"Regarding Tianjin, we will encircle but not attack! Beijing must be taken as quickly as possible!" Pu Guanshui had only slept for four or five hours a day these past few days, yet he showed no signs of fatigue. On the contrary, this Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army commander, who had originated as a high-ranking officer in the Beiyang Army, was in high spirits and highly focused.

The commanders at the frontline headquarters were just like Pu Guanshui. The development of the situation had greatly exceeded their expectations. The seemingly powerful Beiyang Army had been split in two. The Beiyang Hebei Group on the left flank had once launched a massive offensive against Chai Qingguo's troops. In the Hebei plains, the Beiyang Army had piled up corpses like mountains in front of trenches, barbed wire, bunkers, and machine guns. Now they were halted between Xingtai and Handan, at a loss for what to do. The Beiyang Army on the right flank had retreated from Qingdao, with nearly 200,000 troops huddled in Weifang, unsure of their next move.

Compared to the completely panicked Beiyang Army, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army had clear strategic goals and firm tactical concepts. Two reserve corps moved north from Shandong, taking over all key areas in the Shandong Military Region. The Shandong Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army set out from Dezhou and marched all the way north, pressing straight towards Tianjin via Cangzhou.

"Are we really not going to provoke the foreign devils' naval guns for the time being?" Some comrades still felt a bit regretful.

"If we provoke the foreign devils' naval guns now, we'll suffer losses," Pu Guanshui laughed. This was the consistent philosophy of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army; fearing sacrifice and throwing away lives for nothing were two completely contradictory things. "The foreign devils' naval guns can't drive onto land anyway, so let's just let them show off at sea for now."

"Report! The 38th Corps has arrived at their destination west of Tianjin. They have occupied the railway and started constructing positions. The 38th Corps requests to conduct probing attacks!" A communications officer ran over to report.

All commanders instinctively looked at the map. After occupying the railway, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army had already cut off the connection between Tianjin and Beijing. The war was progressing so smoothly, which also meant that many military plans hadn't been made in time. Although the Military Commission's predictions had all come true, this plan now seemed extremely risky.

"If we attack Beijing and the enemy surrounds us from behind, we'll be heavily besieged," this was the comrades' biggest worry.

"It's normal for the enemy to want to annihilate us under the walls of Beijing. But that requires them to be able to return to Beijing. I don't believe these enemy troops can withstand the pursuit of our other units while retreating. The reason we want to fight all the way to Beijing is to make them surround us. The Beiyang Army is not good at mobile warfare," Pu Guanshui had completely grasped the core of the Military Commission's plan. "To mobilize the Beiyang Army, Yuan Shikai has to give the order. To make Yuan Shikai issue an emergency order, we must fight to the walls of Beijing."

Having said this, Pu Guanshui spoke loudly: "The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army has always opposed dying in vain, but when sacrifice is truly needed, we must have such courage. Comrades have all sworn to the Party flag and the military flag to struggle for China's revolutionary cause for their entire lives! If the revolution requires our unit to be wiped out under the walls of Beijing, then we will be wiped out under the walls of Beijing. The comrades of other units will definitely be able to tread on our blood to liberate all of China!"

These words caused a silent thrum of emotion among the attending commanders. Everyone present had commanded thousands of troops and won many victories. So, even though they had long understood that dying on the battlefield was the most normal thing, suddenly adopting this mindset to go into battle after a string of victories indeed shook everyone's spirit.

"We must complete the task given by the Party!" The political commissar was the first to stand up and say.

Other comrades also stood up one after another to express their stance: fearing no sacrifice and resolutely completing the task.

Pu Guanshui said, "Then let's start the final pre-battle mobilization within the troops. Once we march on Beijing, the subsequent battles won't stop. This will be a battle that decides China's fate. Moreover, our opponents are not just the Beiyang Army, but also the foreign garrisons in China. Tell the comrades that a considerable number of these foreign garrison bastards participated in the slaughter of the Chinese people during the Boxer Rebellion!"

This statement was actually incorrect. The Boxer Rebellion was already 15 years ago. The number of soldiers and officers in the current garrisons who had participated in the Eight-Nation Alliance was very limited. But Pu Guanshui didn't care about inciting nationalist sentiments. For Pu Guanshui himself, eliminating foreign garrisons in China had always been his desire.

On July 30, 1915, the terrified Tianjin garrison received the news. The main force of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army facing them had turned northwest. The Tianjin garrison didn't even need to use much brainpower to figure out that the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army's destination was Beijing.

Two days later, on August 1st, the Army Day of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, the 50th Corps, acting as the vanguard, had already eliminated the Langfang defenders and crushed several small Beiyang units along the way. The 50th Corps' 2nd Division officially launched an attack on the Beiyang troops stationed in Tongzhou.

There were two Beiyang corps totaling 200,000 men guarding Beijing, the 1st Corps and the 2nd Corps. The unit stationed in Tongzhou was the Beiyang 2nd Corps. Corps Commander Lu Jin had never expected the People's Party to arrive so quickly. Five or six days ago, Lu Jin still thought the People's Party's troops were in Shandong. He never imagined that the People's Party would ignore the Beiyang Army in Shandong, and even dare to expose their flank to the Beiyang defenders in Tianjin, marching grandly to attack Beijing.

"Don't worry, when the 19th Corps in Tianjin attacks, we can attack from inside and outside and wipe out the People's Party!" Lu Jin cheered his subordinates on in the command headquarters.

Lu Jin's subordinates nodded repeatedly, "Commander Lu is right!"

The reason they did this was not because they supported Lu Jin's ideas so much, but simply to subconsciously express support for a victorious future amidst the confusion of suddenly entering a war.

However, reality soon discounted this support. "Report! A People's Party cavalry unit has bypassed Tongzhou and headed straight for the south of the city."

"The Cavalry Brigade must sortie immediately! We must stop them!" Lu Jin roared instantly. If this People's Party cavalry unit was allowed to bypass Tongzhou and wreak havoc under the walls of Beijing, leaving aside what threat Lu Jin's 2nd Corps would face, he could fully imagine what kind of reprimand he would receive from Yuan Shikai.

The commander of this Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army unit was Pang Zi. He had been temporarily transferred to the Shandong Military Region. Pang Zi, originally belonging to the Henan Military Region as a mobile unit, had not joined the battle order for the Xingtai positional warfare. Instead, he had been on standby in the Linqing and Nangong County areas.

As a local, it was hard to say whether the return of "Pang the Great King" Pang Zi was good or bad for local work. Even if Pang Zi wasn't exactly notorious, he was definitely not a positive figure. However, Chen Tianhua had accepted an emergency order and, as the Hebei Provincial Party Secretary, disregarded the danger to go to Nangong County to preside over the work. In these chaotic times, many old members who had once participated in the Peasant Association cried their hearts out when they saw Director Chen return. With Chen Tianhua presiding here, the area centered on Nangong County quickly calmed down.

It wasn't until the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army began attacking Dezhou that the cavalry brigade commanded by Pang Zi moved north to join the Shandong Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army's sequence under the order of the Central Military Commission, in order to strengthen the mobile combat capabilities of the Shandong Military Region. Pang Zi was originally a commander from the Shandong Military Region, so the transfer didn't feel unfamiliar to him.

The purpose of this operation was simple: to engage the Beiyang cavalry units and annihilate them.

"Comrades! If you have any last words, say them now." Pang Zi was not on horseback at this moment; he stood solemnly in front of a row of soldiers.

Pang Zi and several senior commanders had expressions of solemnity and tragedy on their faces, but that row of soldiers looked resolute. This wasn't feigned resolve; these soldiers were all machine gunners. Ever since the annihilation of the Beiyang 3rd Division in Anhui, one of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army's tactics against enemy cavalry had been the machine gun array.

As long as the enemy could be lured into the machine gun array, under the close-range sweeping fire of dozens or hundreds of machine guns, no cavalry unit could survive. However, whether the enemy could be lured into the machine gun array right now was a big question. Most importantly, even if they succeeded, there was no way to construct fortified machine gun positions at the moment. Enemies shot off their horses wouldn't die immediately, and facing their attacks, weak individual cover wouldn't provide much protection. Even if it wasn't a near-certain death, everyone could imagine the fate of over half the machine gunners becoming casualties.

The ranks of the soldiers on their shoulders weren't low: Second Lieutenant, Staff Sergeant, and even First Lieutenant and Captain. Such a group represented the backbone of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. Every soldier was a Party member, and only such a group could stand out so firmly to undertake this dangerous task.

"Brigade Commander Pang, please let the organization rest assured. We will definitely complete the work in the best way. Besides, there are three comrades in one machine gun position; we can still deal with ten or twenty Beiyang soldiers coming at us." The leading Captain answered loudly.

Just as they were speaking, dozens of soldiers ran over from other places. Upon reaching the vicinity of the formation, they all stood at attention. Although the leading soldier was blocked, he shouted loudly: "Brigade Commander Pang, we request to return to the team, we want to participate in the mission!"

"Only Party members can participate in this mission! We've even written our Party membership applications. Brigade Commander Pang, please let us participate!" Other soldiers also shouted.

"My older brother has already participated. Fighting tigers requires brothers; we came to join the revolution. If we die, let us brothers die together!" Someone's voice already carried a sobbing tone due to agitation.

If it were before, Pang Zi would have probably scolded these comrades for messing around, but this time he felt quite gratified. The comrades participating in the machine gun array were all key personnel; Pang Zi himself couldn't accept consuming so many grassroots backbones. However, without firm conviction, facing the scene of thousands of warhorses galloping over, anyone would panic. If they opened fire prematurely due to confusion and alerted the enemy, leading the enemy to dismount and launch a ground attack, these machine gun array soldiers wouldn't survive—these two hundred people would undoubtedly die.

Only by executing the plan completely with the determination to face death was there hope for survival. Once they attacked blindly due to fear of death, they would undoubtedly die. This was the battlefield. At such a critical moment, the only ones who could be relied upon were the Party members.

"Take these comrades down and explain to them in detail what is going on. Tell them, we are not sending these comrades to die; we are letting them go because they are not afraid of death. Because in there, if even one person is afraid of death, everyone will die!" Pang Zi said loudly.

The Beiyang cavalry brigade came very quickly. Pang Zi had just finished deploying the position when he received intelligence that the enemy was less than ten li away. The establishments of these two cavalry units were similar, both having over four thousand men at full strength. Pang Zi had brought two thousand men this time, while the enemy's troops were at full strength. "Continue to advance," Pang Zi ordered.

The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army troops slowed their march, while the enemy sped up to catch up. After all, Tongzhou was the Beiyang's home field. The engagement location Pang Zi chose was a piece of flat land, quite suitable for cavalry engagement. If it weren't so, the Beiyang Army wouldn't have taken the bait.

More than half an hour later, Pang Zi received news that the Beiyang Army had split into two groups, one coming from the south and one circling to the east. It looked like they were preparing a pincer attack from two sides.

After arriving at the designated location, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army cavalry unit stopped. This was a small high slope on the flat land. To the south was a large stretch of flat ground, and to the east was a large expanse of fields. No ordinary people dared to stay here now, so the entire wilderness was empty and silent.

The Beiyang Army's southern force was faster. This group also had nearly two thousand men, slightly fewer than Pang Zi's cavalry. Moreover, Pang Zi's troops occupied the small high ground, so form-wise, they were in a slightly disadvantageous position.

"Commander Sun, should we attack?" A staff officer nearby asked.

"Prepare to attack immediately!" The Beiyang cavalry commander Sun Yongsheng replied coldly. Although his expression looked serious, Sun Yongsheng wasn't that relaxed inside. He certainly knew that attacking now put them at a disadvantage, but true battles were all launched with the tacit consent of both sides. With the Beiyang Army's overall two-to-one troop advantage, if Pang Zi didn't want to fight, he could naturally slip away. Sun Yongsheng had to give Pang Zi a strong temptation, a chance to win. As long as Pang Zi could defeat Sun Yongsheng, who was at a disadvantage on the front, before the flanking Beiyang Army on the east attacked, then Pang Zi could adjust his forces and use the momentum of victory to strike the other Beiyang unit. He could very likely create a classic example of winning with fewer numbers.

However, if Pang Zi couldn't achieve this, the result would be being surrounded and annihilated by the Beiyang Army attacking from two sides. This was a gamble. Sun Yongsheng wanted to see if Pang Zi had the determination to place the bet.

Seeing that the People's Party cavalry opposite the Beiyang Army didn't move, neither side dismounted before the decisive battle. They just looked at each other from a distance of four or five hundred meters.

Sun Yongsheng ordered the flag bearer to wave the command flag, and the troops gathered into an attack formation in an orderly manner. This was Sun Yongsheng's second time truly engaging the People's Party. When he was in the Beiyang 3rd Division, he had been captured. As Chen Ke's "relative", Sun Yongsheng had also been shelved. It was only during the Beiyang's great expansion that Sun Yongsheng got an opportunity, and now he had become a Brigade Commander of the Beiyang Cavalry. If not for his entanglement with Chen Ke, Sun Yongsheng couldn't have only reached this position. One should know that officers of his rank in the past were now at least division commanders. Thinking of this, Sun Yongsheng couldn't help but frown tightly; now he had to prove himself with his own war exploits.

Sun Yongsheng closed his eyes, driving all thoughts out of his mind. The last image that had nothing to do with the battle was a woman—the image of Sun Yongsheng's wife, He Qian. Even though he had been a widower for several years, Sun Yongsheng had no intention of remarrying. He Qian's death was a psychological burden Sun Yongsheng could never overcome in his life, although Sun Yongsheng had never heard the word "psychological".

The shout that was already in his throat couldn't come out. Sun Yongsheng opened his eyes and took a deep breath. At that very moment, he saw a People's Party cavalryman on the earthen slope opposite hold a military flag high and stab it fiercely into the ground. When the cavalryman let go, the red flag was already deeply planted in the soil. A gust of wind blew, and the red flag unfurled, fluttering in the wind.

Seeing that the enemy had already shown their attitude, only the thought of battle remained in Sun Yongsheng's heart. "Charge!" He shouted loudly.

The Beiyang Army's flag bearer waved the cyan banner vigorously, and the formation opened. The Beiyang troops, dressed in cyan military uniforms, urged their mounts and charged towards the north.

Only a split second later, the cavalrymen of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army also urged their warhorses down from the earthen slope, galloping down from both sides of that military flag. The cavalrymen in the front row held their carbines and fired a few shots. Soldiers in the vanguard of both sides were hit and fell from their horses. But the cavalry behind showed no sign of stopping; the sounds of falling horses and tragic cries were instantly drowned out by the thundering roar of thousands of warhorses and tens of thousands of hooves striking the ground.

Whether it was the Beiyang Army or the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, sabers were drawn from their scabbards. The commanders were followed by flag bearers, military flags fluttering violently in the wind, and saber tips pointed without exception in the direction of the enemy.

Two torrents collided in an instant.

Charging at the very front of the Beiyang cavalry was a Second Lieutenant. He extended his arm back and then swept it forward with force. The trajectory of the blade went straight for the enemy's left chest. As long as it hit, the snow-bright sharp blade would cut an absolutely fatal gash in the enemy's chest.

Opposite him, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army cavalryman assumed almost the same posture. This was the standard tactic of cavalry warfare. Everyone made a living on the blade's edge, so their eyes were very sharp. The Beiyang Second Lieutenant was surprised to see his blade hit the opponent's chest first, but the blade didn't cut in at all; a layer of extremely hard material blocked the blade edge.

In that instant, the Second Lieutenant felt his vision start to rise and flip strangely. Amidst the spinning world, the Second Lieutenant saw a headless body sitting on a horse galloping away below. In a burst of confusion, the Second Lieutenant also noticed another detail. The Beiyang military sabers all flickered with the metallic gleam of having been sharpened. But as far as the Second Lieutenant could see, the People's Party's military sabers all without exception presented a dark blue color. That was an indescribably beautiful color.

Then, the Second Lieutenant's eyes closed slightly. The world turned black. His head fell to the ground.