily educated army should have. Artillery observation balloons were originally not rare things; Beiyang had also engaged in them. Wang Shizhen was not unfamiliar with this at all. However, in this battle, neither Duan Qirui nor Wang Shizhen brought balloons, and secondly, they didn't expect the People's Party to actually apply this technology so openly and aboveboard.

This wasn't the time to hesitate. If the artillery battle was allowed to continue like this, without positional warfare, Wang Shizhen's subordinates wouldn't be able to hold on. "Cavalry attack!" Wang Shizhen gave the order decisively.

When the cavalry attacked, the Beiyang Army's artillery had to stop shooting. The troops of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army were immediately called out from the foxholes by platoon leaders and squad leaders. "Enter position! Enter position!"

The position originally with only a few troops was instantly filled with infantry, black rifle muzzles aimed uniformly in the direction of the enemy.

"Beiyang cavalry is coming; no shooting without orders!" This was a matter trained countless times. Platoon and squad leaders shouted to the soldiers almost instinctively. In the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, becoming cadres at all levels didn't depend on how smooth your interpersonal relationships were. Although the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army wanted to educate seriously on basic politeness to others, military cadres were not selected by being polite. Whoever trained well, whoever could complete military command, only then had the opportunity to be elected as officers at all levels. So the first reaction of these cadres was to arrange the battle according to usual training, experience accumulated in war, and military skills accepted in pre-war discussion meetings at all levels, post-war summary meetings, and training in military academies at all levels.

None of the company commanders hid in the back at this time. They all went to the first line to inspect troop deployment, emphasizing again the aspects to pay attention to during combat. The enemy was about to launch an attack immediately. Even for troops with strict training like the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, the work company commanders had to do was still plenty. Thanks to the even more ineffective organization of these New Armies, the 13th Mixed Brigade attacked sluggishly after being shelled. The front line of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army received the news of the enemy cavalry moving out and finally completed comprehensive preparations.

Compared with the storm-like shelling just now, the sound of horse hooves of hundreds of cavalry felt like a breeze to the soldiers. Squad and platoon leaders suppressed their nervous feelings, their eyes patrolling back and forth in the direction where the soldiers and company commanders were.

Company commanders pursed their lips tightly, waiting for the signal for the next step of combat. The sound of horse hooves and the shouting of cavalry opposite were clearly audible on the quiet position of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. But the position of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army remained silent, as if there was no one on the position.

"Da da da..." The machine guns began to ring when the enemy entered a distance of about thirty meters before the position. Without looking at the effect of the machine guns at all, the company commanders roared almost simultaneously, "Fire!"

Hundreds of rifles joined the ranks of shooting at the same time. Like cutting wheat, the New Army cavalry were knocked down in patches. Men shouted and horses neighed at the front of the position, a chaotic mess.

Hua Xiongmao heaved a long sigh of relief. The troop's performance completely met the highest requirements. The tactics that should be adopted, the troops executed meticulously. No matter how many times practiced on normal days, it couldn't compare to real combat. Training was practicing with one's own people; combat was fighting with living enemies. Until the moment of engaging fire, you couldn't guess the enemy's most specific reaction. What the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army was best at was urban warfare and siege warfare; field warfare happened not to be the content they were best at. Facing the Beiyang Army, except for Chen Ke, no one in the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army had confidence in their hearts. Now, Hua Xiongmao could already determine that the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army occupied the upper hand in field warfare.

War victory is obtained by offense. Hua Xiongmao didn't prepare to defend to the end originally. The Second Regiment had already dispatched flanking troops. In the plan, this troop was to wait until the enemy's infantry launched an attack, then cut fiercely into the enemy's attack formation from the side, attacking fiercely and violently, annihilating the enemy in one fell swoop. Now the flanking troop had entered the predetermined position; after the Beiyang Army opposite began to attack, they continued to conduct front-line movement forward. But Beiyang seemed to be scared out of their wits. After the cavalry was wiped out, the Beiyang Army actually had no intention of continuing to attack. Not only that, the Beiyang Army troops even began to retreat.

"Prepare to take cover; be careful of Beiyang Army shelling." Hua Xiongmao didn't have the intention of being beaten passively at all. Beiyang Army doing this was probably preparing for large-scale shelling, right?

"Let the Second Regiment send two companies towards the direction of tree cutting." Hua Xiongmao continued to order. The courier had already explained the cause of today's battle clearly. Since the Beiyang Army cavalry had already suffered a heavy blow, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army now occupied a huge advantage in mobility. Not letting the Beiyang Army cut trees was also a very important tactical goal.

Wang Shizhen's face was already gloomy to the extreme. He never expected the enemy opposite to be so capable of fighting. As a qualified military commander, he was very clear that continuing to attack like this now was just losing troops in vain. Moreover, after this artillery battle, the 13th Mixed Brigade under him completely lost the will to fight. The New Army had the courage to bully ordinary bandits; facing regular troops with machine guns and cannons, the courage of the 13th Mixed Brigade began to melt instantly like ice and snow under the scorching sun. Especially the reconnaissance balloon high in the sky made these New Armies lose their "superiority in equipment." Stuff that could fly in the sky was high technology; that meant the "chaotic party" opposite had "power" exceeding the New Army. Plus the dense formation preparing to set off suffered a blow; the dense formation suffered a heavy blow in an instant, and the New Army also needed time to reorganize its troops.

Duan Qirui had rushed over at this time. He stared hatefully at the observation balloon. This hateful thing made all government troops who could see the balloon feel uncomfortable all over. Being watched from so high above, no one could feel good.

"Old brother, let's break through." Duan Qirui said ferociously.

Wang Shizhen shook his head. "Withdraw troops first. The 13th Mixed Brigade is already in chaos." The shells falling into the Mixed Brigade troops during the artillery battle caused great chaos to the government army. Even with ability like Wang Shizhen's, he still hadn't completely tidied up the situation. Plus the cavalry also suffered heavy damage; counting on the 13th Mixed Brigade to take the lead again was completely unrealistic. Moreover, Wang Shizhen had a strong unease in his heart; he always felt that if they continued fighting, something would definitely happen.

Duan Qirui could also see that organizing an attack again couldn't be completed in a moment. The Beiyang Army had already suffered considerable losses. Plus the elite troops went to chase the fleeing People's Party bandit troops; the remaining troops also needed to catch their breath. The two began to rectify their subordinates separately.

Bad news came one by one subsequently. First, the cavalry of the pursuit troops fled back in fear and trepidation, reporting that the three thousand pursuit troops were completely wiped out. Then the wood-cutting troops were suddenly attacked from inside the forest. The People's Party bandit troops opposite began to launch shelling on the government army's position again. Forced helplessly, the government army all withdrew back into the city.

Hua Xiongmao introduced the battle situation to Chen Ke. He felt very regretful that the Beiyang Army didn't continue to launch attacks. If the government army's infantry charged again, Hua Xiongmao firmly believed that with the strike of the flank ambush soldiers, he could definitely give the Beiyang Army sortie troops a heavy blow.

"Division Commander Hua, you have already done very well." Chen Ke praised Hua Xiongmao first. "Now the Beiyang Army has no ability to escape for their lives anymore. This encirclement can definitely finish them off."

"Brothers of Beiyang, the troops you sent out were destroyed by us. Now we send the captured Beiyang officers and soldiers back to you. We have already bandaged them; you hurry up and do the rest of the life-saving things yourselves." Although full of Anhui local accent, the vigorous Northern Anhui Mandarin could still be heard clearly by the Beiyang Army from Zhili.

Duan Qirui at the city wall head already knew the three thousand troops chasing the People's Party were completely wiped out. Before hearing this news personally, he still had some illusions in his heart that those cavalry fleeing back for their lives were just talking nonsense. When the People's Party asked the Beiyang Army to receive the captives, Duan Qirui knew this bad news was true.

But he couldn't refuse the People's Party's request immediately either. In the binoculars, he had already seen the Beiyang Army wounded soldiers and POWs being brought to the front of Huaiyuan county town by the People's Party. Duan Qirui couldn't refuse to take these people back no matter what. If he dared to refuse, someone would really dare to shoot him in the back.

Not only the POWs and wounded from today's several battles, but the Beiyang Army captured by the People's Party a few days ago were also in the released ranks. Although these people were their own comrades-in-arms, watching the blood-stained wounded soldiers being carried into the city, the faces of all Beiyang Army and 13th Mixed Brigade New Army soldiers were very ugly.

Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen hurriedly began to question the captives, hoping to get the truth about the People's Party from them. The news obtained was naturally that the People's Party had a multitude of people; the number of People's Party troops ranged from thirty thousand to fifty thousand, according to the captives' different statements.

When Duan Qirui sent troops, the Third Town actually dispatched eleven thousand people, and Wang Shizhen's troops had six thousand people. After several consecutive battles, casting aside the wounded, the number of troops on both sides added together that could still fight was less than ten thousand. According to the intelligence provided by the captives, the People's Party had at least thirty thousand people. The combat power of these thirty thousand was at least equal to the Beiyang Army. Fighting one against three, both Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen knew there was no chance of winning at all. This Huaiyuan city was extremely likely to be their burial place.

The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army were all from peasant backgrounds; officers and soldiers were good at civil engineering. After experiencing battle, the whole army was very clear about the meaning of fortifications. To besiege the government army inside the city, it was absolutely impossible without fortifications. Without much mobilization, the troops began to dig fortifications vigorously. First were various areas convenient for breakout, as well as combat key points.

Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen sat face to face in the command post, their faces like the sky outside. God was really blind; these days were cloudy, and even dropped a few drops of rain occasionally. But the autumn rain didn't fall at all. Once it rained, the People's Party bandit troops definitely couldn't persist. The fortifications they dug could effectively resist the Beiyang Army's attack, but with continuous autumn rain, no matter how fierce and brave the People's Party was, it was impossible to hold on in the mud all the time. At that time, there would be a chance to break out.

There were only two choices for the breakout route, either north or east. Huaiyuan County faced the confluence of the Guo River and Huai River. To the west was the Guo River, and to the south was the confluence of the Guo River and Huai River. The People's Party now deployed heavy troops in the north and east. Which route to choose exactly, the two hadn't made up their minds for the time being.

While discussing, a guard barged in with a panicked scout. "Commander Duan, Provincial Commander Wang. A fleet has come on the river surface. There are gunboats in the fleet."

"There are gunboats?" Duan Qirui looked happy; in these years, fleets with gunboats were definitely government forces.

"The gunboats are flying the flag of the People's Party." The scout hurriedly corrected Duan Qirui's wrong idea.

Wang Shizhen's face changed greatly. "That is the warship of the Hubei Navy captured by the People's Party!"

Hearing Wang Shizhen say this, Duan Qirui immediately realized suddenly. He shouted angrily: "This bunch of trash of the Hubei New Army!"

Before the voice landed, a dull roar sounded from outside the city. Shells flew into Huaiyuan city with sharp whistling sounds.

This was the People's Party inland river fleet commanded by Yan Fu. To annihilate the Beiyang Army completely and achieve the effect of military training, Chen Ke spared no capital. Blockade on land, using fleet shelling on water. Observation balloons rose on the opposite bank of the river; artillery observers high above guided the fleet to bombard Huaiyuan county town fiercely.

It wasn't just ordinary shells fired into the city, but also aluminum-based incendiary shells. The quantity wasn't large, but the effect was really very good. The high heat released by the thermite reaction quickly ignited civilian houses. And the shells themselves ignited quite a few fire heads. The autumn wind was strong; once the fire started, it couldn't be withstood anymore. The Beiyang Army was unwilling to come out to fight the fire braving artillery fire. By the time they realized they had to save it, the fire was already so big that they couldn't save it at all.

Rolling thick smoke and flames could be seen from the city. The city gates soon opened wide, and the completely disordered Beiyang Army rolled out from inside the city.

"Kill!" The commanders of various units of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army had no other choice; this opportunity was once in a blue moon. Many Beiyang troops held weapons, but more Beiyang troops didn't even have weapons. Compared to field warfare, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army was better at urban warfare. Various units didn't have time to fully reorganize the teams and sent out advance attack troops.

Looking at the menacing Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army killing their way over, the Beiyang Army still thought of resisting, while the troops of the 13th Mixed Brigade had already given up the plan to resist. Screaming, they rushed back into the city again. This time, they also dispersed the formation of the Beiyang Army trying to organize. The officers and soldiers of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army didn't give them a chance at all. The closer to the city wall, the more familiar the officers and soldiers felt. "Throw bombs!" Platoon leaders and squad leaders shouted almost simultaneously.

One side was well-trained, the other was chaotic and unable to meet the battle at all. The battle developed quickly from the city gate to the city wall. Officers and soldiers of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army chased the government army, killing their way into the city all the way. They didn't rashly continue into the city either, but seized the commanding heights of the city wall first, blocking the city gates.

Just at this time, perhaps the airflow disturbed by the big fire in the city played a role, the rain that Wang Shizhen and Duan Qirui once looked forward to incomparably finally fell from the gloomy sky. Dense raindrops soon turned into heavy rain. The Beiyang Army's last chance to restore the command system was ruthlessly washed away by the heavy rain. In rain battles, it depended on who was more organized. Gunshots mixed in the rain water; one couldn't distinguish east, west, south, and north at all. Heavy rain obscured vision and made roads slippery. And the big fire in the city seemingly extinguished by rain, the fire scene drenched by rain emitted high-temperature steam in all directions, still making people unable to enter the fire scene to hide.

The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army had sufficient urban warfare experience. After they seized a part of the city wall, the Beiyang Army lost the last chance.

The battle was fought from approaching noon to the afternoon when the rain turned into light rain. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army completely occupied the city wall, and the remnants of the Beiyang Army were surrounded in several strongholds.

Although the rain became smaller, the sky became even darker. Duan Qirui took out his pocket watch with stiff fingers and looked; it was already past four in the afternoon. The sky was gloomy as if it were night. The sound of guns and cannons in the city also gradually stopped. There were less than seventy Beiyang Army soldiers following Duan Qirui. They were now guarding a courtyard burned by the fire. The Beiyang Army didn't eat breakfast, and as result, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army broke in before lunch. Up to now, including Duan Qirui, the dozens of Beiyang troops trapped here hadn't eaten for a day and a night. Their clothes had long been soaked by rain. Originally they could still feel the clothes were cold; now they didn't even have the feeling of coldness.

Someone shouted in the loudspeaker outside the wall: "Duan Qirui, you have been surrounded. Surrender now; our Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army treats captives leniently. I now announce our captive policy to you: First, body search, but only confiscate weapons, not your personal property. Second, no cursing captives, no killing captives. Third..."

These voices entered Duan Qirui's ears; he knew the other party was shouting, but he couldn't listen to a single word of the specific content. Duan Qirui only had a feeling of confusion in his heart. He knew he was finished but couldn't accept this fact. Is this my end? Traveling thousands of *li* from Beijing to Anhui, in less than ten days, Duan Qirui, who once commanded tens of thousands of Beiyang troops, had less than seventy people left by his side? And those bandits of Anhui local origin were persuading surrender to the Beiyang Army Commander so triumphantly? Even in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Duan Qirui hadn't suffered such a crushing defeat.

Duan Qirui even suspected he was having a nightmare; as long as he could wake up, all this would disappear. He was still the Commander of the Third Town, with over ten thousand elite soldiers under his command, trying every means to exterminate the Anhui chaotic party.

Raising his hand to touch his forehead, neither his fingers nor his forehead had a real tactile sensation. Everything seemed to be in a dream; knowing fingers and forehead existed, but having no feeling. Duan Qirui had been in the army for so long; this was the closest battle he had ever fought with the enemy, and also a war Duan Qirui hadn't been able to fully understand from beginning to end. In the next instant, Duan Qirui completely lost consciousness; he fainted.

Chen Ke completely didn't expect the war to end in this way. Before the war started, Chen Ke thought this would be a war where the Beiyang Army pounced straight on Fengtai County, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army resisted layer by layer, constantly weakening the Beiyang Army, and finally ended with a complete encirclement and annihilation battle. Waiting until Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen were surrounded in Huaiyuan County, Chen Ke thought again that what would finally resolve the battle would be the field battle of the Beiyang Army breaking out. Never expected that the battle finally resolving the Beiyang Army was the siege warfare the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army was best at.

"I am really an unqualified commander. Those historical military strategists could lead the battle into the track they predicted. While Chen Ke's strategic vision changed again and again, vastly different from the original plan." Chen Ke couldn't help making a self-criticism. This thought only appeared for an instant, and Chen Ke completely gave up the plan to continue deep thinking.

Winning the battle wasn't the end; the things after the battle were the multitude of loose ends. Gathering captives, treating the wounded. In this Huaiyuan county town ravaged by fire and battle, there were simply not enough places to live. Rainwater mixed with blood water; the entire Huaiyuan county town was truly a bloody storm. It was about to be dark soon; not only did the troops have no time to celebrate, but they had to use greater effort to clean up the battlefield instead.

Wiping the rain off his face, Chen Ke began to divide the work with the Military Commission comrades, starting the tense and complicated winding-up work.