If one hundred thousand people stood hand in hand, spaced one meter apart, they would stretch out for 100 kilometers, or 200 li. If they stood with arms fully extended holding hands, this figure could increase to 1.5 times that amount. Logically speaking, it should be impossible for Wu Peifu to cover only 40 li in three days. However, large-scale marching isn't just a matter of forming a single long line from start to finish. The movement of a large force primarily involves route planning and a series of preparations by large marching units, which are further divided into several smaller marching units.

Since they had learned from Germany, route planning, scheduling, and logistics should have been the responsibility of the staff department. The weather was sweltering, and Wu Peifu's Chief of Staff, soaked in sweat, endured Wu Peifu's angry scolding. Theoretically, this scolding wasn't unjust. The Chief of Staff didn't dare say a word, though he cursed Wu Peifu in his heart. Although the Beiyang Army's staff department had studied the German General Staff system, its implementation in reality was basically better than nothing. The military commanders of various units held all the power. As a feudal power distribution system, this was perfectly normal. Power comes from above, so the superior naturally held all authority, and all subordinates had to be unconditionally responsible to their superior. But modern military command was completely incompatible with this kind of power structure. When the Beiyang Army had only six divisions and less than 80,000 men, this model might have been maintained to some extent. But when the Beiyang Army expanded to over a million men, the old traditional model became a disaster.

However, these were not excuses. As an army that had received formal Western military education, the Beiyang Army should have understood the most basic knowledge of marching. But China in 1915 did not have the infrastructure of 21st-century China with its crisscrossing railways and dense highway networks. There were only a few roads capable of supporting large troop movements. As soon as the main Beiyang force left Handan, the People's Party Air Force immediately bombed several main roads. Every time the Beiyang Army was strafed and bombed by planes, chaos ensued. Once the front fell into disorder, the road became blocked. By the time they reorganized the troops, time had been wasted. Yet Wu Peifu completely lacked the guts to send smaller scale troops to attack alone. Sending ten or twenty thousand men to attack the People's Party would be delivering meat to the chopping block; only a large force could conduct effective combat.

This unprecedented situation made Wu Peifu incredibly furious, but fury aside, the troops simply couldn't deploy. This pent-up resentment was vented onto the Chief of Staff.

The Chief of Staff naturally felt wronged. The Beiyang Army lacked this kind of large corps operation training. More importantly, the Beiyang Army's war mentality was entirely based on the decisive battle mode. Both sides would line up hundreds of thousands of troops along a long battlefront to wage war. The People's Party opposite the Beiyang Army didn't use this mode at all; the war presented a situation where it could unfold anytime, anywhere. In the previous scout skirmishes, the People's Party attacked everywhere, moving erratically, their presence visible everywhere. Now, not only on the ground, but the war had even unfolded in the sky. They hadn't even had time to analyze these brand-new situations, let alone find corresponding solutions. As for Wu Peifu, it was the same old routine: cursing subordinates for disobeying orders, cursing the Chief of Staff for incompetence. The Chief of Staff thought to himself: The division commanders who obeyed orders are all dead. What use is there for you, Wu Peifu, to keep making such a fuss?

Fortunately, Wu Peifu was not an incompetent person. He knew very well that cursing his subordinates when he was in a bad mood wouldn't solve practical problems. As the supreme commander, Wu Peifu still had a kind of appreciation for his troops. To have not collapsed while camping amidst repeated evasions and regrouping was already a sign of quite remarkable military discipline. However, after several days of tossing and turning like this, the morale of Wu Peifu's subordinates was wavering. Not being able to cover a distance of less than a hundred li—for Wu Peifu, this was not just a humiliation, but a huge joke. Wu Peifu firmly believed that fighting ultimately depended on morale. Now that morale was frustrated, if they couldn't lead the troops to fight their way to Linzhang and instead retreated to Handan with their tails between their legs, would the Beiyang Army still dare to fight when the People's Party planes appeared in the future?

"We must reach Linzhang County even if we march all night," Wu Peifu roared at the Chief of Staff.

Holding onto his last shred of responsibility, the Chief of Staff said, "Marshal, tonight is absolutely impossible. Our marching plans were all prepared for the daytime. If we don't send many troops, it will be useless. If we send many, we are underprepared for tonight. It would be better to prepare tomorrow during the day and march tomorrow night."

"Send a brigade to advance first tonight." Wu Peifu had not lost his reason. Large-scale night marching was inherently troublesome. Let alone a hundred thousand men, moving a division of twenty thousand men would be a disaster. A brigade of around ten thousand men was the limit. Regardless of whether the Chief of Staff was willing or not, Wu Peifu ordered his directly subordinate 1st Brigade of the 1st Division of the 4th Army to advance towards Linzhang County. This was the unit he trusted most.

After receiving the order, the officers and soldiers of the 1st Brigade didn't have the excitement of "winning glory for Old Commander Wu." The Brigade Commander could still hold it in, but the officers and soldiers below were already discussing it animatedly.

"Isn't this sending us to our deaths?" someone said bluntly.

"Running dozens of li in the pitch black to the People's Party's place... what do we do once we get there?" This was a more implicit way of putting it.

"What if the People's Party has set an ambush?" Someone was more concerned about the dangers the military operation itself might encounter.

However, the lower-ranking officers and soldiers had no way to oppose the Brigade Commander's orders, let alone the orders of Old Commander Wu Peifu. Whether they liked it or not, the troops were mobilized. At around nine o'clock in the evening, many officers and soldiers had to embark on the journey full of complaints during the time they would usually spend drinking and gambling.

Summer nights weren't cold, and the wind could even be described as quite cool. The 1st Brigade began to set out by battalion. Fearing discovery on the road, the troops lit the minimum number of torches. Without air raids from planes, the march was indeed much more reassuring. The road was surprisingly peaceful as well; the entire force walked cautiously for over ten li without encountering a single soul. Many Beiyang soldiers who were originally worried finally relaxed. Thinking about it, there were still over twenty li to Linzhang County; the People's Party surely wouldn't be that alert in the middle of the night.

This idea was naturally wrong. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army's reconnaissance battalion had discovered this Beiyang force at least half an hour ago and had been tracking them for quite a while. The reconnaissance battalion was elite; theoretically, they weren't used for large-scale attacks. Chai Qingguo also didn't want to use this force in a meaningless war of attrition.

"Since the Beiyang hasn't moved out in large scale, don't attack." The reconnaissance battalion wasn't stupid enough to attack a force more than ten times their size like moths to a flame. But the reconnaissance battalion also felt extremely puzzled by the "bravery" of this Beiyang vanguard. "Did the Beiyang Army just send a unit here to die? Do they have no follow-up troops?"

But in the intelligence transmitted by the People's Party's field telephones, the Beiyang Army had simply sent one unit over. This unit was obviously a Beiyang elite force. Although their night marching speed wasn't fast, they had actually walked over ten li without scattering. The People's Party's night long-distance marching mode relied on comrades behind holding onto the marching packs of the comrades in front to maintain marching speed, yet the Beiyang Army had managed to walk over just like this. However, this didn't mean the Beiyang Army's march was flawless. Their officers were shouting almost non-stop, their voices exposing their whereabouts as clearly as positioning beacons.

"We have to stop them, right? Are we just going to let them reach Linzhang County like this? I didn't expect these enemies to walk so fast." The comrades of the reconnaissance unit raised a question. "Looking at how they marched during the day, I thought they couldn't walk fast."

"Walking only ten-odd li in four or five hours, you call that fast? If it were our troops, we would have walked thirty li." The reconnaissance battalion commander thought this question was too stupid.

"Then what do we do now?" the comrade continued to ask.

"Wait for the phone call." The battalion commander grumpily gave the standard answer.

The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army's field telephone network covered a distance of over thirty li around Linzhang County. Since the intelligence had been conveyed, the remaining work was to wait.

Inside the Linzhang County Headquarters, it was confirmed again and again that the Beiyang Army had only sent a brigade. Among this good news, there was also bad news. This brigade's marching column stretched out for four or five li. Trying to annihilate them in one fell swoop wasn't realistic. Marching speed on the North China Plain was fast; once the fighting dragged on until daylight, it would be difficult to prevent Wu Peifu's reinforcements from coming up.

"Is it an annihilation battle or besieging the point to strike the reinforcements?" Chai Qingguo asked the comrades.

"The Beiyang Army still has some marching capability. Besieging the point to strike reinforcements might not be that easy. Why not let this Beiyang force come over? We'll talk after daybreak."

"A dull knife cuts meat slowly. A fly is meat no matter how small. Not to mention this fly isn't that small."

"Or should we prepare a bigger pocket formation now? Wait to bag all the Beiyang troops inside."

There were all kinds of suggestions, and the headquarters was abuzz with discussion.

Finally, Xiong Mingyang spoke. "Right now, it's not that we don't know ourselves, but we don't know the enemy. The Beiyang Army's performance is too unpredictable. Chairman Chen has always emphasized concentrating four or five times the enemy's strength to fight a quick annihilation battle. Since that's the case, I suggest annihilating this Beiyang force. If the situation requires adapting to changes, weakening the Beiyang Army to the maximum extent within a short time is the key. This method is a bit clumsy, but it's useful."

Since all the comrades chose to attack, Xiong Mingyang's suggestion easily gained support. Chai Qingguo didn't oppose this plan either. "Comrades, none of us are as good at fighting as Chairman Chen, so don't bite off more than we can chew. Let's engage the Beiyang Army here. We'll wipe them out bit by bit."

No one opposed this plan, and the fate of the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division of the Beiyang 4th Army was decided.

But this annihilation battle didn't start with an attack. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army's combat engineer units first inserted themselves between the 1st Brigade and the Beiyang field group, laying mines on several roads. They also used hole diggers modeled after the Luoyang shovel to simply create an obstacle belt, setting up blocking positions behind it. The blocking troops quietly entered the positions. Only after the Beiyang vanguard was deemed unable to escape did the annihilation battle commence.

By this time, the sky had turned bright. The Beiyang Army was still over ten li from Linzhang County. After walking all night, they also felt exhausted. Moreover, the officers and soldiers discovered something that left them dumbfounded. The farmland near Linzhang County had been completely harvested. Near Handan, which was controlled by the Beiyang Army, the fields hadn't been harvested yet; there were patches of golden wheat fields everywhere. This was also one reason for the Beiyang Army's slow march—Wu Peifu had strictly ordered that troops were not allowed to trample farmland, and violators would be severely punished. The high-ranking officers of the Beiyang Army knew that without this year's harvest, the food supply in Handan would be very tight. Marching all night, everyone was sleepy and tired, and their nerves were quite tense, so they hadn't noticed the changes in the surrounding scenery. Staring at the harvested wheat fields, the Beiyang Army couldn't help but be surprised. This was the Hebei countryside where the People's Party had never been before, yet the newly arrived People's Party had completely controlled the countryside of Linzhang County.

This surprise didn't last long. Several muffled explosions came from the distance, coming from the rear of the Beiyang Army. A moment later, a burst of gunfire followed. It also came from the rear. The Beiyang Army dared not advance any further. The Brigade Commander ordered the troops to stand by on the spot and then ordered the reconnaissance cavalry to hurry back and see what was happening. The reconnaissance cavalry soon returned with the orderly who had set out earlier. The Beiyang Army wasn't negligent about their rear route; as soon as the sky turned slightly bright, the Brigade Commander had sent cavalry back to contact Wu Peifu. A squad of cavalry had gone, but only two people returned.

"Brigade Commander, the People's Party cut off our retreat." The orderly's voice carried a sobbing tone. "We went over as a squad and ran into an ambush. Luckily there were explosions ahead, so everyone was more careful. Otherwise, I wouldn't have made it back."

"Why were there explosions ahead?" The 1st Brigade Commander pressed.

The orderly answered, still in shock, "We don't know either. We just saw some Beiyang brothers being stopped far away. But we didn't see them exchanging fire with anyone. Instead, when we got close, a lot of People's Party men suddenly appeared by the roadside. The brothers in front weren't careful and were all killed."

The 1st Brigade Commander was alarmed hearing this. He dared not continue attacking Linzhang County. He ordered: "Rear unit becomes the front unit, charge back."

Although they hadn't slept all night, the news that their retreat was cut off raised the Beiyang Army's spirits quite a bit. They were originally in marching formation, but because it was daylight, the troop formation became even denser and more compact. The Brigade Commander's order was quickly implemented, and the troops swiftly turned around and began to head back the way they came.

After receiving this news, Chai Qingguo didn't issue further orders. The military plan had already begun execution; now it depended on the performance of the frontline commanders. He looked up and asked Political Commissar Xiong Mingyang, "Old Xiong, if our troops encountered this situation, how many do you think wouldn't run back along the original road to send themselves to death?"

This question stumped Xiong Mingyang. He pondered for a while before answering with a bitter smile, "Chairman Chen definitely wouldn't do such a thing."

Chai Qingguo was amused by Xiong Mingyang. "Isn't that nonsense? I'm asking you how many of us wouldn't make this kind of foolish mistake."

"This isn't making a foolish mistake; any normal person would do this," Xiong Mingyang answered. "The enemy situation is unclear, so one definitely can't continue forward. Finding a shortcut to circle back counts as using one's brain."

Chai Qingguo shook his head. "Why not advance? Make a gesture of continuing to advance, then suddenly turn diagonally forward, cut through, and turn again. Isn't that the best choice? If the Beiyang Army did that, we'd have a headache."

"Your hypothetical condition is wrong. That's what would be done knowing both oneself and the enemy. We know we can finish setting up positions in an hour or two; does the Beiyang Army know that? If I were surrounded by the Beiyang Army, I would definitely try to see if I could break out first," Xiong Mingyang answered.

"Then what if you encountered an enemy like our People's Party?" Chai Qingguo continued to press.

Facing this question, Xiong Mingyang was silent for a good while before answering, "If I were up against an enemy like our People's Party, firstly, I absolutely wouldn't agree to fight like this. Secondly, if I were surrounded, I would only establish a defensive position on the spot. I believe you, Old Chai, would definitely come to save me."

Chai Qingguo nodded deeply. "I think the same as you."